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Who wants a visit from their stalker?
He could be anyone.
I bumped my shoulder into Cameron as I entered the kitchen area where he looked flustered, cheeks pink and a light glaze of sweat on his forehead.
‘Hey,’ he said, taking his wooden spoon out of the pot and pointing to a bowl of lettuce. ‘Wash that for me, will you?’
‘Aye, aye, chef.’ I couldn’t help but smile at the domesticated version of my brother that I caught glimpses of more and more often. With father gone, Cameron had largely dropped the icy demeanour with which he’d protected himself since childhood. Pride filled my chest at how he’d opened up at the hands of Maeve. The family syndicate was flourishing with the two of them at the helm, all while being sickeningly in love. I finally had the sister I’d always wanted.
I washed the lettuce before picking up a knife and chopping the veggies to add to it. ‘So what are you making?’
‘Fettuccine...’ Cameron read the title from his phone. ‘Fettuccine with ricotta, roasted peppers and langoustines.’
‘How very fancy. I never thought I’d see the day that you’d be in a pinny in the kitchen. Next thing, she’ll have you barefoot and with a baby on your hip.’
‘Shut up.’ Cameron laughed, and it sent a bloom of joy into me. It reminded me of our early childhood, when we were still innocent to the crime world we grew up in. It was so good to see him happy. When was the last time Tommy had made me laugh? ‘You know we don’t want any babies. Just enjoy putting in the practice hours.’
I screwed up my nose before rolling my eyes. ‘Gross.’
‘So no Tommy?’ Cameron said, sounding unsurprised.
‘Part of the job, unfortunately. You know he’s busy.’
‘Busy trying to find the bottom of every whisky bottle in Scotland.’
‘Cam.’ I chopped the tomatoes and avoided his eyes.
‘I just want you to be happy. I miss you.’
‘You seem to have it pretty sorted here, with Maeve and the kids, and Mum.’
‘There is always room for you. None of them could ever replace you. It was always me and you.’ Cam leaned over and slipped an arm around my shoulder, pulling me into an awkward side hug. It took everything in me to fight back the sting of tears. Crying would only make things worse, but man, did I need the comfort his arms always brought.
‘Stop being sappy,’ I said, shrugging him off and turning to scrape the scraps of the veggies into the food waste bin.
‘Just... promise me you’ll let me know if you need anything.’
‘Yeah, always.’
After helping set the table, I sat chatting with Elias and Grace, catching up on what they were doing at school, and their plans for what they’d do afterward. When I caught sight of my brother grasping Maeve by the waist and burying his face in her hair while she giggled, a pang of jealousy snatched at my stomach. I wanted just a slice of their happiness. Was there anyway I could find it with Tommy? Would his near miss with the media and his cheating make him focus on us more?
Cameron had just placed the food on the table as we took our seats when the elevator chimed. And out walked the last person I expected at lunch. Mac McGowan. While Maeve’s brother showing up was no different than me being there, he was hardly one for family get togethers.
I groaned inwardly and helped myself to some salad as he nodded at Cameron and greeted Maeve.
‘Hope you don’t mind a last-minute addition,’ he said as he draped his coat over the back of the sofa and pulled out the chair beside me.
‘Mac!’ Both Elias and Grace said in unison, with a hefty injection of excitement in their voices.
He was such a surly guy, that it always astounded me they loved him so much.
‘Can you stay and game after?’ Elias pleaded.
‘I’ve got a drawing I wanted to show you,’ Grace said.
‘You got it,’ Mac said before fixing me with a brief look.
Unease settled over me as he nodded at me before turning back to the table and reaching out to pile pasta onto his plate.
