Escape: A Stepbrother Romance (12 page)

Each file contained a similarly horrifying story where someone had been convicted in cases where procedures had not been followed and, in some cases, the police acted dishonestly with evidence.

“Why are you showing me these?” I asked at last. While my eleven-year-old self had found it disturbing, this hadn’t quite been the cool secret I was expecting.

“These are all cases my office agreed to look at on a
pro bono
basis because these people cannot afford legal representation. ‘
Pro bono
’ means without charging anyone.”

I was even more impressed by Gemma than I had been before. Now I knew that not only did she make a tonne of money, she also did work in her spare time to help those who couldn’t afford it. It was just a reminder of what my mum could have been.

“These must keep you busy,” I said.

Gemma shook her head. “I don’t work on these cases. No one in my office has any time and, frankly, we’re all too obsessed with chasing more money to do this work. But I do know a qualified barrister who is happy to work for free without getting any credit for it.”

“Who’s that?” I asked. I guess I’d been dumb as a kid.

“Your mother, Victoria,” Gemma replied. “She told me about the argument you had with her yesterday. She’d kill me if she knew I was here and I could get in a lot of trouble for showing you these files, but you need to know that your mother is not ‘just a housewife’ as you put it. For one thing, when you’re older you will realize that looking after a child is a hell of a lot of work, but you probably won’t appreciate that until you have one of your own. However, even on top of all that, she is responsible for freeing at least seventeen people from unfair convictions and she is working on many more.”

“Shit,” I exclaimed. I’d just learned a new swear word at school, but forgot I shouldn’t be saying it in front of adults.

I expected Gemma to yell at me for my choice of words, but she burst out laughing. “Don’t let your father hear you speak like that,” she said. “God, you sounded just like your mother than.”

“My mother swears?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Gemma said. “Listen, you can’t tell your mother I showed you these, but will you promise me to show her more respect?”

I nodded. “Maybe I can help her with these one day?”

“Sure, maybe. But I don’t think your mother wants you to become a barrister. Why don’t you spend time together some other way. I know you look down on it, but she really enjoys cooking, especially for you. Why don’t you do that together?”

Thanks to Gemma I had five years to really appreciate my mother and spend time cooking with her. We never spoke again about the argument, so I didn’t know whether Gemma told her about our discussion, but it didn’t seem to matter. I never formally apologized—something I still regretted—but I liked to think that I made it up to her by my actions.

Gemma only lived a few minutes away and she was scarily punctual, so I was not in the least bit surprised when she knocked on the door at exactly one o’clock. At the same time, I heard the heavy footsteps of Caiden running down the stairs.

“I’ll get it,” I yelled, running to the door trying to beat Caiden there. The last thing I wanted was for Caiden to inflict himself on Gemma. I heard the sound of the door opening as I rounded the corner to see Caiden had just beaten me there. He was carrying a duffel bag packed full of clothes and looked ready to leave.

“Oh, hello,” Gemma said startled, as she came face-to-face with Caiden. “You must be Caiden.”

“Yes ma’am,” Caiden replied. “Has Vicky told you all about me?” Apparently Caiden could be polite when he wanted to be and for some reason that annoyed me as much as him being rude.

“No, I heard the news from Victoria’s father. I’m a big fan of your mum’s though. In fact, I think Victoria and I are going to cook one of her recipes today.”

“Great,” Caiden replied. He still sounded polite, but I caught the hint of sarcasm in his voice. “Well, I’m off back to London so I will leave you ladies to it. Look after Vicky for me. She seems to be a little
tense
right now.”

Caiden turned back to look at me and grinned before walking out of the house and getting into a taxi that had just pulled up outside.

“Come in, come in,” I said to Gemma who was still standing on the doorstep.

“So that’s the new member of the family, is it?”

“Not yet,” I said, as if that made a difference. “But yes, it looks like I will be seeing a lot more of him.”

“Well it’s a good job he’s easy on the eye than.”

“Gemma,” I exclaimed. “That’s disgusting. He’s going to be my brother.”

Gemma frowned. “No, he’s not. He won’t be anything like a brother. Don’t tell me you can’t see the appeal there?”

“No,” I said, far too quickly. “He has tattoos and he’s rather vulgar. That polite thing was just an act.”

“Good,” Gemma said. “Who wants polite? I wouldn’t dismiss him too quickly if I were you. That is a man who knows exactly how to treat a woman, and I don’t mean holding doors open for them.”

“Gemma, he’s half your age.”

“So, he’s nineteen and legal. I have needs as well and I’d be willing to bet he could satisfy them with ease.”

“Well, you’re welcome to him,” I said.

“I don’t mean to pry into your personal life, but I’m guessing you don’t have too much experience with this kind of thing. You don’t have to say anything, but let me give you a piece of advice. In a few months you will be going to Cambridge from what I hear. I’m sure they have some great professors there, but what you need this summer is someone who will teach you about some of the more basic things in life. Caiden looks like a great teacher.”

“My dad would go mental,” I said.

“That just makes it all the more fun,” Gemma said with a wink. “Anyway, your dad won’t be happy unless you stay a virgin until you’re married, and even then I think he’d rather you only did the deed for procreation purposes.”

I laughed. “Come on, let’s go cook. I wasn’t planning on cooking any of Sheri Ramsden’s recipes today though.”

“That’s okay, I was just saying that to be polite to Caiden. I’m sure whatever you pick is fine.”

I had all the ingredients laid out alongside all the pots, pans, and other utensils we would need for the meal. My father had informed me that he would be eating out with Sheri tonight, and with Caiden now gone Gemma and I would just cooking be for the two of us.

We still made a full three course meal, although as always most of our attention went into the dessert. Baking was by far my favourite type of cooking, and it was just a fortunate coincidence that desserts were also my favourite type of food to eat.

“How are you handling the news?” Gemma asked. “I mean, I guess having a fine specimen like Caiden around helps, but are you okay with your father marrying another woman?”

“It doesn’t bother me that much. I know it’s supposed to, but Dad moved on a long time ago and Mum’s in a difficult place right now. Have you spoken to her recently?”

Gemma paused and didn’t answer immediately. She found it difficult to talk about Mum’s condition and often got teary-eyed when I brought it up. She could talk about Mum in the past tense and was always happy to give me information about what she was like before the accident, but everything after that was difficult.

“Not recently,” Gemma replied quietly without looking at me.

“I haven’t spoken to her in a couple of weeks either,” I said. “But I’m speaking to her tomorrow. It’s all organized. Apparently our discussions leave her feeling upset and emotional, so we have to limit them to once every two weeks. I do hope she gets better soon. I want to tell her about Cambridge. Do you think she’ll be pleased to hear about me going there?”

“She’ll be very proud.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“Victoria, your mum wants you to live your life. Your own life. So long as you are doing what you want to do she will be proud and happy for you. Do you want to go to Cambridge?”

“A degree from the University of Cambridge will set me up for a great career,” I replied.

“That’s not what I asked,” Gemma said, parroting my words back to me.

“You think I’m just going because of Dad, don’t you?”

“You know how I feel about your father.” Gemma could be polite and cordial to my dad when she had to be, but she always asked me whether he would be at home when we were spending time together because she would rather not see him if she had a choice.

“I think Mum regrets going to Cambridge.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because that’s where she met Dad. I don’t think she was ever entirely happy with my father. They made a great couple on paper, but I’m not sure they really ever loved each other.”

“They had an unusual relationship,” Gemma admitted. “But if your mother hadn’t met your father then she would never have had you. I guarantee you, no matter how difficult it was for her at times, she wouldn’t have swapped it for the world. You meant… mean everything to her.”

“I just wished she could have met someone that really kept her happy. She still might of course. The doctors say she is getting better, and fingers crossed she’ll regain all her mental faculties one-day. I just hope it’s not too late by that point. Do you think Dad cheated on her?”

I’d suspected as much for years. Although I had been too young to understand at the time, my dad had often stayed overnight in the City because, according to him, he finished work too late to come home. I knew solicitors worked long hours, but most of them still made it home at the end of the day.

“It’s not my place to say,” Gemma said.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to say anything. It’s not like I could hate my dad much more than I already do right now. Mum deserved better that’s all.”

“She did,” Gemma replied. I caught her wiping a tear from the corner of her eye, but carried on chopping carrots so as not to embarrass her. “Promise me one thing,” Gemma continued, “don’t settle. Don’t end up with someone convenient or someone who is a good fit on paper. And certainly don’t put up with cheating. Your mum deserved better and so do you. You promise?”

“I promise,” I said.

When Gemma mentioned settling for someone who was a good fit on paper my first thought was Oliver. I’d only met him a few times over the course of a weekend, but he seemed like my destiny. Dad would love him. But I knew I never would.

There were no other men in my life except Caiden but Gemma wouldn’t approve of him either, not if she knew he was on his way back to London to screw someone else right now. It wasn’t cheating, not technically, but it sure as hell felt like it. He was screwing someone else and it was tearing me up inside. If he was capable of doing that to me when we’d only shared one night together then he would cause me no end of misery if I let anything else happen between us.

Caiden was the polar opposite of my father in many ways, but my father had cheated on my mother, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that Caiden would cheat on me the same way. I wanted to make my mother proud, and that meant being with someone who respected me. Caiden was not that person.

The small town of Windsor was not the best place to be when you wanted to get your mind off someone. My usual way of dealing with problems consisted of finding a new woman to screw. I’d never been able to worry about a problem while balls deep in a new piece of pussy. I wasn’t going to find any of that around here.

After Vicky had stormed out of the pub, I’d gone home to grab my bag and had gone straight to London. I didn’t want to go all the way back to the penthouse, but I had to after the fuss I’d made in the pub. It was a long train ride and I had no intent of meeting up with Naomi, so it was a wasted trip. Fortunately, Naomi didn’t know where I lived, so I texted back to tell her I was staying outside of London and wouldn’t be able to hook up with her.

I thought Sheri might have been exaggerating about canceling the lease, but I found a note under the door from the landlord confirming that the lease would expire in a week. Most of the furniture had been there when I moved in and included in the rent, but I’d acquired boxes of books and a few additional wardrobe’s worth of clothes in the time I’d been in London. I decided to stay at the penthouse because I wasn’t ready to deal with Vicky just yet.