Black Jack (35 page)

Lilly. It’s where you belong.”

And it was exactly where she wanted to be.

It was still dark and Lilly lay pressed against his chest when Travis’s cell phone rang. Travis

picked up his phone and looked at the display. He frowned when he saw “Harrington” on the

screen.

He sat up in bed, careful not to disturb Lilly. She turned over with a soft murmur. “Hello.”

“Caine,” Desmond said. His voice sounded grim. “We have things to discuss. You, me and

Lilly. If I make sure Angelica is not here will you both meet me at the house around noon? I

really think you both need to hear what I have to say.”

Travis was silent for only a moment. Then he looked down at Lilly and said, “We’ll be

there.”

the limo pulled
into the stately, oak-tree-lined drive that led to

the house her family had taken for the summer. After pulling to a stop, Nik got out from the

driver’s seat, came around the car, opened the rear door, and stood aside as Travis stepped out.

His eyes narrowed as the door opened, and rather than the houseman at the entrance, he

instead saw Isaac, Desmond’s personal, chief bodyguard.

The dark silk suit he wore almost hid the bulge of the weapon he wore beneath his arm, but

not quite. He was a formidable figure, if one wasn’t confident in their ability to stand against

him.

Travis was rather confident.

Isaac’s dark brown eyes flicked to where Lilly stood beside him, resplendent in a soft, light

blue camisole and matching skirt. Strappy flat sandals covered her feet. Her shoulder-length

brown hair was pulled back into a casual ponytail and she even carried a small clutch purse

rather than a rifle.

She looked every inch the perfect little lady.

Travis held his arm out to her, and almost grinned at the arrogant little tilt of her head as

she laid her hand on his arm.

“Lady Lillian. Mr. Caine,” he greeted them as they moved up the steps. “Lord Harrington is

awaiting you.”

“I’m certain he is,” Travis responded. “And Lady Harrington? She’s gone?”

“Lady Harrington is in D.C. shopping, I believe,” Isaac informed them as he stepped aside.

“Lord Harrington may have neglected to pass along the information that her daughter had

been found and was returning.”

“Her daughter was never lost,” Lilly informed him coolly as they stepped into the foyer and

waited for Nik to step in before Isaac closed the door behind them.

“So I see.” He inclined his head in approval. “Follow me, Lord Harrington is waiting in his

study.”

Travis placed his hand on Lilly’s lower back as they followed the bodyguard. It was hard to

believe Isaac McCauley was involved in anything nefarious. He had been with the Secret

Service, served a short stint with the CIA, and had then gone private. His reputation was

sterling and above reproach.

Isaac paused at the study doors, gave a brief knock, then opened them and stood back as

they entered.

Desmond Harrington stood in front of the cold fireplace, his leather-shod foot propped on

the hearth as he leaned an elbow casually against the mantel. He’d shed the suit jacket he

usually wore. The sleeves of his white, fine cotton shirt were rolled to his elbows and the dark

blue silk slacks were still perfectly creased.

At first glance he was the epitome of professionalism, until Travis looked closely at his

face. He looked like an exhausted thug. The red hair closely cropped, the lines on his face.

Desmond Harrington was a hard man, and it showed in every line and wrinkle of his face.

In his free hand he held a short glass of what appeared to be whiskey. Watching them, he

remained silent as he lifted the glass and sipped from it before nodding to Isaac.

“Can I offer anyone a drink?” Isaac asked as Travis, Lilly, and Nik came to a stop in the

middle of the room, facing Desmond.

“I’ll have my regular, Isaac,” Lilly answered, her voice smooth and sweet and so ladylike it

was hard to believe she could wield a sniper’s rifle as easily as she held that glass of Crown

and Coke.

“I’ll take the whiskey straight,” Travis answered as he pressed his hand into Lilly’s back,

urging her to the love seat despite the fact that they hadn’t been invited to sit.

Nik stepped back, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned against the wall beside the

door and watched everyone with narrowed eyes.

Silence filled the room as Isaac poured the drinks, then moved across the room to hand

Travis and Lilly theirs.

“Isaac, would you mind stepping outside now?” Desmond asked.

“I do, Lord Harrington,” Isaac answered firmly. “You know that’s not a very good idea at

the moment.”

Desmond sniffed disdainfully as he turned his head, threw back the rest of his drink, and

grimaced tightly. “There are days, Lilly, when I wonder what the hell made me think I could

handle the legacy your father left behind.”

He slapped the glass to the mantel, raked his fingers over his head, and blew out a hard

breath before glaring back at her.

He looked tired, she thought. Tired and filled with regret and grief.

His gaze focused on Travis Caine for long, intense minutes.

“It’s damned hard to trust you,” he said, sighing.

“I’m a man of my word, Lord Harrington,” Travis reminded him. “You know that as well as

anyone.”

Lilly looked at him in surprise. He sounded as though her uncle actually knew him.

Desmond shook his head as he turned to her. “Six years ago I contacted Mr. Caine to

negotiate an agreement between Harrington Translation and Dictation and a much larger

company intent on taking it over. Your father was buried in an internal investigation at the

time and I agreed to handle the attempted merger. I contacted your Mr. Caine to aid in that.”

“A legal negotiation?” she murmured as she turned to Travis.

He grinned, sliding a look at her from the corner of his eye. “I do stay within the law

occasionally, my dear.”

Desmond grunted at the comment. “We would have lost the company if it hadn’t been for

him. With your father’s death, and what we believed was your death, the family was in chaos

for months.”

“It appears to me that the family is still in chaos,” she stated sadly.

Her uncle shook his head before lowering it for long moments. Finally, he heaved another

sigh before moving to a nearby high-backed leather chair and taking a seat.

“Mr. Caine contacted me with the information that you had been found,” he stated as he

leaned back. “He told me then that he had known of your existence for years and had

remained quiet. With your injuries, though, he was afraid you wouldn’t make it, and he

wanted your family close if that were true.”

Lilly remained silent. That didn’t sound like the truth to her; it didn’t feel like the truth,

though she had no doubt it was what he had told her family.

“Why are we here, Lord Harrington?” Travis finally asked. “You sent Lilly’s mother away

and were rather intent on this meeting. I will assume there’s a reason for it.”

“Of course there is.” Desmond glared back at him irritably before turning back to Lilly.

“Returning may not have been a good idea, child. Perhaps when Mr. Caine called I should

have simply gone to the hospital alone and advised you to continue hiding.”

“Why would you do that?” she asked, wondering herself why her intuition hadn’t warned

her to stay away.

“Because this family is more fucked up than any dysfunctional American family that you’ll

find,” he stated roughly. “Jared rather surprised me, though. I didn’t expect him to disown

you.”

“Perhaps he doesn’t like losing the additional inheritance,” Travis suggested.

Desmond shook his head. “Lilly’s money is in trust. Nothing could be done with it until

you turned twenty-six—if you were still alive, that is. And upon Lilly’s death it wouldn’t go

to Jared anyway. It would go to a charity chosen in Lilly’s name. Your brother’s trust was set

up the same way.”

Yet another surprise.

“When was that decided?” Lilly asked. “Father told me nothing of this.”

“And he wouldn’t have until you were old enough to begin drawing from the fund,” he

answered her. “Unfortunately, you ‘died’ before you reached the age that you could touch

your inheritance.”

“What is the point of this, Uncle Desmond?” she asked.

“Someone tried to kill you six years ago, and then three times in the past six months. It’s

hard to believe it isn’t personal, isn’t it, Lilly? And now you know there’s less reason to

suspect your brother. So tell me I haven’t risen on your list of suspects.”

Lilly looked to Travis, then back to her uncle. “I don’t know who to suspect,” she finally

stated, wondering what the hell was going on here.

“You were helping your father on that investigation,” Desmond said then. “You were

working with him and MI5 before you disappeared.”

Now, she was shocked. Her father had made her swear to never reveal anything about the

investigation. She stared back at Desmond silently, trying to figure out what he knew, and

what he simply thought he knew.

“She has an excellent poker face.” Desmond nodded toward her. “She always did have.”

“What do you want, Harrington?” Travis sat forward now.

“I want my brother’s killer. And I want the person trying to kill my niece stopped,” he said,

his voice soft. “I want the slow, steady embezzling of Harrington funds to stop, and I want my

life back.”

“And I’m to facilitate this, how?” Travis asked.

“Better yet, why should you be drawn in?” Lilly rose to her feet, tipped her drink to her

lips, and finished it in one hard swallow before moving slowly to the bar.

She needed a moment to think, to figure out what the hell was going on here.

“You argued with Mother when I left?” she asked as she moved past Isaac to pour herself

another drink.

Desmond chuckled. “Oh yes, my dear. Your mother and I argued quite loudly and for well

through the next day. When Ridgemore showed up, we argued quite a bit more. You know

how it works. She screams until she gets what she wants, and if she doesn’t get what she

wants, then she makes your life hell. Correct?”

Lilly poured herself another drink before turning back to him and leaning against the bar.

“Mother never screamed at me. Not when Father was alive, anyway.”

His expression softened, turned gentle. “No, she didn’t scream at you. Because whenever

she did, she had to face not just your father, but also your uncle. We did our best to shelter

you. Sadly, it seems it was in vain.”

He was gazing at her as though he held some affection for her. The way he watched her

when she was a child. He had spoiled her just as her father had.

“Your father and I had hoped that by combining forces we could compel your mother to

allow you to have your dreams,” he said quietly. “You wanted to join MI5. You wanted to be

adventurous. She wanted you to marry well, have children, and become a replica of herself.

To her, that was her measure of success. Unfortunately, it seems to be how she and her friends

measure their success. By how well they can turn their daughters into younger versions of

themselves. She had your husband picked out, the sex of your children and their names. She

had already decided where you would live, close to her of course, and who your friends would

be. It would be her way, or no way at all.”

“You make her sound crazed. I mean, more than usual.” She needed another drink just to

hold back the anger that she was only now seeing this. And not because he was telling her it

was the truth, because she had witnessed it herself.

“Not crazed, simply arrogant, and certain of her own power.” He shook his head. “She’s

royalty, remember?”

It was coming together so slowly, too slowly. Lilly felt the heavy weight of agonizing

knowledge as it began to settle into her heart, to slice at her soul. She wanted to scream in

denial, but she couldn’t. She had to hold it back, she had to focus on the truth rather than the

fantasy world she had lived in as a child.

Desmond wiped a hand over his face as Lilly kept a careful eye on him, as well as Isaac.

“I was helping your father.” He stared at the whiskey in his glass for long moments before

gazing back at her. “God, he loved her.” He leaned his head back against the chair and stared

at the ceiling. “He loved you better, though, and she knew it.”

Lilly’s lips trembled for a brief second before she controlled it. Instead, she met Travis’s

gaze, saw the compassion in it, the regret.

“How did she manage it?”

Once again Desmond shook his head. “I don’t know. Harold had figured it out. He told me

that night, but he didn’t tell me it was Angelica. He was going to fill me in the next morning.

The next thing I knew, you were both supposedly dead. I only figured out it was Angelica

about six months ago and have been trying to pin her down with hard proof ever since.”

Lilly swallowed tightly as Travis moved from the loveseat to stand beside her, to lend her

his support, his warmth.

“How did she find me? I changed everything about myself.”

“Everything but certain mannerisms,” Desmond pointed out. “You attended a party in

Bangladesh a few years ago for the ruling family’s oldest son. We were there, along with