‘Before we begin, fruity Beaujolais, anyone?’
* * *
As I lay in bed with my nose in the laptop, Miles’s electric toothbrush had been whirring away in the en suite for much longer than usual. I had artfully lied through my teeth and won the game of Murderer, to the shock and delicious irritation of Tristan and Mimi, who had to win everything.
‘Are you okay in there?’ I called.
The buzzing ceased and I heard him spit into the sink.
‘What do you think she meant, “Tristan will look after everything”? Do you think she plans to cut us out of the will?’
I looked over the top of my screen as Miles walked in from the bathroom wearing only his boxers, and I gave him a sly grin, making it no secret that I was checking him out.
‘Don’t worry about it until you know more,’ I said uselessly. ‘It’s probably nothing. I’m sure it’s just the usual game-playing.’ I tapped his side of the bed for him to come and join me. He walked over and sat down on my side instead, his beautifully toned back facing me. He sighed in exasperation, and I shut the laptop and put it down on the bedside table. Sitting up, I began to knead my thumbs into tense shoulders.
‘I know this doesn’t make it any easier,’ I began, ‘but it’s always like this when we come here. Your mother always plays the same games; she pits the brothers against each other, you and Tristan, your father and Fergus. She even gets a kick out of putting the cat amongst the pigeons with me and Mimi.’
He laughed. ‘Are you sure it’s my mother doing that? Or is it just the fact that you absolutely can’t stand the sight of each other?’
‘Your mother doesn’t help.’ I smirked. ‘But you don’t really think she’s going to cut you out of the will, do you?’
‘Do I think she’s going to, or do I think she’s capable of it?’ He thought for a moment. ‘Yes, and yes. I do think that.’
‘Surely not? Just because we are going to Australia?’
‘Absolutely because we’re moving to Australia.’ Miles turned to face me, his brows furrowed. ‘You don’t understand, Liv. This isn’t just about the move. It’s about everything. The way she’s always favoured Tristan, the constant disapproval of my choices, the snide comments about our relationship. She looks down on me because I don’t earn a six-figure salary… and you because?—’
‘Because I write smutty novels and come from a working-class family? Because I don’t wear expensive clothes or look like I’m always about to head into a board meeting like Mimi does?’ I reached out and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. ‘I know it’s hard, but your mother’s always been like this. Remember when I first met the whole family in the cabin in Aspen, and Jeannie kept hinting that Tristan would get it one day?’
Miles was silent. Letting out a deep breath he said, ‘He did get the cabin.’
‘What!’ I pulled him to turn towards me. ‘You didn’t tell me that? Christ, Miles, you loved that place. Why did he get it? Tristan doesn’t even like skiing.’
He couldn’t meet my gaze. His silence a heavy stone between us. I thought back to that first trip, the pained look on Jeannie’s face as the week had gone on and I’d proved to her repeatedly that I wasn’t up to scratch. Especially the night I got a little bit too merry on Irish cream liqueur and threw up in the snow outside. And a little bit inside. Okay, I threw up in the bed. So sue me.
‘Was it because she didn’t want you to go out with me?’ I asked finally.
He looked at me now, a hardness in his eyes. ‘It’s not you, Liv. She was like this with all of my girlfriends…’
That was a yes, then.
‘I know it’s hard,’ he continued, ‘but try not to take it personally. It’s always been this way; she tries to take everything I love away until I follow her commands. It’s the only way she knows how to maintain control. Until you came along, that is… and I fell madly in love with you. Now she’s realised she’s lost her grip, and she doesn’t like it.’ He leaned over, cupped my face in his hand and stroked my cheek with his thumb.
His touch and the notion that I’d gotten so thoroughly under his mother’s skin gave me a shameful thrill.
I reached out and held his face in my hands. ‘She’s always been the master manipulator, and we’ve played nice, until now. We’re leaving for the other side of the world in just over two weeks. It will be a brand new chapter, and it sends a pretty clear message to all of them that we’ve chosen to be as far away from her and the rest of the family as humanlypossible. If Tristan wants to spend his whole life pandering to Mummy just so he can live in this house… then good luck to him.’ I ran my fingers through Miles’s silky dark hair.
He leaned into my touch, closing his eyes. ‘How are we going to survive two weeks of this hell?’ He shook his head bitterly. ‘More to the point, how will we survive knowing Quentin is about to be set loose on society again?’ Miles said his name like it was a bad taste in his mouth.
I threw back the covers and got out of bed. Walking over to the bedroom door, I let the strap of my negligée drop off one shoulder, then the other. The silk slipped off my body into a pool at my feet.
‘Fancy a swim?’
A devilish smile broke out across Miles’s face.
3
DENIAL AND DOM PÉRIGNON
