Lord of London Town

Eva brushed by me, but as her hand wrapped around the doorknob she turned to face me. “It’s a hard, dangerous and sometimes thankless job being the lady of this firm’s gaffer.”

I lifted my chin at the challenge in her voice. “I’m ready for it.”

Eva’s head tilted to the side as she regarded me. “The road ahead is going to be rough. Arthur won’t rest until he has Pearl back. Until the rest of the Lawson enterprises are destroyed.”

“I know.”

Eva glanced to the roaring fire in the fireplace, then met my gaze once more. “Maybe I was wrong about you,” she said, and warmth burst in my chest at those words. But then she shrugged, lips pursing. “We’ll see.” With that, she left our bedroom, closing the door behind her, her flicker of acceptance bringing a small smile to my lips.

I found him at their graves.

The sun had just started to rise over the Adley church, the dawning of a brand-new day. The harsh wind whipped around my damp hair, sending chills over my freshly-scrubbed skin. I had been desperate to wash the stain of last night from my body. But the stain on my mind wouldn’t go no matter how much water the shower head had pelted down on me. The events of the night were branded onto my brain just as sure as the brand that Ollie’s organisation wore proudly on their wrists.

I was still numb when I thought of Hugo and my dad. I knew I wouldn’t always be. But it was as if my body couldn’t take any more pain, had met its threshold over the past several weeks. It had rejected the heavy emotions trying to pierce me from within and created an impenetrable armour around my heart. An armour that only lowered for my new family and, of course, the king who held my heart in his firm grip.

My feet crunched on the fallen leaves on the ground. Hearing the noise, Arthur looked back and wordlessly held out his hand. The hand that I used to dream he would want me to grasp. The easy affection he now gave.

He was staring at the graves of his mum and sister, a frown on his face. Eyes glued on the new plot that had been dug for his dad, finally joining his beloved wife after all these years without her. We would bury him tomorrow; we would say our final goodbyes.

I clutched Arthur’s hand tightly, giving him the silent support he no doubt needed. I read the epitaph on Pearl’s grave, and I took a deep, sobering breath.

We had no idea whose few remains were buried in this small Adley graveyard. Remains found at the site of the cottage. No doubt planted there after Annie Adley and her much-loved cottage had become nothing but dust.

I laid my head on Arthur’s arm, feeling the heaviness he held in his heart. “Everyone is in the living room. Vinnie is still in his bedroom. But everyone else is waiting … for you.”

Arthur was tired, his blue eyes worn and wracked with pain. Because although he had found out that his little sister was alive, he had also found out that she had no memory of belonging to this family, of him. And she despised them. If Ollie was correct, Pearl Adley would now be planning war on the brother she didn’t even know she had in honour of the one who was a lie.

“Maybe we can put the meeting off until after we’ve all slept,” I said. Arthur was still covered in dried blood. “Our family will understand. We’re all at the end of our tethers.”

“No. I want this dealt with.” He turned to me and gathered me in his arms. “I want this fucking night over and done with.” Arthur breathed in the scent of my freshly washed hair, shoulders sagging as if my mere presence calmed him, settled the rage I knew paced inside him, still seeking more revenge.

I wanted to take him to bed, clean him up and just hold him, letting him know that he was loved, that he was adored. But I also knew him. He took his role as the head of this family seriously. He bore the weight of the firm’s pressures without complaint. I vowed that from now on, I’d help him share those burdens. I would lighten his load, even if that could only ever be by caring for him after everything was finished. After loose ends were tied up.

When Arthur released me, he lit a cigarette and put his arm around my shoulders, leading us back into the church, which was now patrolled by twice as many Adley soldiers than ever before.

Now that we were all back safe, he wasn’t taking any chances.

We entered the living room. All the family but Vinnie and Gene were gathered on the familiar chairs. The fire blazed, and I breathed in the comforting scent of burning logs.