Page 56 of Cruel Dynasty

“I’m sorry,” Iris called cheerfully, lunging to stop me from falling to my knees. “I should have looked out the peephole before I opened the door.”

“I need to sit down,” I told her, locking my legs to stay upright, before bending my knee to take a tentative step.

“Oh darling, it’s been a terrible day.” She put her arm around my shoulder sympathetically. “We heard the news. Your father is stuck in the city, but I already called and spoke with Caroline on the phone. She sounds devastated. You must be overwhelmed, but I think I have something to cheer you up. Let’s go up to your bedroom.”

I nodded. With her help I was pretty sure I could stay on my feet. The steadiness of her embrace made it easier to focus on my own breathing. By the time we’d taken the lift up—at her insistence—the attack was already becoming a memory.

“Did you have a lovely time before..?”

“Yes,” I lied. Lovely wasn’t the word I would choose for any of it. Shakespearean, maybe. Weird. Those seemed like better choices. “I just want to take a nap. Can the surprise wait for tomorrow?”

Iris paused at the door, an apologetic grin on her face. “I’m afraid it can’t, but I don’t think you’ll mind.”

She opened the door and proved her point, because a friendly face was waiting for me on the sitting room couch.

Eliza.

24

“I’ll leave you two to catch up.” Iris patted my shoulder and disappeared down the hall toward her own room.

I took a step inside, slammed the door behind me, and stared, open-mouthed. A second later, Eliza flew at me and hugged me, sending us both into pits of laughter. When we finally calmed down and collapsed onto the sofa, she elbowed me in the ribs.

“I feel like I should curtsy to you or something,” she teased. “This place is wild.” She held up her arm to reveal a diamond studded Omega wristwatch. “They just let me hang out here. I stole this watch. I hope you don’t mind.”

“I think Kerrigan Belmond has a watch for every day of the year, it’s fine,” I assured her.

“We should play dress up,” Eliza said wickedly. Before I could protest, she was up, grabbing my arm and dragging me into the closet. We spent the next half an hour concocted the most ridiculous ensembles we could, giggling and teasing each other the whole time. Finally, we collapsed onto the ground. Me in a bundle of fur and her in a mass of tulle and caught our breath.

“I hear you were in the country,” Eliza said in a snobbish voice, lifting her nose in the air. “Did you go hunting?”

“I wish. It would have been less bloody,” I said with a grim smile. “I was supposed to go with Spencer but Holden showed up.”

“Poor Kate. Stuck with two handsome men.” She pressed a hand to her forehead. “Whatever did you do with them?”

“Not that,” I said dryly, adding a sly, “Not really, at least.”

“Ohhh, kinky!” Her eyes sparkled as brightly as the diamond necklace she wore around her neck. “Tea. Spill. Now.”

I filled her in on the time I’d spent at Hensley, leaving out the bits about Holden’s blackmail.

“You just went with him on a day trip?” She rolled her eyes. “Tell me again that nothing’s going on with you two.”

I tried to shake my head and failed, earning me a shriek.

“I knew it!” She pointed at me, cackling with unrepentant laughter.

“It’s complicated.”

“That’s a Facebook status, babe,” she advised me. “Not how you feel.”

“Trust me, it’s both.” How could I explain all the conflicting emotions warring inside me? And why would I want to when it all came down to one thing? “Neither of them are mine. They never will be. I’m just having fun.”

Eliza studied me for a moment, remaining unusually quiet. “That sounds like the kind of fun that’s going to get you hurt.”

“Yeah.” I swallowed but a lump remained lodged in my throat. “But it’s the kind of fun that will get me ten million pounds and that will get me any fun that I want.”

“So, you’re going through with it?” she asked. “I wondered after…”