“He’s very rich and powerful. It’s feasible that somebody might have set him up.” Sheldon poured coffee into two cups.
I picked up a cup and sipped. “But they were in bed together,” I reiterated. Each time I uttered those ugly words, it didn’t get easier.
“What about Photoshop?” asked Sheldon.
“That thought did cross my mind, and Blake mentioned it, but I don’t know what to believe.”
“Has he been calling?”
My phone was off. I turned it on out of curiosity, and sure enough, there were some messages but only one from Blake.
I listened to his first.
“Penny, I’ve been set up by Dylan Fox. You saw how he threatened me at the ball. That was photoshopped. I’ll do everything to prove it.”
“It’s from him?”
I nodded glumly, staring down at a mysterious number. I listened to the message.
“This is Detective Constable Stephens. I’m calling about your mother. It’s urgent that you call.”
My hand shook.
“What’s wrong, Penny? You look pale.”
“I’ve got to make this call.”
I pressed on his number, and he picked up straightaway. “Detective Stephens.”
“Um… yes, this is Penelope Green. You left me a message about my mother, Sandra Green.”
“Yes, I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news.”
My legs started to tremble. I fell into the chair and took a deep breath.
“Your mother died from an overdose a few hours ago.”
“An overdose?”
“Yes, heroin, I believe. Can you come into the station now?”
“Yes.” Tears splashed over my lips. “Um, can you text me the address, please?” My throat thickened with sobs. I could barely speak.
“I’m sending it now.”
“Thanks,” I said.
I closed the call and stared wide-eyed into space. My mind was empty for once, as though neurons had been ripped out. All that remained was raw emotion drowning my senses.
Sheldon stood before me and opened his arms. I fell into them and bawled my eyes out. I must have cried more in that one hour than in my entire life.
“My mom’s dead. She OD’d. I have to go to the police station.”
“Oh my God. I’m sorry, Penny.” He stepped back as I grabbed my bag. “Do you want me to come with you? I really would like to be there for you, love.”
I shook my head. “Thanks, but no. It’s okay. I’ve been kind of expecting this to happen.” I blew out a breath. “It doesn’t make it any less painful, though.”
As I left Sheldon at the door, he said, “If there’s anything I can do, I’m here. Call me.”
I returned a sad smile.
43
* * *
BLAKE
I AGREED TO MEET Fox at a private club where the well-heeled rubbed shoulders with shady characters.
“Looking handsome as always,” he said.
“I haven’t got all day. I’ve got a funeral to attend.”
“Oh, that’s right, your girl’s mother died from a heroin overdose.”
I contracted my brow. “How the fuck do you know that?”
“Oh, I know everything about pretty Penelope.”
I lurched toward him. “If you go near her…”
His smirk stretched into a smile. “We’ve already tried that.”
“What?” As I eyeballed him, James’s suggestion to remove this ugly asshole became increasingly tempting.
“The junk dealers at that squalor she calls home gave my two guys a going over. One of my men’s fucking spleen ruptured. She’s got a few close buddies at that scummy joint.”
“When?” My head went into a spin. I’d tried calling Penelope, but she wouldn’t pick up. I’d left countless messages and was about to visit her at the estate when I heard the news of her mother’s death. I thought it best to give her space.
“Yesterday.” He leaned back. “I figured we might need some leverage.”
“You go near her again, and I’ll crush you with my bare hands.”
“Oh, it’s love. How sweet,” he sang. “You’re weak like that, aren’t you? I remember how googly-eyed you were over Rebecca with the tits that bounced about in her low-cut tops. I fucked her too, just before you did.” He leaned back, looking pleased with himself. “How does it feel to know that your dick swam in my spunk?”
I grabbed him by the collar, and my head landed close to his smarmy brow. It took all my willpower not to knock his teeth out.
All I could think of was Penelope’s safety. I couldn’t understand why she was at the estate. Her mother’s funeral was being held that afternoon. Regardless of her refusal to see me, I planned to attend. We’d been through a lot together, and she knew more about me than anyone else. But over and above everything, Penelope had become a part of me.
I had to win her back, even if it meant losing everything.
A security guard came toward us, and as I released Fox’s collar, it suddenly occurred to me to press record on my cell. I should have done that earlier, but I was too consumed with thoughts of Penelope to think clearly.
“I’ve got to make a call. Give me a minute,” I said.
He took his phone out. “I haven’t got all day.”
After finding the record function on my phone, I placed it in my top pocket. Although sly as a snake, Dylan was also stupid in a lot of ways, a flaw that I’d always taken advantage of.
I sat down and sipped whisky. “This is the deal—Tatiana tells Penelope that I never touched her.”
“That’s going to cost your fortune. Fortune that belongs to me by birthright.”
“It doesn’t belong to you, Fox, and I know that for a fact. DNA results, sitting at the solicitor’s, prove that you are no more Sir William’s son than Harry was.”
His smirk flattened, and an evil glint transformed him into the devil that he really was. “I don’t give a fuck. You owe me.”
Now, for most people, hearing that their father wasn’t who they’d thought he was should have rattled them, or at the least, shocked them. Fox, however, remained stone-cold sober. No emotion. Textbook psychopath.
“I want the files as proof that you photoshopped that image.”
“I didn’t. One of my tech whiz kids did.” He wore a self-satisfied grin. “I have a few of those. My girls aren’t just pretty faces with tight pussies, you know.”
“You fucking disgust me.”
He laughed. As always, Fox took delight in my repulsion. I recalled his laughter at my tears when, as a boy, he’d used my dog for target practice.
“That overactive dick of yours made it easy for me, given your use of prostitutes. It wasn’t easy getting that shot. Most of them were unpredictably loyal and refused. But then there was Mariah.”
I flinched. Mariah was the last person I would have expected to betray me. I reflected on our last few sessions. She’d grown attached, and I’d stopped returning her calls. Perhaps this was her revenge.
“So Mariah took the shot, and this whiz kid made it look as though I was in bed with Tatiana. Bravo.”