Page 41 of The First Taste

“Ella? Come meet my family. You already know James, unfortunately for you. Meet my mother Maura and my father Beau.”

“It’s nice to meet y’all,” she says. She bows her head but doesn’t otherwise abase herself. She just puts her hands behind her back and looks somehow statuesque despite her short stature.

Mum’s gaze narrows on Ella. “You broke your leg?”

Her gaze zooms in on Ella’s scar and Ella visibly flushes.

“Yes ma’am. About a year ago. It’s all healed up now though.”

Mum presses her lips into a thin line. “And you’re here to get my crazy granddaughter under control? I assume that my son has told you that he can’t keep a nanny or a tutor to save his life?”

There is a brief pause. Ella glances at me and her tongue darts out to wet her lips. “I’m prepared to try. The worst thing that happens is that I fail and then I just go back to New York City.”

Mum looks Ella up and down. Her mouth turns down at the corners and it’s obvious that she disapproves. I step in, clearing my throat.

“Ella, when you are ready, Natasha has a pile of paperwork for you to fill out. I would go find her now and get the process started if I were you.”

“He can’t wait for Mum to quit grilling his girlfriend,” James snipes.

Ella bows her head and turns toward the lobby, starting for a back hallway that she can see from here. Of course, she has no idea where the hallway leads. She probably won’t even find Natasha back there, not that I really need her to anyway.

I just needed to have a reason to get her out of here.

My father puts his hands behind his back and looks at me with a note of disappointment on his face. “Don’t get carried away with your ballerina, son. She might be nice to look at. But don’t even think of installing her at Drumman Castle to be your live-in girlfriend. It’s clear as day that she comes from a different class and a different world than we do. Don’t make me remind you that I told you this.”

Squinting hard at my father, I give him a stony look. “Is that all? Am I free to go?”

He rolls his eyes but he doesn’t snap back at me. “I actually have some business things to talk to you about. I think we are going to make a bigger investment in solar technology in India and Japan. So I just want to clear a few companies with you and talk about the possible strategy of promoting solar energy in those countries through the media outlets that we own.” He looks at his watch. “There’s probably about thirty or forty five minutes’ worth of ideas to go over.”

I hate to admit it, but my father has now hit the ball and returned it squarely to my court. In business affairs, I am the puppet master, the lion tamer. I feel comfortable here, whereas talking about my personal life is obviously quite a minefield.

I crack my knuckles and glance at the lobby, which is now fully empty. Ella has obviously escaped somewhere for the time being.

“All right. Let’s do it. Leave Mum and James to fawn over each other while we make the media empire run a little more smoothly.”

With that, my father heads toward the back hallway, content to leave my mother and James behind. And I follow him, giving James one last glare on my way out.

Fourteen

We drive under a rocky archway, on which are emblazoned the words Caisteal An Drumman.

I lean closer to the window, anxiety creeping up, making my heart beat fast. The Castle itself is set on a hilltop with smaller, pine-tree forested peaks surrounding it.

As we climb the hill, I can see the dark top of a big structure, rising black against the robin’s egg blue sky. As it comes fully into view, I can’t help but gasp.

Made out of light gray stone, the castle has four large turrets and a rather large keep. It’s set back into a hill and it looks very intimidating even in the mid-morning light. As we pull around the circular driveway, I stare at the castle, slack-jawed.

The estate is a small castle. Most of the walls are the same granite rock that I’ve seen in the rocky outcroppings and the stony archway on the drive here. But there are two additions on either end of the castle that are made of what looks like rich teak wood. If I had to guess, I would say that they are newer additions.

At least, they were new… The end of the castle that is closest to me is charred so badly that only the burned husk of a building remains. Everything else is intact except for what looks like several rooms.

I gape, realizing that I can see through a chink in the warped, scorched teak into what was perhaps a library or a large study.

“What…” I say, looking at Keir with wide eyes. “What happened to your house?”

He doesn’t make eye contact with me. Instead, he carefully navigates a broad path around the fire-scarred end of the building, swinging the car around the castle grounds.

“Keir!” I exclaim. I swivel my head around, unable to take my eyes off the scorched castle. “Seriously? I’m going to need to be filled in here!”