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“James, hi. I have someone here who’d like to see you.”
We both heard his sharp intake of breath, and I smiled.
The wariness was gone in an instant. “Fallon? Fallon’s here already?”
Something inside me settled, and a genuine smile appeared on Joseph’s face at the obvious excitement in James’ tone. Joe leaned forwards, closer to the car speakers. “We’re outside your building.”
“I’ll be right down.”
The call ended, and Joseph glanced over at me. “I’ll call to check up on you later. Don’t worry about anything for now. Just enjoy your time with James, okay? I’ve transferred some money into your account, too. It should be enough to tide you over until we can make more permanent arrangements.”
I nodded. “Okay. Thanks.”
Climbing out of the car and taking a deep breath of the fresh air that carried a light tang of salt from the sea, the smile remained on my face. I never thought I’d feel this way, but to my surprise, I found that a part of me was happy to be back in Alstone.
SIX
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” James eyed me hesitantly. “If I could get out of this, I would, but it’s been arranged for a while. I’ll only be gone for the weekend, though.”
I smiled up at him from my position on his comfortable two-seater sofa. “It’s fine. I appreciate you letting me stay here. I’ll sort something else out as quickly as I can.”
“You’re welcome to stay as long as you need,” my cousin assured me, but we both knew that this wasn’t a feasible long-term arrangement. For a start, James only had one bedroom in his flat. He’d insisted on giving me the bed while he used the sofa, and I wasn’t going to take advantage of his hospitality for longer than was absolutely necessary.
“Thanks, James. I know it’s not ideal. But the house…”
He grimaced. “I know. My parents have mentioned a little about what’s going on with your mum, although I haven’t been able to find out much. You know what our families are like. If we don’t talk about it, it doesn’t exist.”
“Yeah. Remember Lady Greenway’s coke habit? I could never understand why people would turn a blind eye at those parties, but then I realised that she wasn’t the only one. It’s just never mentioned, therefore, it doesn’t exist.”
“Exactly.” His shoulders slumped. “There’s a lot of fucked-up people in this town. And the richer you are, the worse it seems to be.”
“Do you know what? It turned out that being sent away was good for me,” I mused. “It allowed me to see things from an outside perspective. I knew the world we lived in wasn’t normal, but I hadn’t realised just how abnormal it was until I saw it from the outside.”
He hummed in agreement. “Maybe I should do the same. But I doubt I’ll ever get out of this life now.” His lips curved upwards. “Honestly, though, I like this life. Mostly. Not the shit that’s happened with…in the past. But knowing I don’t have to worry about money, that I can walk into a good job when I’ve finished my degree—those are privileges that a lot of people would kill to have.”
“You’re right. It’s…I know that it’s a life a lot of people want. I guess it’s just the expectations. They feel like a burden to me.”
“I get it.” Crossing the room to the sofa, he squeezed my arm before fishing in his pockets. “Before I forget. Here’s my spare keys, and this one’s my car key. My dad’s driving us up north, so you’re welcome to use my car this weekend.”
“Thank you.” Standing up, I hugged him. “I’ll be fine. You don’t need to worry about me. I’ve been living on my own for almost a year now. I had a room in the sanctuary to begin with, but then they let me have a little apartment close by. I’m used to fending for myself. I even taught myself to cook.”
“Tim would’ve been proud,” he said softly as he released me.
The familiar ache went through me, an ache that would never go away, but now I was able to smile when I thought of my brother. “I’d like to think so.”
* * *
“Can you hold the door, please?”
I paused in the apartment building doorway at the breathless call from behind me, turning to see a pretty girl with long dark brown hair weighed down by several supermarket bags. I vaguely recognised her…Jessica? No… “Jessa? Jessa De Witt?”
The girl’s eyes narrowed as she scanned my face, biting down on her lip, and then her eyes widened in wary recognition. “Fallon Hyde?”
I nodded. “Before you say anything, can I just say something? I’m not here to defend my dad for what he did. As far as I’m concerned, he can rot in prison.”
Her whole demeanour instantly relaxed, and she came up to stand beside me. “You heard about what happened, then?”
I indicated for her to go ahead while I held the door open for her with one hand, with my own small supermarket bag in the other. “I’ve been out of the loop while I’ve been away, so I don’t know the ins and outs. But I heard that he was plotting to overthrow Alstone Holdings, and from the face you made when you recognised me, I take it there’s a lot more that I don’t know. My brother…he…uh, he didn’t want to tell me. He thought I was too fragile or something.” My mouth twisted.
