“Why not? I daresay he has a right to know.”
I shook my head. “I can't do that Missy, he is an Earl. Riley is his bastard. If I let this be known, his family would have something to say about it and who knows what they're capable of.”
I had a fair idea what they might have been capable of. From what Niall had told me, his father was forcing him and another woman into a marriage that had been planned for them since childhood and he was not taking no for an answer. I did not want to come up against that kind of power and money when my son was at stake. I knew it was wrong and I knew that Niall had a right to know if he had a child out there, but the risk was too high.
“Surely he would protect you,” Missy said.
“I couldn't ask that of him. I couldn't ask him to choose his family over me. He barely knows me even though Riley is his son. And frankly, I think I forfeited the right. I had Riley's whole life to come clean and I never did. Four years… I think there might be an expiry date on these things.”
“Do you really think he would turn you away if you did tell him the truth about Riley?”
“No, he would never. He was a good man, but things are bigger than just me and him.” I shook my head again. “You know, I do like him. I love seeing him and I've never felt this strongly about anybody else before, but it's just not safe. I have to protect myself and I have to protect Riley. He can never know.”
“I still think you should do it. Think about Riley. He thinks his dad is dead but he's not.” She pressed on, seeing me shake my head. “If he is as good a man as you say he is, he shouldn't turn you away. He will do the right thing.”
“I don't know,” I said.
“At least consider it.”
For the first time since my son was born, I did.
21
Niall
I missed Eddy’s biscuits. I speared a grilled tomato on my fork and held it up to my face examining it. I was sick of hotel food. Later I was going down to the chippy or something. I ate the tomato and followed it with some scrambled eggs. It was fairly late in the morning, around eleven but I had just gotten up and was barely through my coffee. I had no plans yet, but I wasn’t looking forward to the day. There was only one thing left for me to do here and it wasn’t going to be pleasant. Lisbeth Lane and I needed to have a conversation and I didn’t even know where to start contacting her.
My father would have her information, but I wasn’t calling him to find that out. I could ask around. An old acquaintance would definitely know her, if her social stature was as high as I was being led to believe. Of course! Aunt Pamela, Charlie’s mother. She knew everyone and despite their similarities, I would rather talk to her than my father. I drained my coffee cup and refilled it.
The plan was to let her down easily, be as gentlemanly as possible while making it clear that this was a farce and I had no intention of being involved in it. I couldn’t predict her reaction since I barely knew the woman and I didn’t know what she had been told about all this either. How hard was she likely to take it? I didn’t want to hurt her but there were going to be some hurt feelings, unfortunately. Imagine coming all the way to London to reject a woman. This was a mess I was looking forward to putting behind me as soon as possible. I took a swig of my coffee. It was going to be a long day. I was feeding myself a sausage when someone knocked at the door.
“Come in,” I called. The door didn’t open. Usually, I asked not to be disturbed, turning housekeeping away a lot of the time so I got up to get the door. I pulled it open, expecting to see a member of the hotel staff with a trolley, but it wasn’t. The tall man in a suit looked at me with the same disapproval that had etched his face into a permanent scowl my whole life.
“Father?”
He looked me up and down. “Why aren’t you dressed?” he barked. I wasn’t a child, and no one had invited him. How the hell had he found out that I was here? That was a dumb question and I knew it but I went from confused, to raging. I was about to give him what for when I noticed he wasn’t alone. Behind him was Lisbeth Lane.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, biting my tongue.
“Not a word of good morning. You were raised better.” He pushed me aside and stormed into my suite. Lisbeth stood at the threshold smiling at me. I stood aside.
“Good morning Lisbeth, would you like to come in?” I asked, motioning into the room.
“Thank you,” she said, strolling in. I took a deep breath closing the door with all three of us inside. I had planned on leaving London without seeing my father again. As far as I was concerned, the two of us were done. Lisbeth, I did need to talk to, however. Just my luck that she showed up but the two of them together didn’t bode well. I walked into the sitting room where my father was pacing, and Lisbeth was listening to him.
“If we’re quick, we can have everything done with at the end of this week,” he was saying.
“Have what done by the end of this week?” I asked. He stopped walking.
“The two of you are getting married,” he said. “You can sign the
