She doesn’t. ‘Is he willing to do anything to keep you safe?’

‘Don’t!’

‘Would he end a life for you?’

I grip the stair rail, squeezing it until my hand is numb. ‘Please.’

‘I would.’ She moves closer still. ‘I did.’ I’m frozen in place. ‘My life ended the day I walked out on you, Olivia. I disappeared off the face of the earth to protect you, baby.’ She reaches me and I watch in shocked silence as her hand lifts carefully and comes slowly towards me. ‘I sacrificed my life so you could have yours. You weren’t safe with me in your life.’ Her soft touch rests on my arm, my eyes rooted on it as it drifts down my skin until she reaches my hand and squeezes gently. ‘And I’d do it all over again, I promise you.’

I’m immobilised, desperately searching for any insincerity in her voice or words. There’s none. All I hear are heartfelt words and a voice quivering with pain. Her fingers entwine with mine softly. We remain quiet. The barren concrete stairwell is cold, but there’s warmth spreading across my skin and settling deeply, and it’s all coming from her – the woman I’ve spent the best part of my life hating.

She fiddles with my sapphire ring on the underside of my hand for a few moments, then turns my limp limb over so the gem is sparkling up at us. ‘You wear my ring,’ she whispers, a certain amount of pride in her soft words. I frown, but I don’t withdraw from her touch. I’m confounded by the sense of peace settling over me as a result of it.

‘Nan’s ring,’ I correct her.

Gracie looks up at me, smiling sadly. ‘William gave me this ring.’

I swallow and shake my head, thinking of all the times William has toyed with the antique gem on my finger. ‘No, Granddad gave it to Nan and Nan gave it to me for my twenty-first.’

‘William gave me that ring, baby. I left it behind for you.’

Now I withdraw, and I withdraw fast. ‘What?’

Her chin is trembling and she shifts uncomfortably. She’s displaying some of the exact reactions William did when speaking of her. ‘He said it reminded him of my eyes.’

My eyes dart around the hollow stairwell, my poor mind racing. ‘You left me,’ I murmur. Gracie’s eyes slowly close, like she’s fighting off the horrid memories, and now I appreciate that she likely is.

‘I really didn’t have a choice, Olivia. Everyone I loved – you, William, Nan, and Granddad – was at risk. It wasn’t William’s fault.’ She squeezes my hand gently. ‘If I had stayed, so much more damage would have been done. Everyone was better off without me here.’

‘That’s not true,’ I argue weakly, emotion closing my throat. I’m trying so hard to locate the contempt I’ve maintained for Gracie, trying to inject it into my tone, but it’s gone. Lost. I haven’t got time to analyse it now. ‘Tell me where he is,’ I demand.

Her well-dressed body deflates as she casts her eyes over my shoulder. Something’s caught her attention, and I pivot to see what it is.

William is standing at the bottom of the stairs, quietly watching us.

‘We need to get to Miller,’ I say, bracing myself for the resistance I know I’m going to face. ‘Tell me where the Temple is.’

‘It’ll be over before you know it.’ His face is awash with reassurance, but it won’t work.

‘Will,’ Gracie says softly.

He throws a warning look past me, shaking his head. He’s warning her. He’s warning her not to tell me.

I turn to find Gracie with her eyes rooted on him. I don’t have to ask again. ‘Number eight Park Piazza,’ she whispers.

William curses aloud, but I ignore it and make tracks, pushing past him when he doesn’t move to let me through. ‘Olivia!’ He catches my arm and holds me in place.

‘Sophia called me.’ I grit my teeth. ‘Charlie’s going to drug Miller. If that woman gets hold of him, we’ll lose him completely.’

‘What?’

‘He’s going to drug him! He won’t be getting rid of Charlie because he’ll be comatose! And that woman is going to make him feel violated again! He’ll be ruined!’

He pulls up, flicking his eyes past my shoulders to Gracie. Something passes between them and I find myself glancing back and forth between them, trying to figure out what it is.

I might be challenged in the sanity department, but I know what I heard and I haven’t time to convince William. I dash down the remaining flight of stairs and break free of the cold stairwell, hurrying for the exit. Two sets of footsteps are in pursuit of me, but neither will stop me. I scan the street for a cab, shouting my frustration when I see nothing.

‘Olivia!’ William calls as I hurry across the road.

I round the corner and breathe my relief when I spot a taxi pulling over to the kerb. I barely give the passenger time to pay and jump out before I’m in and pulling the door shut. ‘Park Piazza, please.’

I slump back in my seat and spend the journey praying repeatedly that I’m not too late, while shouting my frustration each time he doesn’t answer my calls.

The grand white building looks ominous beyond the trees lining the street. My stomach is in knots, my breathing challenged. I look down the road, bracing myself for William’s Lexus to round the corner. I don’t bother trying to convince myself that William didn’t know where Miller is. He makes it his business to know everything.

I climb the steps to the double doors, the noises from inside becoming clearer the closer I get. There’s laughter, chatter, and classical music playing in the background, but the obvious happy atmosphere within the walls of this building does nothing to lessen my sense of foreboding. I can literally feel the invisible barriers trying to hold me back as I push on, the house seeming to talk to me.

You don’t belong here!

Leave now!

I ignore it all.

I see a bell and a doorknocker, but it’s the digital keypad that grabs my attention. Four digits are stamping all over my mind.

Two. Zero. One. Five.

I punch it in and hear the mechanical shift of the lock, so I push through gingerly. The noise intensifies, saturating my hearing and cooling my skin.

‘You just can’t help yourself, can you?’

I gasp and whirl around, finding Tony behind me. He’s going to try to stop me, too. My instincts kick in and I push past the heavy door, soon finding myself in a gigantic entrance hall with curved stairs leading up from both sides to a large gallery landing. It’s ridiculously ostentatious and I’m momentarily rendered stunned by my surroundings. Then it hits me that I have no idea what to do now that I’m here. My urgency to get to Miller, to stop him from possibly destroying himself beyond my ability to fix him, was all that consumed my mind.

‘This way.’ Tony’s hand wraps around my upper arm and pulls me off to the right aggressively. ‘You’re the biggest fucking headache, Livy.’ I’m hauled into an extravagant study and the door slams behind us. Tony releases me and shoves me up against the wall. ‘You’re going to get him killed!’

I don’t have time to enlighten Tony on the developments because the door flies open on a loud crash and my breath is stolen by the sight of Charlie standing in the doorway.