Heirly Ever After, Vernon, Magan [best thriller novels to read .txt] 📗

it destroyed all that the Webleys had built? What if it destroyed this unlikely connection between Madison and me?

The guilt of not telling her everything was eating me up inside.

And the way she did that little smile? The one that was like a secret smile just for me, a hint of blush creeping on her cheeks?

Shite.

It was if she couldn’t decide if she wanted to fight me or shag me. Every darn time.

Which was how I’d gotten myself in the predicament of needing to take a nice cold shower.

By the time my body could no longer handle the frigid water and my dick had calmed down, I was able to turn off the water and get out.

Once dressed, I headed into the solar. There was no sight of Madison in there, and the door to the bedroom was open and empty. So I sat on the floral settee with gold trim and armrests so shiny I could see my own tired reflection in them and waited. I hadn’t even been at the manor one full day and it was already draining me.

As if things couldn’t get any worse, my blasted phone started vibrating. I pulled it out of the pocket of my trousers and saw the call was from my sister, Blair. Every hair on the back of my neck stood on end as a chill crept through me.

“Shite,” I muttered.

Blair had insisted she could keep up my cover from Mother and Father about where I was since they didn’t want me to be here. Heck, my family had never even met the Webleys and hated them.

Did my parents know about my plan to get evidence that we had a claim in Webley? Would they try to stop it?

I shook my head.

I needed to stop acting like a fucking feartie.

Righting myself, I cleared my throat before answering the call.

“What a pleasant surprise.” I smiled, even though she couldn’t see me, but the sarcasm oozed through my voice.

“Are ye busy playing croquet with your new family or do you have time for your sister?” I could practically hear her eye roll.

“Just had a shower and am sitting in the solar of the Thistle Room I’m sharing with my date to this wedding.”

“Date?” Her tone slightly rose to a squeak.

Drumming my fingers on the armrest, I tried to ignore my own disapproving reflection staring back at me. “Yes. A girl I met on the train needed a date for her sister’s wedding, and her sister just happens to be the soon-to-be Lady of Webley.”

“Holy shite,” she whispered.

I swallowed down the bile threatening to rise from my stomach.

This was all so much simpler when it was an idea cooked up late with Blair one night over a pint. She told me I should just book the plane ticket like Great-Grandfather wanted. I’d protested. But after a few more pints, she’d taken my credit card and booked the next flight out.

I could still picture her face and exactly what she’d said to me. Her long brown hair had been twisted into a high ponytail that always made her look like my mischievous little girl even at twenty-one years old. She even still had that devilish spark in her eyes.

“It’s done, Brother. Go get us what’s ours.”

It had never been about the money for me. Not entirely.

Nor about the idea of avenging our honor by taking revenge on the Webleys.

But the history of the noble family Great-Grandfather had talked about, the Scottish MacWebleys—our history, our legacy deserved to live on.

I also wanted to make him proud. He’d been the only family member not to fully turn on me when I’d come back home defeated from uni.

It was the least I could do for him and for our family, but now that I was at Webley Manor with a lovely date who kept throwing me heated looks, things were a whole lot more complicated.

I looked away from my reflection on the armrest. “The wedding is still a few days away, but the rest of the Webleys should be here tomorrow.”

“So then what?” Blair asked.

The exact question I was wondering myself.

“Well, if the family isn’t so daft about their history, surely once I introduce myself to Uncle Lord Edwin and Auntie Lady Helena, they’ll know exactly who I am and that I have something to say about the MacWebleys.” Saying the words left a sharp taste on my tongue, one that, no matter how hard I swallowed, wouldn’t go away.

“I hope you have a better plan than that.”

“Can you think of something better?” I questioned.

“Why don’t you just contact the local solicitor and see what he says about a claim with you being the rightful heir? That you have a stake in the manor? Surely the family solicitor would know. Or at least someone in that town.”

“A solicitor would require money,” I grumbled, thinking how much I’d already drained my credit card for this trip.

“Well, once you have the manor, you’ll have all the land and money you want.”

I sighed, careful to hold my breath. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Good. I can only pull off you going on a trip to London for so long to Mother and Father. Maybe you should send a few snaps or something of you at a pub that I could show them.”

“Solicitors. Pubs. What else can I do for you while I’m here, Lady Blair?”

She laughed. “Maybe claim one of those fancy rooms for me? No matter how big our house is, it always seems like Mother and Father are just lurking around the corner, wondering when I’m going to get married or something.”

“I know the feeling.”

And I did. All too well.

It was half the reason I was here.

If I couldn’t make things right and save our family from financial ruin, my parents had other ideas, and they came in the form of an arranged marriage to a vile baroness named Everly.

“Okay, brother, I’ll let you get back to the Webleys, but promise you’ll keep me in the loop?”

“Ah, I