Read Canada Square (Love in London #3) for Free Online

Though the dull throb in the base of my spine has gone, I know from experience that it will be back in the morning. Grabbing a towel from the heater beside the shower door, I wrap it around my damp body, using another to make a turban around my dark hair. Then I go back to my room to slip on some pyjamas.
    It's only then that I check my messages. Two missed calls and a text from Luke.
    Call me.
    Seeing his name makes me shiver all over again, and I slip under the duvet just to find a little warmth. The final message is from my brother, asking me about my first day. Though I suspect my sister-in-law goaded him into sending it, I'm still touched that he's even remembered.
    I think about texting Alex back, but after the confrontation earlier I'm still feeling jittery, and the thought of hearing his friendly voice is too much of a temptation. I quickly dial his number and lean back on my pink velvet headboard, closing my eyes as the familiar ringtone echoes into my ear.
    It only buzzes twice before Alex answers. “Hey, beautiful. What's up?”
    I smile as soon as I hear his voice. My brother is six years older than me, and along with our elder sister, Andie, has always been overprotective. Although I bristled against it in my teens, now I find it sweet and comforting, like unwrapping a much needed bar of chocolate.
    “Not much. Just got back from Yoga. How's things with you?”
    “Splendid.” He puts on a stupidly posh accent. “Max is teething, Lara's had a shit day at work and I've somehow managed to piss them both off.”
    “Just another day chez Cartwright,” I tease. It's so lovely to talk to him. Only a few weeks ago he was living here with Mum and me, trying to work through some problems with his marriage. As much as I loved having him home with us, I'm thrilled he and Lara managed to patch up their differences. Lara is one of the nicest people I've ever met. She always has time for me and doesn't treat me like a little kid, which Alex and Andie always do.
    “How's Max?” I ask, hearing my nephew squawking in the background. “No more chest problems?”
    “No, thank God.” Alex sounds genuinely relieved. After being hospitalized for bronchiolitis, my baby nephew has managed to make a full recovery. Which is good, because we don’t want to go through that again. “He's right as rain. Got a good set of lungs on him, as you can probably hear.”
    I start to laugh. As deadpan as Alex sounds, I know he loves Max to the moon and back. “He’s as full of it as his dad.”
    “Careful...”
    “Anyway, I wanted to ask you something.” I reach out and grab the bottle of water that's resting on my side table. “Is Mum having money troubles again?”
    There's silence for a moment, and all I can hear is Alex's breathing, and the distant echo of Max's cries. Then my brother speaks, his voice uncharacteristically quiet. “What's she done this time?”
    Hastily, I backtrack. “Nothing, at least not as far as I know. It's just there was some weird guy hanging around asking for her.”
    “A weird guy?” Alex echoes. “What kind of weirdo? Did you see him?”
    “Yeah, he was standing on our doorstep when I got home from yoga. Asked me where she was.”
    Alex's voice deepens. “Did you tell him?”
    “I'm not stupid,” I reply, exasperated. “But the odd thing was, he knew my name.”
    “What the hell? Tell me what he said?” For the first time I detect a note of panic in my brother's voice. Alex doesn't rile easily. I don't like it.
    “He asked me if Tina Cartwright lived here. Then he said my name.”
    “He might have heard someone else talking to you...”
    I bite my lip before taking in a deep breath. “He knew my real name Alex.”
    “Fuck.”
    The only way to know my real name is to go through my official documents. Look in the electoral register, or at my birth certificate. Absolutely nothing online—especially not my Facebook account—is under the name Amethyst.
    “What did you say to him?” Alex