“Me and your dad,” she says, far too cheerfully. “We’re in London. We’re heading to your apartment now, so put the kettle on.”
Ice floods my veins. I spin and hurry away from Anika’s room, my heart thudding harder with every step.
“No . . . erm . . . oh god. Aunt Lucy, I moved. I forgot to tell you.”
There’s a beat of silence. “Oh,” she says, “well, that’s not a problem. As long as you’re still in London.” I squeeze my eyes shut. “Text me your new address.”
Panic claws up my throat.
There is absolutely no way I’m sending them Ray’s address. He has rules about visitors, and I’m already in his bad books.
“Or,” I say quickly, my words tripping over each other, “I could meet you instead. I need breakfast anyway, and I could show you some of the sights.”
There’s another pause. “I suppose,” Aunt Lucy says slowly, clearly suspicious, “if that’s what you’d prefer.”
“Yes,” I say far too quickly. “Yes, it is.” I force a laugh that sounds painfully fake even to me. “I’ll just get dressed and send you a location on the maps app.”
“All right,” she says. “Don’t keep us waiting.”
I hang up and let out a shaky breath.
Shit.
Shit, shit, shit.
I turn and nearly walk straight into Ray. “We need to talk,” he says.
I jump, one hand flying to my chest. “Jesus.”
He’s standing in the hallway, his broad shoulders blocking my path, his expression unreadable.
His brow lifts.
I swallow hard. “Sorry. I mean . . . okay, great, but not right now. I’m meeting someone.”
I try to step around him.
He doesn’t move straight away. “Wynter—”
“Sorry,” I blurt, already backing away. “I really can’t do this right now.”
Before he can stop me, I slip past him and hurry towards my room, my pulse hammering for a completely different reason now.
Because being humiliated by my boss is one thing.
Letting my aunt and dad discover I’ve been lying . . . that’s a whole new ball game.
Aunt Lucy looks as radiant as ever, all bright eyes and perfect hair, while Dad looks exactly how I expected—grumpy already, like London has personally offended him.
He’s never liked places like this. Thinking they’re too noisy, too busy with far too many people barging about without apologising.
I kiss them both on the cheek, and despite the panic I felt on the phone, I’m genuinely happy to see them. I just wish it had happened under literally any other circumstances.
Lucy takes one look at me and frowns. “You look too thin.”
I glance down at myself. “Really?”
“Yes, really.”