CHAPTER NINETEEN #2
Penhalyx goes around Lachlan to select Carrigan, who accepts and makes clear to Lachlan that she can handle herself.
She frames it well when they discuss it, says this is a chance for her to move sideways.
Lachlan can’t help but think, into the furnace, but Priscilla Carrigan is highly capable, so he takes her at face value and congratulates her.
Unfortunately, Carrigan being the new head of household means the loss of Lachlan’s number two and, while he likes and trusts Rook, he needs him running Control.
Bennett would have been an option, but he died protecting the Cove.
Lachlan will have to hire from the outside, something he’s dreading but it’ll have to wait until after Jules’ birthday party.
Without Penhalyx here, the Estate is blissful.
The kids have schooling for four hours each morning until afternoon, Mimi included, and then they’re free for the day, which is theirs to command.
Meals, games, earthworms and mud pies. Mimi’s slow determination to map each element of her penknife.
Jules’ growing friendship with Vasily. Lachlan’s renewed control over the domain which is his to protect.
It feels like their world.
But the return of Penhalyx for the party is something Lachlan is resigned to. He now knows exactly how these parties operate, how bad it can get, the gaps, the weaknesses, the people and the fucking trouble they can cause. He also knows how to manage them, and how best to protect Jules.
‘Small and intimate,’ Alistair tells him when he arrives the day before, brings a very tight-knit entourage this time and meets with Carrigan personally, who has been learning the ropes of household management.
‘Thirty people, fifty at most,’ he explains while Lachlan mentally takes notes.
‘No one new, no one to vet, and it’s just for one night. ’
‘Yes, sir.’
Penhalyx is, by most standards, still a handsome man even in his mid-sixties, but to Lachlan he has always been one of the ugliest people alive.
Even so, seeing him again in the flesh is startling.
The older man seems to have aged dramatically over the past few months.
He looks tired, haggard and grey. Lachlan wouldn’t dare ask, but he quietly hopes he’s dying of something that money can’t cure.
Walking through the ballroom together, Carrigan up front with Lachlan and Alistair, Blaire following behind, he points out various requests. You’d never know it was Jules’ birthday at all.
‘Will the other children be returning, sir?’ Blaire asks.
Alistair looks back, gaze travelling over Blaire in a way Lachlan despises. ‘Roman and Savannah, you mean? They are hardly children, Miss Montbelliard, but yes, they will be in attendance. I would like for Savannah to spend time with Julian.’ He glances at Lachlan. ‘It’s good for him to socialise.’
‘Yes, sir,’ Lachlan replies mechanically, though he dislikes the idea of Alistair deliberately pushing them together.
In Lachlan’s opinion, Savannah Alderwyck has too much of the Penhalyx look about her.
He’d much rather Jules spend time with Roman, who he considers a genuinely stabilising influence.
Despite what Penhalyx said once about the world being new and full of wonders, Lachlan knows perfectly well Jules will never be married off to another man.
Alistair makes no request for Mimi to attend which is a gift in and of itself, so Lachlan doubles down on security, walks the old man through the changes.
‘These innovations are impressive,’ Alistair comments, seems especially pleased with the Ivy Wall when he visits the East Wing.
‘No visible cameras or surveillance at all. You’ve kept the beauty and reinforced security beneath the skin.
’ Lachlan doesn’t think there’s any “beauty” in the dark hallways, aged walnut, lifeless malachite green and gothic architecture.
He just sees a palatial prison. ‘I take it this is your friend’s work? ’
‘She applies the craft, yes.’ It feels instinctively wrong to say, actually no, your son designed this system, and Lachlan trusts his instincts.
‘Excellent. I want this applied throughout the entire Estate, not only the East Wing.’
‘Including the sub-levels, sir?’
‘Absolutely not. Where is Julian? I would speak to him.’
‘He’s in the library with Vasily, sir.’
‘Yes, Vasily,’ Penhalyx says, stretching the name. ‘How is he settling in?’
‘Very well, sir.’
They walk towards the library, situated in the North Wing. Blaire and Carrigan were dismissed. ‘And what do you make of him?’
‘He’s polite, intelligent and quiet.’
‘Beyond reproach as always, Lachlan.’
But it’s not always, as Lachlan’s mangled back can attest.
Still, he knows what the old man wants.
‘He seems shy and unsure of himself, but he’s a good kid and could flourish in the right circumstances.’
‘Secondborns are such strange creatures,’ he says, and Lachlan braces, knowing where it leads. ‘How is my darling Jessamine? I hear she’s taken well to schooling.’
‘Yes, sir. She likes it very much. She’s especially adept with languages.’
‘Really?’ he asks pleasantly, clearly feigning interest the way people do about other people’s children, not their own. ‘I suppose Miss Montbelliard is teaching her French.’
‘Among other things, yes, sir,’ he says.
Mimi is learning to sign with such enthusiasm that Lachlan thinks they could soon have entire broken conversations in total silence and if she learns it then it’s more likely Jules will take it up too.
Lachlan wants that very much, to find a way to speak privately in a place where the walls have ears.
‘Good. Are my son and Vasily involved?’
‘Not to my knowledge, sir.’
‘That’s for the best. I shall not interfere with the flow state of your management,’ he says, clearly about to do just that, ‘but if you could ensure nothing develops, I would appreciate it. Julian’s future tends in a different direction.’
Towards the girl Lachlan strongly suspects is his half-sister.
‘As you say, sir.’
‘Excellent.’ He looks around, older than Lachlan has ever seen him.
‘I am man enough to admit when I was wrong. You have surpassed my expectations. When we come to your two-year review, I will approve upfront annual payment,’ he says, clearly thinks he’s being generous.
The concept of money doesn’t exist to Lachlan anymore.
It only meant something when his cousin was re-mortgaging her house to pay for his mother’s medical treatments.
Now that the debt is resolved, his bank account sits untouched, growing endlessly like hair on a corpse.
He has no use for money, so this generosity means less than nothing.
A real gift would be allowing Mimi to play with some kids her own age, but he knows that’s never going to happen.
‘Thank you, sir.’
‘Do you have any requests?’
‘No, sir.’
‘Then I’ll see you tomorrow. Oh,’ he adds, turning.
Lachlan’s insides contract with learned dread, ‘before I forget, should Ariadne offer you recompense for play again, please do feel free to accept. While I appreciate your solidarity and professionalism, you have assembled a spectacular team and mounted excellent defences. I’m sure my son will survive forty-five minutes without you at some point in the night. ’
Lachlan thinks of that woman’s fingers on his face, how casually she offered to let Jules join in. It turns his stomach, but he’s used to enduring this kind of thing by now without reacting. ‘Thank you, sir. I appreciate the offer.’
Alistair cocks his head. ‘You won’t, though, will you?’
‘No, sir.’
‘Tell me why?’
‘There’s a lot of reasons.’
‘Tell me the big one,’ he whispers, like they’re friends sharing gossip. ‘Or shall I guess?’
‘It wouldn’t be professional,’ Lachlan informs him tonelessly.
‘The tattoo on your wrist is no doubt unprofessional, no? Loving my children whom you are paid to protect is less than professional too, I would think. Come now, be honest. We’re family, you and I.’ Lachlan’s guts tighten. ‘What is the material reason for your refrain?’
‘She’s not my type, sir.’
‘What is your type?’
‘I don’t think I have one, sir.’
‘You seem to like Miss Montbelliard well enough.’
That is most definitely a trap which Lachlan is smart enough to navigate. ‘She’s my friend, yes, but I don’t feel that way about her.’
‘Who do you feel that way about?’
He’s pushing so fucking hard for it and Lachlan just doesn’t understand why. He probably never will and that’s for the best. ‘If I’m being honest, sir, I don’t get feelings like that for anyone. Sex is fine on occasion, but beyond that, I have no interest.’
‘And do you like sex?’
‘It’s fine.’
‘Is it hard for you to enjoy yourself in the present moment?’ Alistair asks, tone softly curious, eyes bright like an interested predator.
‘Does the past eat away at the momentum you build? Is that why you liked fucking Mason Fenwick that one time? I suppose it was. What a strange man you are, Lachlan,’ he muses and then blinks, neutral once more.
‘Meet with Maddox. He has a few suggestions for the party.’
‘Yes, sir.’
Lachlan watches him go, buys himself a moment to get level and then goes about his duties.
?
‘But I wanna come protect you!’ Mimi insists. No longer obligated to come to this party, it’s now all Mimi wants. ‘I be a good wall!’
‘Babygirl, you’re gonna snuggle with Bee and she going to read you three stories tonight, aren’t you lucky?’
‘After the party.’
‘No, princess.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because your father said you don’t have to come and that’s good.’
‘But how I know you’re safe? You got hurt at party last time! I should’a been there to protect you! Mimi bang bang!’ She makes gun fingers. ‘Shadow sneak.’
Lachlan sighs, finishes loosely braiding her hair for bedtime, something he does whenever possible. ‘You’re the best shadow sneak on earth, but you can’t come and I’m very happy about that.’
‘Jewel gets’a go.’
‘Jules has to go. I’m sure he’d rather stay here.’