Free A Twist of Fate by Joanna Rees

horses before I turn in. They’ve been inside all day.’
    Storm hadn’t wanted ‘those ghastly beasts’, as she’d put it, ruining her wedding shots, but Michael didn’t tell Thea that.
    ‘I’ll come with you, if you like?’ she said.
    And there it was again. That look he’d seen increasingly often in the last few months. The one that made his stomach feel funny. He’d thought about doing something about it countless
times – confirming what he suspected she might feel for him. But Thea was just a kid, and he couldn’t imagine the trouble he’d get into if he so much as laid one finger on Thea
Maddox. But sometimes the temptation to kiss her was overwhelming, especially when she looked like she did right now. He wondered whether it was a good idea for them to be alone later.
    A firework lit up the sky, breaking the moment.
    ‘I’ll be right back,’ Thea said, her infectious smile making him laugh. ‘Wait for me. Promise?’
    ‘I promise,’ Michael said, watching her go. Then he picked up the cloth, a sigh heavy in his chest. He’d promise her everything, if she asked him.
    Thea ran upstairs to call Storm. She wanted to say goodbye to her before she set off with Griffin on their luxury honeymoon. She wanted to show them both that there really were
no hard feelings, and that she wished them both a bright and happy future together.
    But just as she was running up the final flight of nursery stairs, she heard raised voices. Thea opened the bedroom door just the tiniest crack. In the reflection of the white mirrors inside,
Brett was pacing, staring at Storm, who had changed again from her evening dress into her going-away outfit. It was a gorgeous green velvet suit with gold buttons and big shoulder pads, and Thea
felt momentarily disappointed that Storm hadn’t waited for her. But she was much more shocked by what was going on.
    ‘Calm down, Brett, please,’ Storm pleaded, as she pulled on her gloves. ‘What more can you want?’
    ‘You know what I want. I had it spelled out in black and white.’ She saw Brett shaking a sheaf of papers in Storm’s face. ‘Do you know how hard the lawyers worked on that
pre-nup? You told me he’d sign it.’
    Thea flinched, amazed to see the fury in Brett’s eyes and the terror they inspired in Storm. What was Brett talking about? A pre-nup? What was that?
    Behind Storm, through the window, fireworks lit up the night sky. The fireworks were for the new Mrs Maddox. Storm glanced anxiously at the door and Thea flinched away.
    ‘He wouldn’t budge, Brett,’ Storm said urgently. ‘I tried, believe me. If I’d pushed him more, he’d have gotten suspicious. But I trust him, OK?’
    Thea squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, longing for this conversation not to be happening, for the sickening suspicion to go away. She put her eye once more against the crack of the door.
    ‘Trust? Trust Griffin Maddox. What? Are you crazy? You trusted the last two losers, and look what happened. We ended up with nothing,’ Brett said.
    ‘It’s not going to happen again. I’m happy and we’re rich.’
    ‘Until you blow it,’ Brett snapped. ‘What happens then?’
    ‘He’ll give you a job. Make you successful. The past doesn’t matter. You’re family now.’
    Thea held her breath, her heart pounding as she watched Storm lean in to soothe Brett’s temper. She put her hand on his chest, her voice changing.
    ‘Do you think I’ve put in all this work for it to go wrong? Christ, Brett. I’ve had to put up with living in this mausoleum. And marrying here. When I think of all those
venues I could have had, it makes me weep. I’ve even tolerated that freakish brat of his.’
    Thea recoiled as if Storm had slapped her face. Through the blur of tears that now clouded her vision she could see Brett softening.
    ‘Ah, yeah. Thea. Now she’s one of the good things about this place,’ he said.
    At first Thea thought she’d misheard. Was Brett really standing up for her? But