Elegant Sins - Stasia Black Page 0,13

what I was getting into. I doubted there would be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow like she thought. In my experience, anything that sounded too good to be true usually was.

But life had me by the balls. I knew exactly what I was getting if I stayed on the path I was on now.

Or I could risk everything. Leap into the unknown.

And God knew I was clever, but I’d never been especially smart.

Because I was going to accept the invitation.

4

Montgomery

Getting my affairs in order wasn’t as difficult as one would think. Maybe it was because I had been preparing for this day my entire life, or maybe it was because as much as I wanted to believe I played a crucial part in the running of my family’s business, I really wasn’t all that vital.

At least not yet.

I also knew that I could still run all my daily tasks for the most part from within the walls of the Oleander. In fact, in many ways, closing deals and conducting others would be easier. Now that I was truly becoming a sanctioned member of The Order of the Silver Ghost, my level of… dominance… was about to intensify.

I wasn’t just being handed the keys to the kingdom. I was about to have tools of mass destruction bestowed upon me. Montgomery Kingston would soon be a name not a soul would cross. And I wouldn’t have to do a thing to earn that notoriety other than exist.

But there was one thing I needed to do before I would be locked up in my temporary cage. Saying goodbye to my mother was a must.

Was I a mama’s boy?

Call it what you would. I had no shame in my actions, my devotion, or my respect for a woman who would throw herself on a sword for me.

“Well, look who finally showed his face,” my mother said as I approached her on the back porch. “I had a vacant seat next to me in church today. You should have seen Pastor Green looking at me with condemnation all over his face for not having my son present.”

I leaned down and kissed her cheek. “I know, Mama. I’m sorry. I had a lot to do today to prepare for…”

I wasn’t exactly sure how much my mother knew of The Trials of Initiation. It would be tricky testing the waters on this. I knew everything about what I was about to do was supposed to remain confidential, but I also knew my mother wasn’t completely naive to the Order. “I just had a lot of work to do that couldn’t be pushed off.”

“Well, since you aren’t going to be attending church anytime soon, you should have made a point of it to come today.”

She motioned for me to sit down in the rocker beside her, a small white table between us. It was our usual spot after Sunday service.

“But regardless. I prayed for the both of us.” She glanced over at me with a smile in her eyes even though she desperately tried not to smile with her pursed lips. She could fake she was mad at me all she wanted. I deserved it. Sunday was the one time of the week that I tried to give to her, and I didn’t expect her to simply let me off the hook no matter what the reason.

“I bet you were praying for a long time,” I said as I looked over her shoulder at a small-framed brunette woman wearing the usual Kingston uniform the entire staff were required to wear, but I didn’t recognize her. She was young and pretty, but they all were. My father wouldn’t have it any other way.

The housekeeper brought a pitcher of lemonade and two glasses, placing them on the table between us. She refused to make eye contact, and I could see how her hands shook with unsteady nerves.

“Thank you, Leeza,” my mother said.

“It’s Liza, ma’am.” Her correction came out so softly that if it weren’t for the fact that my mother still had impeccable hearing, she would have missed it.

“Oh yes, yes, sorry. Thank you, Liza.”

“Is there anything else I can get you, Mrs. Kingston?” Her hands fisted in front of her as she subserviently looked to the ground. I’m sure my father loved when she did that around him.

“That will be all for now.” My mother flicked her wrist to dismiss her, and although it was a sign of a woman who hadn’t had to