She’s hoping to secure enough points to study medicine.
Sasha hired a private tutor who arrives like clockwork each day at four o’clock and doesn’t leave until eight. By the time Victoria emerges from her study, she’s not nearly as chirpy as she was three days earlier.
Tonight, the four of us are dining together in our private quarters on the top floor. Conor, the castle’s talented chef, has prepared a feast of succulent pink juicy beef, Yorkshire puddings as big as our heads, and the richest red wine infused gravy.
‘More wine?’ Ryan tops up Sasha’s glass, then mine, before excusing himself to the recording studio they’ve built in the basement.
‘Vic?’ I offer her a glass, but she shakes her head with a small, languid smile. I don’t blame her. Her final exam is in the morning.
‘Take tomorrow off, Chloe, please? You’ve done nothing but work since you arrived,’ Sasha complains good-naturedly.
‘I’m ridiculously busy.’ It’s no lie. Ruby emailed me sixty-eight times alone today, not to mention all the messages from the other forty-eight staff I’ve acquired over four different countries.
I’m still not busy enough to forgo thoughts of Jayden Cooper. He lingers in every corner of my mind, bursting to the forefront at every opportunity. I’m like a teenager with an all-consuming crush, but instead of crushing on the stereotypical famous rock star, I’m crushing on his bad boy older brother.
And like every crush, it’s an agonising double-edged sword. The highs are transcendent. The low I know I’m going to feel when it’s over may just be lethal.
As usual, I bury my head, refusing to think about it even though it ticks like a time bomb, growing louder with each passing day.
‘Too busy to spend the afternoon at our brand-new state-of-the-art spa with your two sisters? We ought to mark Victoria’s final exam being over.’ Sasha flicks a bouncy curl from her shoulder, pretending to pout.
Victoria yawns. ‘I might fall asleep in the jacuzzi, but count me in. On that note, I’m going to bed.’
I pull her into an affectionate squeeze as she rises from the huge oakwood table. ‘I’m so proud of you, Vic.’
Her index finger nudges her glasses up her nose, something she does when she’s uneasy. Compliments render her uncomfortable. She might be the image of our mother, but she’s clearly inherited that from our father.
‘Night, Vic.’ Sasha blows her a kiss. She’s been the only mother Victoria has really known. Another sliver of guilt cuts me in two. I should have been here for her, to support her when she needed me most. I shouldn’t have left. But staying would have been detrimental to my own mental health. So much sadness, so much loss within these castle walls.
My phone vibrates on the table with an incoming text. I snatch it up quicker than lightning before Sasha can see, but it only rouses her suspicions.
Her perfectly preened eyebrow arches. ‘Who’s that?’
‘Nobody.’ The irrepressible grin on my face says otherwise.
Jayden’s calls and texts have been the highlight of my day for months. Where his smirk used to infuriate me, now it invigorates me. His flirtatious banter used to turn my stomach. Now it floods it with a thousand butterflies. He’s scarily good at judging my mood before we’ve even spoken. We’ve only spent a few weekends together, but we’ve known each other for a hell of a lot longer.
Between my secrecy, my mood swings, and the heat creeping into my cheeks under my big sister’s scrutiny, it wouldn’t take a genius to work out I’m battling the highs and lows of being in love.
There, I admitted it. Not out loud, of course, but even to myself is a start. Not a particularly healthy start, given we’re both commitment-phobes and even if I’m willing to try to get over that, he clearly isn’t given his reaction to me potentially moving to LA.
Which room are you in?
My fingers go to my mouth, covering it because it’s physically impossible to restrain my lips into a normal expression.
He’s here! Or at least near! And he’s early. The possibility of spending an entire week or more with him sets my heart soaring. Never mind the spa tomorrow, I need to get there now. I thought I had at least a few days to prepare.
Sasha’s hand sweeps across the table, her fingers sliding through mine, attempting to wrestle the phone from me. She’s got more chance of winning the lottery. There’s no way I’ll part with it.
She eventually relents, retracting her fingers, impatiently rapping long manicured nails on the table between us. ‘Well, well, well. Who is he?’ Her pitch is three octaves higher than usual and her jade eyes glitter with excitement.
‘Who’s who?’ My lips defy gravity, still refusing to behave.
‘The man that has you beaming from ear to ear! Don’t even try to deny it. I can feel it through our freaky, sisterly bond.’
Our sisterly bond has always been strong. It’s nearly impossible to lie to her. And I actually don’t want to anymore. The urge to blurt out that I’m sleeping with her brother-in-law is bursting through my core.
But how can I?
