Chapter Text
The Troll Club
With all the music and colourful lights absent, the nightclub floor looked lifeless and dull in daylight. Eve greeted the floor supervisor with a cheek kiss while he watched his cleaning drones spin around the club floors and rooms. “Put some music on, please Tod, this place is like a morgue.” She frowned when she observed just where some of the drones were cleaning. Tod gave her a sheepish look and Eve swore before yelling, “Da! Where are you?”
She located him in the back office alone. He was swiftly out of his chair, his huge, muscled frame swallowing her in a warm embrace and mint cologne. He asked her so many questions about how she was she pulled away laughing. She looked up into his worried yes. “I’m fine, Da, well I was fine until I saw you re-opened the sex rooms.”
“Not sex rooms, pleasure rooms,” Marcus said, holding her at arm’s length.
“You know it’s still illegal whatever you call it! The legislation hasn’t been approved and don’t say everyone is doing it because that’s not the point.”
Marcus waggled his meaty hand. “Legal, illegal – it’s grey area.”
She laughed, exasperated. “It’s not a grey area. And calling them pleasure rooms makes no difference.”
“Who knows what they do in there? It’s private and we have no complaints! We have your beautiful security and we are safe, clean. We treat everyone well.”
Eve sighed. “I know, Da but that’s not the point either. You’re going to get prosecuted and sued - again.”
Marcus grinned. “Never mind.” His grin faded a little and he examined her carefully; he reached up and stroked her hair. “You’re…alright?”
“Yes, I’m not hurt,” she said. She turned and closed the office door and her father patiently waited while she checked that no one could be listening. “Agent Blue is off the field,” she stated. Marcus snorted. “I mean it this time.” Which meant she wouldn’t be lying to her son anymore when she told him she was doing private security consultancy as that’s all she would be doing. She would just continue to omit the part about it being for the Barrayaran Imperium.
“It is your decision. They don’t deserve to have you. You’re too good for them.” Her father had been saying that since she became an ImpSec agent over twenty years ago, and before her father got started on his rant on that ‘sneaky Simon Illyan’ who lured his daughter away she asked about Jamie. Her father’s expression caused her heart to skip.
“What is it?” she asked. “I just spoke to him, he said he’ll be back soon.”
“Yes, he is fine.” Marcus seated his bulk on the sofa; the light shining off his bald head. Eve joined him and Marcus continued, “his other family – were here at the club.”
Eve was stunned. “What? How? Don’t tell me those boys came to the club?”
Marcus raised a thick eyebrow. “You know?”
“Only that they came to London but I didn’t look into it.” It wasn’t her assignment and she knew for her own sanity she had to pull back from those families. “I can’t believe it.” Out of all the clubs in the city they came to her father’s. “Did they speak to him? What happened?”
Marcus explained that Jamie wanted to sing a small set for fun, and one of the boys thought Jamie looked familiar. The others he said weren’t sure.
“Did you do anything? Did they speak to him?”
Marcus shook his head. “No, the music room closed so they couldn’t get in – I didn’t do it. It was full capacity. Jamie left after. You were lucky.”
Eve swallowed and breathed a few times in relief. “Lucky? It’s not up to me. I told you. I’m leaving it to fate now and if he wants to know who his father is I’ll tell him.” At her father’s dubious look she added, “I’m not going to put anything in his way, Da and – good God were they really here? And they saw him?”
“It is not just that. Jamie said he’d decided something about his father and he will tell you when he sees you. You still want to hide him?” he asked bluntly.
“I stopped hiding him long ago,” Eve said defensively. She didn’t have to since she’d put measures in place to hide any connection between Jamie and his father before he was born. But she’d not been stupid. She made sure ImpSec knew she was keeping her son away from Barrayar for the real fear he’d find out about her real job and be placed in danger. There was also the real fear then that his father’s family would find out about Jamie but that she kept to herself. It has been a fellow agent, the only who knew the truth, who had helped her strategise. For a long while Eve wondered if Miles would find out but there was no reason for him to suspect anything. Miles could read people well but he didn’t know the full truth. With him and certain others she was hiding her son in plain sight.
But when Jamie was older she told him it was up to him if he wanted to meet his father. But yes of course she was careful. She couldn’t help but be careful. She’d never be able to cut all connection with Barrayar and she’d even ran missions involving his father’s family. It had not been easy to be close to his father and to have to hide but very little in her life had been easy. Jamie had no idea the measures she’d gone to to keep his identity secret. “But if he’s decided he wants to meet his father I won’t stand in his way.” She herself had searched out her own genetic father and been disappointed but she could understand the need to do it. But she dreaded it.
She’d told Jamie mostly the truth; that she’d kept him away from his father for some reasons she couldn’t disclose. That his father was a good person but he didn’t know about Jamie and in order for Jamie to have the freedom she wanted him to have she wanted to wait until he was older, until it was safer for him to see his father. His father’s family were influential and complex (to say the least) and that’s all she could disclose to Jamie. Jamie, trusting his mother, had never pushed to find out for himself. Not that he could’ve. Eve had made sure of it.
Jamie arrived a short while later and as they all had dinner in the large apartment she shared with her son she couldn’t help compare him to his father. At 23 Jamie was tall but not as tall as his father, but with the same broad build. Instead of dark brown colouring, his eyes were crystal green and hair a reddish brown. But there was something about his features and expressions that bore a resemblance to his father but it would take a sharp eye to see it. At least she had thought so. Perhaps he looked more like his father than she thought. All she saw was her Jamie. My Jamie.
“Did Grandad tell you about the club I’m thinking of opening?” Jamie had already opened one with his grandad; a very successful one in competitive Rio but now he wanted to go out on his own. This one would be in Rio too but a different part and different kind. He gave Eve a printed proposal and she looked at the dates he hoped to launch his new venture.
“So soon?” she asked.
He nodded. “I want you to look at it properly before you look at investing. Don’t just say yes, Ma.”
Eve made a show of checking her funds on her wristcom which made Jamie roll his eyes, and she turned to her father. “You’ve read it I take it?” she asked, getting serious. “Is it doable?”
“There is always a risk but the boy knows it. Just because we have had one successful club there –”
“But this is different; it has a restaurant,” Jamie said, his eyes shining, “but I want you to consider it seriously, before investing.”
She put it aside. She knew he would’ve done the research needed but she couldn’t concentrate on it. “Before I look at it; do you want to tell me what you discussed with your grandad?” At his blank look she added. “About your father.” She tried to sound as neutral possible.
“Oh. That.” He leaned back in his seat and chewed on his bottom lip. “I thought about it a lot. Meeting him and about what you said about him. It’ll affect my life a lot.”
“It can’t not affect you. I can’t hide that but I don’t want to put you off meeting him just because of that. It has to be the right time for you. I think you’re mature enough to handle it.” I don’t know that I am.
He nodded. “Okay but I don’t want to meet him. Not yet. That’s what I wanted to tell you. I have things I want to do and I don’t need that in my life right now.” He looked confused for a moment and shook his head with a smile. “I’m not explaining this very well. I mean I don’t want anything to risk getting in the way of what I have.” He reached across and squeezed both her hand and his grandfather’s. “What we have. Does that make sense?”
Eve tried to hide her relief. “Yes and that’s fine. Whenever you’re ready and if you never want to get in touch with him that’s fine too. It’s your call, sweetheart.”
The rest of the conversation was about his new venture and Eve asked about his other investor in this. She trusted her father to look into it too but he knew and her son knew Eve would do her own checks. She told him she would prefer he delayed building this new club/restaurant – until she received a message, from the person who knew Jamie’s father’s identity. The message was that Lord Vorpatril had been appointed the new Ambassador at the London embassy. Eve’s heart dropped to her stomach and she decided to give fate a helping hand. “Never mind what I said about waiting to start your new venture, Jamie. Go ahead and I may join you in Rio for a short while.”
Jamie was thrilled, Marcus gave her a knowing look and Eve shrugged. Now was not the time to risk Lord Ivan Vorpatril bumping into the son he didn’t know he had. Besides Jamie said he wasn’t ready. They would safely remove themselves from his vicinity. It was best for everyone. For now.