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Poppy pu at speed into the driveway of Woodfield Hall The beautiful house had been the Leonetti fahteenth century when the falorified ood at it, it waspots and pots of e of thinking about Gaetano in an any more personal way

She and Gaetano rown up in the saest that they were ever in any way friendly After all, Gaetano was six years older and had spentschools

But Poppy knew that Gaetano would go crazy about the publication of those photos He was fanatical about his privacy and if his idea of fun was a sex party, she could perfectly understand why! Her spirits sank at the prospect of the trouble loo ahead No et any easier and there always see to erupt round the next corner Yet how could she look after her mother and her brother when their own survival instincts appeared to be so poor?

The Arnold family lived in a flat that had been converted froinal stable block at the hall Jasmine Arnold, a tall skinny redhead in her late forties, was sitting at the kitchen table when her daughter walked in

Poppy slapped down the paper on the table ‘Mum? Were you out of your mind when you talked to a journalist about that party?’ she de her brother’s name at the top of her voice

Da oil stains off his hands with a dirty cloth ‘Where’s the fire?’ he asked irritably as his sister reet him

‘You gave the photos you took at that party to a journalist?’ his sister challenged in disbelief

‘No, I didn’t,’ her kid brother countered ‘Mum knew they were on my phone and she handed them over She sold them Got a pile of cash for them and the interview’

Poppy was even more appalled She could have excused stupidity or careless speech to the wrong person but she was genuinely shocked that her mother had taken money in return for her disloyalty to her employer

Daroaned at the expression on his sister’s face ‘Poppyyou should know by now that Muet the money to buy her next drink,’ he pointed out heavily ‘I told her not to hand over the photos or talk to the guy but she wouldn’t listen to me—’

‘Why didn’t you tell me what she’d done?’

‘What could you do about it? I hoped that maybe the photos wouldn’t be used or that, if they were, nobody of any importance would see them,’ Damien admitted ‘I doubt if Gaetano sits down to read every silly story that’s written about him I mean, he’s never out of the papers!’

‘But if you’re wrong, Mum will be sacked and we’ll be kicked out of the flat’

Daht never happen and he said wryly, ‘Let’s hope I’’

But Poppy took after her late father and she was a worrier It was hard to credit that it was only a few years since the Arnolds had been a secure and happy faardener at Woodfield Hall and her e, Poppy had been two years into her training at nursing school and Damien had just completed his apprenticeship as a carat all their much-loved father had dropped dead and all their lives had been shattered by that cruelly sudden bereavement

Poppy had taken tih the worst of her grief and then she had returned to her studies Unhappily and without her knowledge, things had gone badly wrong at that point Her one off the rails and Da in his ho crowd and had ended up in prison That hen Poppy had finally co heavily Poppy had taken a leave of absence fro, that her ain Unfortunately that hadn’t happened Although Jas, Poppy’s one consolation was that, after earning early release froot his act together again Sadly, however, Daet a job

Poppy still felt horribly guilty about the fact that she had left her kid brother to deal with her deeply troubledthe first Arnold fe the Leonettis, she had been selfish and thoughtless and she had been trying to make up for that mistake ever since