The Blood of a Baron - K.J. Jackson Page 0,7
4 }
Standing in the hallway, Wes stared at the slight edge he could see of Laney’s elegant profile, her honey blond hair pulled severely into a chignon.
No tears, but the way random shivers attacked her shoulders, her torso slightly swaying on the chair, she was in shock.
His mouth pulled into a tight line and Wes reached down into the frozen wasteland of his chest and pulled up a bitter streak of spite.
Time to strike.
He stepped into the study, his boots passing the line of discolored wood where an Axminster carpet had once sat. She truly had sold almost everything of value in the house.
His heels clunked along the floorboards, echoing against the empty bookshelves until he stood next to Laney, looking down at the woman that had once been his betrothed.
She didn’t look up at him.
She knew exactly who stood next to her and she wasn’t about to acknowledge him if she could help it.
“Mr. Filmore told you?”
“Told me what?” She shook her head slightly as her gaze remained on the desk. Her face had gone ashen, the small circles of pink on her cheeks that usually brightened her face absent. The black mourning wear hanging from her drooping shoulders only highlighted the pallid tint of her skin.
Skin that should be red, pulsating, livid.
She should be screaming at him.
Screaming at what was in Morton’s will. It was the only reason he’d come in here, to revel in the disgust that should be overtaking her. Instead, there was no reaction. Not in her eyes, not in the words flying from her mouth.
Wes stepped around to the front of her, his fingers tapping along the fine mahogany grain of the desk to draw her attention. “Mr. Filmore didn’t tell you? Morton’s will stated it quite clearly.”
Her eyes unfocused, she looked up at him, the green flecks in her amber irises barely visible through a thick sheen of unshed tears. “Stated what clearly?”
Blast. The solicitor hadn’t told her.
Wes stifled a sigh. “Morton set me in place as the trustee to the estate.”
Her eyes widened, she looked downward for a moment and then her gaze shot up to him, her brow furrowed. “My brother did what?”
“Asked me to be the trustee—to oversee your inheritance. I agreed. Mr. Filmore didn’t impart that information to you, did he?”
“What?” Her eyebrows pulled tight together and she shook her head, disbelief flaming through her amber eyes. “No—not you. He wouldn’t have. Why he ever let you back into his life—ever trusted you is beyond me. You hated Morton.”
True. But a little thing like hate wasn’t about to stop Wes from pulling his enemies in closer.
He shrugged. “Morton and I came to an understanding during the last seven months and managed to move beyond the past.”
Not exactly a lie.
Her jaw dropped. “Why are you even here?” Her head shook wildly. “No—no—impossible. This is impossible.” She froze, looking at him for one full second before jumping from the chair and shoving past him, running out of the study and down the hall.
Now what?
Wes spun on his heel and followed her, his long strides eating the distance behind her in short order.
She shoved open the front door and Wes could hear her panicked screaming.
“Mr. Filmore, Mr. Filmore.”
Wes followed her out the front door.
Moving up into his carriage, Mr. Filmore stopped at Laney’s scream, then turned and stepped down from the metal stairs.
“What is it, Lady Helena?”
She jerked to a stop in front of him, gravel kicking up. “My brother—he couldn’t have—he couldn’t have named Mr. Jacobson as trustee to the estate.”
Mr. Filmore’s eyes snapped wide open and he looked from Laney to Wes standing by the front door. “Oh, my apologies, my lady. I had thought since Mr. Jacobson was already present here, you had been apprised of the situation.”
She frantically shook her head. “No. No, I was apprised of nothing. There does not need to be a trustee to say what I can or cannot do with the estate. I’m not an insipid young chit. I’m a grown woman—a spinster that can very well manage my own affairs.”
“Be that as it may, Mr. Jacobson was named as the person to oversee the investments of the estate and distribution. If you have worries on the amount that is left, I’m positive all will be set to right when you find that box. That amount will right the estate and with what little of the land still exists, it should last you your lifetime. I would not worry on that score. I’m