London Dynasty (The Dynasties #1) - Geneva Lee Page 0,17

and instantly wished I hadn’t. Maybe Kerrigan loved scarves. There were several parts of her closet that I hadn’t seen inside yet.

“They’re such lovely accessories,” Iris said, fingering the edge of one. She didn’t seem surprised by my proclamation. “You can never have too many.”

“Which one should I get?” I asked her. The truth was that I had no idea where to start and without some help, I was going to just have to start pointing at random things and hope I chose wisely.

“This is a lovely shade of blue,” she said, holding it up. “Your father mentioned it’s your favorite color.”

I tucked that bit of information into my brain for safekeeping. “It is,” I agreed. “I’ll take this one.”

“I’ll wrap it up for you, Miss Belmond,” the shop girl said, moving to place the scarf in an orange box.

“You’ll have to show me how to wear it,” I told Iris.

She beamed back at me. “I’d love to. I think—”

Before she could finish the thought, a hand appeared on her shoulder as an older woman with silver-blonde hair cut into a short, chic bob stepped beside us. “Iris! What a pleasant surprise.” She turned and gasped when she saw me. For a heart-stopping moment, I thought I’d been found out. Instead, she reached to squeeze my arm. “And Kerrigan! Your father mentioned you were back in town, but I hadn’t expected to see you until tomorrow night. Spencer is looking forward to it.”

“S-so am I,” I stammered as I started to piece together what was happening.

“I wish we could stay, but I’m heading to lunch with my daughter at Hillgrove’s.”

“Oh, we’re on our way there,” Iris said without missing a beat.

“You must join us,” Spencer’s mother said, and my heart sank as she waved to a younger girl, who was examining a pair of sunglasses. “Evie would be delighted for the company.”

For a moment, I considered faking a stomach cramp. I wasn’t ready. Giles had barely scratched the surface of what I needed to know. I wasn’t prepared to impress his mother or speak to his sister. Going with them now could only end in disaster, but before I could come up with an excuse, Iris grinned widely.

“We’d love to join you.”

Chapter Nine

As soon as we reached Hillgrove’s, which proved to be nearly as posh as the nearby shops, I excused myself to the loo. Iris was busy seeing to a larger table than she’d reserved, and the Byrds would be joining us after they finished with their purchases down the street. I was hoping that might buy me some time to send a plea for help. Locking myself inside a stall, I sent a panicked message to Giles on the mobile he’d given me. I sank onto the toilet and waited. After five minutes I gave up. Placing my mobile back in my handbag, I reminded myself that this meeting was inevitable. So what if I was supposed to have one more day? Was twenty-four hours going to do that much to ready me?

Gathering my lone shopping bag and purse, I reached to unlock the door as a sudden bang shook the thin wall shared by the adjoining stall. I bit back a yelp as a breathy giggle floated through the air.

“Here? Someone might hear us,” the voice behind the giggle said.

“I can’t wait,” a gruff voice, oozing with sex, replied. “I need to fuck you now.”

I froze, too embarrassed to interrupt whatever was going on in the adjoining stall. The wall between us ran from ceiling to floor, but the material was flimsy enough that I could hear every movement. I wouldn’t be discovered unless I made noise and opening my door would definitely make noise. Clutching my purse against my chest, I sent up a prayer that someone else would walk in and scare off the couple.

“They’re waiting for you,” she simpered but there was no fire behind her argument. She’d agreed to whatever he wanted from the moment they’d ducked into the ladies’ room.

“And I’m so bored I’m about to fall asleep. I need to do something that gets my blood pumping.” The wall shook with a sudden jolt, and I heard the woman moan.

“We need to hurry,” she whispered at the sounds of rustling fabric and ripping foil. Something slammed into the wall, followed by a throaty groan of pleasure that sent a gush of molten desire between my legs. I couldn’t see anything, but I could hear the slap of bare flesh colliding and