Boss (29 page)

“Yeah?” his hazel eyes stared hard down on him, pushing him into the bed.

“I -,”

“Joshua?” a loud knock on the door, “You in there?”

Ezra clamped his hand around Joshua’s mouth as they listened to Violet going along and knocking on each door on the landing. They laughed softly until they heard her shoes heading back down the staircase.

As they dressed in silence, Joshua thought about saying what he was going to say but he stopped himself.

He already knows.

When they were back in their now creased suits, they re-joined the wedding party. Joshua told Violet that they had just been having a conversation in the orangery. She claimed to have checked the orangery, so Joshua said they were in the second orangery. It was clear there was no second orangery because her eyes quickly scanned them both. When she pointed out that Joshua’s zip was down, the cat was out of the bag.

After the wedding meal and the never-ending speeches, the gorgeous and ornate ballroom was turned into something close to a nightclub when the DJ turned up with a full lighting rig and a sound system that would rival a concert.

Ezra was sat at a table with Joshua and his aunt. Slowly sipping the expensive champagne, he watched the happy couple slow dance.
Why do I recognise Christopher’s face?
Every time his brain would focus, it would drift out of reach.

“Can I have this dance?” Violet held her hand out to Joshua.

“Of course,” he stood up, “will you be okay here?”

“I’ll be fine!” Ezra laughed, holding his champagne glass in the air, “Go and dance with the stunning bride.”

“I’m starting to like him more and more,” Violet whispered as she dragged Joshua towards the dance-floor.

As they started to slow dance, whispering into each other’s ears, Joshua kept darting his eyes over to the table. He was looking past Ezra to his Auntie Jackie.

“It took me a while,” Ezra turned when he heard Jackie speak, “but I know where I know you from.”

Angling his seat back towards the table, he let go of his glass and joined his hands together as if he was about to start a defence in a meeting.

“You’re that Ezra,” she pointed, “the one who took my nephew’s inheritance.”

“I didn’t take -,”

“I know what you did,” there was a slur in her voice and an almost empty bottle of champagne by her side, “I saw you at the house when I went to visit my brother on his deathbed.”

He thought they had met briefly before but he wasn’t sure. The final days of Bill’s life were a blur in his mind. It all happened so fast.

“I was there,” he said, “so?”

Shaking her head, she laughed darkly. After a gulp out of her glass and a slow blink she pointed across the huge table to Ezra.

“I don’t know how you did it but I knew my brother and I know he wouldn’t do that to his own son.”

He tightened his fingers together, glad that it was dark because he was finding it difficult to hide his shaking.

“With all due respect, love, you visited your dying brother once. I was there every day.”

“Long enough to blackmail him?” she arched an eyebrow.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he smiled, “you’re drunk.”

“Don’t you dare call me -,” she stood up and her finger curled as she jabbed it across the table, “I don’t know what you’ve done to Joshua but he’ll see you for what you are eventually.”

“You don’t know me,” his eyes narrowed on the drunken mother of the bride, “you know nothing about me.”

“I know more than you think,” she sipped her champagne, “my brother told me things.”

Ezra’s stomach twisted but he tried not to show it. He remembered that they had talked together with the door closed, their voices barely above whispers.

“Whatever you’re thinking is wrong,” he could feel his forehead starting to sweat under the dancing light show, “and I’d appreciate it if you stopped making accusations. Joshua knows the truth.”

She tossed her hair back, her grey bush bouncing over her shoulders, “You mean, your version of the truth.”

Before she could say anything else, he felt Joshua’s hand close in on his shoulder.

“You alright?” he looked down at Ezra.

It took a second for Ezra to react but he snapped out of it and smiled up at Joshua, making sure his eyes were soft.

“Let’s go for a walk,” Ezra suggested.

Thankfully, Joshua agreed and they were soon out of the stuffy ballroom and walking around the dark grounds side by side. They walked towards the gardens of
Kenwood House
and they found themselves in an arched tunnel made from perfectly groomed and shaped trees. The moonlight glowed through the gaps, lighting up Joshua’s face.

“Are you sure you’re alright? What did my auntie say to you? She’s a handful when she’s had a drink.”

Ezra wasn’t sure what he should say. Should he tell Joshua everything Jackie had said, or would that just cause even more suspicion?
He’s only just starting to trust me.

“She was talking about your dad,” Ezra offered.

Joshua groaned and they stopped walking. Leaning against either side of the archway with the distant sound of a pounding bass-line fluttering over the night garden, Ezra felt like he was tiptoeing a very dangerous line.

“They never got on,” Joshua rolled his eyes, “they were too similar. They argued about everything. My mum used to say they were like a cat and dog growing up. Always at each other’s throats. They proper fell out when Violet was born because Jackie wasn’t married and she started asking for money and my dad didn’t like that.”

“They never got on?”

“Not that I know of,” he shrugged, “there were pockets where they tolerated each other but I think that was only because me and Violet were so close. Why, what did she say?”

Ezra swallowed the dry lump in his throat. He hoped they were in enough shadow that Joshua wouldn’t notice the sweat forming on his brow.

“Just what you said,” he shrugged, “she was rambling. I wasn’t really listening over the music.”

Confusion spread across Joshua’s expression but he looked like he was trying to smile through it. He quickly ran his hand over his beard and headed through the arch.

“Are you sure there’s nothing else?” Joshua paused in the mouth of the arch, nothing more than a shadow.

It didn’t feel right to lie to him. He wanted to be honest going forward but it felt like honesty would ruin everything he had tried so hard to keep hold of.

“I’m sure,” he said, “we should get back inside before they send out another search party.”

They headed back up to the house, with Joshua two steps ahead the entire way. Ezra just hoped he wouldn’t go straight to his auntie but he had a feeling that’s exactly where he was going.

When they were back in the reception, he held back and watched as Joshua weaved in and out of the tables towards his auntie. Wiping his sweaty hands on his thighs, Ezra wondered if he would be able to talk his way out of this one. He knew he was a good businessman but even he couldn’t battle some things.

Before Joshua could reach his auntie, a bald man in a tight suit jumped up and grabbed Joshua by the arm. Joshua looked down at the hand gripping him and shrugged it away. It looked like they were having cross words. The balding man pulled something out of his inside pocket and handed it to Joshua. After one quick look, Joshua tossed what looked like a piece of paper back at the man. He was about to walk away but the bald man’s hand gripped around his wrist. He said something that made Joshua calm down.

Ezra snapped out of his daze, ready to jump in between Joshua and the man. He took one step forwards but a howl of laughter caught him off guard. He looked into the dark corner of the ballroom.
I can’t fucking believe it.
He had no idea why Jade was here with Brian and his friends and he wasn’t sure he wanted to find out.

“Tobias, get off me!” Joshua ripped his wrist away from him when they were standing in the grand entrance of
Kenwood House
.

The double fronted entrance was wide open, letting the almost full moon spill into the dimly lit room.

“Why won’t you just listen to me?” Tobias cried, “Just read the damn letter. Do you know how difficult it was to get this?”

He shook the letter in front of Joshua’s face, his round face growing more red and shiny by the second.

“What is it?” Joshua snatched it from him, “I told you, I don’t want to do this anymore. I’ve decided I’m staying in London. I’m staying with Ezra. For the first time in my life I’m happy and -,”

Tobias’ hand rested gently on top of Joshua’s, silencing him with just one touch.

“Before you say anything else,” he sighed with a sadness that sent a shiver running across Joshua’s skin, “just read the letter.”

The letter rustled in his fingers as he held it. He didn’t want to read it. Clenching his eyes tight, he indulged in the fantasy that everything was perfect.
Why can’t it be perfect for one fucking night?

Sucking the air in through his teeth, he walked over to the bottom step of the staircase and sat down. As he opened the letter, he told himself that what was inside it wouldn’t change his mind.

Firstly, he was relieved to see that it wasn’t addressed to him but it was in his father’s handwriting.

“Who’s Charles Worthington?” he read the unmistakable scrawl of his father’s hand even though it was lighter and messier than usual.

“He’s the man I had to bribe this letter from. He’s the primary lawyer who your father dealt with. Turns out, the reason he went up north was because Charles and your father went to Oxford together.”

He held the letter back to Tobias, “Whatever it says, I don’t care.”

Tobias sighed and took the letter back. He folded it up, holding it between his hands, staring down at it. Joshua thought he was going to leave it there, but he pulled it open and started to read aloud.

“It says -,” Tobias started but Joshua snatched the paper out of his hand.

He started to read:

‘Dear Charles Worthington,

My old friend, it has been too long since we last spoke. For that, I apologise. I wish the circumstances for my writing were better, but alas, they are not. I am not in the best health, and not to mince words, I am dying.

The reason for this letter is because I need your legal assistance. The subject matter is sensitive and I do not want to burden my usual lawyer with the task. I trust your reputation for being one of the best in the business.

I need you to find out as much information you can about an Ezra Steele. I would do it myself, however I am not sure how much I could do from my bed. He is a man I have come to trust but I have a feeling of unrest that he is not everything he claims. I need you to find out whatever you can about him, no matter how big or small.

I am about to file an updated version of my will because I fear the end is close and I want to know if I am wise in leaving this man a small percentage of my estate. He has worked for me for a number of years and I have always had my suspicions about him but I ignored them because he was loyal and one of the hardest workers I have known. He reminds me a lot of myself, so I want to be sure before I deprive my son of his full inheritance.

I trust that you understand time is of the upmost importance and I expect your full confidence on this matter. Whatever price it costs to get the job done, I will trust your judgement.

Speak soon, old friend.

Yours sincerely,

Bill Silverton.’

Hand shaking, he dropped the letter. He imagined his father writing the letter, weak and alone as he died. Why hadn’t he been able to imagine that until now? Clear as the moon in the sky, he could see his father’s face. He could see him in bed, with a pen in his hand and Ezra Steele lurking in the shadows.

“You understand what this means?” Tobias said calmly.

He nodded, not wanting to say the words.

“Your father dated this letter, March 24
th
2014, which if you remember, is the day he drafted up the new version of the will. He died less than a week later on March 31
st
. Ezra Steele took possession of his estate March 29
th
. If we can find out what made your father give him everything, we can crack -,”

“Stop talking!” Joshua jumped up and picked up the letter.

In the glow of the moon, his fingers fumbled with the edges of the letter as he shredded it into a thousand tiny pieces. The pieces fell through his fingers and his hands lifted slowly and shakily to his face. He could feel tears of anger burning behind his lids but he wasn’t going to let them out.

“Joshua -,” Tobias’s hand tightened on Joshua’s shoulder but he pulled away.

“This doesn’t prove anything,” Joshua shook his head, not wanting to believe what he had read, “anything could have happened.”

“Exactly,” Tobias walked around him so they were face to face, “anything could have made your father go from 10% to 100% in those days, but you read it for yourself. Your father didn’t trust him and he had every intention of giving everything to you. I have a copy of the letter back at the office.”

“I don’t need a copy,” he was already heading back to the reception, “I need to find Ezra. I need to hear this from his mouth.”

Trying and failing to bury the mounting emotions, he headed back into the busy ballroom. He avoided everybody’s gaze, not wanting to see anybody who wasn’t Ezra. The anger, the confusion, the bitterness, the resentment, the grief all grew and exploded, retracting and restricting with every step. And then he saw Ezra and it all stopped. Like a cloud clearing to reveal a sky, he saw clearly, just for a split second. He didn’t know what he saw. Was it a sunny, bright sky or a dark, yet calm abyss, waiting for a storm to claim its serenity?

He was standing by a table of people who instantly stuck out in the middle of the overly priced suits and gowns. His eyes shot straight to the woman Ezra appeared to be talking to as the rest of the table watched on in amusement.

She had washed her hair and pushed herself into an ill-fitting cheap dress. It was Jade all right and Joshua had no idea why she was there.

“Ezra,” the word jammed in his throat, “we need to talk.”

“Yeah, Ezra,” Jade mimicked his voice, “your boyfriend wants to talk.”

“I’m not his boyfriend,” Joshua cried, his fists by his temples, “Ezra, now.”

“Betta go, Ez,” the guy Joshua recognised as the leader of the gang who had attacked Ezra laughed, “your little bitch wants ya.”

Joshua almost launched across the table, no longer caring about decency. All of the rage and confusion sat in his fists and he was ready to send them flying into the nearest idiot’s face.

Ezra started walking, so calmly and slowly it infuriated Joshua.
Doesn’t he sense how serious I’m being?
They slipped through a door and into a dark corridor. Ezra didn’t stop until they walked through another door and into a brightly lit industrial kitchen. It contrasted harshly with the opulence and grandeur of the rest of the manor.

“I can explain,” Ezra walked across the empty kitchen, taking his time to turn around, “whatever it is, I can explain.”

“Why don’t you start?” he strained his face, trying not to show everything he was feeling right away.

“It depends what you’ve heard,” Ezra scratched the side of his face casually, “or who you’ve talked to.”

He looked so sure of himself. So sure that whatever Joshua was going to say would be talked away.
Is he always this fucking infuriating?
It reminded him of how Ezra acted when they first met. Arrogant. Had he always been arrogant and Joshua’s perception had been skewed because he was constantly bathing in the orgasms of the best sex of his life?

Maybe that’s all this is to him.

He couldn’t see clearly. Their moment in the bedroom that afternoon felt like a distant memory. All of those feelings were so far away. Had they been real, or were they all just part of Joshua’s delusion that he could live the normal life in London?

“My lawyer, Tobias, he gave me a letter,” Joshua started, “written from my father to Charles Worthington.”

“I know Charles,” Ezra nodded, “he handled everything with your dad. Nice guy.”

The calm tone made Joshua want to scream.

“The letter,” he swallowed that urge, “was from my father to Charles Worthington asking him to find out about somebody he didn’t trust.”

“Who?” Ezra shrugged.

So casual and cocky -
You had no idea he was on to you.

“You.”

Ezra half laughed and half recoiled as if he was too good to stand around and talk about such trivial things.

“Can I see this letter?” Ezra held his hand out, “There’s probably a reasonable explanation behind it.”

“I don’t have it,” he didn’t want to admit he had torn it to smithereens, “but I can give you a pretty good idea about what it said. My dad never trusted you and he was worried giving you 10% of his estate was a bad idea. He was worried about taking that 10% from me. He wanted me to have everything and yet you somehow got everything. I found the second will he had drafted up in your safe in the boardroom.”

“I know you did,” he shrugged, “I saw it at your cousin’s house.”

“And you didn’t say anything?”

The rage grew.

It boiled and burned.

So close to frothing over the brim.

“I didn’t want to make it awkward,” he laughed quietly, “we were finally getting somewhere and I didn’t want to keep dragging up the past.”

“Getting somewhere? You mean you were manipulating me?”

Ezra arched both eyebrows as he stepped back, his hands waving in front of his face.

“There’s nothing I can say, is there?” he rolled back on his heels, “You and your little lawyer have your mind made up about me.”

“I just don’t see how you can explain -,”

“And that’s the problem!” Ezra’s voice boomed around the kitchen, “You’ve already jumped to your conclusions.”

It made Joshua shrink and take a step back, “So explain! It better be fucking convincing.”

Pursing his lips, Ezra shook his head. He looked almost on the brink of telling Joshua to ‘
fuck off
’. The anger Joshua was feeling was being shared and it only made him angrier. How dare he even think this is about him?

“Like I said, you’ve got it all wrong and it’s not a simple story,” Ezra jumped up and sat on the edge of the metal counter.

“You better start talking,” Joshua pointed his finger out, “because I am this close to pulling the rug out from under your feet.”

Ezra definitely looked like he was about to tell Joshua to ‘
fuck off
’ for real, but he didn’t get the chance. The door to the kitchen opened and Ezra’s eyes travelled to the intruder first. Joshua turned around, expecting to see the kitchen staff but it was Jade.

A wonky smile covered her tart red lipstick, most of which was on her teeth.
Why is that rat here?

“Look who I found,” she snickered, “here I am, looking for some free booze and I bump into my favourite person and his little bitch.”

As she said ‘
bitch
’ she ran her finger along Joshua’s shoulders, sending a cold shiver deep into his core.

“Jade,” Ezra was almost growling through gritted teeth, “now isn’t the time, or the place.”

“Oh, piss off, Mr. Steele,” she stuck her middle finger up, “I’m not here for you. You think so bloody highly of yourself.”

Letting them know how little she cared about him, she started to rummage through the fridges but she was disappointed to find they were filled with food and not alcohol.