“Georgia, really—”

“Mum, I swear to God, if you tell me not to swear, I will walk out that door and never step foot in this house again.”

“Shut up, Bern. Let the girl talk.” I give up, my family are bloody impossible sometimes. To think that I’ve actually missed all of this. No wonder I’ve got issues.

“Think what you like of Cam, but he did nothing but look after me Saturday night. He stayed with me all night. He ordered me food, made me eat it. He made me drink water and he listened to me talk and he held me when I cried.” I can feel a lump forming in my throat as I speak. I’m missing him and I so wish that I didn’t. “The problem is that the press somehow have found out that he stayed in my room and have run a story about it in Australia and the UK papers will be running one tomorrow. I just wanted you to know, that was all.” I finish my glass of wine, just as the intercom goes for the gates at the front of the house.

“Get that will ya please, Bern?” my dad says to my mum and she huffs as she leaves the room. I can hear her speak to whoever is at the gates and she must wait at the front door to let them in.

“Well, that’s very nice of Cam. I’ll buy the boy a drink next time I see him to say thank you.”

“He’s not a boy, Dad. He’s older than me,” Bailey states.

“So that’s it, nothing else happened, George?” Marley asks.

“Nothing else like what?” I reply

“Did you arrange to see each other again or anything like that?” I don’t really know what to say and before I get a chance to, I hear a commotion at the front door. A few seconds later, Cam walks into my parents’ front room.

“I told you I would come and find you, Kitten. All you had to do was call me back. Why’d you always have to make things difficult?” I’m speechless. my mouth is hanging open. I reach for my wine glass, but realise it's empty. “Sorry about coming here like this, Frank.” He looks at my mum, “Bern.” He nods at Bails and Marley. “Boys, my apologies, but your sister is too stubborn to return my calls or messages and we need to talk.”

I shake my head at him. “You need to go. I’ve got nothing to say to you.” I look him up and down. He’s wearing a grey hoodie and a loose pair of jeans. He puts his hands in the pocket at the front of the hoodie.

“You don’t need to say anything, Georgia. You just have to listen. Now you can either do that here or we can go somewhere private and talk. It’s up to you. I kept my mouth shut last time. I didn’t tell you how I felt and you left me.” Oh, God, where’s he going with this, in front of my dad and brothers? I’m about to get up and take the show outside when my dad says, “Na, na, sunshine, whatever you’ve gotta say, you can say it here. You ain’t taking her nowhere.” Great, I look to my mum for help but she’s busy pouring me and her more wine. I take a large swig from mine.

Cam continues, “Fair enough, Frank.” He takes his hands out of his pockets and puts them on his hips. He looks around the room at everyone, then from me to my dad. “I’m in love with your daughter, Frank.” My stomach doesn’t just back flip, it puts on an Olympic gold medal winning gymnastics floor show.  My dad sits back in his favourite wing back chair, crosses his right leg over his left and taps on his lips with the index finger of his left hand, all while I’m about to spontaneously combust on my parents’ sofa. Cam turns back to me. I’m so embarrassed and concerned about this ending up with my dad and brothers lynching Cam that I’ve not even taken on board what he’s just said.

“I love the fuck out of you, Kitten. If you’d have answered your phone, listened to your messages or read your texts, you would have known this. It would’ve been just between us and we could’ve spoke like grown-ups and sorted through our feelings, but you’ve chosen to behave like a child so here I am, making myself look like a complete cunt and getting ready to be shot by your family.” He looks at my mum. “Excuse my language, Bern, but your daughter would make a saint swear.”

“Oh, I know, Cam. I know.”

“Seriously, Mum, thanks for your support.”  I’m obviously not thinking straight or listening to what he’s actually telling me as I reply, “Well, you’re always making yourself look like a cunt and it’ll make a change from you doing the shooting,” realising as soon as the words leave my mouth what I’ve just said.

“Georgia, do not say that word,” my mum shrieks.

“What the fuck does that mean? What shooting?” My dad turns towards me. “Has he been shooting people in front of you?”

Before I can speak, Cam replies, “I took her for lunch a long time ago and Terry Riley happened to be in the pub we went to. He’d just come out of nick and was celebrating.” He looks from my dad to me and his head tilts to the side. He closes his eyes for a long moment and lets out a long sigh as he looks back towards my dad. “I’m not proud of what I did that day, Frank, and I apologise now, even though it was twelve years ago, but Terry started given it large.” He rakes his hand through his hair. Bailey is suddenly up on his feet.

“You blew Terry Riley’s kneecaps off with a shooter, in front of my fucking sister?” Bails turns to me. “Is that what happened? Were you there? Did you watch him do that?” My face burns. I’m in so much trouble. I don’t know how to answer. I don’t want to lie, but I don’t want to get Cam in trouble with my family either. I look from Bailey, to my dad, to Cam, who shakes his head at me.

“She was there. She saw it all. Benny made sure she was safe. I fucking lost it. What can I say, I’m sorry. I really am sorry. I would never put her in danger.” He sits down on the sofa next to me.

“Sit down, Bailey. You’re making the room look unfucking tidy,” my dad says.

Bailey sits down next to Marley, who is just staring at all of us like he can’t believe what he’s hearing. If I hadn’t witnessed it myself, I would probably have the same look on my face too.

“He shot someone in front of her, Dad. Does that not concern you? He can spout off about how much he loves her all he likes, but that won’t keep her safe. Same as it didn’t keep his wife safe.” An audible gasp comes from both myself and my parents, and I panic as I see the cold hard stare Cam fixes Bailey with.

“That’s enough, Bailey. That was low. Do not be so disrespectful,” my dad shouts. “Terry Riley had it coming to him. It’s just unfortunate that my daughter happened to witness him getting his dues.” He looks towards me. “It obviously didn’t have too much of an effect on her if it’s the first we’re hearing of it.” He looks from me to my brothers. “I remember someone leaving her in a much worse state and no one had any objections to that relationship.” Oh, God, I don’t think I can take much more. This conversation is just becoming more surreal. Is my dad really saying that because the bloke had it coming, it was okay to shoot him in a pub car park in front of me, and that what Sean put me through, or I put myself through, however you want to look at it is worse? I look at Cam and just start to laugh; nerves, jet lag, the wine, I’m not sure what causes it, but I just can’t help laughing at the conversation going on in my parents’ living room right now.

I hear the front door slam and Ashley walks in with Joe, Connie and Annie behind her. She looks around the room at all of us, her eyes widen as they land on Cam.

“Fuck me, TDH, what the fuck are you doing here?” Her eyes flick between mine and Cam’s. “Oh, my fucking God, is everything I just heard on the radio all true?”

I frown in confusion as I look at Cam, but Marley speaks before I can ask Ash what she’s talking about. “How the fuck d’ya know him, Ash?” He gestures with his chin at Cam. Ashley shrugs and looks at me then back to Marls.

“He’s G’s Mr TDH, babe, I’ve known him years. He owns the wine bar we used to drink in.”

“Why’d you call him TDH?” he asks and I can’t help but smile as I wait to hear her response, Cam’s just gonna love this and it’ll make that self-inflated ego of his even bigger no doubt.