Free The Final Act (#4 Bestselling Spotlight Series) by JS Taylor

was some kind of plot by me to get her money. They wouldn’t believe that I was from a moneyed family myself.”
    He lets out a harsh laugh.
    “To look at me then, no one would. I was a classic junkie. Unwashed hair, holes in my clothes. I don’t blame my father for wanting to disinherit me.”
    He shakes his head.
    The Berkeley name. What a burden to bear. I consider how my mother would feel if I showed up unwashed and untidy. She’d probably be delighted that I was rejecting social conventions.
    “It sounds like a lot of pressure,” I say carefully. “It’s hard enough to make your way as a teenager. Let alone have to shoulder some ancient birth right.”
    James lets out air through his teeth. “It’s a privilege,” he says. But the words sound more rehearsed than any script I’ve ever heard him read.
    “How long did they keep you in prison?” I ask. There are so many questions. Did his father visit him there? Does he have that shame as well?
    “ Only a few days,” he says. “I don’t remember exactly how many, but it felt like forever. It straightened me out,” he adds, grimly. “They put me alone in a cell. No dealers. No criminals to get me drugs. And believe me,” he says. “I would have done anything. Anything . To get my hands on heroin.”
    He shakes his head at the force of the memory.
    “Those few days were the worst of my entire life,” he admits. “I’d lost everything. Samantha was dead. Her family was devastated. They wouldn’t believe their daughter had committed suicide, and they had plenty of money to push a case against me. The heroin was leaving my system and taking any remaining sanity with it.”
    He shudders, and I have a terrible picture of him alone and shaking with fear and pain. I tighten my arms around him.
    I feel him rest against my body.
    “They say that when you hit rock bottom, there’s only one way to go,” he says with a little smile. “For me , that was true. At first my father wouldn’t get involved. Then when it became clear they weren’t going to release me, he pulled some strings to get me released. He paid off Samantha’s family.” He closes his eyes again. “He was so ashamed,” he whispers. “He’s never forgiven me. But after that, I started getting therapy. I realised it wasn’t just the heroin that was my problem. It went way back. Back to feeling abandoned when my mother died.”
    I pull him close.
    “How do you feel about your father now?” I ask, wondering how James could ever forgive his father abandoning him.
    “Lord Berkeley,” says James sadly. “I don’t hate him anymore. And as I get older, I’m more interested in him. I would say we’re friends now.”
    “Did you ever speak to him about what happened?”
    James shakes his head firmly. “No. Never.” He gives a humourless laugh. “That’s the Berkeley way. Pretend nothing bad ever happened. Keep your head up whilst you’re sweeping it all under the carpet.”
    “Do you think you could talk to your father now?” I ask gently.
    Surely , a large part of James’s shame must come from the wall of silence between him and his father?
    “No,” says James. He frowns. “I couldn’t stand it , Issy. I’m so ashamed. I couldn’t bear it. It’s… cowardly, I know. But I just couldn’t stand to hear how disappointed he was in me back then.”
    “Perhaps he isn’t as disappointed as you think,” I venture, remembering the two of them together. Lord Berkeley seems to love his son, even if he can’t express it.
    “Perhaps,” says James. “But that’s just not how we do things, Issy. Men in the Berkeley family don’t talk about our feelings.”
    I decide to let the issue drop.
    “Did you make your peace with Samantha’s family?” I ask.
    “ In the end.” He gives a humourless smile. “Such as a thing is possible. Yes. She was their only daughter. But my father gave them money. And in the end, I think they believed I was innocent.”
    He sounds utterly