Page 81 of One Eye Open (The BlackWater)

“What does that mean?” Jenny asked grinning like there was some big secret.

“Maddie worked for Homewell, she got caught up in a case we were working. We were lucky enough to persuade her to join us and the rest is history.” Brandon said before either of them could reply.

“Caught up in a case?” Charles repeated before he looked to Cole. “And then she got caught up with you?” He said and Maddie felt her eyes widen at the insinuation even though it was pretty much true.

“Enough.” Cole said quietly but they could all hear the warning in his voice.

“So Brandon are you just staying the weekend too?” Jenny asked quickly.

“Yes. I have a lot to deal with at the moment. I almost didn’t come down.” Brandon said.

“Why? What’s going on?” Hugo asked.

“It’s nothing we can’t handle.” Cole said.

“And not really to sort of thing to discuss this evening.” Brandon added as they heard footsteps through the hallway.

Ben opened the door and Charlotte walked in followed by a smartly dressed man.

“Charlotte.” Constance cried getting up to hug her. “Owen, how lovely that you could join us.” She said hugging him too.

“Thank you Ben.” Cole said. “Take the rest of the evening off.” Ben nodded before shutting the door.

Owen beamed hugging her back before looking round at the other faces. He was mousy blonde with a stocky build that almost didn’t fit with the smart clothes he was wearing.

“Everyone this is Owen, my boyfriend.” Charlotte said loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

“Owen, good to see you again.” Brandon said holding his hand out to him.

Owen smiled taking it before looking over at Cole and Maddie.

“Owen.” Cole said holding his own hand out. “This is Maddie, my girlfriend.”

“Nice to meet you Maddie.” Owen said and she smiled taking his hand thankful that at least there was another quasi stranger in the room and hoping that Cole’s mother might now be distracted enough to turn her incessant gaze away from her.

“Who wants a drink?” Charlotte asked looking round. “Oh just us.” She said half laughing before disappearing to sort them.

“How was the journey?” Hugo asked Owen as he sat down almost awkwardly waiting for Charlotte’s return.

“Not too bad. We left later than we intended. I unfortunately had a last minute brief that needed to be sorted.” He said as Charlotte sat beside him and half draped her legs on him.

“You people.” Constance said. “All you do is work. You need to learn there’s more to life than just an office.”

“Some of us have businesses to run.” Cole said.

Constance rolled her eyes before looking back at Charlotte. “You’ve lost weight.” She stated and Charlotte laughed.

“I doubt it. Owen takes me out to a fancy restaurant almost every week…” Charlotte replied.

They’d only been dating for three months and Maddie felt a pang of guilt that she’d not made more of an effort to meet up with them, especially as Charlotte had clearly been desperate to introduce them.

“Talking of dinner….” Brandon said getting up. “It’s probably about time we headed down.”

“What is it? I’m starving.” Jenny said.

“Beef bourguignon.” Brandon said as he held the door for everyone to walk through.

They sat at one end of the ridiculously long dining table and Maddie couldn’t help but glance at the almost oppressive opulence around her. Paintings seemed to cover every inch of the walls as if this were a gallery rather than a dining room.

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