Joker in the Pack (Romantic Suspense, Completed, Watty Winner)

Epilogue - Part 2

Don't be nervous, Olivia. It's just dinner and the opera.

Oh, who was I kidding? Just an hour or two, and I'd meet Nye's family. I still didn't know much about them, not even their names. If he'd given me a few hints, I could have looked them up on the internet, Facebook perhaps, but he was being really cagey over the whole thing. Surely they couldn't be that bad?

I'd splashed out on a new dress, maroon with an appropriately demure neckline, feeling a pang of regret for the designer outfits I'd sold after my split with Edward. But the Karen Millen sale was within my budget, and I'd even got a sparkly new necklace, albeit a cubic zirconia one.

I twisted my handbag strap in my hands as we purred along the M40 motorway in Nye's new BMW. Anything to stop myself from biting my nails. I'd already had a go this morning and chipped the pale pink polish before I realised what I was doing.

"Where are we going again?"

"Kendall Grange. It's some fancy hotel near my parents' home."

"That's in Northbury village, right?" I'd got that much out of him. Upper Foxford on steroids, he said.

"Yes."

"And you grew up there?"

"Yes."

See? He hated to elaborate. "Why the opera? Is your grandma a fan?"

He shrugged. "We go every year. A birthday treat."

I sighed and gave up. I'd meet his family soon enough, and maybe then I'd get some answers.

"Have we got everything?" I asked for the tenth time since we left.

"We don't need a lot, babe. I've got my wallet. You've got your bag full of woman crap, and we've got the tickets."

"Which opera is it?"

"Does it matter? I never understand them anyway." He passed me the envelope with the tickets from his door pocket. "It'll probably say on there."

I unpeeled the flap, and my heart sank as I pulled out the single ticket inside. Just when I thought we'd covered everything, another hiccup revealed itself.

"Nye, they've sent us the wrong one. Do you think they'll still let us in?"

"What do you mean, the wrong one? It's not for the opera?"

"Oh, it's for Tristan und Isolde all right, but it's not ours."

"Then whose is it?"

"The Viscount Northbury, plus one."

Nye went white and skidded to a halt on the hard shoulder, breathing hard.

"What's wrong? Nye, what is it? Should I call an ambulance?"

"I'm going to kill my mother. I swear, I'm going to kill her."

"It's just a wrong ticket. Isn't that a bit drastic?"

He grabbed both of my hands in his and shifted so he was facing me. "Babe, I wanted to tell you, really I did. I just didn't know how. And when you said you hated the idea of dating a posh bloke again..."

"What are you talking about? You're scaring me."

"Shit." He took a deep breath. "It's not the wrong ticket. I'm Viscount Northbury. I've told Mother over and over not to use that bloody title."

"I don't understand."

He gave me a nervous smile. "My full name is Aneurin Kendrick Holmes. My father's the Earl of Northbury, and as his eldest son, I get to use his secondary title, which is Viscount. I never wanted it, honestly. People treat me differently if they think I'm nobility, and I'm just Nye."