The Heart Series: Complete Boxed Set Read Online Free Page A

the affair, my dad was the closest person to me. He was the one I would confide in; he was my rock. My mother had always been jealous of our relationship, never accepting the fact I was a Daddy’s girl from the moment I was born. I loved my mother, but she had a way of getting under my skin. She was constantly overbearing and high-strung, always wanting to know every detail of my life. I resented how intrusive she could be at times. I liked my privacy, not welcoming her interference in parts of my life that I tried desperately to keep hidden.
    I missed my dad’s laid-back attitude, his patience and kindness. He had nurtured my book obsession, taking me to book fairs, instilling in me from a young age the joy of escapism through the pages of a book.
    He was the one who bought me all the classics, taking the time to learn and understand the real me. He never pressured me to be something I wasn’t. He was my entire world, until he ripped it to shreds, until it was broken and beyond repair.
    Joel lived not far from us, only a couple of streets away with his dad, who to put it bluntly, was an arsehole. His mother had died in a hit and run accident when he was four. and since then his dad had raised him alongside his uncle. Well I use the term ‘raised’ loosely, for the best part of his life after his uncle relocated for work, Joel had basically brought himself up.
    Joel’s dad never praised or gave him any credit for any of his achievements, always taking great delight in enlightening him on his many failures. I came to the conclusion that nothing Joel did would ever impress him. The amount of alcohol he drank didn’t help with his anger issues, and being of the whiskey variety that was enough to stir up trouble.
    I would often overhear snippets of conversations between Joel and Mike about their arguments, but then there was the obvious signs, a black eye, a split lip, the number of times unexplained bruises would appear on his body. My mother had tried to intervene, but Joel had asked her not to say anything, which in the end she had relented, much to her own displeasure. So she did the next best thing in opening our home to him, so he’d always have somewhere to escape to when things got bad.
     
    * * *
     
    After an hour of escapism with my Kindle, I headed downstairs in need of a caffeine fix. Joel was busy making coffee too, but he was too distracted by the music to notice me enter.
    I stood mesmerised in the doorway, watching him hum and tap the spoon along to the beat as his muscles flexed with each movement. Everything about him was just so captivating. I would often find myself lost in the moment as I took him all in. The majority of the time I managed to get away with it, but on the odd occasion he would catch me, the smile he wore told me he knew it.
    But I was not even close to forgiving him for his earlier stunt, so I breezed through into the kitchen, purposely giving him the cold shoulder.
    Joel spun around grinning, but I’d had enough of his cruel games. He didn’t deserve my attention. I secretly took great delight in knowing my deathly silence would get to him.
    His lips curled up into a grin, clearly enjoying my little act. His eyes surveyed my every move as he waited patiently for me to look at him.
    But I refused. I would not break.
    “Do you want a cuppa, Iz? I’m making one for us.” His eyes burned into me, waiting for some kind of acknowledgement. I carried on ignoring him, grabbing a cup before reaching into the cutlery draw for a teaspoon.
    I leaned past him to get the coffee jar, but he grabbed it, quickly holding it aloft out of my reach. I blew out some air in frustration. It was all just one stupid joke to him. He always did get such enjoyment from torturing me. You would think he’d be bored by now, but still the games continued.
    I jumped up to grab it, but he stepped back, much to my dismay.
    “If you want the coffee you have to speak to me, Iz.”
    Yeah, that wasn’t going to