“You want me to burn their house down?” she asked.
My head swiveled to stare at her.
“What?” She shrugged. “I’ve got your back. You say burn it down, I’ve already got the lighter.”
“I don’t think that will be necessary, but I appreciate the offer,” I said. I had no desire to inspire arson, but it was comforting to know that Eliza was behind me no matter what. “I just don’t understand what’s going on.”
“That makes two of us.” She blew a stream of smoke toward the cracked window. “I mean, it would explain the shitty waitressing.”
I laughed humorlessly. It would, but it wouldn’t explain much else—like my whole life until this moment.
“I mean, why would he lie?” she asked me.
“Marrying his daughter into the Byrd family is all he cares about,” I told her. “He basically groomed Kerrigan to be the ideal wife for Spencer since she was little. He wants the family title.”
“But if he’s lying and you aren’t...why would he want a stranger to marry Spencer?”
“It will still be her name,” I said miserably.
“And if she comes back?” Eliza pressed. “Where does he expect you to go?”
“I think that’s where the ten million pounds comes in.” I’d known it was an insane amount of money when he first dangled the offer in front of me. I had expected it to come with strings, but I was quickly discovering most of them weren’t visible to me at the time. I thought giving up my virginity was the biggest sacrifice I’d be asked to make. It felt like nothing now.
“Well, he’s stupid then.” Eliza’s directness caught me off-guard. “A story like this: orphan paid to masquerade as an heiress and marry the future Prime Minister? That story will be worth a lot more than ten million.”
She had a point. The realization settled over me with a dull numbness that felt terribly like dread. Tod Belmond must have known that in London’s gossip-hungry culture, I could get that much or more just for inside information.
“Think about it, K. You could sell book rights, movie rights, go on talk shows,” she continued. “You could make a fortune.”
Her words twisted inside me until it felt like I couldn’t breathe.
“It’s impossible,” I whispered. “I’m not Kerrigan Belmond.”
Eliza nodded, tossing her cigarette butt out the window. “If that’s what—”
“Where did we meet?” I cut her off before she could cast her lot in with mine.
“At the pub.” She studied me for a minute. “Don’t you remember?”
“It’s just a little fuzzy.”
“You came in asking about flats to rent,” she prompted.
“That’s right.” I had found myself in Bexby with nowhere to stay and no money. I’d asked about flats and then I’d asked about jobs. “You said you needed a flatmate.”
“I did.”
“You barely knew me.” A terrible thought occurred to me.
“There are like five people living in West Bexby. I didn’t have a lot of options. Besides, you seemed nice, and I was pretty sure I could take you in a fight if you came at me with a butcher knife.”
She had a point there, but it was a lot to swallow when I looked back. “Tod had pictures of me at our flat and at the pub. He knew I was there before he came to talk to me.”
“He was spying on us,” Eliza shrieked.
She was either really committed to her part or this was all news to her. I was too exhausted by today’s events to try to decide which. “Did you know? Did he come to you?”
“To me?” She took out another cigarette, shaking her head with an indignant grunt. “I can see why you’d ask me, but nope. I didn’t, but there is something I need to tell you.”
The weight that had begun to lift off my chest slammed down again.
“A couple of months back, I started finding these envelopes under our door.”
My mouth went dry. “What was inside them?”
“A couple of hundred quid,” she confessed.
“From who?”
“I don’t know.” She lit up again and took a long drag off her cigarette.
“And you didn’t tell me? What did you do with it?”
“I paid the rent and bought food and paid the electric,” she shot back defensively. “Where I’m from you don’t ignore free money, and I didn’t tell you because I knew you would be all weird about it.”
“Because it was weird, Eliza.” I slumped down in the seat. “It had to be from Tod.”
“Maybe.” Eliza wiggled next to me before groaning. “K, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that without telling you, but please, believe me, I didn’t know about any of this.”
I looked into the night ahead. Lights had begun to appear in the blackness. It was impossible given the storm to discern if they were stars or houses or cars. In the dark, it didn’t matter. Light was light.
I was in the dark. I had no idea which direction to go. Trusting Eliza might be a mistake, but she was the first light to shine in my night. I had to choose between continuing into the unknown or choosing to follow that light.
“I’m not mad,” I said finally. “I’m just confused.”
“I don’t blame you.” She knocked her shoulder into mine. “But hey, what if you are an heiress? I think you should buy me two diamond tiaras.”
“And where are you going to wear all these tiaras?” I asked dryly. I didn’t know how she managed to keep her sense of humor, but it was a relief one of us could.
“At the pub,” she teased. “I’ll get so many tips.”
I could only imagine Eliza serving fish and chips in a crown in West Bexby. It would be the talk of the town.
“How do I find out?” I asked her.
“DNA test?”
I nodded. That made sense, but it also took time. “And until then I just sit and obsess over it.” And continue to fill Kerrigan’s shoes.
“I’m not sure you have much of a choice unless…”
“I’m open to suggestions.”
“Is there anyone you trust? Someone who wouldn’t lie to you?”
I swallowed at the nervous ache her words prompted in my chest. There was one person who had to know the truth. I hit the ignition switch and swerved onto the road. “Where are you staying?”
“My aunt’s,” Eliza answered.
“Look, I have something to take care of. Can I drop you off at her house?”
“Just take me to the nearest tube station,” Eliza suggested. I started to protest but she held up a hand to stop me. “You have enough on your plate. But I am curious. Where are we going?”
“To see a friend.”
Chapter Three
Friend was a loose term, I realized as I pulled past the gate of Sparrow Court nearly a half-hour later. I felt terrible for ditching Eliza, but somehow I knew it would be worse to drag her farther into this mess. I couldn’t imagine what she thought of me or any of us, for that matter. My stomach did a flip-flop when I spotted Spencer’s McLaren and Holden’s SUV parked in the front-drive. Both of them were here, but I only came to see one of them. Part of me wanted to turn around and keep driving until I was out of London. Kerrigan ran for a reason. Shouldn’t I see that as a warning?