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“It doesn’t matter. I can still report a crime if I see one, and I didn’t. I’ll admit, you’d been in the Thorn family a few years already when I took your father on, and I didn’t want to rock the boat. I saw what everyone else saw.”
“And what was that?” Hector asked, the sharp edge having returned to his voice.
“That you were both living a life of sheer luxury. You had the run of Blackcap Hall and every other one of Sinclair’s residences. You were driven around in Bentleys and Astons, dressed in the finest Saville Row had to offer, even as children. You had every toy imaginable, and charisma as unshatterable as a diamond. I knew if I’d waded in and announced you weren’t who the Thorns had convinced everyone you were, your lives would have been turned upside down, and I couldn’t be that cruel.”
Hector snorted, the sarcasm clear.
“But the more time that went by, and the longer I knew about it, the harder it became to say something, and so… I didn’t.”
“So, you’ll do it?” Adele pressed.
Dexter lifted his lashes to look at his daughter. “Of course I will. Of course I will.”
Vivian squeezed my hand so hard it almost came off.
“We won’t get our hopes up,” I said, as much to myself as to everyone standing around the car.
“Why not?” Dexter drifted his gaze to me, perplexed.
“Well, you know… you might not be successful.”
Dexter turned his full body to face me and eyed me curiously. “Rupert… I’m always successful. I suggest you start budgeting for those rehab centres.”
Vivian
Three months later
“I feel overdressed,” Minty said as we tottered in our Saint Laurent heels up the path to the Social Club.
I glanced across at her sequinned slip that skimmed her buttocks and barely grazed her breasts. “You look like a million dollars,” I assured her.
“More like a billion,” she giggled. “You don’t think it’s uncouth to show up at the local working men’s club dressed in something that cost more than the average member makes in a year?”
I nudged her with my elbow. “Correction. Made. They all make a lot more than that now, with the new tax breaks and wage rises Dexter implemented. They finally getting what they’re owed, and I doubt they’re spending it on bills, Mint.” I jerked my head to the right. “Case in point right there.”
A flashy new Jeep was parked in the spot usually occupied by Wilson’s beaten-up, older-than-sin car. “I bet that cost more than your dress.”
“Fair point,” she replied, grinning.
“I’m so excited for Em and Peggy to be here,” I gushed, opening the door.
“When will they arrive?”
“Sometime after ten, Jasper said.” I looked at the delicate Cartier watch that Rupert had wrapped around my wrist. It was the first thing he’d bought with his rightful inheritance. “Only three hours to go,” I sighed, rolling my eyes.
“They’re coming on the boat, right?” Minty’s face turned a sour shade of pale at the thought.
I smiled at her sympathetically. “Apparently, because money doesn’t grow on trees,” I said, repeating Rupert’s very words, “the helicopter will only be deployed when absolutely necessary. For example, when a certain member of the family expels the entire content of their guts if they step foot on a boat.”
Minty stopped midway through the door. “Family? Rupert said I’m family?”
I couldn’t help the smile from spreading across my face. “Of course you’re family, Mint. You’re as much family as I am. Whatever happens, we all went through this together. It’s the stuff of lifelong trauma. If that doesn’t make us family, I don’t know what does.”
“What do you mean ‘whatever happens’?” Minty said, continuing on through the deserted reception area towards the main lounge.
“You know,” I replied, meekly. “If things weren’t to work out. I mean, have you seen Rupert?”
I’d always found him, clearly, downright irresistible, but since he’d begun to discover who he truly was, he’d shone in a way that took my breath from my body.
