The American Heir(4)

 

Maybe I should have been furious with him. Maybe I was too forgiving.   But I'd come to love the old Dead Duke, flaws, eccentricities, and all.   Maybe it was in our blood to understand each other. Or maybe he'd  simply  done a superior job of laying out his case for me.

I understood. He was granting Clara's last request on a grand scale.

I shook my head. I still couldn't think of him as my great-grandfather.   That was surreal. He was much too larger than life to be a mere   great-grandpa to me. I was torn between regret that I never got to meet   him and intimidation at the thought.

Whatever he was, he was making things up to us. And making sure his   bloodline, the rightful line, continued in the ducal line. It was   ingenious and cunning. Almost diabolically clever.

I realized with a start just how many years he'd been planning this. Had   he been watching over us like a benign grandfather all along?

Thoughts rattled and bounced around my mind, seemingly random, and yet a   pattern emerged. I remembered, vaguely, my parents needing money. I  was  young. The details were foggy from first memory. I just remembered  the  hushed conversations and worried looks on my parents' faces. Would  they  lose the baby?

Sid!

It was when they were trying to adopt Sid. They got the money from somewhere. Where? Where?

I squinted, deep in thought.

An unexpected windfall. Some distant relative had died and left them just what they needed!

"Damn."

My heart raced. My hands shook. I held the Bible tightly and shook my   head, trying to remember. I was only four when we got Sid. All the   memories from then were fuzzy first memories of life.

I took a deep breath. The Dead Duke. It had to have been. If he gave Mom   and Dad the money, then he knew what was going on. Was there more to  it  than that? Had he gone as far as setting up the adoption?

I was both giddy and sick at the thought.

Was that why he knew how to find the cure for Sid? Because he'd arranged   the adoption in the first place? And if he had, why had he picked a   Chinese orphanage? A half-Chinese, half-Caucasian girl?

Oh my God. What if Sid was half British? What was the connection to   Witham House and the Dead Duke? There had to be a connection.

I took a deep breath and reminded myself to breathe slow and steadily. I   was onto something. I was getting closer to the thing Rans wanted me  to  find. To Sid's cure.

Just how far into my life did the Dead Duke's tendrils entwine? If he'd   set up Sid's adoption, like I suspected, had he also planned this   marriage from the beginning? Had he figuratively stood over my cradle   like a fairy godfather, or a feudal king, and decided to arrange for me   to marry his heir?

Had he watched me grow? Kept tabs to see if I was worthy to inherit?   Looked for ways to bring Riggins and me together from the start?

I probably should have felt like a puppet in the Dead Duke's game of   life. Instead I was filled with a sense of awe and destiny. I'd been   deemed worthy to carry on the Feldhem line. I'd been given great wealth   and responsibility.

I wouldn't let my great-grandfather down. The Dead Duke could count on   me to take care of our dukedom. Not even Riggins could stop me.

I smiled to myself and realized I was grinning at the Bible. I had to   keep this letter safe. I slid to my feet. And what better way to protect   it than hiding it in plain sight? In the library. Out of order, of   course. Sorry, Dead Duke!

I put my slippers on. And then, on a whim, I texted the photo of the   letter to Riggins. He deserved to know who and what he was up against.   He thought the Dead Duke was determined to get his way! He hadn't seen   anything yet.





Chapter 3





Riggins

I gave the woman two million dollars' worth of lingerie and she sent me a   damn thank you text. And a picture of an old letter. To be technically   correct, I'd left the valuable lingerie behind. So was it a gift? Or a   statement about how much she'd lost by her deceit and betrayal?

I was still shaking with anger and hurt as I lay in bed and stared up at   the canopy above me. Everything in this damn castle was ornate and   antiquated. I longed for the sleek, modern lines of my home in Seattle. I   didn't want to live in another century. I liked the twenty-first   century just fine.

I wanted my old life back. The one where I expected people to let me   down and women to sleep with me for my money. It was the betrayal that   hurt the worst. Haley had seemed so honest.   





 

Oh, shit, of course I knew who was behind the leak to the media. Rose.   Who else? Haley would have told me about the baby, probably sooner   rather than later. I didn't know Rose's exact motives, but revenge was a   probable cause. She didn't understand that I wouldn't want her, even  if  given the opportunity. I could have chosen her, had I been inclined.  Or  so I'd thought at the time.

As nasty as it was, I couldn't get the niggling concern out of my mind   that Haley had gotten pregnant on purpose. Yeah, I knew I was complicit.   But … I shouldn't have had to wear a condom every damn time when she'd   assured me she was on the pill. Was that all a ruse?

I read her text again.

Don't say it. Don't ever say that you don't want this baby. You'll regret it forever.

I swallowed hard, gulping back my guilt and thinking about my old man.   Did I have any sympathy for him now? What if he hadn't wanted to be a   father either? Was that an excuse worthy of not manning up to the task?

Was Haley right? Would I regret it? Anger was a nasty, blinding beast, and I was furious right now. There was more to her text.

You can say whatever else you want to me or about me. Yell and scream.   Call me names. Even threaten to throw me out. But don't reject your   child. Don't pass that legacy on.

And whatever else you're thinking or imagining, I didn't plan this   pregnancy. I didn't trap you into anything. I'm as surprised as you are.

Surprised, was she? I was in shock.

But I'm already in love with this baby. Partly because it's yours. Yeah,   you big douche. Get over yourself and I think you'll come to your   senses.

I know. It's the shock. I've had longer to get used to the idea. Give it   some time to sink in and you'll realize this is the best thing that   ever happened to you, too. This isn't how I wanted you to find out, but   it is what it is.

And as for you and me, read the letter. We're fated to be together.

Thanks for the bra and panties. Won't they be a scandalous addition to the duchess' jewels?

I smiled despite myself at her attempt at humor, picturing future   duchesses parading around in their tiaras and diamond underwear. Very   dignified. The other dukes may have had their extravagances, but diamond   and jeweled lingerie? That was a new excess.

My amusement was short-lived. I scowled. Damn her. My heart pounded. I   swallowed hard. I wanted her worse than anything. So desperately I was   feverish for her. I wanted her to be guileless and telling the truth. I   needed her to be the Haley I'd fallen in love with. Which raised the   question-assuming Haley was telling the truth, how did our birth control   fail?

I read Clara's letter for the third time.

Rans, you dead bastard, we've both been taken in by women. Two women who look eerily alike.



Haley

I called Sid, still trembling. I had to tell her about the baby before   the news reached her. I'd always imagined telling her in some fun way.   Curses on Rose for ruining things.

I glanced at the clock. It was the middle of the afternoon in Seattle.   Sid would be out of class and hopefully someplace she could talk.

When she picked up on the second ring, I nearly collapsed with relief.

"So. Are you wearing that diamond-crusted bra Riggins is rumored to have   bought before he jumped on a plane and raced to you?" she said.

At the sound of her voice, I almost cried. I missed her, obviously, but I hadn't realized just how much.

"What?" I was momentarily caught off guard by her flippancy.

"Oops! Obviously not, I guess." She laughed. "I hope I didn't spoil the   surprise. If he bought it for a mistress, I'm going to kill him  myself."

"Since when did his underwear-buying habits become public?" I bit my lip.

"Since he became a duke and a billionaire. It's all over the   entertainment news." She laughed again. "So is it true? Are you wearing   diamond underwear right now?"

"Not exactly. Though I can confirm I'm in possession of a   jewel-encrusted lingerie set." I paused, hoping that the underwear was   all that had been in the American press and that social media hadn't   picked up the British story. Poor Riggins. It was hard to keep a   surprise secret.

How much had someone been paid for the diamond underwear story? At least   Rose wasn't the prime suspect this time. "Has anything else about us   been in the news?"