SIX

ESTELLA

Home hadn’t changed.

The gravel still crunched as we pulled up to the gothic-style home like the handfuls of dry, sugary cereal we used to sneak up on to the rooftop as a midnight snack. Graham shut off the engine, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he heard the beating of my heart in the silence that filled the car.

‘It must be so nice to be home,’ he said, leaning over to the rear seat and picking up his brogues. The fact that he wore specific driving shoes still made me somewhat uneasy. What thirty year old did that? The car shoes were one of those things that made him a carbon copy of his father, and while they both had many good qualities, that wasn’t one of them. ‘I can’t believe I’ve never been here. The house is lovely.’

Inhaling deeply, I glanced at my familial home. Graham was right. It was a pretty home. All arched windows and gothic drama. Cast iron swirls and painted white stone. It didn’t match any of the other homes nearby, and while I’d hated that as a teen, I could see the appeal more as an adult. My mom had fallen in love with it nearly as much as she’d fallen for Jack. I’d been far more reluctant to fall for any of the Whitney charms, architectural or otherwise.

Leaden weight invaded my stomach as I stepped from the car, the crashing heft of the unknown glueing my feet to the uneven gravel.

‘You alright?’ Graham asked, sliding an arm around my waist as he joined me in staring at the house.

‘Yeah. Of course. Just…taking it in.’ Trying not to upend my stomach contents more like. Washing vomit out of gravel was something from a nightmare. No thanks.

‘Can’t wait to have a few days together. No work. No obligations. It’ll be like a taster of us living together.’

‘With my parents? In my childhood bedroom? I’m not sure it’ll be quite the vibe I’m hoping for.’ I reached over and slid my fingers into Graham’s, seeking some comfort. He had no idea about the way my step-brother looked at me. Nor about the time he’d pressed his lips to my own the summer before I left. Or how I’d kissed him back in a moment…many moments…of madness.

Blinking, I pushed the memories aside. We’d been young. Full of raging hormones. Things would be different. I was no longer a girl all caught up in feelings. With a successful career and a stable partner, I was a whole new person .

Steeling my shoulders, I smiled at Graham. ‘You ready?’

A waft of cinnamon orange hit me the moment I stepped into the entrance hall, memories flooding along with the festive scent. Sitting at the large oak dining table in the room to my left, cramming for exams. Mom’s gentle hands sweeping my hair over my shoulders while we baked together. Sitting on the stairwell with my friends and giggling over boys while my step-brother shot daggers at me from the floor above.

‘Wow, this place is epic,’ Graham stated, turning around in the hall like a fairytale princess seeing a library for the first time. ‘You grew up here?’

‘Kind of. We moved in when I was a teenager after Mom met Jack.’ I shook off my coat and placed it into the hidden closet in the panelling to my left, the click of the concealed door hitting me with familiarity. Graham put our bags on the floor before handing his coat to me, his eyes wide as I hung it and pushed the door closed.

‘Damn, that’s cool. I bet this place is full of secrets.’

My ass about fell out at his words.

‘Not really. It’s all perfectly normal.’

‘Yeah, right. You have a reclusive brother and magic hidden cupboards.’ He stopped to look at the painting above an antique dresser.

I bit my tongue at the urge to defend Leo. It wasn’t like Graham was wrong. Leo hadn’t left the house in a decade. Still, it was one thing to mention it back home, but not in Leo’s house.

‘Darling,’ my mom said, materialising from the direction of the kitchen, three glasses of champagne balanced in her perfectly manicured fingers. ‘I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to have you home.’

I wrapped my arms around my mother in a brief, but warm, embrace before pulling back and smiling. ‘I missed you.’

‘Oh us too, love. Us too.’ Taking one of the fizzing glasses from her, I left her to greet Graham. Jack followed moments after my mother, dressed in golfing gear despite it being two days off of January.

‘Estella,’ he said with a grin, tucking me beneath his arm and chinking his glass with mine. ‘So lovely to have you home.’

‘Thanks Jack. How’s the party planning going?’ I asked, trying to stop myself from scanning the split staircase for a glimpse of him .

‘Oh you know, your mother deals with all that. She’s extraordinary. I just follow around after her like a yipping chihuahua.’

I softened as his face creased into another smile, the lines deeper than before but no less animated. A warmth settled over me as I revelled in the feeling of home. If I ignored the hidden problem upstairs, it could be quite wonderful .

Graham and my mother chatted while Jack regaled me with the news of the new golf driving simulator he’d had installed in the basement.

I let myself relax, my shoulders dropping while I sipped the bubbly champagne, delighting in the delicate taste. My parents always had excellent food and drink on tap. I’d likely go home putting on a plump new tire by the end of my few days there.

Worth it.

A chill stole over me while Jack chatted, a layer of unease spreading over my spine, creeping it’s way up until it lifted the hairs on the back of my neck. Goosebumps tingled and I searched the space for Leo.

A black boot came into sight at the top of the stairs, one tattooed hand grazing the winding bannister. How could he be tattooed if he hadn’t left home? Puzzlement knocked me off guard as he rounded the stairs into view. I’d half been expecting Leo of six years ago to appear. But the scrawny, pale teen with the sweep of dank black hair had morphed into something altogether more disturbing. Those thin arms had thickened, bulging from the black shirt he wore where he’d rolled up the sleeves. Dark murals decorated every inch of the exposed arms, but I couldn’t make out their details from my spot in the hall. Everything about him seemed to have grown, to have solidified. As a teen he had taken up plenty of space in my mind, but never had I been in a room with him and felt his presence like an unfathomable force.

My throat bobbed as I swallowed .

Intensity seized me like a tightening vice in the wake of him. Leo . The boy who’d made me feel like the only girl in the world. Until that attention turned to the forbidden. To a place I could not follow him.

Before I remembered that breath was essential, he had Graham’s hand in his own, slapping his arm and fixing him with a jovial grin. Where on earth had that confidence blossomed from? Sure, I knew he was doing very well with his online businesses, but for a man who hadn’t set foot in the real world, he exuded a charm that had even Graham blushing.

Then his dark, molten gaze settled on me. Like prey caught in his trap, I could do nothing but wait as he approached.

‘Darling sister,’ he crooned. ‘How I’ve missed you.’

The movement of his lips mesmerised me, a dance of the forbidden amongst his chiselled jaw.

‘Leo,’ I whispered, unable to extract anything else logical from my suddenly scrambled brain.

Then he was upon me, his arms circling my shoulders in a seemingly brotherly hug. Perhaps, I was the only one who’d held onto his obsession? With his extensive fortune he likely had anything he wanted or needed. Had I been vain to imagine he’d still be the same possessive youth six years on from our last face to face moment?

Wondering if I’d misjudged him on the idiocy of hormonal youth, I relaxed against him, returning the hug. I’d missed him.

Then he inhaled deeply against my hair, his grip tightening when I tried to loosen mine. Panic set in, but I tried to appear calm as to not worry my family or Graham.

‘My darling.’ His deep voice was a caress that touched parts of me it had no right invading. ‘You look positively delicious.’

I broke away and painted a smile on my face. ‘Nice to see you too, Leo. Good to see you haven’t rotten away up in your room.’

He didn’t respond to my banter, his gaze sliding to my lips and drinking them in. I’d hoped the banter would have broken his spell, reminded him who we are to one another.

‘Come, come,’ my mother said, her voice tinkling with delight. ‘Let’s get you two settled in to your room.’

And just like that, I’d survived the dreaded moment.

Hopefully, I could keep Leo at arms length for the remainder of my time home.

Physically, he might have changed, but it seemed he was still the devious, obsessed boy below the pleasant visage.

And every part of me told me to run .