A Twist of Fate (57 page)

The way things were shaping up – even though Storm was using every last cent of her wealth, in an attempt to clear Brett’s name – Brett would be spending a long time in prison.
Behind bars, physically and mentally. Michael had told Thea what they did to rapists and child molesters in jail. As far as Thea was concerned, Brett deserved everything that was coming his
way.

Which meant that Maddox Inc. was now truly hers – with the board firmly behind her, and Brett’s previous supporters already gone. Somehow though, with Brett gone, her own commitment
to running the company had waned. As a result she’d dramatically cut back her hours and had learnt to delegate far more. And when the baby was born, she meant what she’d told Romy: she
was going to take at least nine months, maybe even a year, off. She wasn’t going to miss a second of it. Romy had convinced her of that already.

Thea stretched and got off the bed, pressing her hand to the small of her back for support, as she padded over to her suitcase on the rack in the hall. She delved inside it, remembering the
present she’d brought. She picked out the wrapped package and dusted it off.

And as she did, she thought of Jenny in Australia and her visit out there. They’d been in touch last year, and Thea had asked the company lawyers to see if they could find a settlement
that would allow Jenny compensation for the inheritance she’d never received from her mother. It seemed only fair, since it had been Alyssa McAdams’s fortunes that had founded Maddox
Inc.

But Jenny had astonished Thea by refusing the money. She hadn’t wanted to become a part of the Maddox empire. She hadn’t wanted her life to change. What was much more important to
Jenny than any money Thea could give her, she’d told her, was what she’d already given her. She’d found her father, Johnny Faraday. And Johnny couldn’t have been more
delighted that he had two strapping grandsons, when Thea and Michael had seen him on their honeymoon last summer.

‘Here,’ Thea said, coming back to where Romy was carefully putting the album away. ‘I’ve got a present for you. I’ve been meaning to give it to you, but now feels
like the right time.’

‘What’s this?’ Romy asked. She took it and opened the bow, then pulled out the cushion embroidered with the words ‘
Sisters make the best of friends
’. Thea
felt a rush of emotion as Romy held it tight against her chest. And as Romy opened her arms to embrace her, Thea knew that everything she’d once dreamt a sister might be had come true.

The next morning Romy woke up in the bed next to Thea. As she opened her eyes and looked at Thea’s sleeping face, Romy realized she hadn’t dreamt. Of anything. Of
being chased. Of Lemcke. Of losing Alfonso. In fact, she thought, as she stretched, it had probably been the best night’s sleep of her life.

She got up and washed her face and looked at herself in the bathroom mirror.

She’d talked late into the night with Thea, as the idea for the Anaka Foundation had taken shape. And now, in the cold light of day, Romy felt more certain than ever that it was the right
thing to do.

Thea would help Romy finance it, but together they were going to find a way to help all those girls Solya had abused. Even ones like Claudia. It was a huge idea, but a challenge that Romy was
already relishing – how she’d track them all down, and how she’d help other girls too, girls who were out there right now, lost and alone. Romy knew in her heart it was what she
had to do. What she’d always known she must do.

She wondered what Lars would say when she told him. Now it was Thea’s words she remembered – the last thing she’d said before they’d fallen asleep just before dawn,
‘Go for it with Lars. You have nothing to be afraid of.’

Romy smiled at herself in the mirror, feeling butterflies in her stomach. She couldn’t wait to see Lars and Alfie and Gretchen walk off that train. They were going to see the sights in
London, and then take the camper van on a long holiday through Europe. Romy only wished Thea could come too. But she needed to get back to America and Michael. Still, they’d be together again
soon. Of that Romy had no doubt.

Romy and Thea had breakfast together, laughing at the small quirks they delighted in noticing about each other – how they were both left-handed, how they both took their coffee black with
half a teaspoon of sugar. Romy couldn’t get enough of her sister and her stories. She wanted to know everything. They were still talking as they both took a black cab to Waterloo Station.

‘How are we doing for time?’ Thea asked, as she paid the cab driver.

Romy looked at her watch. ‘Any minute now.’

Thea smiled. ‘You’re excited, aren’t you? I am too. I spoke to Michael earlier. He sends his love. He says he wishes he was here.’

They walked together into the cavernous arrivals hall.

‘Wow. I haven’t been here for years,’ Thea said. ‘It’s certainly changed.’

Romy stared up at the high glass ceiling. ‘I came here once. One night.’
One of the worst of my life
, Romy now remembered. ‘I’d just arrived in London, and I was
so desperate. I had nothing and I was completely alone.’

‘The last time I came,’ Thea said with a rueful smile, ‘I was going on a school trip to the theatre. I was fat and lonely, and had had my head screwed up by Brett. I remember
coming out of the Tube and giving a girl some money, and that’s how I got talking to Bridget Lawson. You remember I told you about Bridget, Tom’s sister? And Shelley, their
mom?’

Romy stared at Thea as she continued talking, remembering how the girl in the red coat had appeared like an angel. And as the sun shone down today through the terminal roof, catching
Thea’s blonde hair, Romy experienced a sudden moment of perfect stillness. As if life had been paused, suspended – and all the commuters, all the travellers and the coffee-vendors, had
become freeze-framed.

And she knew in that moment, with absolute certainty, that the girl in the red coat had been Thea. That their sacred, golden thread of sisterhood had connected them across the years –
their fates bound together, unbroken by continents and time.

‘Here they come,’ Thea said, pointing to the arrivals board. She smiled at Romy. ‘What?’ she asked, noticing her strange expression.

‘Nothing . . . just . . . thank you,’ Romy said. Then, linking arms together, they walked into the crowd.

Joanna Rees grew up in Essex before getting an English and Drama degree at Goldsmiths’ College. After several bizarre jobs, including running her
own sandwich-delivery business and writing promotions for the back of Sugar Puffs boxes,
It Could Be You
was published in 1997 under her maiden name, Josie Lloyd, and enabled her to meet
fellow novelist, Emlyn Rees. Together they wrote
Come Together
, a twenty-something romcom, which became a number one
Sunday Times
bestseller and was translated into twenty-six
languages. They went on to co-write six more successful novels, and along the way got married and had three kids. In 2007 Jo went solo and wrote
Platinum
, followed by
Forbidden
Pleasures
in 2010. Jo also writes a light-hearted blog about her life as a novelist and mother in Brighton called mumwritesbooks.com, which was in the top ten
Times
mummy blogs. You can
join her on twitter @joannareesbooks.
A Twist of Fate
is her eleventh novel.

A
LSO BY
J
OANNA
R
EES

Come Again

The Boy Next Door

Love Lives

We Are Family

The Three Day Rule

The Seven Year Itch

Acknowledgements

This has been such a fun project to work on from the very start. Many thanks go to the team at Macmillan, but most especially to my brilliant publisher, Wayne Brookes, whose
faith in me made this book happen. Thanks also to my wonderful agents at Curtis Brown, Vivienne Schuster, Felicity Blunt and Katie McGowan. Also, my thanks to Katy Whelan for all her help, and to
Toni Savage and Sara Sims. A huge thank you to my three amazing girls and my ever-supportive husband, Emlyn Rees – I couldn’t have finished without you. And lastly, my heartfelt thanks
go to you, my readers.

First published 2012 by Pan Books

This electronic edition published 2012 by Pan Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
Basingstoke and Oxford
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com

ISBN 978-0-230-76603-7 EPUB

Copyright © Joanna Rees 2012

The right of Joanna Rees to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital,
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liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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