CHAPTER THIRTY SIX: THE FIRE
Eloise lay on the settee, her head rested on Kane's lap. He stroked her hair, absently.
"Are you ok?" she asked, softly, but then gasped and sat up before he could answer.
"El?" said Kane. "You ok?"
"Oooh, little monster kicked me," she said, with a grin. Kane placed a hand on her stomach eagerly and a huge grin split his face when he felt the baby kick again.
"Must be a boy," said Kane, with a chuckle. "Just like his dad."
Eloise rolled her eyes and then smiled, contentedly.
"Not long now before we find out," she said. Kane smiled and then took hold of Eloise's hands.
"I can't wait, El," he said. She smiled up at him.
"Neither can I," she said.
***
"My boy, what a lovely surprise," said Paul, looking up to see Kane standing over him. He closed his laptop and called a member of staff over to order a coffee for Kane. "Sit down, sit down. How are you? How's Eloise?"
"We're good, thanks," said Kane, vaguely.
"Something on your mind, boy?" asked Paul.
"We should go somewhere more private," said Kane, twitching in his seat. Paul nodded.
"Can you send that coffee to my office," he called across to the staff member and then led the way through the gym to his office. He closed the door behind Kane and sat down.
"So, what's the problem?" he asked. Kane sat in silence for a long time, watching Paul across the table. Finally he spoke, his voice quiet.
"I went to see Rico," he said, eventually.
"I see," said Paul.
"He said something. Said I should ask you about the fire." Kane left it at that, then just sat and watched Paul's reaction. Paul took a deep breath and when he released it he ran a hand over his face.
"Why would he say that, Paul?" asked Kane, as the silence dragged out.
Paul's eyes misted over briefly and he looked directly at Kane.
"I hoped the day would never come, Kane," he said, softly...
***
"Luke is my friend, Amanda! You cannot expect me to cut him out!"
Amanda narrowed her eyes. She turned away from him.
"Luke and Samantha have been interfering in our marriage for the last five years and I am sick to death of it. You need to decide what is more important; your wife or your friends!" she snapped. Paul sighed deeply. This wasn't the first time they had had this argument, but this time she seemed even more fuelled with her hatred of his friend than usual.
"Just tell me, what is the problem? Why do you hate them so much?"
"You need to ask?" she sneered.
"Yes, I do. Please, tell me. Perhaps if you would I could understand what this is all about."
"They swan about in their expensive cars, living in that bloody mansion while we are stuck in this miserable little house, with your crappy gyms paying the bills and everything they have is because of you! They take advantage and I am sick of it," she replied, the venom dripping from her voice.
Paul rolled his eyes. There wasn't a grain of truth in what she said. Luke had been a wealthy man before he started working with Paul, but Amanda hadn't seen any of that. Ten years they had been together and sometimes he felt that she didn't know him at all.
"Paul, if you won't do something about it, I will," she threatened. Paul glared at her and grabbed her arm, pulling her close to him.
"Don't you dare threaten me, woman," he snarled. "If you know what's good for you, you will drop this now."
She shook him from her arm, angrily, but put some distance between them; Paul was very quick with his hands and she didn't want to be on the receiving end again.
"It's not a threat, Paul," she said, darkly. "It's a promise."
"Amanda, Luke is my best friend and he always will be. If I had to choose between him and you, you know you wouldn't win. So get that through your thick head, or do I need to knock some sense into you?"
She stormed out of the room at his threat, the front door slamming as she headed out. Paul sighed and sat down, pouring himself a whiskey. Amanda knew which buttons to press and he had no doubt that this was more about their discussion about children the night before and the fact he wasn't ready for them yet than about his friend, whose lifestyle Amanda was desperately jealous of. He had seen it when she had gone round with him the weekend before, seen their two boys, their beautiful house and gardens, the nice cars parked on the drive. She had been digging away at him ever since.
She was gone for hours and when she returned, she stormed straight up to the shower and he heard the water running for nearly an hour before he headed upstairs. She came out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel, her eyes wild, as she stared at him. She started laughing hysterically.
"What have you done?" asked Paul. She didn't answer him, carried on laughing, even after he slapped her across the face. Eventually she spoke.
"You will find out what I have done," she said, softly. The following day she was gone, all of her clothes with her. And the Callaway house had had a serious fire, killing Luke and Samantha, seriously injuring Kane and Mark was missing. It didn't take Paul long to work out what had happened.
***
"I found her again three years ago, when I sent Mark to sort her out. Seemed like poetic justice. She wanted to meet, to try and patch things up. I scheduled a meeting and sent Mark in my place."
"Does Mark know?" asked Kane, numbly.
"Not what she did, no. I told him she had been involved in an arson attack that killed a family; I didn't tell him it was his own family." Paul fell silent, his face filled with pure misery. Kane's own emotions were masked.
"It's good to finally know the truth," he said. He then got to his feet, abruptly and walked away. Paul stopped him.
"If I had known she would go to such extremes I would have killed her there and then with my bare hands, boy. Your father was a brother to me. As for Rico, he will regret what he has done."
Kane paused, then walked away without a backward glance.
***
Eloise seemed to know what to do, even if she did not know what was wrong. She held him in her arms, as tears cascaded down his face, dampening her shoulder. Alarmed she brought a hand to his cheek.
"What is it, sweetheart? What's happened?" she asked. He didn't answer, just held her for a long time. Later they sat on the sofa, cuddled together and Kane told her what Paul had told him. Eloise held onto him, listening, tears in her eyes, as he related the story. "Oh, Kane, I'm so sorry."
"At least I know now," he said, softly. "All those years of blaming Mark, thinking he had something to do with it. And all the time..."
"It wasn't Paul though, sweetheart," she said, suddenly."You can't blame him."
"Oh I don't," said Kane. "I blame her, completely. But he should have told us."
"I guess," said Eloise and shifted on the sofa, suddenly uncomfortable. She leaned forwards and Kane rubbed the small of her back.
"One thing for sure though; I will never go back, El. I won't put you or our child in danger."
Eloise smiled, a little sadly. Perhaps the news Paul had delivered had cured Kane of his need to set fires for good.