Cash waited for Natalia to climb into bed before he flicked off the bedside lamp, which plunged the room into darkness except for a trickle of light that bled through the curtains. With only the sound of Darcey’s soft breathing, Cash could trick himself into thinking they didn’t have a care in the world.

Except that Pete’s revelations—and Natalia’s response—meant anything but.

She curled into his side, needing contact with him as much as he did with her. He draped an arm around her waist, his thumb gently brushing her hip, and he waited. After a couple of soft sighs, Natalia lifted her head off the pillow.

“You think I’m making a mistake, don’t you?”

He hesitated, wanting to take a second or two to make sure his response was the right one.

“I’m torn between wanting to support you and being worried that meeting your mother will bring you further heartache. We’ve both had our fair share of that, and I hoped that now it was our turn to live the happily ever after.”

She kissed his shoulder, the closest part of his body to her mouth, and then left her lips there. Her breath was hot against his skin, and he tightened his hold on her hip at the resultant rush of pleasure.

“I’m strong enough to deal with this, ace. Trust me.”

“I do trust you, but I’m aware of how much your mother leaving impacted your entire life. I know she’s the reason you’re so down on yourself about who you are and the way you look, and it pisses me off.”

“I know.” She giggled. “Couldn’t miss the death stare when I mentioned not getting my arse from her.”

“You saw that, then?”

She waved her hand in front of her face. “Yep. Got the burns to prove it.”

He chuckled, despite the seriousness of the situation. “I don’t want her to hurt you any more than she already has.”

Natalia set her jaw. “She won’t.”

“Hell of a shock though, baby. Even you can’t have imagined the real reason she left.”

“No.”

Her voice broke slightly on the painful admission, and Cash rolled over and held her gently against his chest. He stroked her hair while trying to come up with some fantastically brilliant sentence that would make her feel better. He sensed her pain keenly, as sharp as if it were his own.

“Will you stay with me when she comes?”

“If that’s what you want,” he said.

“It is—but try to hold that Irish tongue of yours.”

“I have no idea what you’re trying to insinuate,” he teased.

They fell into silence. Exhausted, Cash drifted into near sleep. As he was on the brink of unconscious bliss, Natalia spoke.

“Cash?”

He forced his eyes half-open, even though he could have sworn someone had glued tiny weights to the lids in the short time he’d had them shut. “Yeah, baby.”

“I know we can’t have sex yet. But I need to forget everything. I need you to make me forget.”

Natalia’s plea dragged him from sleep. Cash leaned up on his elbow. Her face was half in shadow, but he could see well enough to read she was telling the truth rather than saying what she thought he might want to hear.

He cradled her cheek, and then his hand shifted to cup the back of her neck. He moved his face closer until he could taste her sweet breath. Her lips parted in anticipation.

“I love you,” he whispered before softly covering her mouth with his.

* * *

Em widened her eyes, like a cat with a thermometer suddenly stuck up its arse. Her mouth opened and closed in a fishlike movement. When she finally spoke, it was in true Em style.

“Holy fucking shit.”

“You do know when Darcey gets bigger, you’re going to have to temper that language. Otherwise I’m going to have the most foul-mouthed toddler this side of Chelsea.”

Tally’s teasing made Em’s lips twitch. “Better tell that soon-to-be-husband of yours to shape up as well, then. He makes my foul mouth look like a honey pot.”

“He’s been told,” Tally said, switching Darcey to her right side before her arm went dead. Darcey pulled a face, making her feelings clear about being moved around while sleeping. Fortunately, she didn’t wake.

“I can’t get my head around it,” Em said. “I mean, it’s like something out of a movie rather than real life.”

“Try being inside my head.”

“And Dozer kept this to himself the whole time.”

“Yep.”

“So when are you seeing her?”

Tally let out a soft sigh. “Tonight.”

“How do you feel?”

She grimaced. “Confused, angry. I can’t understand how she could have done it. I mean, why would she take something like heroin in the first place, especially when she had everything she could possibly wish for?”

“I can’t answer the why, babes, but heroin is a tough nut to crack. Remember Harry Roberts who was in sixth form with us? He came from a good family and had the brains to rival Stephen Hawking. And yet he went through shit for years before his parents finally got through to him.”

“I know, but Harry was a kid wanting to experiment. My mother was in her thirties. And she started taking drugs because she was bored. What kind of excuse is that?”

“It’s not an excuse, babes.” Em leaned over Darcey’s pram and fixed the covers, which the baby had kicked off. “Do you look like her?”

Tally shook her head. “She’s very different to me. Taller, thinner—much thinner,” she added with a wry smile. “Dark hair, brown eyes. She wears the years of drug abuse on her face. You can tell she’s been to hell, although beneath that, she’s still pretty.”

“Your brain must be spinning with it all.”

“I’m overwhelmed.” Tally swept a tired hand over her face as Em stood and slung her bag over her shoulder.

“Let’s go for a walk. You look like you need the fresh air.”

Em grabbed Darcey’s buggy and, rather annoyingly, managed to set the damn thing up with no trouble—something Tally still hadn’t mastered.

“A walk sounds good.” Tally carefully tucked Darcey into her buggy, relieved when she managed it without waking her. She grabbed a light jacket and her keys and waved her hand. “You’re on godmother duty.”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Em said, her wide grin growing even wider. She clutched the handle of the buggy and wheeled it outside.

They weren’t too far from Holland Park, which was one of the main reasons Cash and Tally had chosen the house they were living in. While she missed the countryside surrounding their home in Northern Ireland, in London she had the best of both worlds—amenities close by and lots of lovely green open spaces on the doorstep.

They wandered around for a while with Emmalee constantly cooing over Darcey. Tally noticed a few odd glances from people who were probably trying to figure out why her face seemed familiar, but apart from that, they were left alone, although she remained conscious of a paparazzo with a long lens taking snaps that would go viral in hours.

“I need to get back,” Tally said when Darcey began to stir. “She’ll need a feed soon.”

“Do it here,” Em said, pointing to a bench beside the children’s play area.

Tally rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah. Lovely. My tits on display in the newspapers.”

Em laughed. “I’ll shield you with my jacket.”

“Not gonna happen,” Tally said. “Believe me, since being with Cash I’ve had my eyes well and truly opened about how crafty the press can be. I’m a journalist, and I love my profession, but there are some people out there whose job it is to follow around celebrities and wait for an opportunity to get a snap that will earn them big bucks.”

Em raised an eyebrow. “Celebrity, huh?”

“Not me, idiot,” Tally said, getting in a good dig with her elbow, which made Em groan. “But can you imagine how embarrassing that would be for Cash?”

Darcey’s grizzling had now progressed to full-on wailing.

“We’d better go, then,” Em said. “Before your delightful daughter’s crying punctures my eardrums.”

They hadn’t been back long when Cash arrived home, which Em took as her cue to leave. She and Cash shared an awkward half hug. Tally chuckled to herself. Those two vacillated between best buddies and worst enemies.

By the time Tally had seen Em out with a promise to call as soon as her mother had left, Cash already had Darcey in his arms. He was standing by the window, quietly humming to her. She was wide awake, her large blue eyes fixed on his face. Tally couldn’t blame her. She’d found herself doing that hundreds of times, both before she’d ever met him and many times since.

She rested her shoulder against the doorframe and watched the two of them, her heart swelling with love and pride. So many women out there were stuck with useless fathers for their children, or blokes who scarpered the minute they heard the patter of tiny feet. Yet there she was, lucky enough to have snared a guy who was not only seriously hot and talented but could also win a prize for dad of the year.

“Spoiling her again?”

Cash glanced over his shoulder. “Yep.” He cocked his head, signalling for her to go to him. She wandered over, slid her arm around his waist, and leaned her head on his shoulder.

“Nervous?” he said.

“A little.” Tally sighed. “But she wanted to see me, so I’m going to let her do the talking.”

“Good idea.” Cash moved away to settle Darcey in her Moses basket. Once satisfied she was comfortable, he turned around. “Come here, baby,” he said, holding his arms out.

She didn’t need a second invitation. He wrapped his arms around her, his embrace warm and solid—he was her rock in the middle of a stormy sea. As he rubbed her back and stroked her hair, she gradually began to relax, her shoulders retreating from underneath her ears to rest in a more normal position.

She caught sight of the clock on the wall. Two hours until she would come face-to-face with the woman who had abandoned her twenty-two years ago, choosing drugs over her own daughter.

Nerves swarmed her stomach. What if Meredith sucked her in, gave her hope she could have a mother who cared, and then broke her heart all over again?