Do Not Disturb Read Free Page A

she was remotely sorry. But because she couldn’t bear for her father to be angry with her.
    That night, she’d tried to talk to Tina about it. “We have to do something to get rid of her,” she’d whispered, once the sound of their nanny’s footsteps had finally died away.
    “Like what?” Tina had her Winnie the Pooh flashlight on under the covers and was brushing her hair, admiring its shiny blondeness in the mirror with quiet satisfaction. Though only nine, she was already taller than Honor and much more physically developed, with tiny, nascent breasts of which she was inordinately proud. “It’s not up to us.”
    “For goodness’ sake,” hissed Honor, exasperated. “Don’t you understand how serious this is? She’s horrible. She’s a witch. And if she does have a baby boy, Daddy won’t want us anymore.”
    “I don’t think he wants us now,” shrugged Tina, not missing a beat.
    “Of course he wants us!” said Honor hotly, although deep down she knew that the tears were pricking her eyes because her sister was right. Since their mom’s death, Trey had been distant to the point of neglect.
    “It’s Tammy that’s the problem. You know she’s going to try and act like she’s our mom.
And
I bet she’ll try to take Palmers away. Her and her new baby.”
    Sighing, Tina reluctantly switched off the flashlight and slipped the mirror under her bed. “I wish you’d stop talking about Palmers. It’s only a stupid hotel.” Honor was so flabbergasted by this she was temporarily speechless.
    “And if she does try to act like our mom, we’ll just ignore her. It’s really not a big deal. Anyway, I’m tired. Let’s go to sleep.”
    Seething with frustration, Honor pulled her bedspread up to her shoulders and turned her head to the wall. There was no point pushing it any further. Clearly Tina had no understanding whatsoever of the dangers they were facing. As usual it would be up to her, Honor, to do something.
    If a son was what their father wanted—and clearly it was—then that was what she’d have to become.

    “Miss Palmer?”
    Honor looked up with a start at the sound of Sam Brannagan’s voice. For a moment she’d forgotten where she was.
    “Shall we continue?”
    “Yes, yes of course,” she said, smoothing the crease in her black pants as she got to her feet. This was no time for melancholy reflection. She needed to be in control.
    “The fact is that, while I appreciate all of you coming, there’s really nothing left to discuss. The trustees have appointed meto manage Dad’s affairs, including Palmers, and that’s what I’m going to do. I had hoped,” she looked plaintively at Trey, “to make you understand why I’m doing this, Daddy. Believe me, if there were any other way—”
    “I’ll change my will!” Trey shouted, the effort plunging him back into another bout of coughing. Jacob Foster made a great show of passing him his oxygen mask, but the old man pushed him angrily away.
    “You’re a viper, Honor. A snake in my house!”
    “Mrs. Palmer.” Seeing Honor struggling to suppress her emotions, the lawyer addressed himself calmly to Lise. “For your husband’s sake, I think you’d better take him home now. And that goes for the rest of you, too. All interested parties will be receiving copies of the documentation in due course. But this meeting is over.”
    Slipping on her oversize Gucci sunglasses, Tina was the first to head for the door, without so much as a backward glance at Trey. “Honor, call me,” she said brusquely. “I wanna know when that money will hit my account.”
    “This isn’t over, you know,” said Jacob furiously, yanking his dumpy wife up out of her seat. “Not by a long shot. You’ll be hearing from us again, Mr. Brannagan.” Honor said nothing as they filed out of the room, but her heart was pounding. Harvard may have taught her how to deal with confrontation and take control of a hostile meeting, but it hadn’t taught her not to feel