Blood Lines Read Online Free Page B

anyway? Which fortune was more acceptable to me? The one made recently by one woman’s ingenuity and willingness to do anything to survive, or the other based on old, aristocratic money handed down through the ages? I told myself it wasn’t a choice I was ready to make.
    ‘Enough of these diversionary tactics. Kailash – can’t you see what she’s doing?’ Lord MacGregor was shouting.
    He was a great lawyer in his time, my grandad, but the judge in him took over now. There was only one person in charge in his drawing room and it was clear that it wasn’t going to be me.
    ‘Brodie – the only route open to you is to take a position as a sheriff. Put in a few years in the lower courts and then get a seat in the College of Justice. Join the family firm and become a judge. It would make me very proud to see you wear the red robes.’
    ‘Easy as that, is it?’ I asked. ‘Just say what you want and it all comes together? Even for your annoying bastard granddaughter?’
    He looked slightly flustered. Unusually.
    ‘Well, the only reason I can even suggest this is that the powers-that-be are looking for more women to become judges. Political correctness or some other such bloody nonsense. It can work in your favour, my dear.’
    ‘Follow in my father’s footsteps?’
    ‘If it will save you from being ruined, then yes, do whatever you have to continue.’ Kailash joined in the shouting match.
    ‘Some people would bite their arm off for the chance we are offering you.’ Grandad’s voice was raised.
    We. I didn’t want to know about Kailash’s involvement. Thinking about what favours she was pulling in on my behalf made my blood run cold. No one likes to think about their mother having sex, much less for money or other favours. It was enough to keep me in therapy for years.
    My grandad’s next words made that thought disappear.
    ‘Bridget Nicholson is wining and dining as we speak. That girl is desperate to be elevated to the bench.’
    ‘Girl? She was born middle-aged, and she’s certainly looked it ever since I’ve known her. She’s probably excited by the huge pension.’
    ‘Whatever her reasons are, Brodie, could you really imagine yourself scraping and bowing before Lady Nicholson?’
    And there he had it – my hot button.
    I didn’t want it, but I was bloody sure I didn’t want Bridget Nicholson to have it either.

Chapter Three
    ‘Have you been sleeping there all night?’
    It’s surprising how sharp and hard a ball of rolled-up paper is when it hits you in the face. I had been sleeping, head down on my glass-topped desk, and I could feel the drool running freely from the side of my mouth.
    ‘Was I snoring?’
    ‘Like a pig in clover – and the resemblance doesn’t stop there. Did you go home last night or have you been working in the office all night?’ Lavender looked sniffily around my office, which was littered with files.
    ‘When I finished at St Leonard’s with the custodies, it was hardly worth going home. I was busy at the weekend and I hadn’t had time to prepare the trial files properly.’ The mere mention of the word ‘weekend’ made my mouth go dry – Lavender Ironside wasn’t just the best secretary in the firm, she also knew me inside out and I was terrified she’d make me spill the beans about Jack.
    ‘If you employed an assistant they could do some of the preparation,’ she pointed out.
    ‘You know we can’t afford it,’ I replied.
    Lavender snorted. ‘I know the money that comes in for criminal fees – you’re paying more than your fair share into the partners’ pissing pot. Why don’t you ask the others to cut down on their expenses and get the overdraft down?’
    ‘If I had the energy, I’d laugh, Lav.’ The very thought of the rest of them walking to work or taking clients to McDonald’s was risible. ‘I need some caffeine –would you?’
    I knew that I must still be looking pathetic when Lavender switched the coffee machine on without a murmur. I