"Katy! I didn't expect to see you here." Dot exclaimed, a broad smile on her face as the younger woman entered the kitchen with a card and gift bag in her hand. "How're you feeling?"

"I'm fine, Grandma." Katy assured her, smiling softly and accepting the tight hug. "I've missed you."

"You're just in time to help blowing up balloons." Tiffany announced, pushing a handful of latex into her hand.

"Can't… just had a transplant, sorry."

Laughing as her cousin rolled her eyes and moved away to blow the balloons up herself, Katy dropped into one of the chairs. She waved away Dot's offer to make her a cup of tea, before smiling at Sonia who repeated it. They chatted for a while, before Sonia disappeared off on some mission or other, passing Whitney's boyfriend on the doorstep.

The others greeted him like an old friend, Dot introducing her elder granddaughter proudly. Leo smiled and said that Whitney had spoken about her a lot, claiming that he hadn't known that they were actually related before. Dot chuckled, shaking her head and explaining that Katy was Jack's daughter.

Furrowing her eyebrows, Katy wondered at his reaction. At the mention of her father, the young man's eyes had widened and his entire body seemed to tense. Interestedly, she watched him for a little while longer, her curiosity increasing as he apparently forced himself to act naturally. The way his eyes flickered back to her, apparently of their own accord, several times during the conversation made her wonder what about her being Jack's daughter had caused such a reaction from him.

Making up her mind to ask Jack about the young man, determined to find out what was causing the strange behaviour, Katy tried to focus on the bickering between Dotty and seemingly everyone else in the room.

"Oh!" Tiffany suddenly cut across the conversation quickly, wafting her arm in the direction of the hallway as they all heard the front door opening. "She's here… she's here!"

"Stand down." Sonia rolled her eyes as she entered the kitchen. "It's only me!"

"Son, I'm glad you're here," Dot announced as Katy smiled up at her cousin, "because I wanted everybody here so that they could hear my important news."

"You're pregnant?"

Katy snorted at Tiffany's question, managing to spit tea down herself, before holding up a hand in apology. "Sorry, Grandma."

"What is it, Grandma?" Dotty asked, clearly keen to hear what the news was.

"Well, Kirsty, I had a letter from the solicitor this morning. The council have finally completed on me house purchase, so I finally own me own home!" Dot announced triumphantly, looking at each member of her family in turn as they congratulated her.

"I shall have to take you out down that little Italian down the high street, won't I?" Sonia suggested, pressing a kiss to the older woman's cheek.

Dotty smirked. "Gosh, Sonia, don't get a splinter. You're really pushing the boat out, aren't you?"

No one was able to respond to her sarcastic comment, although she received several dirty looks, because the front door opened again and they all prepared themselves for Whitney's imminent arrival. The expression on the young woman's face as she opened the kitchen door and was faced by her family and boyfriend shouting happy birthday shifted rapidly between shock, pleasant surprise and happiness. Katy laughed as Whitney pointed to the 'happy 40th birthday' balloon and complained good-naturedly, unsurprised when Tiffany told her that it had been Dotty's idea.

"Happy birthday, Whit, for yesterday." Tiff handed her a card before anyone else could move. "I hope Ryan spoiled you rotten."

"Yeah, he did." Her older sister agreed with a grin. "D'you know what else he said? He said it makes a change getting you a birthday present instead of a wedding gift."

"I mean, he's not wrong, is he?" Katy chipped in, laughing lightly. "I nearly got confused myself."

"Cheeky cow." Whitney stuck out her tongue, before looking towards Leo. "So? Is this your doing?"

"It was more a team effort." He said with a smile. "And we're doing drinks later in the Vic."

"Oh yeah, but not before your present." Tiffany said, turning to fix the young man with a meaningful look.

Katy arched an eyebrow as he moved forward, pulling a box out of his inside jacket pocket and held it out to her. Leo removed the lid, revealing the necklace, smiling warmly at his girlfriend as he did so.

"It's your birthstone," he told her, unnecessarily in Katy's opinion, "blue Topaz."

"Look at that." Whitney turned to the others, apparently gobsmacked by the gift.

"It matches those eyes."

"It's really beautiful."

"It meant a lot, you know, that you believed me over all that stuff with Jack."

"Good looking, thoughtful and a good job; what's not to like?" Dotty asked, eyeing Leo up and down.

"He's a keeper, alright." Whitney agreed with a giggle.

Katy suddenly felt a little guilty at her reaction to the young man and his gift; Whitney deserved to be treated and Leo was clearly intent on doing that. She wondered what it said about her that she was immediately even more suspicious of the young man because of it.

"Right… cake." Sonia announced, breaking the moment.

Katy shook her head, standing up carefully and smiling around. "Not for me, ta. Got a hospital appointment, so I'd better get home before Mum sends out a search party!"

Not wanting to catch sight of the sympathetic looks she knew were on most of the faces in the kitchen, Katy said her goodbyes and headed out of the house. As she'd suspected, Ronnie was pacing the living room when she arrived and immediately started lecturing her daughter about traffic and appointment times and what would happen if they were late. Glenda smirked at Katy, pressing a kiss to her head and telling her she hoped everything went well.

"K?"

Katy jerked awake at the sound of the flat door banging open. She shot upright on the sofa, looking around blearily and trying to get her bearings. It took her until Tiffany appeared in the living room to realise who was calling her name. It took a while longer for her to remember why her cousin was there in the first place.

"You still want me to do your nails?"

"Oh!" Katy shook her head. "I'd completely forgotten. Thanks, Tiff."

"No worries, I figured you could do with a bit of pampering after having them prodding and poking at you earlier."

Laughing, the blonde leant back on the sofa and let Tiffany examine the state of her nails. She chuckled fondly at the genuine horror that her cousin was expressing as she looked at them, before shaking her head and telling her to do whatever she felt was necessary.

"Katy… what d'you reckon about Whit's bloke?" Tiffany asked suddenly.

The older girl frowned slightly, looking up from her nails and meeting her cousin's eyes. "Leo?"

"What other bloke has Whit got on the go?" The redhead asked sarcastically. "Of course I mean Leo."

Katy sighed. "I barely know him. I've met him like twice."

"Yeah, but you're always banging on about first impressions and gut feelings." Tiffany pressed. "What d'you reckon to him?"

"I don't trust him, OK? There's something about him that just… something about him just doesn't feel right. The way he looked at me yesterday when Grandma told him I was Jack's daughter… there's something not right." She paused, looking at the younger woman curiously. "You feel the same way, don't you?"

"It's just… Callum said that Leo had bought flowers and gone to some graveyard, but when he asked him about it Leo went mad and threatened him." Tiffany admitted. "Callum said he's worried about Whit…"

Sighing deeply again, the blonde shrugged. "I know what Callum did was really shitty, but he does care about her. Him and Ben spoke to me about Leo at the beginning… Callum didn't trust him then."

"I met him at Whit and Callum's wedding."

"What?"

"Leo… he was there. We chatted and Mum went all weird about it… warned me off."

"Bianca knew him?"

"I dunno… she wouldn't say… just said he was too old or something."

"I reckon you should ring her and ask what she knows." Katy said thoughtfully. Seeing the expression on Tiffany's face, she smiled weakly. "I know, Tiff, but if she knows something and she can help… if there's something we need to know… you need to speak to her."

Huffing loudly, but unable to dispute what she was being told, Tiffany pulled out her mobile and called her mother. Katy listened with interest to her side of the conversation, her face falling instinctively as she watched Tiffany's eyes go wide and all of the colour drain from her face. She stood quickly, stepping towards the younger woman as Tiffany shook her head, looking terrified.

"Katy… Leo isn't who he says he is." Tiffany gabbled, her words barely distinguishable, as soon as she ended the call. "He's Tony King's son."

"You fucking what, Tiff?"

Katy gaped at her, standing as still as a statue in the doorway and unable to completely comprehend what she had heard. When the redhead repeated herself, forcing the older woman to accept that she hadn't misheard, Katy pulled herself together and grabbed her coat off the pegs. She immediately directed her cousin towards Kathy and Ian's, where she had seen Callum and Ben not long before.

As she'd expected, her cousin opened the front door and ushered them into the front room where Callum was lounging on the sofa. As Tiffany briefly berated him for not answering her calls, before explaining the situation, Katy turned to Ben and shook her head, warning him that she was not in the mood for games or arguments.

"I'll drive." Ben offered immediately, leading the way out of the house as Callum managed to get his call to the hotel put through to the correct room.

With no arguments, they all piled into the back of Ben's car and sped around the Square. Katy and Tiffany kept trying Whitney's mobile, but it was constantly turned off. Their panic grew as more and more time passed and they were still unable to get hold of her.

"Can you not drive any faster?" Katy demanded irritably as they sped through the streets. She let out a noise of frustration as Callum was forced to brake at a set of traffic lights. "Fuck's sake…"

"I'm doing the best I can, alright?" He snapped, catching her eyes in the rear view mirror.

"We need to get there, Ben." Tiffany pointed out unnecessarily. "We have to stop him doing something to her."

"We will, alright." Callum tried to promise them; not doing much to calm either young woman down, let alone convince them. "We'll get there and make sure she's safe."

"We better or I'm holding you responsible."

"Me?" Callum frowned, making eye contact with Katy in the mirror.

"Yeah, you." She snapped back, folding her arms and glaring out of the window.

When they finally arrived at the hotel Whitney had checked into on Facebook, the two women were out of the car and up the steps before Callum even had the chance to stop the engine. He joined them at the reception desk; all three of them talking at the same time and demanding to be taken to the room that Leo had booked.

By the time the receptionist complied with their demands and called a porter over to take them up, each of them was on the verge of causing physical damage to something or someone. Callum led the way along the corridor, pushing past the porter and into the room as soon as the door was opened, calling her name agitatedly.

There was no sign of either of them in the room and the trio looked at each other in concern. Seconds later, they all jumped when Whitney emerged from the bathroom, looking far more calm and put together than any of them. She looked between them in something resembling surprise for a moment, before resignation clouded her features.

"Are you OK?" Tiffany demanded breathlessly.

"Yeah, fine." Her older sister agreed with a smile.

"Where is he?"

"Umm… he left. He's gone."

"What happened?"

"Umm… it doesn't matter."

"Whit… it does matter." Katy pressed, determined to hear what had happened and what Leo had said or done to her best friend. "You need to tell us."

When she just smiled weakly and shook her head, Callum stepped forwards. "Are you sure you're OK? D'you want us to call the police or…?"

"No." Whitney replied at once, covering Katy's dismissive snort with her response. "No. It's over now."

"Well let's get you home, then, yeah?"

"D'you know what… I think I'll be alright on my own." Whitney told them, picking up her bags and looking between the trio slowly.

As she turned at left, they exchanged a look, knowing that it would do no good to argue or go after her. Katy glanced around the hotel room slowly, her eyes seeking out any hint or clue as to what had gone on or where Leo might have gone. Not answering, she merely nodded slowly and followed the others out into the corridor and down to the waiting car.