Traitor in the House Page 25
Epilogue
Grace perched on the edge of the desk in Jake’s office in The Blue Rooms. She had felt like she’d been punched in the gut when Glenda had shown her that photograph earlier. The man in it was unmistakeably her father, but despite that, in some ways she hardly recognised him. He’d obviously had another life that for some reason he had kept entirely secret from her. Why had he done that? It had rocked her to her core. Looking back on her childhood, her dad had been her one constant. He had been her hero. They had been so very close. Except they quite obviously hadn’t, had they? Had it all been a lie? He had looked so happy in that photograph. Why wouldn’t he have wanted to share that with her?
She had stood there holding the picture in her hands when Luke had walked up behind her. ‘That’s my mum,’ he muttered.
‘And that’s my dad,’ Grace added. Although now he was their dad and that realisation floored her. Had Luke known? She’d barely had time to process anything when Michael’s father Patrick burst into the room.
‘Michael,’ he’d started to say and then he’d looked up at Grace and Luke and stopped talking, his mouth hanging open in surprise. Had Patrick known all along? He had been her father’s friend back in the day, but he’d been in prison when her father died before Luke was born.
‘Something you’d like to share with us all, Pat?’ she’d asked him.
Ten minutes later, Patrick and Luke had been able to piece together the story of how Luke’s mum Maggie and Grace’s dad Pete had met. Maggie had been a rep for the brewery and had met Pete on one of her visits to The Rose and Crown. From what Luke recalled his mother telling him, they had quickly fallen for each other and Maggie had become pregnant a few months after they’d met. Pete had died when Maggie was six months pregnant, leaving Grace an orphan and Luke without a father.
Grace’s head spun with it all. There were so many questions she needed the answers to, but she wasn’t sure if they could be answered. The two people who knew what had really happened were both dead. There was a chance that Glenda knew more than she let on. She had found the photograph in Maggie’s things after she died, or so she claimed. But Glenda had been told to get lost and thankfully she’d obliged.
Luke had looked as baffled as she felt and Grace knew that he must have dozens of questions himself. He’d told them that he had no idea who his father was. All his mum had ever told him was that he’d died when she was pregnant and had owned a pub. Grace believed him, but she didn’t know how this would change things for their family. Where would he fit in the new order of things now that he was her half-brother?
That had all happened less than an hour ago and now Grace was alone with Michael in Jake’s office. She watched her husband, who sat on the large leather chair. He ran his hands through his hair with a sigh and she wondered what was going through his head.
‘Did you honestly think there was something going on between me and Luke?’ she asked him.
Michael looked at Grace. His wife, who had never given him any reason to doubt her during their entire marriage. The woman he loved more than anything in the world. ‘Of course not. Not really. But me and Luke had been talking about him seeing someone and I guessed she was married because of how he was acting. Then Glenda said there was something between you two and I just jumped to a conclusion.’
‘That I’m cheating on you? That was the first conclusion that came to you, was it? Not that Glenda was trying to cause trouble? What have I ever done that would make you think that?’
He looked at her. ‘Nothing,’ he said quietly.
‘Then why don’t you trust me?’
‘I do,’ he said as he stood up. Putting his arms around her waist, he pulled her to him. ‘Of course I do, Grace. I told you, Luke was acting weird when I asked him who he’d been seeing. Then she asked me if I knew about you and him. My brain just went there. I didn’t think. I just reacted. It was the heat of the moment.’
‘A heat of the moment that had you throttling Luke?’ she snapped.
‘I know,’ he said as he brushed a piece of hair behind her ear. ‘I’ll apologise to him.’
Grace shook her head. ‘You’re an idiot,’ she said, and he noticed the hint of a smile playing on her lips.
‘But a lovable one?’ he said as he placed his hand under her chin and lifted her face to his.
She did smile then. ‘Hmm. It’s a good job, isn’t it?’
‘I love you, Grace,’ he said, his voice thick with emotion. ‘When I thought…’
‘I know,’ she replied. Then she pulled his face to hers and kissed him as he pushed her back onto the desk. Soon his hands were lifting the hem of her skirt, pushing the material up over her thighs. ‘You really want to do this here? In Jake’s office?’ Grace breathed in his ear.
‘Yes,’ he growled. He wanted to forget what had had happened in the past hour and he suspected she did too – at least for a while.
‘Someone might come in,’ she added.
‘They’ll knock.’
‘You’re a bad influence on me, Carter,’ she said as he trailed kisses along her throat.
He lifted his head and smiled at her. ‘I certainly hope so.’
Acknowledgments
As always, I would like to thank the wonderful team at One More Chapter for believing in me and bringing these books to life, most especially Charlotte Ledger, Kim Young, and Jennie Rothwell, whose support of The Bad Blood series has helped it go from strength to strength. I’d also love to thank my amazing editor, Emily Ruston, who understands my characters as well as I do. My books are so much better for your expert input.
Most of all, I’d love to thank all of the readers who have supported me and who have bought or read my books. You have made my dreams come true.
I couldn’t do this without the support of other authors too, and the crime writing community are a particularly lovely and supportive group of people. But, I’d like to give a special mention to Mary Torjussen, Edie Baylis, Noelle Holten and Mel Sherratt, for always being willing to lend a listening ear.
To all of my friends who put up with my constant writing chatter. There are too many to mention, and I love you all! A huge thank-you to my family for their constant love and support.
And finally, but most especially, to Eric – who supports every crazy decision I make, and my incredible boys – who continue to inspire and amaze me every single day.
Thank you for reading…
We hope you enjoyed Traitor in the House! Do leave a review if so on all your preferred platforms to help spread the word!
You can catch up on the previous books in the series right here!
Be sure to follow Caz on Twitter @cjfinlaywriter, on Facebook @cazfinlayauthor, and check out her website at cazfinlay.com for all the updates on her latest work.
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Happy reading!
Caz Finlay lives in Liverpool with her husband, two children, and a grumpy dog named Bert. A qualified probation officer, Caz has always been fascinated by the psychology of human behaviour and the reasons people do the things the
y do. However, it was the loss of her son in 2016 which prompted her to rediscover her love of writing and write her first novel, The Boss.
cazfinlay.com
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