Page 1 of Cruel Dynasty

1

“No, you aren’t, dirty girl. Kerrigan Belmond is.” The words played on repeat inside my brain like there was a glitch. Partly because I refused to process them, but mostly because I hadn’t expected Holden to say that. I couldn’t get it out of my head. Or any of the other questions it raised.

As I stepped back inside Sparrow Court, Iris caught me at the door, startling me from my heavy thoughts.

“What do you think about a fall wedding?” she asked, oblivious to my preoccupation. I actually liked Kerrigan’s stepmother, unlike Kerrigan herself, who despised the woman for being closer in age to her than her father. I’d been taken back at first, but I’d discovered Iris was warm and kind. The former ballet dancer had an assured, calming presence that I envied—especially now.

“What?” I asked. Iris continued on, but I barely heard her. I caught snatches of what she was saying, but I was too distracted to worry about weddings or flowers or where to have the reception. None of those were my decisions to make anyway, a fact Holden had just pointed out.

My brain felt too full to even consider another question. The London residence of the powerful Byrd family suddenly felt more imposing than ever before. The large rooms meant to host lavish parties were relatively empty tonight save for the family and the Belmonds, my pretend family for the next eleven months. There was no distracting background noise or music. No crowd to lose myself in. The lack of people made the spaces feel like cavernous mouths opened wide to swallow me whole.

I forced a smile, looking around the living room for any sign of Spencer. Where had he gone? He’d called me into the house and disappeared. I had turned to leave when Holden, his twin brother, had delivered a bombshell:

“No, you aren’t, dirty girl. Kerrigan Belmond is.”

I’d laughed off his suggestion that I was an imposter posing as Kerrigan. But looking into his green eyes, all I found was certainty.

He knew the truth.

I had no idea how.

I had no idea what he would do about it.

All I had was questions. How long had Holden known? Was he going to tell his brother? But the one that rattled me the most: why did he call me out?

My gut told me it was a power play. A move meant to draw me away from Spencer and to him. I had no idea what he planned to do with the information, but I doubted he would stay silent long—unless I managed to convince him he was wrong. Or managed to convince him to keep my secret.

How far was I willing to go to keep him quiet? The answers that swam to mind were unsettling. Holden could get in the way of my arrangement with Tod Belmond. If he told Spencer the truth, the engagement would be off and I would have failed in my mission. If that happened, there wasn’t a point to continue pretending. I couldn’t let him talk, but I wasn’t certain how to keep Holden quiet or what he expected in return for his silence. Maybe he’d hoped it would make me ignore Spencer and stay with him, even if only to pry information from him. My stomach twisted in a knot as I walked with Iris toward the sitting room. I’d made my answer clear by returning to Spencer tonight, but I knew that one decision wouldn’t be the end of it.

I wasn’t surprised that Holden might try to hurt me to make an impression. Although the brothers were identical in every way—and I’d seen enough of both to know—they were mirror images of each other. Duplicates and opposites at the same time. Whereas Spencer was reserved, his attention running the gamut between polite interest to considerate affection to bluntly sexual, Holden was the reverse. He was casually dismissive and flirtatious, the very icon of a wealthy, privileged playboy. But under that rakish veneer, I glimpsed his ability to manipulate people, as well as the vulnerability that drove his behavior. The brothers shared the same face and body but I’d only begun to peel back the layers to expose their differences.

“I’m sorry,” I murmured when I realized Iris had paused to wait for my thoughts about something. “I think Spencer was ready to leave, and I need to find him and tell Evie goodbye, and—”

“Oh, honey.” Iris dropped an arm around my shoulder and gave me a sympathetic squeeze. “It was a big night. You’ve already made one decision, and, here I am, already planning the wedding. Go home with Spencer and get some rest.” She winked at me as if to silently add or do something else in bed.

“Thanks. We can talk about it tomorrow or later.” My vote was for later, but the longer I waited to get involved and slow down this runaway engagement, the farther my stepmother and his mother would get in making their plans.

In truth, I envied her excitement, because I wanted to plan a wedding and walk down the aisle and marry the man whose ring I wore. But that was completely out of the question. I wasn’t Kerrigan Belmond. Spencer’s brother was right. I was a stand-in for the London socialite meant to keep him—and everyone else—from learning the truth. Kerrigan had run away from her outwardly perfect life for reasons I was still trying to figure out. Her father had made it sound like she was merely acting out. When he’d been shown a photograph of me, he’d concocted a ridiculous plan to have me pose as his daughter until she finally came home. The most ridiculous part was what he offered me in return.

Ten million pounds.

It was an offer I couldn’t refuse. But being Kerrigan had proved more dangerous than I’d anticipated, especially where my heart was concerned. I hadn’t expected the feelings I had toward Spencer, the man Kerrigan was intended to marry, to burrow deeper than the physical attraction I’d felt at our first meeting. Now things with him were spinning out of control, particularly in the feelings department. And then there was his brother, who annoyed me as much as he intrigued me. I’d seen glimpses behind the mask he wore for the world, and I’d found myself tempted by him on more than one occasion. One night I’d even given into the temptation, allowing myself to be drawn into the brothers’ twisted rivalry like a pawn. The result had been one of the most erotic experiences of my life, and one of the most shameful. Since then, I’d made my choice. It was easy enough given my agreement with Tod Belmond. I’d vowed to keep Spencer Byrd’s attention. That should have been what made me choose him. It wasn’t.

And that scared me.

Because this life wasn’t mine. Neither brother was mine. I wasn’t Kerrigan Belmond, and I never would be.

No matter how much I was beginning to wish otherwise.

I found Spencer in the study, talking in low voices with his grandfather. Lord Byrd, the Duke of Wellesley, was one of the most powerful men in the House of Lords and one of the few who still held a peerage. His gray head was bent in contemplation, listening to the discussion. My body tightened as it swept over Spencer. The tailored suit that he’d worn to dinner this evening only reinforced his broad shoulders and the lean, muscular body that waited for me underneath his clothes. His effect on me was dizzying, even when he didn’t know I was in the room. Maybe that was why after waiting my whole life to lose my virginity, I’d given it to a man I was being paid to entertain. It was an expectation of the arrangement, but I hadn’t gone to bed with Spencer because of that. I hadn’t been able to stop myself. At his touch, I came alive. He’d promised me pleasure in his bed, and then he had shown me that he kept promises.

Tod Belmond, Kerrigan’s father and the only person here who knew the truth about who I was and why I was here, stood with them, listening. I paused at the door, straining to hear what they were saying, and hoping I didn’t get caught eavesdropping. The longer I spent around Tod, the more convinced I was that he was lying. But about what? I suspected that the key lay somewhere in his agreement with Lord Byrd—that Spencer and Kerrigan should marry—but what did Tod hope to gain? He claimed he wanted to take care of his daughter and see her rise in London society. But his story was beginning to fray at the edges. I’d found Kerrigan’s computer in a bag in his office. I’d been given her ID. She’d left nearly everything behind, and increasingly, I was beginning to wonder if she’d taken anything at all. Or if she was ever returning. I couldn’t shake the feeling that she wasn’t off sunning herself in the South of France as the story went. She was in danger—serious danger.

And not only was I one of the few people who knew that, playing my part well meant no one would help her. Not if they thought I was Kerrigan—alive, well, and happily betrothed.

Since Tod had returned from the countryside with Iris, he’d been watching me more closely. I had expected him to be happy that Spencer had proposed. Thanks to me, he was one step closer to bridging the two families. But he seemed more wary than jubilant. Tod had celebrated the announcement like everyone else, but he’d spent the last few hours watching me at the dinner table. His eyes followed me whenever we were near each other. Had he figured out that I had broken into his office while he was away on holiday? Did he know that things between me and the Byrds were more complicated behind closed doors than I’d let on? Was he concerned that I might be attempting to steal Spencer for myself?

I couldn’t blame him for thinking that. Ten million pounds was a life-changing sum of money. It would help me escape my past and start over. But the truth was that it paled in comparison to what I stood to gain by becoming Spencer Byrd’s wife. He had to wonder if that was my plan now.