Page 38 of Oz (Finding Home #1)

“What was that?” I ask curiously.

“Their mother felt all the family money belonged to her. So did mine.”

I laugh involuntarily. The sound carries on the air, and I’m horrified to see it interrupt the hushed and slightly irritated family discussion going on. Olivia’s head swings our way and she raises her hand in a very regal gesture.

“Shit,” Ivo sighs. “We’ve been summoned.” He turns to me. “Whatever you do, don’t take any notice of her. She’s a shitty person and she was a shitty mother. Her words carry no weight.”

I stare at him. “Well, that was honest.”

He grins, the smile lighting up his face and making him startlingly beautiful. “Okay, let’s do it.”

I fall into step next to him as we approach the car. The three people turn to watch us. Henry immediately holds out his hand to Ivo, who takes it and goes to stand next to him. Olivia sighs heavily, a frown on her face. “Ivo,” she says coolly. “Still around?”

Ivo smiles. “Yes, still here, Olivia. How lovely to see you. Two years has been too long. Let’s not leave it that long next time.”

“Of course,” she says distantly, turning to face me and missing Ivo’s aside of, “Let’s leave it a lot longer.”

I look into eyes that are so pale a blue they’re nearly grey. “And who is this?” she asks.

“Oz Gallagher,” I say and then hesitate. Does she have a title? How am I supposed to address her? The silence stretches and her mouth tilts in a cruel fashion.

Before she can say anything, Silas is next to me. “This is Oz,” he says coolly. “Oz, this is my mother.” He pauses. “You can call her Olivia.” She opens her mouth and shuts it quickly when he levels her with a look. “Now, Mother, how is it that you’re here early? Where’s Martin?”

“At home,” she says expressionlessly. “He’s got a golf match tomorrow, so I came early. Perfect timing for me to see my two sons.”

“See or petrify?” Ivo mutters and Henry laughs.

Olivia levels them with a glare. She turns back to me. “So, you are Silas’s house manager then,” she says. “And what qualifications do you possess to do this job?”

“Erm, well I’ve got a degree in Fine Art and the History of Art.”

“He’s already had an interview,” Silas says brusquely. “Let’s not perform another one.”

“Well, Silas, how rude. I was just making conversation. Please don’t talk to me in that manner in front of the staff.”

“Oz isn’t just staff,” he says, and her eyes narrow as she sees his hand take mine and squeeze.

“I see,” she says in a glacial voice. “How quaint. It’s uncanny how you grow more like your father as you get older. Wasn’t the fourth wife a maid here?” She sighs. “I can just see him chasing her round the servants’ quarters. So common.”

“I’m trying to unsee that,” Henry says wryly. “Thank you for the image. I’ll try and bleach it away later.”

“That’s enough, Mother,” Silas says and it’s loud and carrying. His mother and Ivo look startled and Henry looks gleeful.

“What do you mean?”

“Stop it with your horrible comments.”

She shakes her head. “Doesn’t the Bible mention the serpent’s tongue of a child answering back?”

“Don’t pretend you read anything but Jilly Cooper, Mother. I don’t think she covers the finer points of theology,” Henry says glibly.

“Enough,” Silas says. “Let’s get you settled in. Have you eaten?”

“I never eat after seven,” she murmurs and sweeps up the steps, the rest of us following her like courtiers.

As soon as we’re inside I excuse myself and race up the servants’ stairs to the first floor and her room.

I rush in and sag with relief. Her luggage has been delivered and the room is clean and smells of the perfume from a vase of roses I’d cut from the gardens and set on the polished mahogany of her dressing table.

I do a quick check around the room, straightening the fresh towels and checking the drawers.

It’s lucky I do because Niall has left a very old copy of Men , the gay porn magazine, in the bedside table.

“What in the ever-living fuck , Niall?” I mutter and grab it out of the drawer.

“I’m going to fucking kill you, you moron.

” I pause, looking at the cover which might be the last edition they printed before they went out of business.

“After I find out where you got this from.” I slam the drawer and whirl around as I hear voices coming down the corridor.

“So, you’re telling me that he’s actually doing this job and you don’t know his parents? I don’t think that’s ever happened before.”

“I have met his mother, but nowadays we don’t make meeting the parents a part of the interview process. Not unless we’re employing five-year-olds,” Silas says, and I can hear the patience in his voice and underneath the strain.

I wince sympathetically and then look frantically at the porn mag. Where the fuck am I going to put it? I look at the open window and for one wild moment I consider throwing it out but then they enter the room and it’s too late. I hold it behind my back in one hand.

She comes to a stop. “Oh, Oz, what are you doing in here?”

I stifle a grimace. She makes it sound like they’ve caught me rifling through her knicker drawer. “I was just checking you’ve got everything you need,” I say cheerily, edging towards the door with my hand still behind my back.

She eyes me suspiciously and then smiles maliciously. “Why, whatever have you got behind your back? Is it a gift for me?” The wicked old witch obviously thinks she’s caught me red-handed with some of her belongings.

“Oh, erm,” I stutter. My mind is a blank.

Silas looks at me incredulously and I try to think while she waits, tapping her foot gently on the carpet.

“I was just looking to see whether you needed any reading material,” I say feebly and want to punch myself.

Some part of me is shouting abort abort, but the rest of me isn’t listening.

“But you have,” I say hurriedly. “So, I’ll be off and hope you have a good night’s sleep. ”

“Hold on,” she says commandingly. “I’m sure I can always have more to read. I usually like magazines like Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar . What have you brought me?”

“Not Vogue or Harper’s Bazaar ,” I say faintly. I back up to the door slightly and she shifts position like an animal tracking me for lunch.

She holds out her hand. “It’s a very sweet gesture.

It’s probably not what I’m used to, but I’d love to see what you’ve got.

” Silence stretches like toffee as she keeps her hand held out.

The woman’s obviously up on her Pilates as there’s no sign of shaking muscles. “Oz?” she says and I just give in.

I set the magazine neatly into her raised palm and silence falls on the room apart from Silas’s choked intake of breath. She stares at the magazine in her hand like I’ve just put a big poo in her palm and it’s abruptly too much.

“It’s a collector’s edition,” I say and leg it out of her room as fast as I can.

Half an hour later I hear Silas’s bedroom door open. “Go away,” I say, not taking my hand from across my eyes.

“Oh Oz, you do know what a very special person you are, don’t you?” I can hear the barely suppressed mirth in his voice.

“Fuck off,” I mutter.

“No, really. Mother’s face will live in my memory until the day I die. It was utterly … stupendous.”

“What did she say when I left?” I ask, removing my hand. He’s standing at the bottom of the bed with the biggest grin I’ve ever seen on his face.

“It’s actually the first time I’ve ever seen her speechless. It lasted for a full two minutes.”

I groan. “Oh my God , that’s the most awful thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“Oh, don’t say that. You haven’t had a proper conversation with her yet. There’s plenty of time for things to get a lot worse.”

“I just gave your mother a gay porn magazine.”

“It was a collector’s edition,” he says helpfully. His eyes run down my body clad in just a towel. “Have I missed your shower?”

“Yes, but you caught the ritual humiliation instead,” I say sourly.

He throws himself down on the bed next to me and raises his arm for me to snuggle in. “Don’t even bother getting worried.”

“This is your mother.” I come up on one elbow. “She’s never going to like me now.”

“She was never going to like you anyway.”

I draw back, stunned at the sharp sting. “Because of my background?”

“No. Because she doesn’t like anyone,” he says simply. “She’s not a nice person and I’d like you to spend as little time as you can with her. Stay out of her way.”

“I can look after myself.”

“I know you can, but you’ve never encountered anyone like her. She’s utterly poisonous.”

I rest my chin on his warm chest and he strokes my hair back. “What was she like when you were growing up?”

“Exactly the same,” he says steadily and sighs. He stares into space for a second and then looks at me. “She was cold and haughty. She wasn’t loving like your mum. But she’s still my mother and …” He hesitates.

“And you love her,” I say softly.

He shakes his head. “I’m a twat.”

“No, you’re a son and you’re a good man. It doesn’t make it easy when you have parents like that, but I know you. You’re loyal and you don’t stop loving people just because their behaviour means you should.”

He leans sideways and catches my mouth in a soft kiss. “It’s very tiring,” he sighs. “I’m glad when she goes and then I feel guilty.”

We lie silently for a few minutes, my fingers brushing his chest in a hypnotic motion. Finally, I stir.

“Where’s the magazine?”

He snorts. “Over there.”

I sigh and fall on my back in a dramatic fashion. “ Why have you brought it in here? Are you taunting me?”

I laugh as he twists over and straddles me. He pins my shoulders down, the strain falling away from his face and his eyes sparkling. “There are some very interesting articles. I’ve even seen two positions that we haven’t tried yet.”

“You’re actually subjugating me with the tool of my humiliation.”

He shakes his head. “I somehow feel that I’m a lot more interesting in your head.”

I shrug. “You can’t help it,” I say cheekily and then shout out laughing as he falls on me. The laughter turns to moans and panting, hurried breaths, but it stays underneath, running like a sparkling river through my blood.