Page 74 of Finding Lord Landry

I took a quick shower and threw on a bathrobe before settling into the window seat and sending Silas a text to let him know I’d called Zane and been forgiven, mostly because Zane was the forgiving type with a heart bigger than the night sky.

Silas’s reply was instant.

Silas

Good. Now call the others. Remember we’re only a plane ride away.

I wasn’t sure if that was a threat or a promise, but it made me grin anyway. I moved through contacting the remaining two members of the Brotherhood.

My call with Bash surprised me.

“I knew something didn’t add up,” he said. “There were a few times you said things that just… sounded wrong. When Dev tried to introduce us to polo, you were especially weird. But I remember you saying, ‘That’s a fine bit of tack,’ as if you knew what the fuck we were looking at.”

I winced. “I’m shit at riding horses, but I did try polo once when I was younger.” I didn’t explain this had happened at an event arranged by the Palace at Guards Polo Club for a group of young lads in the peerage. “It was fine until I bashed my own boot with the stick.”

We chuckled over shared memories of similar polo injuries Dev had experienced over the years.

“We miss you, Landry,” Bash said after a few minutes.

Before I could return the sentiment, he added, “But I want to hear about what’s going on between you and Kenji.”

I should have known Bash would be the one to ask the question no one else had dared to ask. He took his role as big brother of our group seriously.

I rolled my eyes and pressed the bridge of my nose between two fingers. “Join the queue, Sebastian.”

“Listen, it’s been obvious to the rest of us that there’s something going on between the two of you, but I also know Kenji thinks he can’t trust you. If you want him to give you a chance, you need to prove to him you’re dependable and true.”

I gritted my teeth. “I didn’t ask for advice about my so-called love life. In case you haven’t seen the entire fucking internet today, I have bigger shit going on right now than navigating Kenji’s impossible requirements for potential life partners. Like, for example, convincing the world we’re alreadymarriedand that I’d be a good candidate for MP.”

“Which brings me to my next question,” he said dryly. “You’re running for office? I wasn’t aware you were interested in politics.”

“I’m not,” I bit out.

“Mm.”

I stood up and paced, feeling the familiar dips and lumps in the ancient rug under my bare feet. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about all of this.”

“You already apologized,” Bash said with a calm I didn’t feel.

“But you can’t understand the familial expectation and pressure I’m under.”

“No. Probably not.”

“Besides, it’s different now. After some reform in the past twenty-five years, it’s not like I just get handed the seat. I’d have to be selected from a hand-picked group of qualified people with impeccable connections. I have zero chance.”

There was a beat of silence that probably only meant he was reaching for his water bottle or something, but I interpreted it as judgment.

“They won’t pick me because everyone else will be more qualified,” I clarified.

“Mm,” he said again.

I clenched my teeth to keep from continuing my inane excuses.

“Landry,” he said. “I’m sure you know more about English parliamentary by-elections, but if they’re anything like… oh, I don’t know…any other election in the history of humanity, has it occurred to you that someone who is popular, wealthy, beautiful, and carries the historic significance of your ancestry might have several legs up over candidates with stronger political resumes?”

He was right. Moreover, it wasn’t anything I hadn’t considered already during the sleepless hours of the past few nights and during my conversation with Teddy earlier.

“Do you have any idea how hard it is to break fifteen generations of tradition?” I asked with a humorless laugh. “Here I was hoping I wouldn’t get selected because I’m laughably unfit for the position. It would be a nice, clean solution in which the powers that be break the tradition for me. But maybe you’re right. Maybe I’ll get elected. Not four hours ago, Teddy Baines assured me he had a plan to get me in that seat with zero chance of failure.”

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