Chapter 43
JACK
“No, no, no! Gracie, I’m sorry. I thought she was going to hurt you. I…” I look between her and Kaleb’s body in confusion. “She had a gun, it was pointing—”
“She was going to hurt them.” Cecelia interrupts me. “Jack, did you know she was your sister?” She sounds so calm and sympathetic, it’s not like her at all.
“My what?” I sink to my knees and take Sophia’s head in my hands, observing what I’ve done and feeling sick.
“I’ve never… I’ve not killed a…She’s just a girl.” I manage to form some of the words that are going around my head. Knowing how much Sophia meant to Gracie. She was her friend; she would never have hurt her.
“Jack...” Cecelia shocks me, lowering herself and resting on her knees beside me, before grabbing my face in her hands.
“She was going to kill your son.” She stares at me in the eyes, fiercely.
“You protected your family; it doesn't matter if she was male or female. It was her or him.” She looks up towards my little boy.
“What were they doing here? Did you know who she was?” I look to Cecelia, hoping she knows all the answers.
“I had no idea who she was, but she seemed to be a very disturbed young lady. She wanted revenge,” she explains, almost looking as if she feels sorry for her.
“She was my sister?” I check that I heard that part right, again. None of it seems real. Cecelia carefully stands back up and moves towards Gracie. I’m even more surprised when she takes our son from her arms and urges her to comfort me. She’s not even glanced at him since he was born.
“Jack, I swear I didn’t know either; all this time, she never mentioned it,” Gracie assures me, as I stand up and wrap my arms tightly around her.
“I should never have left you alone.” I can’t imagine how scared she must have been.
“We could never have predicted this. We thought any threat had disappeared with Jonah.” She does her best to spare my feelings. “Sophia was so sweet and kind. It was all a con.” My poor girl looks exhausted.
“A con for what?” I’m still so confused.
“She wanted to bring down your family; destroy the legacy. She came to us knowing we hated what your father had done. I guess she assumed we’d help her…”
“Instead of destroying it, you procreated.” I’m shocked when I see the smile Cecelia pulls at our son as she rocks him in her arms.
“Here.” She hands him over to me. "We need to make this look like a fight between the two of them.” She sighs as she looks down at both the bloody bodies on the floor.
“I think we should tell the police that it was self-defense. Kaleb came here with a gun while Sophia was visiting Gracie and the baby. We managed to make it into the panic room, and when he opened the door, he slit her throat.” She takes Jack’s knife from the floor and wipes the handle clean in her skirt before placing it in Kaleb’s hand.
“Sophia spent the final seconds of her life defending us and shot him.” Her plan sounds believable. I can’t help being impressed.
“Where was I during all of this?” I ask, checking our son over for injuries, and feeling so relieved I got here when I did.
“Doing duke duties.” The way Cecelia looks at me has me wondering if she knows where I really was today. I’m unsure how much she knew about my father’s businesses.
“When were you going to tell me about the list?” Gracie turns her head to look at me, and she doesn’t look impressed.
“You know about the list?” I narrow my eyes.
“It was a gift from me,” Cecelia’s announcement makes my jaw drop.
“You?” I look down at the tiny woman who has hated me all her life. “I swear, if you are trying to frame me fo—”
“Relax, Jack. I’m simply ensuring that the men who were members of that club get what they deserve. I’ve heard, over the years, that you're quite efficient.” Her lips curl into another one of those smiles that I’m not used to seeing.
“Now come, we'd better go see what staff survived this visit and call the police.” She steps over the bodies and leads us out of the room, taking full control of the situation, while Gracie and I stare at each other, wondering what the hell just happened.
“I killed Lord Linchford today,” I confess to Gracie after she’s laid our son down in his Moses basket and settled herself beside me. The house is finally quiet; the police and coroners have left, and now seems like the perfect time to be completely honest with my girl.
“Lord Linchford was on the list?” She seems surprised. “But he and Cecelia…you saw them kiss.”
“I guess she was keeping her enemies close.” I shrug, not having a clue how that woman's brain works. Gracie tells me that if it hadn’t been for her, she and Benjamin would be dead. I guess I have to, at least, start liking her for that.
“Or putting her victims right under your nose and hoping you would strike,” Gracie suggests. “Cecelia’s a very clever woman. I don’t know how I feel about her using you to kill those men.”
“I’m doing what needs to be done, Gracie.” I need to be very clear on that, and I won’t make her false promises. “I’m making things right, and I’m doing it my way. I swear, once those men are dead, I’ll never ask you to accept this part of me again, but—”
“I don’t want to change you, Jack. I never have.” She slides her hand up to rest on my cheek, and her soft smile makes me feel like the luckiest man in the world
“All I want to do is raise him right.” I look down at Benjamin, feeling like I could burst with pride.
I refuse to let him down in this life. “I can’t believe I killed my own sister.
” I’ve spent all afternoon with those blank eyes haunting me.
Gracie tells me she’s the girl Thomas and Kaleb raped all those years ago, and I fail to see how I didn’t recognise her.
I remember so much from that night; how did I forget her face?
“You protected us. Sophia was crazy. She was so messed up from what happened, who can blame her?” Gracie points out, though none of it makes me feel any better.
“She should have come to me, told me who she was. I never asked for any of this. I never imagined I’d be a fucking duke, one day.” I suddenly feel so angry for all the lies and the things my father never prepared me for.
“But you are a duke, and you're going to be an excellent one; just like you are a dad.” She smiles that dreamy smile as she looks over me into our son’s Moses basket.
“How about a husband?” I check, still having tiny doubts that the reason she’s stuck around is solely for our child. I find it impossible to believe that a woman like Gracie could be in love with me.
“You are an excellent husband. ” She giggles, then her face turns sad again, reminding me she’s just lost one of her friends.
“I’m sorry.” I take her hand and kiss it.
“Don’t be sorry for saving our son's life. I would have done the same in a heartbeat.”
“I’m sorry you had to lie to Selena and Polly earlier; that can’t have been easy.” I hold her a little tighter.
“I don’t want them to remember Sophia the way I have to. She was a good person, she just went through too much and lost herself.” Gracie starts to cry, and I kiss the top of her head, having no idea how to make her pain go away.
“I love you,” I whisper into her freshly-washed hair. Hoping it brings her a little comfort.
“And I love you.” She pulls back so she can look up at me. “I love you so much, Jack. I love him. I love the idea of our future together. I never, ever thought this would happen to me.” She looks so beautiful when she’s overcome with emotion.
“You came here for an eight-million-pound necklace and got yourself a husband and a son instead,” I laugh, deciding that we don’t have to be sad tonight, we’ve both suffered enough of it. We can leave all sadness behind us and feel grateful to still have each other.
“Technically, I got the necklace, too.” She shifts herself onto my lap and wraps her arms around my neck.
“Say it again,” I ask, needing to hear the words from her lips at least one more time.
“Say what?”
“Tell me you're mine, for keeps.” I stroke my thumb over her bottom lip.
“I’m yours, for keeps,” she promises, smiling so bright it’s hard to believe my wife has ever seen a dull day.