The American Heir(18)

She laughed and clapped, clearly delighted. "Darling, Haley! I do   believe you and I are going to get on." She paused. "What a delicious   assignment. Where do I start?"



Riggins

Thorne was his usual jolly self when I met with him at his London   office. Which was to say he was in his standard staid mode. It was   raining in London. One of those days that reminded me of Seattle and   made me homesick. But I had the feeling I was going to be trapped   spending most of my time in England until I could convince Haley to come   home with me. Damn that Dead Duke.   





 

Even though I'd suspected it since the DNA test, I was still reeling   from the revelation that Haley was, indeed, his full-blood   great-granddaughter. Because of that one revelation, the Dead Duke's   mania about his heir and an ancestor of Helen's continuing his dynasty   made complete sense. He wasn't handing his legacy to a complete   stranger. He was handing it to his bloodline.

I was furious about the situation. The more I thought about it, the more   I realized I was the pawn in this whole grand scheme. It wasn't me who   mattered, but Haley. She had to become duchess for his line to  continue.  I was just a means to an end.

Worse yet, I might never be able to pry her out of that damn castle.   Then there was my inheritor guilt, if that was what you'd call it. Like   survivor guilt. Why the hell should I inherit what rightfully belonged   to her?

I had an obligation to do right by her now. And that damned obligation   made any gesture I made, any action I took, look like exactly that,   obligation, not love. And I was definitely in love with her. I couldn't   even stay mad enough at her to stay away from her. She was constantly  on  my mind, invading my thoughts, making me burn with desire, filled  with  longing to laugh with her and share the intimacies of life.

What kind of douche would I be now if I cut her out of the estate? And   yet there was no way to give it to her. And no way to stay married to   her and divest myself of it. Now who was a prisoner of that cursed   castle?

Then there was the baby to consider. I'd mentally been cursing the Dead   Duke since Haley told me. He'd made damn sure I was never extricating   myself from the almost royal mess he'd dropped me in.

"Congratulations, Your Grace," Thorne said, bringing me back from my thoughts to reality. "Tea?"

I shook my head. I was damned tired of tea. Why did no one ever offer coffee? "No, thanks."

"You must be overjoyed with the news." He smiled steadily at me, his mild expression completely in character.

He should be jumping for joy. He was successfully executing the Dead   Duke's plan. If this child were a boy, no doubt Thorne would soon be   getting some kind of performance bonus.

Hell, I deserved the performance bonus. I was the stud material here,   and I meant that in a purely breeding way. I felt used. Like a horse put   out to stud. Like a fool.

I resisted scowling at Thorne, trying to keep my anger and frustration   to myself. "I'm hoping like hell it's a boy, if that's what you're   referring to." I didn't want to give my true sentiments away.

"We all are, sir." He smiled wryly. "Then we can divest ourselves of the cumbersome requirements of the late duke's will."

"And your duties to play villain?" I grinned sardonically at him.

He didn't appear surprised at my mood. "You misjudge me, sir. I believe I   actually enjoy the villain role. It adds spice and drama to my   otherwise rather dull job. I'll miss it when it's over." He winked.

Okay, I hadn't expected such dry humor from Thorne. I cracked up. I   couldn't help it. "You'd have to enjoy villainy to work for the Dead   Duke for as long as you have."

Thorne shook his head and raised an eyebrow, but his eyes twinkled with   humor and affection. "The late duke was misunderstood by most.  Including  you, sir, pardon me for saying. He was a kind and  conscientious man at  heart. The duchess appears to have a more accurate  picture of him and  sees him for who he really was." Thorne settled  into the sofa across  from me.

He had a comfortable grouping of furniture. Elegant and expensive   leather. The Dead Duke had paid, and probably continued to pay, well.

"Speaking of the duchess-how long have you known she's the Dead Duke's   great-granddaughter?" I watched his reaction carefully for any signs of   surprise.

"Is she?" He nodded approvingly. "Well, we suspected as much, didn't we?   It makes perfect sense, doesn't it, sir?" He looked like he was  telling  the truth.

He crossed his legs and studied me in return. "We both suspected,   naturally, that the connection was closer than the story that she was a   great-something niece of Helen's. Especially when the DNA test showed   she must be directly descended from Helen herself.

"When I saw the duchess in person, my impression was strengthened. She   looks a good deal like Helen. But there's something almost indefinably   Feldhem about her. If you knew the Dead Duke as well as I did, you would   see it, too."   





 

"What else do you know or suspect, Thorne? I need to know everything." I   rattled off our suspicions about Bird and everything I knew about  Bird,  China, and Sid. "Is there any chance Sid is Bird's love child?"

Thorne considered a minute. "Very astute, sir. Of course there's a   chance." He hesitated. "I told the duchess I thought her sister was a   twin."

"Yes, I know. She told me." I frowned. "Do you think there's a twin?   Could Bird have fathered twins with a Chinese girl and a son with his   wife at around the same time? Could we be looking at a buffet of   siblings that could match Sid?"

"It's possible." Thorne didn't look convinced.

"What other explanation is there? From what I've heard, Bird's son is Caucasian. Sid is a mix."

Thorne's brow furrowed. "Yes. That's always been a puzzle to me, too."

Neither of us seemed to have an answer.

"There's something else I need, Thorne. I need your legal assistance.   I'd like to keep you on as my British solicitor with responsibilities   for dealing with the castle and all aspects of the dukedom. You know it   better than anyone. I hope that won't conflict with your duties as the   Dead Duke's executor?"

"I don't believe so, sir. It's standard for a predecessor's competent solicitor to be kept on by the inheritor."

"Very good. Your first order of business is my will. If something   happens to me, I want the castle and the entire Witham estate to go in   its entirety to my oldest surviving child at the time of my death,   whether that child is male or female. Enough of this male-centric   inheritance bullshit."

Thorne raised an eyebrow. "Very good, sir."

I sighed. "Haley will be trustee and oversee it until the child is   twenty-five. If I die with no living issue, the estate goes to Haley. In   the case that she predeceases me, it goes to Sid.

"I'll make generous allowances for any other surviving children from my personal holdings and Flashionista."

Thorne grabbed a legal pad and pen from a nearby cabinet and took notes.   "The oldest male child still inherits the title. A girl can't, not by   law."

I nodded. "Understood. Of course, we're hoping this child is a boy." I   laughed without humor. "Haley, naturally, will have her share of the   Dead Duke's money to provide for her. My share will go toward   maintaining the estate and providing for other children."

Thorne smiled knowingly, seemingly pleased with himself. "So there will be other children, sir?"

His question startled me. When I thought about it, I realized it sure   sounded like I was planning a family with Haley. "Just covering all   possible scenarios and eventualities."

"Very good." He asked a few more questions and made a few more notes. "I'll draw up the paperwork. Will there be anything else?"

"As a matter of fact, there is. What would happen to the estate and my title if my father suddenly showed up very much alive?"

Thorne looked up suddenly. He didn't appear as surprised as I expected   he would. But he did look alert and maybe even slightly alarmed. "Your   father was declared legally dead."

Nice evasive action, I thought.

"That's not the same thing as him really being dead, though, is it?"

Thorne didn't answer.

I wasn't accusing him of anything. But I also wouldn't have been   surprised if the Dead Duke had gotten my deadbeat dad out of the way,   clearing the path for Haley to marry me and become duchess. And that   Thorne knew something about it.

It was just a theory. And maybe a crazy one. But there was no way Haley   could have been induced to marry my father. Maybe he did drown after   that boat capsized. Maybe he didn't. I wasn't about to go digging into   it. But it was a contingency I had to plan for.