The Disgraced Debutante (The Notorious Nightingales Book 1) by Wendy Vella

Author:Wendy Vella [Vella, Wendy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Vella Ink
Published: 2023-09-08T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Gray wasn’t sure what was going on but knew he didn’t want to be a part of it. He had done enough things that he normally wouldn’t with the Nightingale family. Including showing those young children his knife wound.

He could have scarred them. It wasn’t like him to be rash. He blamed her. Ellen bloody Nightingale with her soft, alluring scent and sweet face. Then there were her brothers who, each in their own way, goaded him like his brothers once had, before they’d turned into uptight idiots.

His siblings hadn’t always treated him like something stuck on the bottom of their shoes. Once, when they were young boys, they’d played together. Had fun. All that changed when their father decided it was time for Christopher and Henry to learn to become the young men they were meant to be.

“Come along, Gray, there is no point lollygagging. We shall be last chosen if that is the case.”

“I was simply standing here waiting for your family to file out the door. I fail to see how that is lollygagging, Miss Fred.”

He liked these children. They were loud and happy, and he knew that was a credit to the adults who now raised them. Having your father take his life and then being torn from everything you’d ever known was hard enough for adults but even harder on children, he thought.

“Come.” Fred took his hand and tugged him toward the door they were now all surging through.

“Where exactly am I coming to?”

“To the Crabbett Close games.”

“I beg your pardon?” He stepped through the door and into the late afternoon light. It was still warm, and the sky was softening as it settled over London. Tired buildings looked their best, and the city appeared different at this time of the day.

“It is nice that the sunshine is still out.”

Gray looked at Matilda as she spoke. Surely she meant sun?

“Sunshine!” her siblings all shrieked. They then hopped in a line toward the gate.

He’d experienced a lot since he’d met this family, but that, to his mind, was simply madness. Perhaps that was it. They were all insane and hid it well… most often.

“Word of the week, Gray. When it is overheard, you repeat it and then follow what action was set at the beginning of the week,” Fred said. “Matilda gave us sunshine.”

“You didn’t hop, Gray,” Matilda added.

“I’m not a Nightingale, so I’m exempt,” he said, thinking on his feet. That got her. She wasn’t sure how to answer, and as he wasn’t sure what to say about what he’d just witnessed, they followed the others out the gate. Fred was hopping and Gray walking.

“I’m still no closer to understanding what is going on,” he said to anyone listening. He shot a look down the street. He could make a run for it, and it was likely no one would chase him.

“Crabbett Close games, Gray,” Teddy said loudly. “Are you hard of hearing?”

It wasn’t said as an insult as it would have been if Leo asked, but with the innocence of a child who was simply asking.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.