Page 18 of All My Broken Dreams

Dead silence on the other end. “You have her in the same building Harry used to live in. Why would you do that, boy?”

He wasn’t afraid of his uncle. He understood him better than anyone, and he understood that Alastair wasn’t angry with him–he was concerned about his nephew’s well-being. The best thing to do was tell him the truth. But Deacon resisted.

“I thought it was better to keep her interested in this place and not in Dugald Croft. Harry has family in Scotland. I told her he could’ve gone to stay with them for a few months. She seemed to buy that.”

“And she’s there with you now?”

“Just until she can find a hotel.”

“No, no, this is good. You can be my eyes and ears while she’s here looking for Harry. Keep her busy and distracted until I tell you otherwise. Send her on a wild goose chase with false leads and misdirection. Do you think you can handle that, son?”

“I’m a gormless oaf. If she doesn’t want to spend time with me, I can’t force her.”

Alastair chuckled. “Not force her, lad,charmher. You’ve had your successes in the past, Deacon. Take an interest, listen if you don’t know what to say, make her feel special.”

“I can’t have a girl in my room; I’ll lose my job.”

“I’ll have a word with the Ethics chair. All I am asking you to do is squire her around town; show her the sights. I’ll pay for it. Find out everything you can and report back to me.”

“What am I trying to learn? She’s already told me everything she knows.”

“I want to know about her mother.”

Silence pressed against his ear and his heart pounded. Deacon tried to process what was going on with his uncle. “I know she’s a widow and Harry takes after his father in looks. I don’t understand the goal here, sir. What does Robbie’s mom have to do with this?”

“She’s Harry’s mother too and I want to know her agenda. When Harry turns twenty-five, he’s going to come into a very large, very valuable property in this country. His twenty-fifth birthday is in December. I want to ensure that his legacy is protected.”

Not for the first time since Harry Listowel arrived and was introduced to Deacon Wake, was he made aware of the gulf between them. Harry was smart; he could follow Alastair’s conversation and argue with him, whereas Deacon struggled to keep up.

He read every chance he got and did alright in school; his teachers said he could’ve gone to university, but Alastair wouldn’t pay his tuition. He said he was more valuable to him at Locksley Hall as the janitor to be his eyes and ears.

“Does Robbie know her brother is going to inherit when her mom dies?”

“The inheritance isn’t coming from her mother. Not directly. I’m not at liberty to tell you more. Watch her; follow her if she goes someplace without you. Better yet, don’t let her out of your sight. Get her to like you and trust you. Seduce her if you have to. Deacon, are you there?”

That last instruction paralyzed him into silence when the girl he was assigned to seduce emerged from the bathroom wearing nothing but a tee-shirt. His eyes drifted to her full breasts that were outlined under the fabric.

“I have to go,” he told his uncle and hung up.

She plucked at the hem of her tee-shirt with a self-conscious snort of laughter that was so dorky and cute, Deacon had to smile.

“Sorry about this. I thought I’d be crashing on my brother’s sofa. If I knew I’d be sharing a bed with a man I only just met, I would’ve packed the silk nightie my mother boughtme last Christmas. It’s kind of a hilarious story, actually. Sarah thought the reason I rarely left my apartment was because I had a boyfriend. The nightie was supposed to help the romance along. Poor mom. There was no boy; only abject terror every time I stepped out of my apartment.”

“What you’re wearing is fine.” His neck was scalding.Seduce her?He could barely look at her without shaking.

His uncle was wrong when he said Deacon had success with women. Deacon turned into a tongue-tied, lumbering, inarticulate oaf around girls. He managed to lose his virginity at twenty-one and then lost the girl when she introduced him to her friends. A bunch of intellectuals from the Hall. He couldn’t follow or contribute to the conversation. The relationship petered out soon after and he didn’t have the courage to try again.

“Who was that on the phone?”

“My boss. I asked him to take me off the call list for this weekend. In case you need help with Mrs. Cameron.”

“That was nice of you.” She wrapped her arms over her chest. “I guess I can sleep in Harry’s room tomorrow night if she’ll let me. Right?”

“If his rent is paid up, sure, I don’t see why not.”

Her breasts jiggled under the tee-shirt. Her bare legs were slim and shapely.

Deacon flung himself into the bathroom, grabbing the pair of pajama bottoms hanging on a hook behind the door. He pulled off his clothes and flung them to a corner of the bathroom. Her scent was in the air.

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