Page 71 of The Black Trilogy

Well, that was progress. “Let’s try and fix this. In an ideal world, what would make you happy?”

A minute passed. Then another. I stayed quiet and gave her space to think.

“I want a family that cares about me and some friends other than Arabella. I want to live in my own house without feeling I’m always in the way, and I want to be allowed out. I’m sick of being treated like a kid. Like, I’m sixteen now.”

Despite the differences in our upbringings, we’d both had terrible childhoods. Perhaps that’s why I felt compelled to make the offer I did.

“If Luke agrees, how would you like to stay with us for a while? I’m around all day, so I could help with the things you can’t manage with your arm.”

“Do you really mean that?”

“I wouldn’t have suggested it otherwise.”

A pause. “I think I’d like that.”

When I broached the subject with Luke in the corridor a few minutes later, he glanced up at the sign for the psych unit.

“Did you take a wrong turn?”

“No.”

“But why would you want to help her after the way she’s treated you?”

“Because somebody has to, and your mother isn’t up to the job.”

I hoped Luke wouldn’t take offence, but I couldn’t bite my tongue.

No worries there. “It’s hard to imagine how she could be worse.”

Oh, I could offer a couple of suggestions.

“I didn’t realise things had got so bad for Tia,” he continued. “I’ve spent too much time working. I’m a pretty second-rate brother, aren’t I?”

“You’ve done your best. It’s not like you asked to run the company at such a young age. You supported your family financially, but now Tia needs a different kind of help.”

“I’ll agree to her staying, but it’s you who’ll be with her all day. How do you feel about it?”

“I think we have to try.”

He wrapped his arms around me, pulled me close, and kissed me chastely on the lips.

“In that case, you’ll need to learn how to stay quiet in the bedroom. Or else I’ll have to gag you.”

“Ooh, kinky. Deal.”

CHAPTER 23

“SLOWLY, TIA.”

LUKE helped her into the backseat of the SUV he rarely drove while I stuffed her bag of medication into the footwell on the other side. The doctor had prescribed so many pills Tia would rattle if she jumped up and down, and she’d been discharged with a long list of dos and don’ts. No horse riding for at least six months.

On the way home, we stopped off at Woodley Hall, the house Luke grew up in and where Tia still lived with their mother. The country pile screamed old money.

“Nice,” I said as we turned into the drive.

“It is now. It was in an awful state when our father died,” Luke said. “We almost lost it after he ran out of money. I’m sure that’s what caused his heart attack.”

Tia gasped from the backseat. “We nearly lost our home?”

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