Odette Speex: Time Traitors Book 1

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Book: Odette Speex: Time Traitors Book 1 Read Free
Author: Padgett Lively
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flushed. She dropped the society drawl and let her native Irish lilt creep into her speech. “Oh, he thinks he’s so clever! You’d think he was the brains and talent behind the business.”
    “Cara, I’m sure Emile didn’t—”
    “Oh, didn’t he now?” Her eyebrows rose dangerously high on her forehead and the deep green eyes flashed. “He was swanning around Hispaniola and Nueva Florida pointing out this fabric and that—demanding the finest lace. I wanted to throttle him!”
    “You’re slipping, Cara dear,” Odette replied with a sly smile.
    She cast Odette a fulminating glance and sat back with a huff, crossing her arms over her lovely chest. “It’s bloody hard to keep up, Odette. Society ladies sashay into my shop, already with their noses in the air. It wouldn’t do if they discovered my father was Irish.”
    Odette smiled sadly. How well she knew it. The English hated the Irish. King George had crushed the revolutionary movement in America. But Ireland won its independence over one hundred years ago and pushed the English out of Northern Ireland for good. The English had exacted their revenge every day since by ringing the small island with ships—making it nearly impossible to prosper. They forbade Irish immigration to England or any English territory.
    Yet the Irish stubbornly clung to their independence and found their way to other countries. Odette was aware that many Irish expatriates supported their cause with arms and money and wondered if Cara was among them.
    “You do very well, Cara,” Odette replied soothingly. “I’ve never seen you drop character in public. I’m assuming Emile still doesn’t know.”
    “Me arse and Katty Barry!” she exclaimed sarcastically, now fully Irish. “If he knew, he’d try to take my business for sure.”
    “He can’t run it alone, Cara. He’s only the front man.”
    She sat back again her anger dissipating. “No, ’tis true. But he could cut my share by threatening to expose me.”
    Odette knew this as well. Cara was a genius. But she was a woman and, if known, her Irish roots would be a liability. As it was, only Odette and Odell knew her true origins.
    They met when Cara had worked as a junior costume designer for the ballet where their mother danced. With talent and ingenuity she advanced quickly and soon managed a department of over thirty designers and seamstresses. A few years later, she opened her own shop on Fifth Avenue. The recent passage of the Gender Laws, however, stripped women of their right to own businesses, and Cara was forced to hire a front man.
    Emile had been a friend of long standing. Being French, Cara thought he would bring some cachet to her store. Instead, the partnership proved tumultuous, and Cara constantly had to depress his pretensions. The fact that he was legal owner of all she had built was never far from her thoughts.
    Odette leaned over and grasped her hand. “You’re the talent behind that store and he knows it. He’d never threaten his own standing and livelihood by turning you in. Besides,” she added practically, “you could go anywhere else in the world and prosper without him. He couldn’t do the same.”
    Cara patted her hand in a motherly fashion. Or Odette thought of it as motherly. It was hard to tell since her own mother had not been particularly nurturing.
    “My dear, here I am complaining when you’ve been through so much.” Cara shrugged her shoulders and cocked her head again to one side. “But,” she said cheerfully, “Odell tells me you are dancing again. Um… ballet… that is,” she added hastily.
    Odette was happy to fill her in. Her eyes sparkled with enthusiasm as she recounted the events of the past several weeks. The White Swan had saved her life! Richard Atwood was brilliant! The Duchess of Montagu was a kind and gracious patroness!
    “And the dancing. Cara! I feel so free!” she exclaimed excitedly. “You must come and see. We are premiering a new piece on

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