Hello everyone, a big thank you to Mrs Carmichael, faeftvanity, FaeMelody, Lynny, RachelMasonFan39 and Amelia0204 for leaving reviews on my last chapter. Also just a quick message for Lynny, don't worry about not reviewing, you don't need to apologise :) I appreciate your support with reading the story.

Hope you all enjoy this chapter x

Christopher Fenshaw. The perfect son. The protective brother. At least that's how her parents had always seen him. Rachel's father had consistently longed for a boy, when he finally got one in Christopher, that was when he turned. Unfortunately, Graeme's little angel had followed in his dad's footsteps, objectively poking fun at his elder sisters with any given opportunity. Rachel left her home intending to never see her brother again, least of all now, perched unwelcome in her home.

"You should learn to close your windows, pretty textbook stuff sis. Thought you'd have known better, being a headteacher and all."

His words cut through Rachel like a knife, throwing her back into reality. Not only that, his obvious background knowledge about her unsettled Rachel drastically. What on earth did he want with her?

"What do you want Chris?" She sighed shakily, voicing her previous thoughts.

The man laughed harshly, leaning forward to place his empty glass on a nearby coffee table, "mum and dad filled me in. So Mel's dead? Your not so perfect little sidekick after all."

"Oh so she reconnected with her parents… so what Christopher? It's really none of my business."

"You've never been a good liar Mandy," he stood, walking towards Rachel, getting closer and not stopping. Not stopping.

"Stay away from me…" she spoke with a raised voice, momentarily taking a cautious step back.

It was too late. His right hand made a move for her jaw, squeezing it forcefully, in turn compelling her to make eye contact.

"Don't touch me, get out of my house!"

Rachel fought back with all her might, but her younger brother was stronger, more prominent. She could never win a battle against him, not then and certainly not now.

Apparently though, the worst was yet to come. With his free hand, Christopher juggled opening his inner coat pocket. Before long a shiny blade was brought well into view.

"Familiar?" He sneered slightly, inching the metal closer to Rachel's neck.

A knife. How could he do this? The truth was, this situation was all too familiar for Rachel. It only backed up what she'd witnessed in her late teenage years; her younger sibling really had turned out to be a carbon copy of their father. This situation highlighted heaps of similarities with a resembling encounter Rachel had with Graeme numerous years ago. That event was ultimately her final trigger for leaving, the reason for her tarnished past.

"Put down the knife Christopher," her voice was level, calm almost. It painted a fake picture of everything going on inside Rachel's brain. Her inner state was far from any sort of equilibrium.

"Well how about you sit down, so we can have a little chat. Then I might think about it," the man tilted his head to the side, suggesting that Rachel should perch herself on a nearby chair.

The last thing she wanted to do was obey, give her brother exactly what he wanted. Although, pondering on the matter, what choice did she have? It was either that, or suffer the disastrous consequences. So biting her tongue, Rachel manoeuvred herself around Christopher, and almost fell into her sofa. An ounce of comfort was taken from the soft feel of the material against her forearm.

Whilst Christopher paced the room slightly, glancing at pictures, sticking his nose in where it wasn't wanted; Rachel took an opportunity to steal a glance at her watch. 9:50. 21:50. Whatever way she looked at it, Eddie was due in ten minutes, max. Her initial thought was of his safety, equally though, that was out of her hands. He was smart and calculated, hopefully he would recognise something unusual upon approaching the house.

Although, a hell of a lot could happen in ten minutes.

….

"It appears we've uncovered your little secret… mum, dad and me," venom coloured the man's tone as his frantic movement came to a standstill moments later, "did a little digging."

"Go on then, enlighten me," of course Rachel was far from clueless about their findings, it was fairly evident that her 'little secret' was her tainted past as a prostitute. There was no avoiding that, she had been expecting it.

"Lady of the night ring any bells?"

"Of course," Rachel shrugged, laughing along sarcastically.

"Always knew you were a tart."

"Just drop it Christopher, you know fine well I had no other choice."

On the surface, Rachel appeared unprovoked, not affected by her brother's presence. Realistically however, emotions were running high - his words did bother her, even if Chris was a part of Amanda Fenshaw's life and not Rachel Mason's.

"Dad said you had a fancy man with you, what's all that about then, one of your clients?" Christopher snickered, causing his words to cut that little bit deeper.

Momentarily, Rachel shot him a look which reinforced her earlier words along with 'he's just a friend' in the hope of her brother dropping the subject. The last thing she wanted was for Eddie to get even more wrapped up in her business than he already was.

….

As Eddie emerged from his vehicle, a bundle of nerves hit him at the sight of Rachel's house. A variety of memories came flooding back to him, the last time he was here in particular. The day Eddie had concluded the love of his life was lost for good.

But he had been wrong, Eddie knew that's what he had to focus on now as he approached Rachel's front door. Only when he was stood directly in front of it did Eddie notice the window set slightly ajar. If it wasn't for that, he wouldn't have experienced the raised voices that now seeped into his ears.

I won't tell you again Christopher, just get out of my house.

Christopher. Eddie was sure her brother held that name. What was he doing in Rachel's home, evidently uninvited?

I don't think you should be making the demands round here big sis, I'm the one with the knife.

The knife? Instantly, a tsunami of emotions crashed over Eddie. His first thoughts were of Rachel, and her safety. Perhaps selfishly, Eddie's heart broke at the idea of losing her so soon after being handed the potential of having her back. The man's first instinct was to make an entrance to the house, stop Christopher in his tracks. Thinking rationally though, that would only put the both of them in the line of fire, with no one else to help. Above all, that would risk Philip and Isabelle having no one. Of course, that was the worst case scenario, however, it had to be considered.

Hard to stomach but true, Eddie's first action had to be to call the police.

The last time Eddie had been as nervous making a phone call was just several hours ago, when his priority was to make contact with Rachel, inform her of heartbreaking news. This was different though, her life was now in the balance. Nothing was more important than that to Eddie, she would always be his first priority. Which was why, upon ending the call, he knew something more had to be done: Eddie's hand made contact with the door handle as he attempted to make an entry unnoticed. His fight or flight response had been tested, with Rachel, it would forever be fight.