It wasn’t often I smiled when walking across a university campus, but no amount of students could make me miserable now.

A text from my favorite journalist sure could though.

The leak will happen soon. Real soon. Sorry, there was nothing I could do. Editor’s orders.

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit.

How soon? I asked in reply.

Maybe tomorrow.

Fucking bloody shit. I couldn’t go out with Sophia tomorrow night. Even if the news hadn’t leaked by the evening, she’d wake up to find a hundred photographers outside her door or mine, depending on where we ended up. No country had a press quite like that of Britain. They were ruthless, and they’d be on me, and anyone I was with, in an instant.

I had to see Sophia again. I didn’t just want to squeeze in a little more fun before the news leaked. I wanted to squeeze in a little more fun with her before the news leaked. I doubled back and snuck into the café without her noticing. She was still on her break, studying hard, although she hadn’t turned the page yet. Slow reader perhaps.

Sophia had been talking to another barista when I’d come in and they seemed to be close. Can’t hurt to try.

I walked up to the counter and under my breath introduced myself to a woman called Ellie.

“Did you get anywhere with Sophia?” Ellie asked quietly.

“Yes, but there’s been a change of plans. Do you know where she’s going to be tonight?”

“Oh yeah, I think I can help with that.”

“I wish you would stop stressing about all this and see the positive side,” Tabitha said. My half-sister lived in America now, but that hadn’t stopped her being addicted to tea and biscuits. Even over the video chat, I could see her dunking something resembling a bourbon into her tea.

“There is no positive side,” I insisted. “Our lives are about to get turned upside down. Worst of all, I’m going to end up bringing you and Liam into this mess.”

“It’s not your fault. You can’t help who your father is. Besides, as I keep telling you, you don’t owe us anything. Stop stressing.”

How could she appear so calm all the time? Tabitha could barely get around the house by herself, let alone look after her young son. Yet every time we spoke she always sounded like the happy one, while I was miserable and determined to find a way to fix all my sister’s problems.

“I won’t stop stressing until I’ve fixed this mess,” I replied. “I’m going to get my inheritance, and then I’ll sort everything.”

“You need to let go,” Tabitha said calmly. “Your engagement to Alisa collapsed—thank God—so now you’re not going to get your hands on that inheritance. Time’s almost up. Not unless you ensnare some poor girl in your scheme in the next few...”

She trailed off when she saw the look on my face on her laptop.

“There’s still time, sis. You know me, never say never.”

Tabitha was right, but I couldn’t accept that yet. There had to be a way out of this. The problem wasn’t even that complicated when you boiled it down to the basics. Liam and Tabitha had medical bills—big ones. They needed money. I had to get money. Tabitha and I had different fathers, but mine had put a nice little sum away in a trust. After Mum’s death, that money became mine, or at least it would if I could satisfy one simple condition—get married by the time I’m twenty-five. Simple.

And if I couldn’t get the money that way, there was always plan B.

I hated the idea of marriage—I was a walking male cliché in that respect—but I hated plan B even more. Marriage was my idea of heaven in comparison. A wife might be a ball and chain, but plan B would be a ball and chain, plus I’d be locked up in a dungeon, with the key thrown into the ocean. Or maybe I’d just be locked up in the Tower of London. I didn’t even like London.

“You don’t need to do all this for us,” Tabitha said. “Liam is my responsibility not yours. And it’s not your fault I didn’t get left much in the will. My biological father wasn’t quite as rich as yours.”

“Few people are,” I said softly. “Look, we’ve had this conversation before, and I’m not going to change my mind now. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you and Liam are set for life.”

“Even if you have to get married to do it?”

“You haven’t seen the woman I have in mind. It wouldn’t be much of a sacrifice.”

By the time I arrived at Viva, Sophia, Ellie, and another girl, were already chatting to three guys who were buying them drinks.

The three girls were tarted up to the nines, but it was only Sophia who had my attention. She wore a short black skirt that glittered slightly when caught by the lights, and clung tightly to her body. Her legs had a light golden tan that many of the women around here tried—and failed—to match with less natural tanning methods.

She wore a white halterneck top with a plunging neckline, but I couldn’t make out much of her chest. That would have to be a treat for later.

Much as I had done earlier today in the coffee shop, I sat at a table and enjoyed the view. The only difference was that this time I sipped whiskey and not coffee.

I felt an unusual pang of what I assumed was jealousy in my chest as I watched Sophia chatting to the guy closest to her. The three guys looked like they were investment bankers, but there weren’t many of them in York. That meant they were dressing in pinstripe suits and loud ties because they wanted to look like investment bankers. That said all you needed to know about these three.

Sophia kept smiling at the guy talking to her, but there were no other signs of attraction. I was an expert at reading women’s body language, and there was no way she wanted this guy.

She took regular sips of her drink as he spoke, suggesting she was bored stiff by the conversation. She nodded along at regular intervals, but only to look like she was still paying attention. Finally, her chest pointed more towards the bar than the guy. If she wanted to capture his attention, one flash of those things would have him drooling and buying her all the drinks she wanted. The fact that she didn’t bother spoke volumes.

I couldn’t relax. I polished off one glass of whiskey, and ordered another from a waitress hanging around close by. It was no good. I couldn’t enjoy the whiskey while Sophia was chatting to this moron in a suit.

I made my move and headed to the bar. As luck would have it, the three men decided it was a good time to go to the toilets. And I thought only women went together. Probably planning on doing a few lines while they’re in there. Classy places like this were just the same as grungy bars. The guys snorted more expensive drugs and wore better clothes, but it was all the same at the end of the day.

Ellie caught sight of me approaching and smiled excitedly. She clearly hadn’t told Sophia I would be here tonight.

“Good evening, Sophia,” I said, approaching her from behind. I placed a hand on the soft skin of her back and bent forward slightly to kiss her on the cheek. “It’s so nice to see you again.”

“What the hell.” She spun around in her seat and kicked me in the shins in the process. “Oops, sorry.”

“No problem,” I lied, as the pain gradually faded.

“What are you doing here? We said tomorrow night.”

“Yeah, but I’m an impatient guy.”

“Anyone going to introduce me?” the third girl asked.

“Dani, this is George,” Ellie said.

“How do you know his name?” Sophia asked her friend. “Nevermind. His presence here tonight has your name written all over it.”

“You’re welcome,” Ellie said dryly. “Would you rather keep talking to Whit?”

“God no,” Sophia replied quickly.

“Those men not to your tastes?” I asked the girls.

“No,” Ellie said just as quickly as Sophia had.

“I’m going through a dry spell,” Dani said. “But even so, I’m not going near them tonight. I might let them buy me one more drink and that’s it.”

I leaned forward and whispered in Sophia’s ear, making sure to get a glimpse of her delicious cleavage in the process. “Want me to get rid of him?”

Sophia sighed, but then nodded. “But that doesn’t mean I want you either, just to be clear.”

“Message understood. Loud and clear.”

I glanced over at the toilets and saw the three of them coming back.

“Just remember,” I said to Sophia, “you asked for this.”

“Asked for—”

The rest of her words were muffled by my lips as I leant in and kissed her.