AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Seconds later, Ralph’s snotty voice drips down the line, “Why didn’t you answer my call?”
“How many times do I have to say it? I was in a meeting,” I say through gritted teeth. Are we living in a hellish version of Groundhog Day? “A meeting I really should get back to, unless someone tells me what’s happening.”
“It’s Beatrice,” Ralph says.
I haven’t seen her since she ran out of the restaurant on our date with a nasty case of diarrhoea. I had a narrow escape that night and haven’t heard from her since.
“I swear to God, if this is about the fake engagement, I’m going to stay in Scotland and never come back,” I hiss. “I’m not marrying her!”
Callen snickers. “But you’d make such a great couple.”
I glare at him and make a slicing gesture across my neck while Freddie gestures for me to put the call on loudspeaker.
“It’s not that,” Ralph continues. “I don’t know how to say this, but…” He takes a deep breath, then announces, “She’s dead.”
“What?” This isn’t what I expected. “Dead?”
“Darling!” Mother snatches the phone from him. “Isn’t it dreadful?” She sobs, but there’s a hint of glee behind hercrocodile tears. She thrives on this shit. “It’s devastating, and so soon after the fire! Can you believe it?”
“What happened?” I ask. “How did she die?”
“We don’t know exactly,” she says, then drops her voice to a scathing whisper to add, “but there are rumours that she was murdered by a secret lover!”
“I highly doubt that,” I mutter.
“Don’t be bitter, Sebastian,” she replies, misinterpreting my tone for jealousy. “I thought she was a good, well-bred girl, but you seem to have been right about her. She was never royal match material. In any case, your father pulled some strings to get more information.”
“What did Dad find out?”
“They found her holding a note in her hand,” Mum says. “It said, ‘With Love’ with some initials… K.M… K.L…”
“No, it was K.C.,” Ralph chips in.
My grip tightens on my phone as I look around the room and see my own suspicions reflected on the other’s faces. The note is no coincidence. We’ve seen a similar message before, scrawled next to Doyle’s dead body. This is the work of the Killers Club.
“Keep me updated if you hear anything else,” I say before hanging up.
Ivy wrings her hands, avoiding looking in my direction, but all our eyes are on her.
“What do you think?” I ask her. “Was it them?”
“You killed one of their agents and raided their HQ,” Ivy replies. “They’re out for blood, and they’ll go after every person they think you care about.”
“What about my family?” I ask.
“They should be safe, for now at least.” She shrugs. “Royals are off-limits, but Beatrice was an easy target.”
“But I didn’t care about her,” I say. “She was just a ruse.”
“They will have seen you both splashed all over the papers together. They don’t care about whether she was a ruse or not,” Ivy says. “They took her life to send a message.”
It’s ironic that Beatrice’s desire to be with me sealed her horrible fate. While her simpering nature had driven me insane, we’d known each other for years. We’d never have worked out but, one day, she might have got over her schoolgirl crush and found real happiness. That’d never happen now. She was gone, and her death was my fault.
“They can’t get away with this,” I seethe. “We need to take them down.”
“Then let me help you,” Ivy offers.
“Why would you help us?” Freddie asks. He laughs coldly. “You used to be a double agent.”
