‘Yeah. It’s stunning. All dark and moody cliffs sweeping down into the deep, untamed waters of the Atlantic,’ he said in a dreamy voice as we both stood at the window, looking out across the beautiful, well-tended gardens of the castle, still full with seasonal colour.

The weather was chilly but it was one of those beautifully bright early autumn days and the picture Calum painted was one I was now desperate to see. I could imagine the sunshine glinting and shimmering on the depths of the dark ocean waters crashing against the cliffs, just as they had for centuries.

‘Let’s go,’ I whispered. ‘He’ll never know.’

‘Never know what?’ The voice was deep, sleep-roughened and incredibly close, making both of us let out a squeal of surprise as we turned.

‘Jesus, what are you thinking of, creeping around like that?’ Calum gave Lorcan a surprisingly forceful punch on his arm. Something told me he’d learned the skill from the friend who was now rubbing his arm and possibly regretting giving those lessons. ‘You frightened the bejeezus out of us both.’

‘What are you up to?’ Lorcan asked, his eyes taking in the view and then landing squarely back on me. He knew exactly what we were up to.

‘Oh, nothing,’ Calum said, flapping his hands a little, doing his best to radiate innocence and failing as his cheeks coloured and his hands fidgeted until he shoved them in his trouser pockets.

‘Actually, Calum was just going to show me the view. I understand there’s a beautiful one to the west.’ I tilted my chin in defiance.

‘There’s a beautiful one in every direction, but yes, that is a particularly lovely one. But I believe Calum had been told you aren’t to go romping around the place right now with that leg.’

‘I wasn’t planning to romp anywhere.’

‘Now that’s a shame.’ Lorcan’s eyes sparkled and Calum immediately turned his laughter into a poorly executed cough. There didn’t seem to be any form of fibbing he excelled at, which was sweet but not helpful in this exact moment.

I gave a sigh to show how unimpressed I was with Lorcan’s infantile humour before continuing. ‘But I would like to see the view.’

‘That’s a shame. It’s currently closed to visitors.’

‘Calum was about to show me, so it’s obviously not, and I’m pretty sure he knows more about this place, and has more authority than you do over who sees what.’

‘Umm…’ Calum began but I was on a roll.

‘So if I want to see it, which I do, then I should be able to. Not to mention it’s my responsibility to know as much as possible about the venue so that I can do my job to the best of my ability.’

‘Is that so now?’