Juliet Norton, though? Born simply Julie Smith – comprehensively educated, the childhood sweetheart of her husband – had never enjoyed quite the same ascendancy nor respect. Juliet Norton, despite the clothes she wore, the accent she affected and, perhaps more pertinently, the money and influence to which she was party, had never really enjoyed that same level of respect from, say, the wives at the golf club and the institutes and societies to which her husband was affiliated. Whether those women genuinely considered her an interloper, a ‘competition winner’, would never be established for certain, since of course they would vehemently deny the fact. But that was how Juliet had felt throughout her marriage to Sir Charles Norton. It was how she’d felt then and how she felt now.

And that made her dangerous.

Ross, sitting on his sofa in his assistant’s clothes, knew it all. He looked into the face of his beloved grandmother and all he saw there was steel and resolve. Ross knew that Juliet and Charles had been devoted to one another and even with his grandfather’s love of pranks and gamesmanship, there was one thing of which they could all be certain: Sir Charles Norton would have left the bulk of his estate to his wife, Juliet.

But Sir Charles Norton’s estate was worth, not millions, but billions. And even though Juliet might take the bulk, she would take tens of billions, and that still left an awful lot of billions for everybody else.

Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

For a moment the faces on the TV screen waited expectantly.

And yet there was one tile still black. One member of the meeting yet to make an appearance. Ross looked towards Jeffrey Coombs to explain, and when there was nothing forthcoming, looked to his grandmother, Juliet, instead. Her face was implacable. Either she knew what to expect or, more likely, as the long-time partner and now widow of the late Sir Charles Norton, simply knew to expect the unexpected.

It was left to Montana, impatient, to break the ice. ‘Mr Coombs? Are we to begin?’

‘Just one more member of your family to arrive, ma’am,’ said Coombs. ‘The late Mr Norton begs your indulgence.’

‘He what? He’s dead, how on earth can he be begging my indulgence?’

‘I would ask that you talk about your father with a little bit more respect,’ said Juliet quietly, commandingly.

‘I’m sorry, Mama,’ said Montana, lowering her eyes.

Ross knew that Montana had always been his grandfather’s favourite child, just as he liked to flatter himself that he was the favourite grandchild. With Simon his main competition, that wasn’t difficult. Nor was it necessarily a trophy he particularly wanted in the cabinet, but still, you snatched your victories where you could.

He glanced sideways at Kennedy, who stood clear of the laptop’s camera. ‘You enjoying this?’ said Ross quietly from the side of his mouth.

‘Positively Shakespearean, sir,’ replied Kennedy.