Page 168 of The Wrong Husband

"Glad I could be of help." He smiles at us. "And very happy to see the two of you together."

"All right, gather up, everyone." Imelda’s voice reaches us.

All of us look in the direction of the patio, where Imelda stands with Arthur next to her. He uses a cane nowadays—apparently, Imelda coaxed him to do so—and while he looks gaunt, he still seems sturdy and happy as he surveys us, his family.

"He loves his role as patriarch of the family," Nathan muses.

"I don’t see him relinquishing it anytime soon," I affirm.

"He deserves it. Let the old man bask in the glory of his machinations." Quentin chuckles. "After all, the lot of us are married and happy, thanks in no small part to his devious calculations."

Much as I hate to agree, he has a point.

Imelda nods in the direction of the croquet pitch.

"We’re going to play a doubles tournament. Two teams of two each. Each player will have one ball. Choose your sides peeps, and?—”

The ringing of a phone cuts through her sentence.

Arthur glowers.

All of us turn in the direction of Brody, who holds up his phone. “Sorry, chaps. It’s work. They’d only call if it were an emergency.”

He answers, voice clipped. “Davenport.”

Silence blankets the group as we listen.

“Calm down. Speak slowly, so I can understand what you’re saying.”

A pause.

“It is?” His jaw tightens.

More silence. Then?—

“Ask my assistant to take care of it.”

Another beat. His shoulders go rigid. “Shewhat?”

He rubs the back of his neck. “I’ll be there.”

He pockets his phone, nods once to the group. “Office emergency. I need to go.”

As he strides past us, he pauses and half bows to Fever and me. “I’ve no doubt, you’ll keep each other out of trouble.”

I arch a brow. “Looks likeyou’rethe one with trouble brewing.”

“Don’t you have a team for this kind of thing?” Fever asks.

Brody scowls. “I do. And normally they’re solid. But this time…” He drags his palm down his jaw. “This time,my teamis the emergency.”

To find out what happens next read Brody and Lark’s story in The Christmas Trap here

Read an excerpt

Brody

“You’re breaking up with me?”