Bound by Light (2 page)

Sydney gave her a tired smile. “Thanks,
Auntie.”

With nothing left for her in California,
Sydney had pulled up stakes and moved to London. After all, the
death of her mother left her an orphan. A twenty-four-year-old
orphan, but an orphan, nonetheless.

Aunt Clara hugged her. “You’re probably
knackered, eh? We’ll head straight home and you can sleep. Your
uncle will be home around six and we can talk.”

Sydney nodded. “Is Lucy there?”

“She will be soon. She had a couple of
classes today, but should be home around four.” Her aunt smiled.
“Come on, Burt’s got the car idling at the curb. Dennis is waiting
at luggage claim.”

Sydney nodded and walked with her aunt
toward baggage claim. She didn’t know Burt or Dennis, but deduced
they were part of her aunt and uncle’s staff. Uncle Carville—Uncle
Cary—was exceedingly wealthy. Over the years he’d found it
necessary to put into place an extensive myriad of trusted house
staff and security personnel who had been with him for years. This
protection now extended to Sydney, since she would be living with
them for a while.

Arriving at baggage claim, Sydney discovered
Dennis waiting to pull her bags from the carousel. She smiled and
introduced herself and then pointed out the three that came around
quickly. As they waited for the final piece, she thought about how
she could easily get used to this kind of pseudo-Kardashian-esque
lifestyle.

“There it is,” Sydney said, and pointed to
the final and largest, green and blue tartan suitcase coming
towards them.

“I’ve got it, miss,” Dennis said, and pulled
it off the carousel.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a young man jogged
to them at Dennis’s wave of a hand and grabbed two of the bags,
while Dennis took the other two and then led Sydney and Aunt Clara
to the car. A rather fit, white-haired man gave a slight bow and
opened the back door as they approached. “Burt, this is Sydney.”
Aunt Clara slid into the car.

He smiled. “Lovely to meet you, miss.”

“You too. Thanks.” She followed her aunt and
Burt closed the door.

“You should feel free to just rest and get
acquainted with the staff over the next week or so, love,” Aunt
Clara said. “You’re not obligated to do anything for a while. Give
yourself some time to grieve properly and heal.”

Sydney nodded. “Thanks, Auntie.”

They sat in peaceful silence as Burt drove
them from Heathrow to St. Peters Place in London. Her aunt and
uncle lived in a spacious four-story townhouse they’d gutted and
renovated twice in the last thirty years. Lucy and her brother also
lived there, although Anson would be moving out soon, as his job
was taking him to France.

Burt pulled the car up to the front of the
house, and Aunt Clara and Sydney climbed out. Tears sprang to
Sydney’s eyes as she gazed at the house and felt the love and
comfort of family it had always held for her.

“We’ve put you in the room next to Lucy,”
Aunt Clara said. “She wanted you close, but if you’d like to sleep
somewhere else, you let me know.”

Sydney smiled. “That’s my favorite room—I
love being next to her.”

Her aunt chuckled. “Almost verbatim what she
said.”

Burt and Dennis started up the stairs with
Sydney’s luggage and Aunt Clara squeezed her hand. “Are you hungry,
love, or would you like to sleep?”

“I slept a bit on the plane, so I think I’ll
go with hungry.”

“Come on, then, I’m sure Leticia has
prepared something delicious you can snack on.”

Sydney followed Aunt Clara back to the
kitchen and enjoyed a spread of cheese and cold cuts before heading
to her room and falling into bed. For the first time in a long
time, she fell asleep quickly, but as usual, couldn’t stay asleep
all night. She only managed two hours and spent the rest of the
time attempting to read.

At what her family would consider a
“respectable hour,” Sydney showered in what was deemed the “small
bathroom.” It was just off her bedroom and probably bigger than a
few studio apartments in San Francisco. She’d giggled when her aunt
had apologized the first time she’d stayed. The room was all
marble—a claw-foot tub, shower that fit two, plus a toilet
and
bidet. Double sinks sat along a wall with two mirrored
medicine cabinets above them. A large skylight in the ceiling
flooded the room with natural light and could be opened via
remote.

She headed down to the kitchen and found
Lucy sitting at the dinette table, a gossip magazine open in front
of her. Because of jet lag and the fact that Lucy had gotten home
later than expected, Sydney hadn’t seen her yesterday, so it was a
long overdue reunion.

Lucy let out an excited squeal and rushed
for Sydney, pulling her into a hug. “You’re here, you’re finally
here.”

“I’m here, cuzzie.” Sydney giggled and
hugged her back. She pulled away and shook her head. “Do you ever
not look perfect?”

Lucy had dark, glossy, shoulder-length hair
that swung perfectly in an asymmetrical style that Sydney couldn’t
have achieved without a constant hairstylist. Sydney’s, on the
other hand, was long and straight, and probably would be forever.
She was way too chicken to cut it more than an inch at a time.

Lucy rolled her eyes. “Hello, pot, have you
met kettle?” She tugged Sydney to the table. “Come and have some
brekkie.”

“What would you like, Sydney?” Leticia asked
with a smile.

“I’m happy to make something.”

“You know the rules, love,” the cook said
good-naturedly.

“Oh, fine.” Sydney gave her a mock frown,
secretly loving being banned from the kitchen for a few days. “I’d
love an egg on toast, please. I’ll get my own coffee if you have
it.”

Leticia chuckled. “It’s in the pot.”

Sydney poured a cup and then sat next to
Lucy.

Lucy set her magazine aside and folded her
hands on the table. “What do you want to do today?”

“Just hang out if you don’t mind.” Sydney
sipped her coffee. “I need to sit down with your dad at some point
and sort out the inheritance and money from the sale of the house,
but I kind of want to pretend that I’m on vacation for a little
while.” She forced a smile to her face, hoping it met her eyes, and
lowered her coffee cup to hide the shaking in her hand.

Lucy squeezed her arm and nodded. “Okay, so
we’ll hang out today and then tomorrow we’ll be obnoxious
tourists.”

“That sounds perfect,” Sydney said, hoping
it sounded genuine.

“Do you need to stop at the bank?”

“No, I have my credit card and a hundred
pounds in cash.”

“Good,” Lucy said, staring at her phone.
“Stasia and Nadia said they’d love to join us.”

“Oh, that would be fun!” Again with the
overly happy tone.

“We don’t have to.”

“No, I want to. Really,” Sydney assured
her.

Lucy grinned and pulled out her phone. “I’ll
let them know.”

Three hours later, Sydney, Lucy, Stasia, and
Nadia walked into a cafe near the London Eye. The girls had tried
to get Sydney to go on the Ferris wheel, but it was never going to
happen. They argued through most of the line, ordering in between
good-natured bickering.

“But it has the most amazing views,” Nadia
continued as they took their seats.

“And if you’d like to go up in that death
trap, you can feel free to take a few photos for me,” Sydney
said.

“It’s perfectly safe, cuz,” Lucy piled
on.

Sydney nodded. “It is if you watch from the
ground.”

Stasia giggled. “She wouldn’t even go on the
roller coasters with me when I was in the States. I was forced to
go with one of her friends.”

“Oh, yeah, you had
such
a hard time
screaming and hanging on to the arm of one Topher Murray, rock star
wannabe and general poor man’s bad boy.”

“He was nice.”

“I know he was, which is why he isn’t a real
bad boy. He took you on all the scary rides, promising to protect
you, and spent the whole time staring at your butt whenever you
walked in front of him.”

Stasia gasped. “He stared at my bum?”

“Yes, yes, he did.”

She groaned. “Why didn’t you tell me? I
would have totally given him tongue if I’d known.”

Lucy choked on her tea. “Anastasia!”

“What? I thought he wasn’t interested, so I
kissed him all chastely and crap.”

Sydney giggled. “He was trying to be a
gentleman because I told him if he wasn’t, I would cut a certain
appendage off.”

“Well, why’d you go and do that?” Stasia
demanded. “We could’ve had
way
more fun than we did.”

“I don’t think I want to know what ‘more
fun’ would have entailed.” Sydney took a bite of her sausage roll
and shook her head.

“No, you really don’t,” Lucy agreed.

Stasia sighed. “He was so hot. Are you guys
still friends?”

Sydney shrugged. “Facebook friends mostly.
He moved to Australia for a girl, and I guess they broke up, but he
stayed.”

Stasia raised an eyebrow. “Hmm, maybe I
should reach out. I love Oz, and I’m thinking Daddy owes me a
little trip for my grades this past semester.”

“Aren’t you nearly twenty-four?” Sydney
said.

“Yes, so?”

“Your dad still buys you trips for doing
well on college courses?”

Stasia giggled. “Daddy buys me anything I
ask for.”

Sydney blinked back tears.

“Oh crap, sorry, love,” Stasia rushed to
say. “I’m sorry about your parents. I shouldn’t have said
that.”

“No, it’s okay.”

Lucy reached over and took Sydney’s hand,
giving it a gentle squeeze.

“So, Topher,” Sydney pressed. “Do you want
me to connect you two?”

“Yes, that would be amazing.”

Sydney nodded, the subject effectively
changed. All in all, it was a good day spent with old friends, and
Sydney was able to enjoy the moment. Win for her... for now.

* * *

A week later, Lucy arrived home from school
and pulled Sydney into her bedroom and closed the door.

“Whoa, lady, you okay?” Sydney
whispered.

Lucy’s head bobbed up and down as she let
out a quiet squeal. “I met a boy.”

“Seriously?” Sydney giggled. “Deets,
please!”

“His name’s Zach and he’s American.” She let
out a girly sigh. “His accent is divine.”

“Yeah, yeah, go on.”

“Well, he’s just transferred from his school
in California, and we’ve been talking for a few days. We hit it off
right away and today he asked me if I’d like to go out with him.
Like a date, date, and I said yes. Oh my god, Sid, he’s so cute.
Dark hair, these yummy chocolate-brown eyes, and he’s tall and a
total beefcake.”

Sydney shook her head. “Sounds just like
your type.”

“It’s like I imagined him and he appeared
before me.”

“Maybe’s he’s a robot,” Sydney retorted.

“With a really big schlo—”

“Lucy!”

“Not all of us aspire to be virginal, love.
No judgment, just fact. It’s been a dry year for me and I need a
little relief.”

Sydney felt heat creep up her cheeks. “I
just haven’t met the one yet. That’s all.”

“Like I said. No judgment,” Lucy stressed.
“Anyway, once Dad runs his little report on Zach, I’m hoping he’ll
release me from my gilded cage and let me go out with him.”

“I’m sure he will.”

“I can’t wait for you to meet him! You’re
going to love him.”

Sydney smiled. “I don’t doubt it.”

“It needs to be soon, okay?”

“Sure. How about this weekend?”

“That would be great. I’ll talk to him about
it and we’ll make a plan.”

“Can’t wait.”

Lucy slid off her bed. “Okay, I have a paper
to finish. I’ll see you at dinner.”

Sydney grinned and watched her leave. She
wondered if she’d ever be in a place to date casually, but she
doubted it. One thing Sydney knew about herself was that she never
did anything casually. It made her vulnerable and it got her hurt,
but try as she might, she couldn’t change that part of her. She
cared about people too much. For now though, she was happy to live
vicariously through Lucy and watch the drama that would certainly
unfold.

CHAPTER TWO

T
HANE ALLEN STOOD in
the middle of his spacious hotel suite in London and stared at his
iPad. Today marked the first day of the promotional blitz for his
new movie releasing in three weeks. He typically hated these
things, but this time around, he had his costar, Charlotte
MacMillan, with him for the duration. This meant his closest friend
Niall was there since he was married to Charlotte and they were
rarely out of each other’s presence.

The movie had been a hard sell to Niall.
Thane had to do quite a bit of convincing, because it was an epic
historical romance, and that meant some serious kissing scenes.
Charlotte had beat out forty other women who auditioned for the
part, partly because she was American, but mostly because she was
an incredible actress and an “unknown,” which is what the director
wanted.

Niall’s other concern had been his and
Charlotte’s daughter, Moira Faith. He was worried about leaving her
with an on-site caregiver while they were on location, but
Charlotte reminded him that parents went to work every day, and she
assured him Moira wouldn’t be neglected if both of them were
close.

In the end, Niall had been hired to score
the film and his band, Fallen Crown, had performed the theme song,
which Niall had written and he and Charlotte had sung as a duet.
This kept him involved throughout the filming and editing process
and close enough to keep an eye on his beautiful wife.

So far, the preliminary reviews of the movie
were positive, which didn’t really matter much to Thane. It was all
about box office sales and then DVD rentals and sales later. If the
people didn’t like it, the preliminary reviews didn’t mean
much.