Page 81 of All the Forbidden Things

My head begins to pound as my breathing slows. As much as I hate the intrusion and the speculation, which will probably follow the arrival of these men on my doorstep, I know with one hundred per cent certainty that each of them will have my back. I can now relax a bit and let them deal with this shitshow.

“Let’s go over to the flat,” Cal says quietly. “Unless you’d rather—”

“Get me the fuck away from her,” I interrupt him. “I fucking hate her,” I grit out, my teeth still clenched, only my lips moving.

“I know, dude. I think the whole fucking street knows.”

“Can we take this inside boys, like right now?” Len demands. “Don’t really care where just as long as it’s not in front of the circus going on out the front.”

“Head down,” Cal says. “Just keep walking. I’ve text Billie. The front door’s open.”

I’m not sure if it’swrong or right, but when I step into Billie’s living room to find her standing in the middle of it holding Layla, my heart rate instantly slows.

Her wide blue eyes meet mine. “You okay?” she asks quietly as she moves towards me. Before I can answer, I watch her gaze dart over my shoulder then back to me.

“You all right, kid?” I hear Cal ask from behind me.

Billie’s eyes are still on me, but she answers her brother with a quick, “Yeah.”

Without a single word, she knows exactly what to do. Silently, Billie places my baby girl in my arms. I breathe in the scent of a freshly bathed Layla and, for a few seconds, everything in my world is right.

Billie did that. Without my asking her, she knew exactly what it was I needed.

I hear Aaron and Len come up the stairs behind Cal, and the small space is soon filled. Billie doesn’t waver with the intrusion and calls out, “Does anyone want a tea or coffee? It’ll have to be green or black if you want tea because I have no milk, and if you want coffee, it’ll be black and instant because I still have no milk, and my boss is a tight arse and hasn’t provided me with a decent coffee machine.”

I pull one of the bar stools out from the worktop and sit on it as Len, Aaron, and Cal call out orders for black coffee.

“I’d be reporting him to your union,” Aaron says.

“Who?” we all ask.

“Billie’s boss. No coffee machine and being forced to drink instant is probably a violation of her human rights.”

“Maybe I should sue him?” Billie adds.

Cal pulls out the stool next to me and sits.

“That your little sister?” Lennon leans past me and asks Cal quietly.

“Yep,” Cal responds, popping his lips at the end of the word.

“She grew up,” Len continues with a smirk.

“Funny, I thought the same when I saw Paige in that perfume ad that’s on my telly nearly every night.”

The ad Cal’s on about stars Len’s daughter, rolling around on a bed with a male model and nothing but a few strategically placed wispy chiffon scarves covering her naked body.

“Oh, you’re a funny fucker, Wild. Maybe you should give up music and become a comedian.”

“Just saying,” Cal responds.

“All I meant was that she was a little girl the last time I saw her.” He turns his attention back to Billie. “Hey, Billie, I’m Lennon. We have met before, but you were just—”

“A little girl. Yeah, I remember,” Billie interrupts him.

My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I hand Layla over to Cal as I pull it out to answer. Lennon instantly swoops in and takes Layla from him.

“Wendy, what’s up?” I answer.