Dough, Diamonds and a Dash of Hate

VI

ADRIAN

 When we got to my house, I told the housekeeper to point out the bathroom and whatever Harriet needed to get the barbecue smell off her skin and I sat in the living room with Chris trying to work out what had happened.

 "Absolutely nothing has happened in the last three years," I said, thinking that since my father died things had been strangely quiet, "And they decide they're going to try and kill me on the one day she was there."

 "It's strange Adrian, and I'm sorry, I know you're going to say it's not my fault but it's literally my job to protect you and I was about to fail miserably" He says and I sit down in one of the armchairs.

"You saw a bomb where normal people see a backpack, you did your job very well, the only thing that failed us is that the bomb wasn't in the restaurant but in my car". I say calmly.

"I'll have to deal with it, I'm not sure how, get 360 cameras in your cars something like that, this won't happen again" He says sitting down in the other armchair.

"I doubt they'll try the same thing twice, what worries me more is who did it and why." I say as a lot of people would easily hate me.

"I'll get my men to find out but the person who did it is a professional, not a jealous ex-girlfriend or anything like that, there's not a single recent fingerprint other than yours or Harriet's on the remains of the car, from what I was told earlier, and from the security cameras it could be anyone" He says and I listen intently "I've already spoken to the restaurant apparently the person put all the possible evidence in the wood oven, the clothes they were hiding possible gloves in, everything. And to make things worse, the oven area is one of the only areas of the restaurant without security cameras."

"I want to know where Harriet is at all times, if they've seen me with her it's because they can easily use her as a trap. And obviously she can't know about this because if she finds out I've sent someone to spy on her you can forget about the possible stalker, she'll kill me with her bare hands." I say in all seriousness.

"I can get a trustworthy man for that." He starts but I interrupt him with a look that says it all "You're kidding me right?"

"Come on, Chris, think about how many years we've known each other, and besides, I don't trust anyone else to look after her," I say, trying to make him feel sorry for me.

"And then who looks after you?" He asks crossing his arms.

"Point number one, we literally work side by side so it's like you're looking after both of us half the day, point number two, we both know I can look after myself"

"I'm not sure about this yet, we'll have to talk about it later." He tells me with a look that says I'm stupid and only think with my dick.

We spend some time talking about the car and who might be behind the bomb when Harriet comes downstairs. And she was gorgeous. Don't get me wrong, she's always beautiful, she just looks prettier when she's not covered in ash.

"Well, I'm here, I'm washed up, now will someone take me home?" She asks and I want to tell her no, so she can stay the night or forever, but even though she doesn't know that I know, I know that she has a daughter and responsibilities around her.

"Chris will take you home, I've got things to do" I say, which is true because I don't think I'll sleep until I realise who wanted me dead.

HARRIET

It was late and my phone had run out of battery, I wanted to call Kate to let her know everything was all right but anything that involved talking to Adrian at the moment was out of the question, I know it's not technically his fault that the car exploded but at the moment I didn't care.