Page 101 of Electric Kiss

“I want us to have a piece of our inheritance early,” Archer said.

Cynthia thanked God her instincts were right.

“Us?” she clarified.

Please say all of them are coming back, she chanted in her head. She’d bet everything on them sticking together. She couldn’t stomach it when they were growing up. Didn’t understand how they liked each other let alone spending every waking moment as a family. Now she relied on the fact.

“Me, Jason, Luke, and Daisy. If Dad were alive, he would hand it over.”

Cynthia knew he wanted Edward Hall and the cottages.

Edward Hall was a smaller version of the house they were sitting in, half a mile away. It was a mini palace that entertained minor royalty, celebrities, and the very rich who wanted an exclusive wedding. The hotel was a place to stay for the exclusive guest who could relax without having the press turn up. Five cottages, half a mile away from Edward Hall, the other side from Turner Hall, were let out long term for those who wanted to hide away from some crisis. It was her father who had turned the second house into a business. He was fed up with his friends turning up and spending weeks eating his food and drinking his whisky. Her father called the second house Edward Hall after his father.

“Well, he’s not alive. I am.”

“I can’t imagine you enjoying running an exclusive hotel and cottages at seventy-nine.”

Another piece of the puzzle slotted into place. Their father hadn’t imparted any information about how the estate was run.

“I don’t run anything. That’s what managers are for. And I’ll thank you, not to mention my age again.”

Archer smirked at her, and she was all for telling him to get out. No one smirked at her. But she needed him more than he needed her. He didn’t know that, and he was never going to know that.

“Are you telling me no?” he asked.

She remained silent, taking a longer look at him. Tiredness all over his face. He was tanned, but there was still a darkness under his eyes.

“I’ll give you my answer in the morning. You may go,” she said and then rang the tiny bell next to her.

He took one look at her and stood up. “What time should I call tomorrow?” Archer asked, buttoning his suit jacket.

“Not a minute before ten-thirty,” she answered.

Archer nodded and gazed at the painting of his grandfather, Archibald Turner, before he strode from the room. Freddie’s children thought she loved her father and their grandfather. If only they knew the truth. She could handle them hating her. So long as they got married and Archer had a child.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

The following day

Cynthia stood on the threshold of the grand room. Archer stood in the middle of the morning room. One side had waist-to-ceiling windows lined with a criss-cross of lead. Her father’s writing desk stood in the far corner. Archer wandered over and tugged on a drawer on the left. He smiled wide when he looked inside. She knew there was still a half-smoked cigar. Call it perverse, but she needed a reminder of the monster.

“Rifling through the drawers already. I’m not dead yet,” she said from behind him.

Archer jumped at her voice. “Just taking a walk down memory lane, Aunt Cynthia,” he said.

His genial smile didn’t fool her for a second. He didn’t like her, and that was fine with her. It would make it easier to do what she needed to do.

“Let’s talk,” she said, walking away to the red velvet sofas by the fire. It was too early in the day for the fire to be lit. However, the sun streaming in the window kept the room warm for most of the day.

He mirrored her position on the sofas precisely as he’d done the previous day. Cynthia brushed off invisible dust from her plaid skirt. This was a trait the headteacher used to do to intimidate people. She’d seen it many times when she had issued her father’s threats. But he wasn’t a patch on her for intimidation. She learned from the best.

“I’ve thought about your proposal,” Aunt Cynthia said.

“That’s great news,” Archer replied, smiling wide.

“Wait until I have finished before you assume you’ll get everything you came here for.”

She saw him flinch.

---