Secret Dynasty (The Dynasties Book 3) Read online

  Secret Dynasty

  Geneva Lee

  SECRET DYNASTY

  Copyright © 2021 by Geneva Lee.

  All rights reserved.

  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Estate Publishing + Media

  www.GenevaLee.com

  First published, 2021.

  Cover design © Geneva Lee.

  Image © soup studio/Adobe Stock.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  “You are Kerrigan Belmond.”

  The words hit me with the force of a bomb. Explosive but deadly quiet because that’s what happened to the victim. They were gone before they knew what had happened. With four words, he obliterated me. It took me a moment to gather my fragmented thoughts and face him. Tears dried on my cheeks as I sat in silence, trying to think of what to say. In the end, there was only one way to respond.

  “You’re crazy.” I stared at him, waiting for him to crack a smile or break into laughter. But he didn’t.

  Tod Belmond’s face was cold and hard as if it were carved from stone. I thought he’d been heartless before, but now I knew it was so much worse.

  I was not Kerrigan Belmond, his daughter. I was not an heiress or a socialite. I didn’t attend Oxford and vacation on the French Riviera. I was a shit waitress from West Bexby. I was an orphan. I existed. I was real. I was standing in front of him now. He couldn’t just erase me.

  But that was exactly what he was doing.

  “My name is Kate,” I said defiantly.

  “Kerrigan…” His voice was rich with warning, but I didn’t care.

  “I’m Kate. I worked in a pub.” My eyes skittered toward Iris. She was frozen, her face a mask of mute horror. I hated that she was finding out this way. “You found me and offered me money—a lot of money—to pretend to be your daughter until she returns home from wherever she ran off to.”

  That’s how this had all started. I’d been at work when a couple of entitled pricks took a picture of me and told me I looked like Kerrigan Belmond. Tod had tracked me down the following day and explained his predicament. His daughter had run away from her privileged life, and he needed me to pretend to be her to avoid ruining her arranged marriage to Spencer Byrd, a wealthy aristocrat. I’d thought it sounded mental at the time. I still did, but it was too crazy to make up.

  I turned to Tod to remind him of all of that—to remind him that this was all his idea. Our eyes met, and an icy chill ran up my spine. My argument faded into the background as we glared at each other. His lips turned down, and he shook his head. “Perhaps, you should sit down.”

  “No.” There was only one way I was staying in this house. I wanted answers, not lies. “Where is Kerrigan?”

  “I already told you that you—”

  “Stop lying to me!” My head began to pound. The chill I’d felt a moment ago spread through my skin like I’d been plunged into ice water. I pressed a fingertip to my temple as my vision went fuzzy. I locked my legs and tried to fight the panic attack. Now wasn’t the time to lose control. Not now. Not when I was about to get answers.

  “I think it’s best if we all take a moment,” Iris interjected softly. She moved closer to her husband as though to take her place by his side.

  She believed him. It was evident from the compassion etched in her face. Or was it just pity for the crazy girl? I wasn’t sure it mattered.

  I looked at her, disappointment washing through me. “You believe him…” I stuttered in shock. “Did you know he brought me here?”

  There was a pause before she nodded.

  Who else was playing Tod’s game? What if they all believed him? Giles. Iris. Who else? The walls started to shrink, the air becoming thick and unbreathable. He’d laid a trap for me with ten million pounds as bait. Now that he had me safely in a cage, I had nowhere to go. No one would believe me after he’d whispered all those lies. I wasn’t a pawn. I was a prisoner.

  And I needed to escape before it was too late.

  “We should call the doctor,” Tod spoke quietly to Iris, all of his attention focused on the next step in his plot.

  Was that part of his plan? Tod Belmond had enough money to pay someone to say I was crazy. I was sure of that. But Iris wouldn’t allow that, would she? I couldn’t wait around to find out.

  I stood on shaky legs and wiped a palm across my tear-stained cheeks. Lifting my head, I looked to Eliza, who hadn’t spoken since the confrontation began. She’d been so quiet I nearly forgot she was here. Her dark eyes remained round as saucers, and she’d pressed herself against a wall. I couldn’t imagine what she thought of this situation.

  Not only did I need to get out of here, but I needed to get her out, too. Who knew what Tod might do to prevent me from ruining his plans for Kerrigan.

  And that was precisely the problem. Tod Belmond had money. He had resources. He had powerful friends and private detectives. He held all the winning cards. There was no beating him. I either had to fold and go along with it or bluff.

  “I’m going to Sparrow Court,” I announced. “I don’t want to be here.” I looked at Eliza. “Do you want to come with me?”

  I prayed she said yes.

  But Tod drew himself up, shaking his head. “I think you should stay here, Kerrigan.”

  I bristled at the use of her name but didn’t say anything, even though I was screaming inside. It would be a wasted effort to yell or argue. Tod had chosen his play. I was making mine.

  “I told Spencer I would join him.” Another lie. But if all of this were about ensuring the arrangement between the two families, Tod wouldn’t want to keep me from him.

  “Spencer has his hands full. He needs to attend to his family and deal with his grandfather’s death. You should respect that,” Tod barked at me.

  “That’s why I should be with him.” I crossed my arms, making up my mind to see this through until he either locked me in a closet somewhere or I’d made it out the door.

  Tod opened his mouth, but before he could argue, Iris placed a hand on his arm.

  “You can’t keep her here,” Iris said.

  His shoulders slumped as he looked to his wife. “What if she runs off again?”

  The hollow ache in his voice was so pitch-perfect he nearly had me convinced. He deserved an award for his performance. No wonder she believed
him. And if she believed him, so would everyone else.

  He studied me for a moment before finally nodding. “On one condition.”

  “Condition?” I repeated. Now we were negotiating?

  “You agree to see your doctor tomorrow,” he said firmly.

  A scream caught in my throat. I didn’t have a doctor. He knew that. The lie was all part of his plan. But tempting as it was to fight him on this, I realized it was easier to agree. Once I walked out the front door, I could clear my head. He had control of this room and this house.

  “Fine.” I managed to keep my indignation to a minimum. There was no way I was meeting with some doctor on his payroll.

  “Giles will go with you,” he added.

  “I need a chaperone now?” I planted my hands on my hips, searching for another option. I glanced at Eliza. “I’ll take Eliza. She needs to meet Spencer anyway if she’s going to be my maid of honor.”

  Bringing up the wedding was all part of my plan. The more I pretended I was going to marry Spencer, the longer my leash would be. But there wasn’t going to be a wedding. I knew that. Somewhere down-deep, Tod had to know it, too.

  Eliza let out a small squeak like she resented being dragged into this. I wished I had another option.

  “We’ll discuss that later,” Tod said tightly. “But as long as you have someone with you while you’re so upset.”

  Upset? That was the word he landed on? I was somewhere far north of upset.

  “Is it a good idea for you to see Spencer right now?” Iris asked. “Perhaps, we should talk.”

  “I don’t want to talk to you,” I said coldly, and she flinched as though I’d slapped her. I had trusted Iris, but she had been lying to me since the moment we met. I knew that now. There was no one in this house I could trust, and the sooner I got out of here, the better.

  “I’ll call the driver,” Tod said.

  “I can drive,” I stopped him. “I’m sure you’ve got all sorts of ways to track me.”

  When he didn’t counter my assumption, I knew I was right. All of London was my cage. He could find me anywhere here. No wonder Kerrigan had run to other countries. How had she finally escaped him? Where was she now?

  I ignored the tiny voice in my head that told me I knew where she was—or, I had at least narrowed it down to two possibilities. People didn’t just vanish. Something had happened to her. I’d suspected that for a while. Was she dead? Locked away? A tiny voice in my head whispered there was one more possibility.

  I ignored it.

  I was not crazy. There had to be an explanation for all of this. I would uncover the secrets. I would find the truth. I focused on that as I grabbed Eliza’s hand and dragged her toward the garage, avoiding Iris’s pitying gaze and Tod’s calculated glare. It didn’t matter what he said or what she believed.

  I was not Kerrigan Belmond.

  Right?

  Chapter Two

  Like most wealthy families, the Belmonds had several cars in the garage. I bypassed the Maybach, not wanting to call the driver Tod employed and not feeling like it was my right to take it. Eliza remained silent as we walked past the empty vehicles, but her eyes were wide with surprise. I understood how she felt. There was a difference in being told someone had billions and seeing it for yourself. The garage said everything that words couldn’t. I paused and considered Iris’s car, a sleek Mercedes, but before I could ask myself if I was angry enough with her to take it without permission, Giles shuffled in behind us. He cleared his throat casually and held out a Chanel clutch. Judging by the uncomfortable pinch to his features, he had already heard what happened.

  “I assume you’ll want your license and some money,” he said, taking his glasses off to wipe them on a handkerchief.

  It was a surprisingly thoughtful gesture, but I knew better than to let my guard down. Giles hadn’t been present for my confrontation with Tod. The fact that he was here now, suggested he’d either heard about it or been informed of the row.

  “Which car is hers?” I asked him.

  Giles tilted his head toward the final row in the garage toward a yellow coupe. “That one is yours.”

  Yours.

  I did my best to ignore the implication in his words. Instead, I strode toward it, Eliza and Giles following close behind me. Kerrigan Belmond drove a canary-yellow Porsche 911. I stared at it for a moment, willing myself to remember seeing the vehicle before. If this was mine, I would remember it. Between the color and its sexy sports car lines, it wasn’t the type of car that was easy to forget.

  “The key fob is inside it,” Giles told me. “Try not to wreck it again.”

  Again.

  So that’s how she drove: recklessly. Why didn’t that surprise me?

  “I’m a very safe driver,” I said back to him coolly.

  If Giles understood what I was really saying, he ignored it. “I doubt he’ll buy you another after last time,” he warned me, sticking to the charade Tod had started in his office. “When can we expect you to return?”

  “Does it matter?” I snapped.

  “I merely want to set up an appointment with Dr. Baker for you.” He paused as if waiting for me to fight him on this.

  My stomach flipped over at the thought of visiting Kerrigan’s doctor. Surely, he wouldn’t go along with this ploy. I could talk to him. There were codes of conduct. I could file a complaint if he wouldn’t listen. I took a deep breath to steady myself. “I thought you made my schedule.” I shrugged. “Whenever.”

  “Once we know more about the funeral, I will arrange it.” His response was stiff. There was a moment’s hesitation, and I half expected him to say something. Instead, he smiled tightly and left.

  Eliza exhaled loudly next to me. “What the actual fuck?”

  “You can say that again,” I muttered. “Let’s get out of here.”

  “No arguments from me.”

  I slid behind the wheel of the Porsche, tucking the small clutch next to the console. I pushed the ignition button. It roared to life, purring loudly in the quiet garage. It took me a few seconds to locate the garage door opener on the dash. I released a grateful breath when the door began rising. Eliza watched me with dark eyes, not saying anything as we pulled carefully out of the garage into an evening shower.

  The gate to Willoughby Place’s private drive was open. Was I supposed to see it as a sign of good faith? I was being allowed to leave. How big of Tod Belmond and his posse. Still, I wasn’t going to squander my good fortune. The farther I got from him and his lies, the better. Not that I had any idea where to go. Rain lashed the windshield as I slowly drove the streets of Hampstead. I didn’t know London. I’d been driven during most of my time here, and even if I did have a handle on the city, I didn’t belong anywhere. I hadn’t cried since I left the house, but my eyes ached from earlier and my skin was tight where my tears had fallen.

  “Should we go back to Bexby?” I asked Eliza.

  “Do you want to?” she asked carefully. “Maybe we should just pull over and talk.”

  That was actually a great idea. Maneuvering my car to the side of the street, I put it in park and stared ahead. Darkness chased the twilight, autumn already cutting the days short. Time was running out, and I didn’t know what to do.

  Eliza didn’t say anything as we sat there. When I couldn’t take the silence any longer, I searched for something to say that would cut through the tension that had formed since our hasty departure. But there was only one thing I kept coming back to.

  “Do you think I’m crazy?” I blurted out.

  “I’m not sure how to answer that,” she admitted. I threw a scorching look at her and she continued on quickly, “I mean, I think this situation is mental, and you are part of this situation. So…”

  That was a yes if I ever heard one.

  I sighed, closing my eyes, and thought of a better question. “Do you believe them?”

  “I don’t know them,” she said firmly. “But you do, so I guess what matters is do you
believe them?”

  I wanted to shake my head, but it wouldn’t move. I swallowed as I found myself unable to speak.

  “It’s okay,” Eliza said softly. She tilted her head to meet my eyes. “Hey, can I smoke in this bitch’s car?”

  I couldn’t help laughing as I nodded. “Go ahead.”

  I appreciated that she hadn’t lumped me in with Kerrigan. She hadn’t said your car. It didn’t mean she believed me, but it made me feel like I was still Kate to her.

  Eliza rolled the window down just enough that rain wouldn’t get in and lit her cigarette. She held out the opened pack. I started to decline, changed my mind, and took one. If there was ever a night to do something out of character, this would be it. But I didn’t light it.

  “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.”