“You should be careful conversing with him.” She looks down her nose at me in that same way she always has. I’ve always been certain that my father took the approach he did with her to keep her happy. I wonder if she knows that, despite shunning me publicly, my father paid an interest in my upbringing. I also wonder if she knows how much shit I’ve got her perfect, precious boy out of during his life.
“Alex Stanley may fool a lot of people, but he doesn't fool me. He’s a very dangerous man.”
I smile when I realise just how clueless the great Cecelia Ravenshaw is. My father may have never gotten his hands dirty the way Alex has, but he had no conscience about giving the orders. I guess having a bastard son had to have some advantages.
“Alex is a friend, and right now he’s the only person who understands me.” I don’t know why I feel the need to explain myself to her, and I sure as hell shouldn't be showing her any weakness. Still, my father loved this woman; she’s familiar with this world, and I suppose it’s in my best interest to ensure we get off on the right foot, especially if I’m going to adhere to his wishes and allow her to stay here.
“Please.” She chuckles. “Don’t try to be the victim in this. You have everything you ever wanted. The house, the money, the title.” Her lip curls at the thought of it.
“If you’d ever taken the time to get to know me, you’d have learnt thatthisisn’t what I wanted from my father. All I ever wanted from him was his time, some acknowledgement. I wanted to see him standing on the side of the pitch when I played rugby, with everyone else's dad.”
“You had far more acknowledgement than you deserved. Your mother got his name on your birth certificate, that's more than what most whores get for their bastards.” She cold stares at me, just waiting for me to bite. This bitch can hate me all she wants; it's never going to change the fact that my father loved my mother. She wasn’t a whore, and I wasn’t the product of a one-night stand. I was created from love, a forbidden, out-of-bounds kind of love which I saw in my father's eyes every time he looked at my mother. When I was a boy, she would tell me stories, stories that made me see the cold, stern man in such a different way. As I got older, I concluded that she’d made them up. But the fact I’m here has me wondering if there was some truth in her tales.
“You don’t belong here, Jack.” Cecelia tries again to intimidate me, but it won’t work. I guess if her precious, perfect son Thomas hadn’t been in the car with my father when it crashed, she’d be contesting my father's final wishes, but without him, she hasn’t got a hope.
“My father obviously thought differently.” I smile calmly, resting back in my new chair, knowing that on the inside, she will be burning.
“Your father can’t have been in his right mind. He would never have made you his heir over our Thomas.” She pulls the tissue from her watch strap and dabs it to the corner of her eye while I roll mine.
“You heard what Albert said. Father made that will over ten years ago. This was always his intent.” I sit up a little straighter. “You’ve lost a child. I can’t imagine how that must feel, and Cecelia, you have my deepest sympathy, but you have to accept that this is what he wanted.” I’ve agreed to play along and pretend that I’m only in this position because Thomas died too. Sparing a woman such humiliation seemed like the gentlemanly thing to do, and I guess, given the position I’m in, I’m going to have to get used to being one of those. Tongues have been wagging enough since my existence was revealed; the last thing this woman needs is for word to spread that my father thought her son, the rightful heir, was incompetent.
“Albert is as big a fool as your father was for allowing him to do such a thing.” She turns on her heels, ready to make a dramatic exit, and I smile, knowing what I have to say before she leaves will piss her off.
“I’ll have the house staff move your things over to the east wing,” I call after her, causing her to halt and slowly turn her head.
“The east wing? But those are the guest quarters.” Her eyes search over me as if I’ve grown an extra head.
“Yes, and you are a guest inmyhome, at least for as long as you can tolerate me,” I remind her as I stand up to open the door for her.
“You're despicable.” She looks up at me with eyes of venom before storming off while I close the door behind her, pour myself another drink, and make myself comfortable atmynew desk.
I may not feel as if I’m the man for the job, but my father must have seen something in me; something he was prepared to raise a scandal for.
The last thing I’m going to do is let him down…
GRACE
One Month Later
“You're learning fast.” I look at the loot Sophia’s poured out on the table and can’t help being impressed.
“Well, I have a good teacher.” She winks, gathering it all back up and heading towards the safe so she can store it away. The girl’s showing some real promise; she has a calmness about her, and that, combined with a quick hand, makes her the perfect pickpocket. Of course, it helps that she also has an exceptionally pretty face.
“Grace... Grace!” Polly bolts through the door, resting her hands on her knees so she can catch her breath, while Sophia rushes to the door to check she’s not been followed.
I shake my head to let her know she doesn’t have to worry. Polly has been doing this long enough to know that if you need to run, the last place you run to is home, and right now, despite all its flaws, this building is home. The walls may be damp, the floorboards all creak, and there are more holes in the roof than I can count, but for now it’s our safe place. Polly holds up her pointer finger, asking for a second longer for her breath to come back before she can reveal what's got her so excited.
“Don’t tell me she fucked up again.” Selena jumps out of her bunk, with her wild, unruly hair, and fires up her laptop before heading towards the kettle.
“Nobody hasfucked up. Polly’s just not as fit as she used to be,” I point out. It has to be said, Polly isn’t the sleekest among us, but her warm smile and infectious personality make her perfect for the long con.
“I have the most perfect opportunity for us.” Polly is fully charged and full of enthusiasm as she pulls up a chair beside me. Selena pours herself a coffee and starts work, while I prepare to hear Polly's next hair-brain plan for world domination.
“Remember I told you about that new duke, Ravenshaw’s bastard son?”
I snarl at the name. I hate to speak ill of the dead, but that old bastard and his son got exactly what they deserved. “You know, the one all the society girls are going crazy about?”
“Polly, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I quit being interested in the Ravenshaws the second I found out they were both dead.
