Authors Note: Thank you once again to everyone who leaves comments and feedback on my writing, it is much appreciated. Thank you very much to Paul who continues to be my second set of eyes, he is a great friend to help me out so much. I hope you enjoy it. ~ellie
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The holidays had been an excruciating exercise in tolerance. The beautiful Manor house that was Carrie's home with Sinclair was taken over by his family, who stayed with them from the time of the accident, a week before Christmas, through the following week leading up to the engagement party on New Year's Eve.
"We never celebrated the holidays, it was always just me and Mum, my father usually sent me something, but I never saw him. Even Jordan tended to spend the holidays elsewhere," she frowned, never having thought about that fact before. "It was just another day for me," she tried to explain.
"Surely, since being here in London as an adult, you get into the general vibe of the season? The decorations in shops and carols blaring through the sound systems. Even the museum is decorated with holiday cheer," Sinclair couldn't fathom how anyone in this day and age could go through life without celebrating the holidays, or at least acknowledging Christmas, if not celebrating it.
"Let's just get through tonight," she said nervously. "Then you can teach me about every holiday you and your family feel the need to celebrate throughout the year so I don't freak out like I have this year," Carrie sighed.
"Actually, that sounds like fun!" Sinclair said enthusiastically. He imagined he would be her first Valentine. She would never have even gotten a homemade card from a love-struck boy at school. He wrapped his arms around her. "Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?" He loved her simple, yet elegant, style. The designer she used frequently knew how to drape material to enhance her amazing body, and tonight she looked almost as good as the first night he met her at the Rackham Estate. That first midnight blue swath of soft satin was etched in his mind for all time.
For Christmas Sinclair had given her rubies, a bracelet and earrings that held large faultless stones. The Heart was being kept in a locked vault until the exhibition of the Mansvelt collections. True to his word, Sinclair had not told his father or anyone else that he knew who the Fool was, and precautions were still being taken to ensure the family treasure's safety.
"I have something for you," he traced the line of her neck. "It's not the heart, but," he pulled a necklace from his pocket. From it hung a large square cut ruby. "It's not the Heart, but..."
"It's beautiful, but I think leaving my neck naked sends more of a message to those who will be watching. The promise of what will decorate it in the future," she smiled, and her hand fluttered over her collar bones.
"You have a point, and, personally," he leant in to nuzzle her neck. "I prefer it when I have full access to you," he bit lightly at her skin and murmured softly. "Do you think they'd be mad if we were late to our own engagement party?"
"I imagine your mother would come in here personally and pry us apart," Carrie laughed. "I don't think Jordan would be very impressed either," she said, knowing that was one way squash Sinclair's ardour. Jordan called her several times a day now and demanded a meeting almost every other day. Things had gone back to the way they were before her trip to his parent's home and Panama and the ultimate realisation that Jordan hadn't been honest with her. Sinclair had worked hard to maintain his friendly rivalry with Jordan, even when Carrie had been giving him the cold shoulder. Now that Carrie was falling back into line with the family and welcoming a sibling-like relationship with Jordan again, she was able to have a modicum of freedom within the cage her family had built around her life. She lived with Sinclair, worked at the museum, and had lunch or dinner with her brother several times a week.
The problem was, that even though it looked to any observer that her life had returned to normal, it was far from that. Her life was full of secrets and lies now, she spoke in a myriad of code like language to the various factions in her life. Her team from the museum would be here tonight, including the two hackers that now worked for her there.
Frazer and Sinclair had planned the guest list, carefully ensuring invitations went out to all of the major players in the association of the Hats, plus some influential members of past families and influential contacts. Frazer didn't know the truth about Carrie, but had rather hypothesised the idea that an annexed family might be behind the vendetta. Once the seed was sown, Frazer and several older members of the association had met to discuss the idea and who might benefit from taking such personal items from each family.
"Showtime," Sinclair stepped back from her and took her hand. "That dress is seriously dangerous, don't flirt with the older men, they mightn't be able to take being hit on two fronts." He chuckled as they left the room and went down to the ballroom.
The huge room opened out to the side gardens of the property, and, although both Sinclair and Carrie had requested a small gathering of family and friends, the wants and needs of the various factions of their family had caused this night to become a large celebration with guests numbering in the hundreds. Many had already begun to arrive, and Georgia was in full operations mode, dishing out orders to the temporary staff as well and her daughters and their husbands.
"Oh, Carrie, dear, thank goodness you're here," Georgia gathered her to her side by linking arms with her. "She didn't RSVP at all, and then she just arrived with your brother," Georgia was obviously distressed. "Come on, Sinclair. You come too," she said over her shoulder.
"Who came with Jordan?" Carrie frowned.
"Edith is here!" she said, as if a little awed by the woman's presence.
"Grandmother came? That's good news, isn't it?" Carrie frowned, wondering if her grandmother was in one of her peevish moods and being generally unpleasant to everyone. Georgia had been nagging Carrie about the lack of RSVP, and all Carrie could say was that her grandmother was mercurial and you could never know where or when she would show up.
"Well, yes, but..." Georgia was cut off by the commanding, but cheerful, voice of Edith Ward.
"There's my beautiful granddaughter!" she held out her arms from where she sat holding court with quite a few of the older members of the Hats, including Frazer.
"Grandmother, I'm so glad you could come!" Carrie said in a cheerful voice and went to embrace her and kiss her leathery cheek.
"Of course, Darling, your father was so nervous about seeing you after such a long time that I decided to come and be a familiar face amongst a sea of strangers."
"My father?" Carrie blinked. "But I, I mean, I..." she stuttered as her eyes swept the sea of faces surrounding her grandmother.
"Carrington?" a deep, vaguely familiar voice said from behind her. She spun, willing herself to smile at the man she had barely seen throughout her lifetime and had not invited to this party.
"Father?" she questioned, feeling as if she had been ambushed. "This is unexpected." She tilted her head. He was tall and broad shouldered and had the same dancing green eyes she had been fascinated with as a little girl. She had seen him at her mother's funeral, and knew him, or, at least of him and his life, but he may as well have been one of the strangers at the party rather than her father for the lack of emotion she felt about seeing him there. The fact that he and her grandmother had come together was not lost on her though, and she puzzled over the how, what, and why they were in contact at all.
"It can't have been too unexpected, I did RSVP on time," he smiled, easing the tension of seeing his estranged daughter. There was something else going on here, and she wasn't sure what because she hadn't listed him on her invite list.
"Sinclair Mansvelt," Sinclair came to her rescue. "Soon to be son-in-law. I would just like to point out that she proposed to me, so I think that gives me a loophole for the whole getting your blessing thing," he chuckled as he introduced himself. He knew it would be no surprise, as Carrie had told Jordan that her proposal was the only way she would get close to the Heart.
"William Wordsworth, and I believe that does let you off the hook quite cleanly." He said with a strong Australian accent, shaking Sinclair's hand politely before attempting an awkward embrace with Carrie. "Would you care to show me around your beautiful house while we catch-up?"
"I really should be welcoming guests at this point. Would you mind if I gave you a tour a little later?" she said somewhat cautiously. What this man was doing here with her Grandmother was incomprehensible to her. She noticed Jordan for the first time hovering beside William. "Jordan, could you introduce William to a few of the guests for me? I'm sure there will be quite a few people here who would love to listen to his accent."
"Well, I certainly would," Frazer volunteered. "I expect we'll be co-parenting the two of you from now on, and I, for one, will enjoy being able to share the burden of looking after kids who seemed to manage to find danger everywhere they go."
"A little bit of an exaggeration there, Dad. Don't you think?" Sinclair rolled his eyes dramatically.
