I clutch at his school shirt, failing to capture enough breath to push out my words. I want to tell him, but I can’t find it in me to share this pain. I can’t do that to someone I love.
Barrett rises to his feet, scooping his blazer off the ground. “Your old man got led away in handcuffs, bro.”
I can’t see either boy’s face, but the tension between them… Damn. You’d struggle to cut that with the sharpest of knives.
Colt’s chest stiffens against me, his arms banding tighter. “Fuck. They came today?”
I push hard, jerking away to look up at my sibling with tear-stained cheeks. My makeup is no doubt a mess, but I couldn’t care at this moment. “You knew?”
He relinquishes his hold. I step away and stand closer to Barrett, eyeing my brother as though he’s a stranger. Perhaps he is?
“Some of it,” he confesses. “Yes.”
My beautiful brother. My dusty blond prince. He was the one who protected me from as far back as I can remember. He’s always been my hero. My failsafe.
How many other secrets has he kept?
“Why didn’t you say anything?” I whisper.
Barrett casually slips his blazer back on, strangely unaffected by my brother’s confession. “You two can discuss it later, Lacey. Give this time.” Isn’t he surprised Colt knew as well?
I advance on him, equal parts astounded by what he suggests and the look of indifference that tears at my already wounded heart. “How much time, exactly?” I snap. “Because I don’t see how I feel about this getting any easier.”
“Where’s Mum?” Colt asks, locking his silver SUV.
“Inside.” I don’t recognise my voice. Who is this cold and angry girl?
Colt strides past us both to head indoors, leaving me alone on the sidewalk with Barrett. I bend at the knees and retrieve my things from the pavement, peeking toward the neighbour’s windows from beneath my lashes. How many of them watched? How many of them knew too?
“Would you like me to come in?”
Head down, I stare at Barrett’s perfectly polished boots. My hair tangles around my neck; my blouse sits crooked. For all I know, my short skirt shows half my arse, but again, stuff appearances. Who cares about proper form when your father just left in handcuffs?
“No. Thank you for the offer, though.” I glance at the Ferrari. “And the ride.”
He shoves both hands in his tailored pant pockets. “When should I pick you up from Greer’s?”
He saw what happened, right? I stare at him, brow furrowed and eyes hard. “Are you kidding?”
“You asked me to give you a lift, like, fifteen minutes ago.” His eyes narrow.
“I’m not going anywhere tonight.” Does he seriously think I can party when my father is behind bars? “What kind of person do you think I am?”
“One who knows what’s best for her.” He tugs one hand free, reaching out as he steps closer. “Unwind with us tonight.”
I jerk back. “My family come first, Barrett.” They always have. And they always will.
They’re the whole damn reason I started this crazy conquest in the first place.
“Derek.” My mother coos the barrister’s name in rich, dulcet tones. “I’m so glad you could make it at such short notice.” She sets her hands gently either side of his face briefly, giving the man a welcoming smile.
I tuck my knees tighter against my chest. The warmth of the thick woollen blanket over my legs provides a shield from our visitor.
I don’t trust Derek. I can’t pinpoint what it is about him, but the guy simply rubs me up the wrong way. Maybe the old saying that it takes one to know one is why I feel as though the man is nothing but an opportunist.
“Have you been to see him?” Derek asks our mother, following her into the parlour. “I don’t want him to make a statement until I’ve arrived.” The solid gold rings on his fingers catch the sun as he unbuttons his jacket.
“James isn’t that stupid.” Mum flicks her hand, silently ordering Colt out of her chair. “He won’t have said a thing.”
My brother stands, unhurriedly making his way across the room to take a seat on the floor at my feet. I reach out from beneath the blanket and toy with the ends of his blond hair. It hasn’t escaped my attention that Colt doesn’t seem all too pleased with Derek’s arrival, either.
“What are we looking at, Alisha?” Decked out in a tidy three-piece, the six-foot serpent takes a seat on the adjacent sofa and promptly drops a new jotter to the coffee table.
Mother lifts her chin, pointedly staring at Colt and I. “Perhaps you two could take leave?”
“Why? I want to hear what Derek has to say,” I protest.
Colt’s hand finds my shin through the wool.
“It’s nothing for you to concern yourself with yet, darling.” The moniker holds no love. “I’ll update you once Derek has solid facts for us.”
“Come on.” Colt taps my leg and then rises to his feet. “I’ll take you shopping.”
“I don’t want to go shopping,” I snap. “I want to know what’s happening with our father.”
“Then we can grab a coffee. If it makes you feel better, I’ll drop you at Libby’s.” His eyes scream the unspoken words, “Just move.”
Reluctantly, I untangle myself from the blanket and stand. Derek watches me with an unsettling tolerance, while my mother bores holes in my head with her impatient intensity.
“Would you excuse me a moment?” She rests a hand gently atop Derek’s knee and then rises from her seat. “Lacey?”
I follow Mum into the foyer of our home and wait while she watches Colt continue past us toward his room. Her hands sit lightly linked before her, lips in a firm line. “What is your problem?” Her tone is accusatory, not an ounce of the maternal care I long ago gave up expecting from her. “Derek is here to help us, and I need the space to think while he discusses options.”
“What option
