We all to go dinner at Nobu, except for BJ and Jordan. Don’t know why they didn’t come, but we head back to Jo and BJ’s house after. And the night’s looking to be fairly chill.
Everyone’s behaving. Neither Henry or Jo are being particularly territorial of Taura — don’t know what that means really on a larger scale, but for this evening, I’m taking it as the win it is.
Magnolia and BJ are their regular, weird selves. Stolen glances and all-round inappropriate behaviour for two people who are not dating each other.
I watch it crush my friend.
I know the feeling, I lived with it myself for a long time and I feel for him. But his hands are tied because what can he do?
Daisy and I talked about it, she’s pretty wound up about it all.
She’s convinced Magnolia likes Julian back, and I said that she might be right, but then you look at her and BJ and it just doesn’t size up. Nothing ever does.
And she said maybe it could if Julian told her and they gave it a proper shot, and I said, “How proper could the shot be? He doesn’t want to be in love.”
“But he’s already in it.” She frowned up at me.
I pushed some hair behind her ear. “I think you’re just going to have to leave it, Baby.”
Her chin sunk in. “But his heart’s going to break.”
I nodded and squeezed her hand. “Probably, yeah.”
The novelty of being with Daisy like this, it’s still real shiny.
She sits on my lap instead of a seat every chance she gets. Whenever we’re standing, whether she’s facing me or her back’s to me, her hands are in my pockets. Front pockets, back pockets, the big one at the front of a hoodie, her and her little ice-lollie hands always find mine, and we’re probably annoying and I definitely don’t give a shit.
A bit into the night, Julian’s phone rings.
“Teeks—” he says into it. “What’s up?” His face falters. “What?” He stands, pressing his finger into his ear, moving away from us all.
Daisy doesn’t catch it, misses the whole thing. She’s laughing too much at a story Henry’s telling about when their dad was detained because they thought he was smuggling children into Britain because we got separated from each other in customs at the Austrian border. The girls were taking too long in Duty Free and Lily went ahead with the rest of us but Hamish stayed trying to wrangle Magnolia, Allie, Madie and Paili, and Magnolia started crying because she said she felt misunderstood when people rushed her in the cosmetics section, and the customs official thought she was being trafficked.
So Daisy misses it, but I don’t miss it.
I’m watching Julian closely and so is Jo.
When Julian leaves the room, phone still pressed against his ear I stand up casually, stretch and kiss Daisy on top of her head.
“Want another wine?” I ask her.
She gives me a quick nod and keeps laughing at Henry.
Jonah ducks away, following him and a minute later I slip in behind him.
Julian’s standing in the corner of Jonah’s room, staring at his phone screen.
“What?” I ask, closing the door behind me.
Julian shakes his head a tiny bit. “Gilpatrick.”
“What?” Jo frowns but I know.
I go still.
“Cian Gilpatrick—” Julian stares over at me. “TK just flagged him flying through Heathrow.”
“Okay?” Jo frowns a bit more.
Julian licks his bottom lip. “Daisy killed his brother last year.”
“Accidentally—” I tack on at the end, like that fucking matters now.
“Oh, shit.” Jonah blinks. “He’s one of Roisin’s boys, yeah?”
Julian nods.
“Jules, it might be nothing—” I shrug, trying my best to believe that.
Julian tosses me a look. “It’s never nothing with them.”
He sighs, shakes his head a bit. Shoves his hands through his hair.
Then he looks from me to Jo, his eyes all pinched. “Roisin was in Italy.”
“What?” I blink.
Jonah shakes his head. “What are you talking about?”
“She called me.” Julian shrugged.
“Roisin?” I blinked.
Jules nodded.
“Did you see her?”
He nods again.
“Why?” Jonah asks carefully.
Julian presses his tongue into his cheek. “Because she’s my mum’s sister.” He grimaces, then looks straight at me. “Daisy doesn’t know—”
“What?” I blink.
“Don’t tell her—” He shakes his head.
“Julian—” My head rolls back. “Why the fuck wouldn’t you tell her?”
He gets a look on his face, as dark as it is protective. “They’ve never been and won’t ever be any kind of family to her, you can trust me on that.”
I stare over at him, not completely sure what he’s actually getting at.
“Are you saying you think Cian Gilpatrick is here to k—” I can’t even say it. Shake my head. “Here for Daisy?”
Julian presses his hand into his mouth. “Or Magnolia.”
“What?” Jonah’s entire body swivels.
Julian shakes his head. “Ro said something about Parks when I was there—”
“Julian—” Jonah warns.
“I know—” He shakes his head. “It’s fine. I’m going to — I told her it was nothing. She believed me, I think—”
I watch Julian’s face. I can’t tell if that’s true. I can tell he wants it to be, whether it is or not though, I don’t know…
“What exactly did she say?” Jonah asks him very clearly.
“She just made a comment about me having a girlfriend—”
“Shit.” My brother growls.
“I told her it was bullshit—” Jules shakes his head, but he looks worried. “That she’s on the cover of every magazine about with her actual boyfriend.”
Jo glares over at him a bit, and I know what’s going through his head is the same thing that’s going through mine. We should have never let this happen.
“So, what the fuck do we do?” I ask, shaking my head, looking between them.
Julian points at me.
“You’re going to take Daisy home to the Compound, she’s not going to know anything is wrong, it’ll be business as usual for her—”
I frown at him but he shakes his head.
“I’ve tripled the security, everyone in the house knows that they are to save her at all costs or die trying—” I feel sick.
I’m going to be sick thinking about something happening to her.
Julian sees it on my face, catches my eye as he grabs my shoulder.
“Christian, you just need to keep her calm. Take her home, tell her you have a craving for — something complicated someone you loved used to make—”
“Mum doesn’t cook—”
“Then a grandma — you had a grandma who made a fucking ace éclair—”
“We had a grandma who loved a drop—” Jo offers unhelpfully.
Her brother gives mine a look that shuts him up before he turns back to me.
“Just keep her busy.”
“And Parks?” Jonah asks, eyebrows up. He’s worried. He’s keeping it cool on the surface, but he’s freaking out. He loves her like the sister we lost.
“And herein lies the problem—” Julian starts pacing. “If I react, pull Magnolia somewhere to keep her safe, then she’s my girlfriend and she’s a target. If I leave her, she’s open, she’s a target.”
I look between them. “We should tell Beej—”
Jonah looks over at me sharply. “Are you fucking daft?”
“Yeah?” Julian says, eyebrows up. “What’s he going to do, smoulder down the barrel of a gun?”
“Yeah—” I glare at him, give him a shrug. “Or just not put her in front of a gun in the first place.”
Julian points at me. “Not the fucking time, Christian—”
“I’ll stay with Taura tonight.” Jo nods. “I’ll stay at Taura’s, get Mum to send some men out for patrol… it’ll be fine.”
“Yeah and if they get through?” I stare over at him. “Then it’s just you and the two most unequipped girls in Britain.”
Julian presses his hands into his eyes and Jonah gives me a look.
“Not helping.”
