by Cara E Holt
“Thanks, Dad,” I tell him. I’m so grateful that I can call him and know he’ll sort things for us.
“I’ll call you back as soon as I can, honey.”
I put the phone down and just sit for a few seconds and try to process things. I climb out of bed and pad down to Dom and Izzy’s room and knock gently on the door.
“Go away,” grumbles Dom, sleepily.
“It’s urgent,” I whisper-shout to him through the door. A second later the door opens and Dom stands before me in his boxers, rubbing at his eyes.
“It’s seven in the morning Ev,” he groans.
“Believe me, I know,” I say. “Grayson’s just had a call, his dad is dead, Dom.”
Dom blinks, and he is suddenly awake and alert. “He’s dead?”
I nod. “Gunshot wound to the head. I think Grayson’s in shock. I’ve just sent him to get showered.”
Dom blows out a breath and swears under his breath. “I’ll get dressed now.”
I leave him to get changed and return to our room. When I walk in Grayson is just standing there with his towel wrapped around his waist staring out of the window. I walk up behind him and press a kiss to his back.
“Baby, talk to me. You scare me when you’re this quiet.” I wrap my arms around his middle and lean my face against his back. He places his hands over mine and pats them.
“I’m okay, I promise. It’s just a shock. How am I going to tell Ems?”
“I don’t know, but I know she needs to hear it from you.”
He nods and gently pulls away from me. Dropping his towel, he grabs some boxers out of the drawers and pulls them on. “I need coffee,” he sighs as he pulls on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.
My phone rings, and it’s my dad.
“I got you both flights for in three hours’ time, I’ll collect you both from the airport.”
“Thanks Dad, we’ll see you later today.”
THE NEXT FEW HOURS are a blur. Everyone silently gathers in the kitchen as we wait for the taxi to the airport. Owen is pacing the floor as he tries to sort a flight home. He wants to be there to support Ems. Everyone else agrees that they don’t want to stay on after this and Jacob is trying to book flights for everyone else.
I still can’t wrap my head around it. He’s dead. Grayson is an orphan. He is almost eighteen and both his parents are dead. How unfair and unjust is that? Our taxi arrives and we say quick goodbye to everyone and head off for the airport.
Throughout the flight Grayson is eerily quiet, but he never lets go of my hand.
MY DAD IS WAITING FOR us when we come through arrivals. His face is grim as he hugs me, and then he pulls Grayson into a hug.
“I’m sorry, son,” he tells him and Grayson just nods and thanks him.
Dad suggests we head back to our house and then he’ll take Grayson down to the police station. Izzy texts me as we pull up at home to say they have managed to get flights for seven o’clock this evening. Owen has got an earlier flight at four o’clock.
When we enter the house Sophie is there to hug us and she fusses and makes us both a cup of tea. Grayson doesn’t even drink tea, but he takes the cup, thanking her, and sits himself at the island. I go to sit beside him and he reaches for me and pulls me onto his lap. I don’t question him, if he needs me close, then he’s got me. I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss his head.
“You’ll both stay here,” Sophie suggests. “Do you have other family?”
Grayson blinks and shakes his head. “Not that I know of. All our grandparents are dead. I think my dad had a brother but they’ve been estranged for years.”
“Oh god,” he says, going pale, “They’ll put my sister in care.”
My dad puts his hand on Grayson’s shoulder. “We won’t let that happen. I promise you, Grayson. I’m going to give our solicitor a ring now and get some advice. You’re both staying with us and that is that.”
Grayson nods, looking reassured. I hadn’t even considered that they were both still classed as minors and were now without legal guardians.
My dad and Grayson leave for the police station some twenty minutes later.
I drop my head into my hands as soon as they have gone, feeling exhausted. Sophie comes up to me and pulls me into a hug.
“I still can’t believe it,” I tell her. “Do you think it was suicide?’
Sophie shakes her head. “I have no idea. It has to be, otherwise the other alternative is that someone killed him.”
I shudder as a chill runs down my spine. It hasn’t even crossed my mind that this could be a murder. Could someone have killed him? His dad was not a likeable man, and he likely had a lot of enemies. I yawn, feeling emotionally drained.
“Why don’t you get some sleep while they’re gone. You look exhausted,” Sophie suggests. I nod in agreement and finishing my brew, I place my cup in the dishwasher and head up to my room.
I lie down and stare up at the ceiling. Just two days ago we were planning our future and now, well, who the hell knows? Would Grayson inherit his Dad’s business now? Will the board expect him to step up and take the helm? Were our Ibiza plans now just a distant dream?
I feel soft kisses on my thighs that make me shudder in pleasure. I rub my eyes as I slowly awaken and it’s to find Grayson between my legs kissing up my thighs.
“Gray,” I mumble, sitting up on my elbows. “You’re back.”
He reaches up and puts a finger to my lips shushing me as his lips continue to drop barely there kisses up and down my thighs.
I frown. As much as I am enjoying what he is doing. He has just been to the police station to talk to them about his dead father.
I reach down and gently tug his head up, forcing him to look at me.
“Talk to me,” I urge him, searching his eyes for some clue as to how he was dealing with all this.
Grayson closes his eyes for a beat, and then he meets my concerned gaze. “They think he was murdered.”
A cold chill races through my body. “Murdered,” I repeat, unable to process this news.
Grayson sits up and nods. “Shot at point blank range.”
I sit up on my knees and shuffle towards him until I can sit myself in his lap and wrap my arms around his neck.
“I’m so sorry, Posh,” I tell him, dropping a kiss on his cheek. “Are you okay?”
Grayson scoffs. “Is it terrible that I feel nothing? No guilt, no sadness, no loss. I hated my father, there was no love between us.”
I nod. I understood. I know how fucked up their relationship was, but he was still his father.
“I’ve hated him for as long as I can remember. Thank fuck I was in Ibiza when he was shot or I’d likely be suspect number one on the polices list.”
He is right. It is something that hasn’t crossed my mind, and I thank the heavens that we were miles away in sunny Ibiza when his father took his last breath.
“Do they have a suspect?”
Grayson sniggers. “There’ll be a long line of suspects, baby. My father was not a well-liked man, he’d trample on anyone to get to where he wanted to be.”
Grayson yawns. He looks exhausted.
“You need to sleep,” I tell him. “You get your head down and I’ll see if dad has got any updates from his solicitor.”
I go to climb off his knee, but he places a hand on my thigh, stopping me in my tracks. There’s vulnerability in his eyes as he holds me. “Ev, would you stay with me? I just need to hold you?”
I nod. I’ll give him anything he needs. Whatever helps him get through this. I climb off him and guide him down onto the bed with me, and he pulls me against him so that my back is flush with his chest. He wraps his arm around my stomach and I place my hands over his, offering him physical reassurance.
“Sleep, Gray. I’ve got you.”
A HAND GENTLY TAPS my shoulder and I open my eyes to find my dad standing over my bed. He offers me a soft smile.
“Sorry to wake you both, but we need to get Emily and tell
her what’s happened.”
Grayson tenses behind me.
My guy is going to have to tell his little sister that their father has been murdered in their family home. It will devastate her. As much as she has recently seen the darker side to her dad, she has always idolised him and held him up on some imaginary pedestal.
We’re quiet as we both shower and change. In the shower, I wash him while he stands there in silence and just watches me. He sits on the bed as I look through the pile of clothes that Sophie has laundered and dried while we slept for a couple of hours, and I walk over to him and hand him a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt. He looks up at me as he takes the clothes from me and he smiles. It is a sad smile that breaks my heart. I hate that he’s going through this. He has been through enough in this life, finding his mother dead by her own hands at such a young age. Why is it that some people are dealt blow after blow and others breeze through life, experiencing no real tragedy of any kind?
Dad takes us on the two-hour drive to Emily’s boarding school. I’m sitting in the back with Grayson. His hand grips mine as he stares out through the passenger window.
Dread pools in my stomach when we pull up in the elaborate drive of the prestigious school with its high sweeping gothic towers and gothic architecture.
“Do you want to do this alone or do you want me or my dad with you?” I ask him before we climb out of the car.
He looks at me and then at my dad before he answers. ‘Would it be okay if you were both there with me? I’m not great at this kind of thing.”
I nod at the same time as my dad tells him we’ll both be there with him.
Chapter 9
THE HEAD MISTRESS GREETS us with and offers Grayson her deepest condolences. Grayson smiles politely as she informs him that Emily has been collected from class and she is currently sitting in a small office just off the foyer. The head mistress leads us to the office, and she opens the door and holds it open for us all to enter.
Emily’s head jerks up, and she grins when she sees her brother and me.
“Grayson, Everly, what are you both doing here?” She studies our faces and her smile drops as she picks up that something is wrong. She stands to her feet and gulps when she realises my dad is also with us. “What’s going on? Is something wrong?”
Grayson smiles at her softly as he walks over to her. He pulls her into his arms, wrapping his arms tightly around her, and she places hers around his waist.
“What is it?”
“There’s no easy way to tell you this,” he says as he kisses the top of her head. “He’s gone, Ems. Dad’s dead.”
Ems eyes widen in shock as she processes what he has just told her. She pulls herself from his arms and takes a step back, shaking her head over and over. “No. You can’t say that kind of thing.” Her eyes search her brothers. “You’re lying.”
Grayson steps forward and reaches for her, but she steps back again and folds her arms around herself.
“Ems,” I say, taking a tentative step towards her. “I’m sorry, girl, but its true. Your dad is no longer with us. He’s gone.”
Ems whimpers as she registers my words, and she drops to the floor and clutches her face in her hands. “He can’t be gone. I mean he’s healthy, he’s too young to die.”
Grayson drops to his knees in front of her and cups her face in his hands. “He was shot, Ems. Someone shot him and killed him.”
Ems breaks down sobbing and Grayson pulls her into his lap and rocks her as she breaks her little heart out. I reach my hand out to my side until I find my dad’s hand and he takes mine in his and holds it tight. I swipe my tears away with my other hand. I know this pain all too well. I know what it feels like to lose a parent, only I had time with my mum. We had time to say our goodbyes and process that she was going to die. The last time Ems had seen her father he’d been drunk and hurtful, and that would be the last memory she had of him.
On the journey back home, Grayson sits in the back with Ems and I sit up front with my dad. Dom texts to tell me they are home and that Owen is at our house and refuses to leave until he has seen Ems. I text him back and tell him I think it’s good that Owen is there. I think she will want him to be there when we arrive. No one talks all the way home. There’s an eerie silence in the car, only broken by the occasional whimper from Ems.
When we arrive home, Ems clings to her brother as he guides her out of the car and into my home. When we enter, Sophie, Dom and Owen are all sitting in the living area waiting for us. They all stand to their feet.
“Ems,” Owen breathes, looking heartbroken for his girl.
As soon as she sees’s him, she pulls herself from Grayson and runs to him sobbing. He sweeps her up in his arms and hugs her tightly, whispering words of comfort in her ear.
“I got you love. I’m here. I’m here for you.”
If Grayson has any doubts still that Owen isn’t serious about his sister, then they are extinguished right here in this moment. Owen loves her, that much is obvious.
“I’ll make everyone some tea,” Sophie suggests, and she guides Dom with her to give Owen and Ems some time alone. Grayson hesitates, looking like he does not want to leave her, so I wrap my fingers around his arm and snag his attention.
“Come on, she’s okay. Let her have five minutes with Owen.”
Grayson nods and linking his fingers with mine we join the others around the kitchen island. Dom strides over to Grayson and pulls him into a firm hug.
“I’m so sorry, G.”
Grayson hugs him back and I hear him mumble a thank you to his best friend. We would all be here for the both of them through this. They were not alone.
THE NEXT FEW WEEKS are a blur of activity and emotion. The autopsy confirms that a single bullet to the head killed Mr St. Clair. He would have died instantly and felt no pain, nothing.
The funeral is a cold and wet day. Ems clings to her brother, sobbing as their father’s coffin lowers into the ground. Grayson insisted on a new plot for his father. There was no way in hell he would agree to bury that man in the same plot as his mother. Ems had been hysterical when he’d told her they would be buried separately. She didn’t understand the dark past their mother had experienced at the hands of their father.
One of the board members of his dad’s company took on the role of executor of the will. My father’s solicitor had helped him sort it so that Social Services agreed Ems and Grayson would live with us on a family and friends foster placement until they could get guardianship for them both. By the time that is likely agreed, Grayson would be eighteen anyway and an adult. I am so grateful for what they have done for my boyfriend and his sister. Taking them in and taking responsibility for them so that they wouldn’t end up in care.
Sophie is already busy arranging for decorators to come in and paint the study so that it would feel like a proper bedroom for Ems. Ems will also not be returning to boarding school. It is the one thing everyone agreed on. She needs to be here with people around her to offer her love and support whilst she grieves for her father.
The police are still investigating the murder and they have interviewed a long line of potential suspects, including Paige and her parents, who have a watertight alibi as they had been out at a function that evening. There is one person however the police could not track down, and that is Tess. She seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth. I have trouble believing that Tess could be a suspect; I mean yeah, she is gold digger but a murderer?
My phone rings in my pocket and I pull it out to see Courtney is calling me.
“Hey girl,” I say with a smile on my face.
“Hey, Ev. Have you heard anything from Ty? No one knows where he is. Some of Doyle’s men were round at Jake’s looking for him last night. I think he’s in real trouble.”
I shake my head and frown. “No, I haven’t heard off him for a few weeks. When did anyone last see him?”
“No one’s seen him since yesterday morning.”
I nod my
head. “What about his phone?”
“It’s going to voicemail.”
I chew on my lip. “I’ll try calling him and see if he answers. Oh hey, in better news, guess whose coming up north this weekend?”
“Shut the front door!” Courtney squeals. “For the whole weekend?”
“Yep,” I say, smiling at how stoked my friend is about seeing me. “And I’m bringing Grayson.”
Courtney squeals again and I hold the phone away from my ear.
I will save the news that I am up there to meet with the estate agents and get the property on the market until I can tell her face to face. I have the feeling that this will be news she will be less thrilled over.
“I’ll text you and let you know when we’re arriving, and I’ll try to see if Ty will answer to me now.”
Courtney breathes a sigh of thanks. “That would be great, Ev. Jakes really worried about him.”
I end my call with Courtney, and I call Ty’s number. My hopes are dashed when it goes straight to voicemail. His phone is either dead or switched off.
“You okay?” Grayson asks, as he comes to sit beside me in the school cafeteria. He leans in and brushes my hair off my face.
I nod, deep in thought. “I think Tyler’s got himself in trouble with a local gang back home. No one’s seen him since yesterday.”
Grayson frowns. Whenever I mention Tyler’s name, his mood turns sour. I can’t say I blame him, I mean I had confessed to Grayson that Tyler had kissed me that first time I went home and then when I’d returned home over the whole Imogen crap I’d kissed him.
“Tyler’s big enough to look after himself Manchester. He’s not your problem to solve.”
“I know,” I say, resting my head on his shoulder.
Owen drums his hands on the table. “Never mind this Ty, guy. What’s this about a road trip up north and the rest of us not being invited?” Noah pouts at me.
Grayson rolls his eyes and ignores Owen, scrolling through his phone.