“As little as possible because he’s a self-serving bastard who’s the scum of the earth. Your grandfather was a good man. He did a good job. Your father’s only interested is money. And fucking anything with a cock.” Micky’s eyes went cold.
“Have you fucked my father?” My words were calm even though they shouldn’t have been. It wasn’t your standard every day question.
“No. He was never my type. I didn’t particularly go for married men, mainly because they had too much baggage.”
The past tense didn’t surprise me. I knew from Blair that in recent months, Micky had been seeing the same man, keeping out of the clubs where he’d found his release before.
Now in the room with everyone else I felt a little more peace that there were people we could trust.
Micky looks at me and then Ben. “I think in the spirit of full disclosure, Blair needs to be aware of what you told your father, Isaac.”
It’s the first time she’s made eye contact with me since Sunday.
“I told him you were pregnant.”
She inhales. Looks at me with wide blue eyes. “You basically put a bounty on my head if he does have anything to do with this.”
I nod. “I know.”
“There’s some sense to it.” Micky looks from me to Blair, to Ben, and seems amused. “If William Senior does want Lachlan in charge for his own financial gains then this rumour puts a rush on anything that needs to happen to move Blair away from power. An heir to the throne pushes away Lachlan from succeeding, and if there’s a child, the father could effectively act as an advisor in the event of Blair’s death. I had one of the advisors go through every possible scenario.” Micky smiles. “We’ve upped security. Or we thought we had. The explosion is obviously an issue.”
“So I’m pretty much under house arrest?” Blair does not look pleased.
“Yes. Possibly room arrest.” Micky sounds amused.
Blair stands up and I see fatigue oozing from her. There are dark shadows under her eyes and a weariness to her body that wasn’t there before.
“There are always going to be people who want me dead for whatever reason. This is nothing new. What is new is that it’s someone close.” She finally looks at me. “You seem set on the idea that your father has something to do with this. What evidence do you have? Because if you’re right, he has a connection to someone who works here.”
Ben speaks up for the first time. He looks slightly more kempt now; his hair’s back to being shorter and his beard trimmed back to scruff. “Isaac’s father was here a lot as a guest while he was Prime Minister. There’s every chance he struck up an alliance.”
Blair doesn’t look at either of us.
“What can I do to end this sooner. We all need to get on with our lives and I’m sure that given Isaac’s likely to succeed his half-brother as Prime Minister, we all have things to do.”
It’s a dismissal and it hurts more than any bullet would. I keep my eyes on her, hoping for a crumb of an acknowledgment to be thrown my way, but it doesn’t come.
“Be careful. Be vigilant.” It’s Ben who speaks up. “Don’t slip away anywhere and don’t trust anyone.”
She laughs and it isn’t a pleasant sound. “I think I’ve learnt that I can’t trust anyone. Good rumour, by the way, Isaac.” She leaves the room, not looking back.
There’s silence for about thirty seconds and then my sister, who’s been unusually quiet for her, leans over to pour herself a coffee. “You need to grovel.” She looks at me, then Ben. “Don’t think she means this. She’s hurt.”
“She was nearly dead.” Ben’s words are a grumble.
“And that wasn’t because of you. That’s because of her position and someone else’s greed. This is going to continue for as long as she is solely responsible for the decisions for this country. And as soon as the oil becomes widely known, it will get worse.” Ivy’s voice is strong and determined, her eyes flare.
“Has she made a choice about a parliament?” Ben asks the question quietly, looking at Micky because it seems Micky has been the person she’s confiding in the most in the last few days.
“She hasn’t said anything to me, but I don’t give a shit about politics. That isn’t my job.” He shrugs and sits back. “But I agree with Ivy. You both need to be sorting this crap out. She needs people she can trust.”
“I think we proved to her that she can’t trust us.” I glance at Ben.
Ben shakes his head, looking solely at me. “Disagree. She’s just buried her father. She’s now seen her best friend for what she is and I did my disappearing act.”
“With the right intentions.”
Ben shrugs. “It’s always been with the best intentions. Fuck knows whether they were right or not.” He stands up. “I’m going to speak to her. Fill me in with whatever else you need me to know.”
