Uncle Robert hasn’t returned to Ledbury Hall in the three weeks since he viciously beat Heath. For the first fortnight, Heath stayed at home with Elinor while she took care of him, cooking his meals, making sure he took his medication, reading to him. They shared a bed every night and it felt good to have her brother back, even if he was worse for wear. He suffered nightmares, ones that left the sheets damp with sweat. She apologises again and again for the part she played in what Uncle Robert did. She relayed to her brother the conversation she overheard at the party, explaining why it was so important. Heath didn’t say much but she could see him turning the information over in his head.
Last night, in bed, he tucked her against his chest and whispered, ‘I’ve missed this.’
‘Me, too,’ she said into the dark.
After a moment, he said, ‘He’s a coward.’ He was, of course, talking about Uncle Robert. ‘The way he snuck up behind me. I won’t let it happen again, Ellie. Next time I set eyes on him, I’ll kill him.’
‘You can’t kill him,’ she said. ‘I’m not convinced we’d get away with it.’
‘Ye of little faith.’ He smoothed her hair across the pillow. ‘Where were you that evening? When I came home, you were gone.’
She swallowed, glad he couldn’t see her face. ‘Walking the grounds.’ The lie tasted like blackened ash on her tongue. ‘And where had you been all day?’
He kissed her shoulder. ‘Running errands.’
Well, at least now we’re both lying, she thought, and took his hand in hers.
In the morning, when she woke, she was alone. She knew he was with Sofia so she didn’t feel guilty when she spent the week with Flynn. They’d walked hand in hand around the frozen lakes, visited the cinema where he kissed the salted popcorn from her mouth, whiled away an afternoon in a bookshop. Flynn treated her to as many paperbacks as she could carry. She waited for him to sneer as she browsed the romance section. He didn’t. They took them back to Ledbury Hall and read them in front of the fire, her legs in his lap.
She’d given him a tour of the grounds and was surprised by how much she enjoyed it, assuming that sharing Ledbury Hall with anyone except Heath would feel like letting a stranger riffle through her underwear drawer. It wasn’t like that with Flynn. He’d marvelled at the turrets and lead lattice windows, the handsome red brick and the intricate carved arch that made up the porch, whistling long and low on the stone steps leading into the house. ‘You can tell someone is wealthy if their front door is twice as tall as they are.’
She stuck out her tongue and tugged him inside. He was curious but respectful, not touching anything unless she gave it to him. The manor is filled with first edition books, embroidered pillows, ivory chess sets, carnival masks, taxidermy animals mounted on plaques. Everywhere, there are beautiful things collected by her parents on their worldly travels. Flynn’s favourite was the marble bust of Aphrodite.
‘Heavy,’ he said, handing it back to her.
‘She’s the Greek goddess of love.’
He kissed her then.
She led him up to the roof. From there, you can see across the grounds for miles and miles, and in every direction. She pointed out the rose garden and the pond that was almost the size of a lake, with its stone lovers.
‘Do you swim in it?’ he asked.
She didn’t want to admit she was too terrified to try so she said, ‘One night, we should bring some blankets up here, some candles, watch the sun set.’
He grinned. ‘Definitely.’
They kissed again, right there on the roof.
Now, they are in her bedroom, on her bed. Flynn is on top of her, kissing her neck. She runs her hand under his jumper, dragging her nails across his warm skin. He moans, covering her mouth with his. Then he pulls back. ‘I’ve been thinking,’ he tells her. ‘Come to South Africa with me.’
She laughs it off. ‘I can’t. I don’t even have a passport and I’m not likely to get a ticket on goodwill.’
But he is serious. He goes on, ‘I get that your uncle controls your money but there’s so much stuff in this house you could sell. I can tell you’re lonely here, Elinor.’ He brushes her hair away from her face. ‘You don’t have to be lonely anymore. Not with me.’
She feels as though she is standing on the precipice of something great, and if she were to jump she’d be safe because she’d leap with his hand firmly around hers. She reaches up and kisses him again. He starts unbuttoning her dress. Beneath the music is their excited panting breath. She does not hear her brother climbing the stairs. Does not hear him standing outside her door. She only notices him when he kicks it open in a brilliant burst of noise. Elinor and Flynn spring apart.
Heath moves fast. He grabs Flynn by the jumper and swings him off the bed, slamming him so hard into the wall, Elinor is worried he might go through it.
She stumbles to her feet. ‘Heath!’
‘What the fuck are you doing with my little sister?’ he growls.
‘Get off me!’ Flynn shouts. ‘Get off!’
‘Heath, stop!’ she begs. ‘Let him go.’
Flynn throws a punch but Heath ducks and then pivots still holding double fistfuls of Flynn’s jumper. He rams Flynn into the adjacent wall. He brings his face close to Flynn’s. ‘She’s fifteen-fucking-years-old.’
Flynn pales, gaze darting to Elinor’s. He looks as though he might be sick. She frantically shakes her head, refuting her brother’s lie.
‘I think the police would be really interested to know I caught you undressing a fifteen-year-old in my house, don’t you?’ Heath sneers.
‘That isn’t—’ she starts, but at a look from her brother, so acidic it makes her skin burn, she closes her mouth.
Heath lets Flynn go.
Flynn, shaken, pushes his fingers back through his hair and stares at her with abject disgust and slapping disappointment. Elinor feels as though each of her bones is breaking. She wants to go to him, to tell him her brother is lying, but she is rooted to the spot, pinned there by Heath’s fury.
‘Leave,’ he barks at Flynn.
Without another word, Flynn goes, almost tripping over his bare feet on the way out. Heath is stony and silent. Neither he nor Elinor move until they hear the front door slam closed. Then, unbelievably, Heath begins to laugh. ‘Jesus, Ellie, that’s your type? Flynn Healy? He’s like a fucking golden retriever.’ He walks past her and thumps casually down onto her bed, resting his arms behind his head. He appraises her. ‘You could at least button up your dress, little sister.’
With shaking hands, she does as he suggests. ‘What is wrong with you?’
‘Did you expect me to stand at the foot of the bed and film it? Or would you prefer I joined in?’
‘Don’t be glib,’ she snaps. ‘You lied to him.’
His faux joviality evaporates and he springs to his feet. ‘No, you lied to him. What did you promise him? A future? A house? A bounding pup and a couple of kids? You aren’t meant for him.’ His eyes are like two knife points piercing her skin. ‘Did you fuck him?’
She lifts her chin. ‘Did you fuck Sofia?’
He stills, caught off guard, then says, ‘Flynn told you.’
‘No. I saw you.’ She can’t stop the tears welling. She shakes her head, refusing to let them fall. ‘I was worried, I went to town to find you and I saw the two of you together.’
He’s surprised. ‘You went into town alone?’
‘Yes! Weeks ago because I’m not … Rapunzel, Heath. Ledbury isn’t a … a … prison tower and you aren’t my keeper.’
His lips twitch. ‘Rapunzel?’
‘Fuck you.’ She makes to leave but he grabs her arm.
‘It isn’t what you think.’
‘Isn’t it?’ She glowers at him and wonders what her life would have been like if she’d had a sister instead of a brother. In this moment, she wishes she did.
‘Sofia doesn’t mean anything to me.’
‘You invited her to our home the night of the party.’
He’s shaking his head. ‘She just turned up. I sent her away. I’m only with her because she’s useful.’
She shrugs him off. ‘I bet she is.’
He sighs. ‘She got me a job at the music shop.’
‘A job?’ She frowns. ‘Why do you need a job?’
‘Because we have no money. No way out. Robert has everything.’
‘But when you turn twenty-one …’
‘If I turn twenty-one. He tried to kill me.’
‘No, he—’
‘We’re more useful to him dead than alive, because with us out of the way, the money, the estate, all of it goes to him. So I got a job. That’s where I go every day. I’ve been saving my wages.’
‘Why?’
‘Because you’re the most important thing in the world, Ellie. The only important thing. I thought if I could get enough together for us to leave, you’d be safe.’
Her stomach churns. ‘Leave our home?’
‘Just until I’m old enough to come back and claim the inheritance. Or, at least, my half of it.’
She knows the reason Heath hid this from her is to protect her. To stop her worrying. He is forever protecting her. She wants to insist that Uncle Robert doesn’t want them dead, but she can’t because after the lead-pipe incident she believes Heath to be right.
He sighs. ‘Not that I’ll be welcome back to the shop once Flynn tells Sofia what happened.’
Guilt coats her skin like a sheen of sweat. ‘Look, Uncle Robert doesn’t need the Ledbury fortune. He has money because he has his fancy career.’
‘Does he? After the stunt you pulled, I don’t think that’s likely. They’ll give his position to his colleague.’
‘Johnathan Jones.’
‘Yes. The one who doesn’t have a pyromaniac for a niece.’
She covers her face with her hands. ‘I’m sorry.’
Gently, he tugs her hands away and holds them in his. ‘I don’t need you to be sorry. I need you to do better.’ He pulls her to him, holding her against his chest. She breathes in his familiar scent. ‘Don’t worry about Robert. If he ever touches you, I’ll kill him.’