“This design would work well; given the themes you’ve chosen.” I watched Vanessa work her magic with my dad the client, as opposed to her future father-in-law. She knew exactly what was needed for the branding for the winery and she would get him to make the right choice, all the time letting him believe it was all his idea. It was a skill I appreciated as I had never mastered it.

“What do you think, Maxwell?” His face looked less lined and his smile was genuine, something I’d not seen for years while he was working at the company. “Is that the one?”

Vanessa caught my eye, giving me a nod that told me if I didn’t fucking agree she was going to extract my teeth and make me eat them, only she would be feeding them through another hole.

“I like how it’s similar to the company’s colours. And the font. It’ll make it stand out.”

“And the wine? Do you like the wine?”

I was holding a large glass of it and it was going down nicely. Getting back to the gym properly after the holidays was going to be fucking painful. I’d eaten and drank my bodyweight several times over in the past few days and was seriously considering checking myself into some sort of detox program.

“The wine’s great. I’ve sampled enough of it.”

“You need to have some shipped back for your girlfriend. Or ship her over here. It’s been a long time since we’ve even heard about you seeing someone seriously. Marie’s desperate to meet her.” My father poured himself another glass.

I wondered if I needed to speak with Marie about arranging a six-monthly detox for him. There was definitely a bit of weight gain, which wasn’t a bad thing as he’d worked himself gaunt at one point.

“Hold fire, Dad. Victoria and I get along really well, but she’s got plans of moving over to America when she’s finished her doctorate,” I said. There’d be no hint from her that she was thinking of changing her mind, and that was becoming harder and harder to get my head around.

I hadn’t seen her for a week. Seven long fucking nights of sleeping on my own and checking my phone more frequently than a normal person should to see if she’d sent me a picture or a message. I missed the feel of her skin against mine, whether it was her back from how she spooned into me or just her hand in mine; I missed her laugh and her fumbled words in the morning when she was just waking up; I missed our easy conversations and arguments. There was nothing I didn’t miss.

“That’s not a problem. You’ve passed the New York Bar. You can just come and run the office over here,” my dad, ever the problem solver these days, suggested.

“He fucking well can’t.” Jackson said. “I need him in London. That’s non-negotiable.”

Jackson was right: my practice was back home. More importantly, my family was back there too. It had been bad enough Callum being away for so long, but now he was back I wanted to have the chance to be with my siblings for as long as they allowed.

My phone started to sound with a message, one that Seph had programmed in and I now referred to as ‘the dick song’. It provided a good excuse to end the conversation so I read his message out loud. “Seph’s on his way back. Apparently he’s ninety minutes away and wants us to crack open the Champagne. Fuck knows. Does this place have Champagne, Dad?”

My father stood up and stretched having given approval to the design Vanessa was pushing for. “Damn right. Not from here, as it wouldn’t be Champagne. I think there are four or five bottles in the fridge in the utility room. No point getting it yet though, if they’re ninety minutes away.”

“Who’s they?” I asked. As far as I knew Seph had gone in to Toronto to pick up something he’d ordered.

Neither Jackson nor Vanessa said anything, just looked questioningly at Dad.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, who’s Seph bringing over? It’s not his ex, is it? He’s been acting weird for the past couple of days.” I had never liked the girl he had been with for several years. I’d thought she was a user and tried to control him. When they’d split up he’d been devastated and started drinking and partying too hard which had been worrying to watch.

“No, it’s not her,” Vanessa said. “I think it’s an old friend of his from London. Shall we go and show Marie the designs?”

She linked her arm through my dad’s, which he took graciously. I was in awe of the fact she’d fallen for someone like my brother, who was annoying at best.

“I thought this was meant to be a family thing. I really hope Seph’s not going to spoil everything by bringing some friend and then drinking the house dry,” I said, feeling riled.

Jackson laughed. “We’re in a house on a wine estate. They’d struggled to get rid of it. Fancy spotting me on a chest press?”

The idea of lifting some iron appealed greatly. The heavier the weight, the more I managed to self-regulate. Dad and Marie had made sure there was an outhouse with a fully kitted out gym on the estate and all of us, apart from Payton, had spent a fair amount of time in there already. “Sounds good. I might see what I can deadlift.”

We spent the next hour discussing shit and training, and end with a sparring session that resulted in slight black eye for Jackson.

“You need to be quicker,” I said, repeating the jab he’d failed to block. “If you’re distracted, you will get hit.”

“Then you shouldn’t hit so hard, Maxwell!” Marie stood at the door, hands on her hips, glaring at me. “Go and get showered. Seph should be back in less than half an hour.”

“What’s the big deal with Seph and this friend of his?” I said. I was actually enjoying spending time with most of my family. Only Claire hadn’t made it over, deciding instead to spend Christmas in Ireland with Killian’s family.

Marie shook her head. “It’s no big deal, but I’d prefer you looking fresh and smelling better than you do now.”

Sometimes I think she thought I was fourteen instead of thirty-six, but my teenage years had taught me that arguing with Marie was a stupid idea because I’d never win. She’d been a lawyer—it was because of her I’d taken the New York Bar—and in court was far better than my father, although he was technically a better lawyer. Not that any of us told Marie that, least of all him.

“Fine,” I said, pulling on a hoodie and heading over to the main house with a slight jog because it was fucking freezing. London would feel tropical when I got home.

Thinking of London made me think of Victoria and I wished I’d asked her to come for Christmas with me. I’d considered it a couple of days after I’d told her about her grandad’s house, but I wasn’t sure if it was too much, if it gave an illusion of something we weren’t, something she said we couldn’t be.

There were no messages on my phone from Victoria. She’d been quiet today; I’d had nothing since this morning when she told me she was heading out exploring. I felt apprehensive that something might’ve happened, or she’d gone cold on me.

Jumping in the shower, I tried to talk sense into myself and then pushed her out of my head completely, instead thinking about my PND case and England’s chances of beating Australia in the cricket.

I’d just pulled a T-shirt on when there was banging on the bedroom door.

“Max, you’re needed downstairs!” Payton yelled through the door, just as she had done when she was a pain in the ass fourteen-year-old.

“Why?” I said. “What is so fucking urgent about this friend of Seph’s?”

There was no answer so I headed out of the room and down the stairs to the large entrance area.

I saw the top of the brown hair first and then, as she looked up, the doe eyes that were laced with excitement and worry. I nearly fell down the rest, battering down them with no pretence of being cool or calm.

“Fuck. I didn’t think you were who Seph was picking up.” And then I pulled her in and kissed her, not giving her time to speak, just needing to show her there was no reason to have worry in those eyes and every reason to have known I was glad she was here. “Best Christmas present ever. When do I get to unwrap you?”

I’d noticed that my family were strangely absent; they obviously all knew that she was coming.

“Probably after I’ve spent a reasonable amount of time being sociable with everyone. Are you sure you’re okay with this? I kind of booked the flight without thinking and worried after. I have a hotel in Toronto picked out if this isn’t good for you or it’s too much because holy fuck, I’m forcing me on your parents. We weren’t going to do that…”

“We’ve twenty minutes or so before they’ll want to open the champagne as they’ve no concept of time. Come take your stuff up to my room.” I saw the oversized suitcase standing near the door, probably put there in case she’d needed to take that hotel in Toronto. That wasn’t going to happen. “I’ll get your case, but I don’t want to let you go.”

She stood on her tiptoes and locked her mouth to mine, her hands holding onto my arms, her nails digging in. My cock recognised her, telling me that it had been too long since he’d last been inside her and that was where he needed to be. My hands were already under her sweater seeking soft skin. She pushed herself closer to me and the only part of my brain that was working told me to move before my father caught me heading towards second base with a girl for the first time since I was seventeen.

“Upstairs,” I managed to say. “Bed and inside you.” Not caring if anyone saw, I picked her up, making her yell then giggle loudly and took the stairs two at a time. Using my elbow to open the bedroom door, I strode over to the bed and placed her down with as much as my urgency could muster before leaning over and kissing her.

Counting the top ten English batsman of all time against Australia was the only thing I could do to stop myself from coming in my jeans. I pushed up her sweater to reveal her breasts, a sheer white bra doing nothing to hide the hard, pink nipples that screamed for my mouth.

“I’ve fucking miss this. I’ve missed you.” The words rolled off my tongue before it found a peak, nipping and sucking. Her hands busied themselves undoing my fly and pushing my jeans and underwear down enough to release my dick which she started to palm.

I switched to the other nipple, pinching it hard enough to make her hips thrust against me. Then she squirmed beneath me and I lifted myself up to watch her pushing down her own jeans and kicking them off.

“Want you in me. I need to you to fuck me hard. Do you want to use a condom?”

She’d been on the pill for a couple of months but we’d kept using condoms, mainly because of my paranoia. But right now, with her pussy giving off heat near my cock and feeling how wet she was with my fingers, I wanted all of that wrapped around me with nothing in the way and I didn’t want to wait.

“You sure?” I said, the head of my cock at her entrance, her slickness leaking onto me.

“Fuck yes,” she said in a half whimper, her hands on my ass and pulling me towards her.

She gasped as I thrusted into her hard, her tits bouncing with the force. I paused, grinning and letting her get used to my size. It had been a few days, a week, but unless I had recently fucked her she needed time to get used to my length and thickness.

“You feel so good in me. Need you to come in me.”

I started to move, gradually increasing the pace and changing my angle so I grazed her clit. Any thoughts of anything but her were else-fucking-where, because right now, as she lay under me, she was the centre of the fucking universe. Her hands were setting wherever she touched on fire and her scent was taking over my head. The vision of her on the white sheets, her dark hair spread and her mouth open, murmuring my name were the beginning and the end of my everything.

She broke apart, her legs clutching my waist, my name on her lips and I joined her, erupting into her deeper than I’d been before. And instead of seeing stars I just saw her.

My movements slowed and I kept myself elevated on my arms, watching her as her breath became regulated. Her eyes stayed fixed on me and there was a look of wonder on her face.

Lowering myself, I kissed her softly, probably reverently, recognised the wetness where we were joined and reality began to nudge.

“I should say hello to your parents,” she said. “Maybe get cleaned up first so I don’t smell of sex.”

“I like you smelling of sex,” I said.

“You like me smelling of you because you think it acts as a deterrent to anyone else,” she said, moving so we ended sitting up. “I’ve made a mess of the covers.”

I shook my head, seeing the wet spot on the sheets. “We made a mess but it doesn’t matter. Do you want to get a shower?”

“I should. Are you joining me?”

“I’d be a terrible host not to.”

Half an hour later I led the way into the sitting room where my parents were lounging with Seph, Payton, Vanessa and Jackson. Ava and Callum had taken off skiing for a couple of days, which meant the greeting party wasn’t quite as full on as it would’ve been. She’d told me that she was nervous; that she’d never met someone’s parents before. What ‘someone’ meant I didn’t ask, wanting to have that conversation when we were alone and had time.

“I’ll get you some wine,” I said loudly as we entered. “Pretend you like it, even if you don’t. Dad’s just spent a fortune buying it.”

Marie laughed and my dad looked annoyed, wanting to say something but equally wanting to make a good impression on Victoria.

“This is Marie and my father, Grant. You know the rest, so you don’t need to be polite to them.”

They stood, edging towards her. Marie wrapped her in what I knew would be a heavy hug while my father gave a light squeeze and a kiss to her cheek.

“It’s lovely to meet you,” Marie said, holding Victoria at arm’s length and studying her intently.

My stepmother had long since been obsessed with Jackson, Claire and myself meeting someone and settling down. Since she’d found out about Victoria I knew she’d looked her up on Facebook and pulled information about her from Seph. She’d made not so obvious hints about how this was good for me, healthier than pouring my life into work so much that humanity was poured away with it. Although she hadn’t given any direct comparisons to my father, they were there, unsaid.

“We’ve heard so much about you, so I was over the moon when Seph told us you were coming to stay for a few nights. Now, what can I get you? As well as Champagne, of course.”

“Let the poor girl get her breath back after you’ve just squeezed her like a cobra,” my father said. “Have a seat, Victoria. You’ve seen your room and Max has taken your luggage up there?”

“I do have some manners,” I said. “I was only dragged up by one uncivilised parent.”

Grant’s gaze was stony enough to make me laugh quietly. “If you’re not careful, I’ll find the photos we still have from when you were short and skinny.”

“I think Victoria would love to see those,” Seph said, topping up his glass of Champagne. “I know I’d enjoy watching you watch her look at them.”

I shook my head and wondered what the improvement in the grapes would be if I buried his body somewhere on the winery.

Victoria looked amused, thankfully, Marie’s arm tucked into hers. “I’d love a glass of Champagne,” she said. “And a tour of the house. I’ve only seen Max’s room so far, here and the entrance hall.”

“Oh, I though Max had shown you round straight away, he was so long in bringing you in here,” Marie said, looking at me puzzled.

“I think he might’ve been showing her something else,” Seph said with a straight face.

Again, I considered what quality of fertiliser he’d become.

“Have a glass and then I’ll give you the tour,” Marie said, gesturing for my father to pass Victoria a drink. “Not outside though, it’s far too cold.”

“That’s what happens in Canada in winter,” Jackson said. He was lounging on the sofa, Vanessa sitting in between his legs, lying on his chest. She looked relaxed and happy, one of my brother’s hands resting on her hip. “I did suggest you bought a place in France or Italy where it was a bit warmer in the winter.”

“We liked it here. Besides, the language barrier would have been an issue for your father. And it will be the summer when we’re here more. This Christmas is an exception. How was New York, Victoria?”

“It’s been great so far. Really good to see my friend Lewis and meet his partner,” she replied, perching on the chair next to me. I put my hand on her hip, needing to touch her.

“I’ve done a little sightseeing too.”

Marie nodded. “It was New York where I met Grant. I grew up there and first practiced law over there until this odd and intelligent English man somehow swept me off my feet and brought me to live with him and his four babies.” She smiled around at us. “How quickly things changed. I had plans of owning a penthouse suite in New York and running my family’s law practice there, making a name for myself.”

My father laughed loudly and fully. “Marie, love, you managed all that and more. You still have a penthouse in New York, you’ve been involved in running a bigger version of your family’s law practice and your name is enough to scare most other family law practitioners.”

She shrugged. “True. And I’m going to be a grannie. We need to make sure we appoint a really good manager for the winery because I don’t know how frequently I’ll be here this summer, after Claire’s had the baby.”

I saw Jackson’s hands creep closer over Vanessa’s stomach and wondered how long it would be before Claire’s child had a cousin. My bet was on fairly soon.

Glancing at Victoria, I noticed her eyes looked glassy and raised my arm to pull her closer to me. “You okay?” I whispered into her ear. My parents, Seph and Jackson were discussing the list of potential candidates that had been shortlisted before Christmas. Before they flew back to England, my parents were interviewing to appoint someone to run the estate while they were away. “My family aren’t that bad, are they?”

“No.” She shook her head. “I think I’m just tired and I’m happy for your sister, although the last I heard from her was a text about how huge she’s going to be as one of Vanessa’s bridesmaids.”

“I doubt that’s the way she phrased it: that sounds too polite.”

“I don’t know your parents well enough yet to swear that badly in front of them.”

“Trust me, Claire learned any swear words she knows from Marie. And every insult. You sure you’re okay?”

She nodded, turning her head to give me a lingering kiss on my beard. “I’m good. Thank you for worrying about me. I’m not used to that.”

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening alternating between showing Victoria around the house and nearby outbuildings, and eating and drinking. Seph monopolised her for an hour or so, desperately needing to show her something he’d been working on that he clearly didn’t want to show any of us. As much as I plotted his death on a fairly regular basis, I was fond of my youngest brother, in a different way to Callum or Jackson. I’d noticed the way he looked at Victoria and I was undecided whether he thought of her as being a sister-type figure or whether he had a crush. The latter was my bet.

“I like her,” my dad said when it was just the two of us in the kitchen. “She reminds me of Marie.”

I almost dropped the whisky he’d poured for me; it was one of his better bottles. That gesture in itself had given me the head’s up that he was about to impart his advice.

“She’s nothing like Marie, Dad.” I laughed.

“She doesn’t look anything like her, but she’s as feisty and argumentative as Marie. And as bossy and determined. Does she have a sister for Seph?”

My dad had already nursed a few whiskies this evening and I was convinced he wouldn’t be having this conversation sober.

“She’s only got an older half brother who’s spoken for and a complete dick, so possibly Seph’s type. I should go and check on him and Victoria. She’s probably still too polite to not tell him to shut the fuck up yet,” I said, feeling twitchy. Not for one minute did I think Seph would even try a move on my woman, but the lesser-developed part of my brain needed to go and claim her.

A phone rang in another room; Vanessa’s laughter rang through the house and somewhere outside an owl hooted. Normal noises, sounds I was used to. What I wasn’t used to was the fire that I felt inside me, the need I was developing for the woman three rooms away who was sitting with my youngest brother looking over some project he was too scared to show the rest of us. I wanted her to be mine.

I needed her to be mine.

“She can more than manage Joseph,” my father said. “That’s not what you should be considering. What you should be thinking about is whether she can manage you.”

“What do you mean by that?” I hit the defensive, unsure as to what my father was insinuating. I had seen him at his best and his worse, and I saw myself in both sides. He had been critical of me more than any of the others, expecting the utmost in terms of achievements, probably because he saw himself in me too.

The kitchen door opened and Jackson entered, carrying a bottle of wine. “We’re starting a poker tournament. You both in?”

I kept my eyes on my father, willing him to ask Jackson for a few minutes and elaborate on what he was saying, but instead he put down his glass and nodded. “Definitely. Who’s joining us?”

“Me, Callum, Seph, you, Marie and Max,” he said. “Victoria and Van have found the sauna and hot tub, so I think we’ve lost them for the night with a bottle of Champagne. We might need to check they’ve not drowned in an hour or so.”

The reptilian part of my brain conjured up an image of Victoria in a bikini which had an instant effect on both my cock and my mouth. “I’ll go check on them now. Make sure no one else is bothering them.”

I pretended I didn’t notice the look my father and Jackson shared as I left the room and headed into the cold in just a T-shirt.

They were up to their chins in the hot tub which Marie had insisted had been installed for ‘health reasons’ and my father had never learnt to say no to my stepmother. Victoria’s hair was piled high on top of her head and she looked utterly relaxed.

“How did you know to bring a bathing suit?” I asked, now needing to know the conversations she’d had with Seph in planning her visit here.

“I told Seph to tell her,” Vanessa said, managing to just about keep her Champagne glass out of the bubbling water. “There was no way one of my tops would hold those babies.” She nudged one of Victoria’s tits under the water and giggled. “You got more than your fair share there, girl.”

Jackson was more than likely going to have to carry Vanessa back to their room later.

“This is amazing, Max,” Victoria said quietly, Vanessa now distracted by Jackson walking towards us. “Your family have been lovely and the views here…”

She looked away from me towards the slight valley in front of us. The winery was planted on a hillside, the reasons behind which had been explained to me by my father but I’d been more interested at the time in the photo Vanessa had sent me as it involved underwear I’d not met yet in person.

“They’re pretty good, aren’t they,” I said, my frustration and hurt caused by my father subsiding with her smile. “I hope Seph wasn’t being too demanding.”

Those doe eyes gazed up at me and I wished I hadn’t agreed to poker. “He was fine. We had a good chat. I’m helping him out with something but I can’t say what.”

“Yeah, well, as long as he keeps his hands and his eyes to himself.”

“Maxwell Callaghan, you almost growled that!” She laughed, her tits bouncing up and down in the water.

I stifled a groan. The bikini top she had on looked black and covered enough for me to not worry about Seph coming out and seeing her but it didn’t reduce the level of torture it was giving me.

“Yeah, well, I’m not happy with the idea of anyone else thinking you might be anything but mine.” This time it was a growl.

Her wet arms came out of the water and reached for me, soaking my T-shirt. It was a cold night, but not the coldest and her body was warm from the water. “You need to let me know when that big brain of yours decided that I was yours.”

I kissed and nipped the soft, delicate skin of her neck. “You were mine the day you argued with me over who was having that room to take seminars in. You just didn’t know it.”

She released her grip and slid back into the hot tub, ducking her shoulders right under. She was complicated and layered and I sometimes wished I had a map and a compass to be able to navigate my way through the depths of her.

“Where in all that law you’ve studied does it say you can own another person, handsome?”

“It doesn’t,” I stooped down to her neck again. “I read it somewhere else instead.”