Chapter 14

Bryan became very still as he looked down at her with hooded eyes. ‘Are you threatening me, Helena?’

She gave another shake of her head, her smile as humourless as the one he had given her seconds ago. ‘I’m trying to warn you. The Botchs, although you haven’t yet had the chance to witness it, are your typical twenty-first-century dysfunctional family.’

Bryan’s mouth quirked. ‘In what way?’

‘In every way,’ Helena said impatiently, knowing he wasn’t taking this conversation seriously at all. ‘My mother runs the house and gardens with grace and style. My father is a very successful trainer of racehorses—’

‘And you, Helena?’ Bryan taunted. ‘Emma tells me that you are a very successful interior designer.’

‘So they say,’ Helena confirmed, choosing to take his words at face value and ignore the sarcasm. ‘But the truth of the matter is that my mother and father do not own Whitelemon Hall and the stables; my grandfather does. And it is something that he never lets his son and daughter-in-law,