Page 122 of Good Sisters

‘Jesus, Mum, it’s … it’s –’

‘Blow-jobs,’ Leo blurted out. ‘He said she’s really good at giving him blow-jobs.’

Oh, my God, she wasn’t even sixteen. That lowlife wasshowing a photo of my niece topless and saying she was a blow-job queen. I felt a shot of pure rage go through me. I wanted to bash his stupid head in. I could have killed him with my bare hands.

‘Did the other boys see the photo?’ I said quietly.

‘They didn’t get a chance. Sebastian just showed it to the three of us, to wind us up. We tried to wrestle the phone out of his hands, but then –’

‘Liam punched him?’ I interrupted.

‘No. Liam punched him when he said Jess was a slut.’

Tears sprang into my eyes. I had never been prouder of Liam. But my poor, lovely Jess.

‘Does Jess have any idea he has this photo?’ I asked.

‘I dunno,’ Leo said.

‘We tried to get Sebastian’s phone, but Coach came in when he heard the shouting, so the prick still has it.’

‘Oh, Jesus, poor Jess. We have to delete that photo.’

‘Don’t worry, Mum. We’ll get his phone and destroy it,’ Leo said.

‘But won’t it still be on the cloud or whatever?’ I was panicking.

‘Not unless it’s synced or backed up,’ Leo said.

I had no idea what that really meant, but I knew we had to get Sebastian’s phone ASAP and delete everything.

‘We could go to the guards,’ Luke said. ‘I mean, couldn’t they talk to him and get his phone? Isn’t it illegal to have pictures without a girl’s consent or whatever?’

I shook my head. ‘No. We need to shut this down, boys. We don’t want this to get broadcast all over the place. The most important thing here is to keep it quiet so we can protect Jess. I want you to leave it with me. I’ll sort it out. But you have to do one thing for me – find out if he forwarded that photo to any of the other lads. And if you find out hedid, don’t go rogue. We’ll handle it. We have to tread carefully. But I promise you this, I’m going to make sure that prick Sebastian pays for what he’s done to our Jess and to Liam.’

‘Get Louise to sort him out. She’s way scary and she can totally legal him,’ Luke suggested.

‘Yeah, Louise can kick serious arse,’ Leo said.

‘So can I, boys. Trust me, so can I.’

29. Louise

Everyone, including Julie, was on time. They knew how important today was to me and to Clara. I introduced Marco to my family.

‘Nice to see you again.’ Dad shook Marco’s hand warmly.

‘An honour to see the father of Louisa again.’ Marco smiled.

‘Louisa.’ Julie winked at me.

I shrugged. ‘I’ve told him a million times.’

‘Clara looks happy,’ Sophie noted.

‘So far, so good.’

‘Hey, Clara, do you want to give Lemon her bottle?’ Gavin asked.