Blood Brothers by Heather Atkinson

Author:Heather Atkinson [Atkinson, Heather]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Published: 2020-12-07T22:00:00+00:00

12

Allegra floated about the vast lounge of the home of her father’s friend, ensuring all the guests had everything they needed and that they were having a good time. She made easy small talk before swiftly passing onto the next person. The caterers she’d hired were efficient, so she didn’t need to keep booting them up the bum. In her experience, some were lazy sods who you needed to keep on top of to ensure they did their jobs properly, but that wasn’t an issue she was faced with tonight. The silent auction she’d arranged was going down very well, the prizes including European city breaks, expensive jewellery, three barrels of fifty-year-old single malt, a couple of yachts and a stunt boat used in the last James Bond film. She’d amazed herself with the things she’d managed to wangle. The drink was flowing and the bidding was high and it looked like she was going to beat the record she’d set last year.

‘Allegra, sweetheart,’ said Tarquin, her father’s friend, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. ‘You’ve done your mother proud. She loved arranging these parties.’

‘Thanks,’ she said, swallowing down the lump that always formed in her throat whenever her beloved mother was mentioned. She smiled up into Tarquin’s face, which was flushed from sampling the single malt in one of the auction barrels. Sometimes she wished he’d been her father, which wasn’t likely as he was as gay as a sunny day. He was kind, gentle-looking, with his mop of grey hair and soft brown eyes. As usual he was dressed in sombre greys with a vivid slash of colour – a garish pink waistcoat covered in tiny hand embroidered elephants. Although he was a badass in a boardroom he did have a good heart and had given away a considerable amount of his fortune to charity, unlike her father, who clung onto every penny. Still, Tarquin had kept enough back to enjoy a lavish lifestyle, and why shouldn’t he? He’d worked hard for it.

‘I meant to ask,’ she said. ‘Why elephants?’

‘Well, they’re just so noble, don’t you think? So majestic. I was invited to Gordon’s house,’ he added, nodding at a grossly overweight man guzzling down champagne as though his life depended on it. ‘He lives three houses down. He went on safari and killed one of those beautiful beings.’ Tears formed in Tarquin’s eyes. ‘The cowardly savage. I threatened to punch him. How dare he destroy something so beautiful, so pure.’

Allegra wished he was her dad even more. ‘That’s terrible.’

‘I want to go to Thailand and open an elephant sanctuary. It’s my dream.’

‘That’s a lovely dream,’ she said, even though she wasn’t sure whether this was the drink talking or not.

‘I wondered if you could organise the fundraiser for me?’

‘I’d love to.’

‘Good, but don’t invite that backwards brute Gordon McGee.’

‘I won’t, promise,’ she smiled, patting his arm.

Her heart sank when her dad stormed up to her, resembling a thundercloud as usual. Even at a party the man never smiled.

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