The Inheritance Games, #3
The Final Gambit
by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Contents
CHAPTER 62
Overview
Avery connects the possibility that Mallory’s Liam was Will Blake to a much larger danger: Toby may be Vincent Blake’s grandson, and Eve may be Vincent’s great-granddaughter. Her confrontation with Jameson exposes the strain between love and control, as Jameson admits his fear has made him willing to protect Avery against her wishes.
The chapter pivots from investigation to immediate threat when Avery realizes Eve may have known about the Blake connection all along. Jameson then reveals that Eve is alone with Grayson at Wayback Cottage, turning Avery’s suspicion into an urgent concern.
Summary
Avery returns to Hawthorne House with new suspicions about Mallory Laughlin’s former lover, Liam. If Liam was actually Will Blake, then Will may have fathered Toby before disappearing for more than forty years, raising urgent questions about whether Toby knew, whether Vincent Blake knew Toby was his grandson, and how Will’s Blake family seal ended up with Tobias Hawthorne.
As soon as Avery gets out of the SUV, Jameson confronts her for leaving after he locked her in the gemstone room. Avery is furious that he tried to confine her, while Jameson insists he was trying to keep her safe from Vincent Blake, a powerful enemy who may want either Avery’s inheritance or its destruction.
The argument turns personal when Jameson says Avery wants someone like Grayson: arrogant, duty-bound, honorable, and willing to die protecting her. Jameson admits that he is not pretending to be overprotective and would even make Avery hate him if that kept her alive, because he loves her and believes Avery is too precious to risk.
Avery insists she does not want Jameson to be Grayson, but before the conflict is resolved, another realization overtakes her. If Will Blake was Toby’s father, then Eve is Vincent Blake’s great-granddaughter. Avery reconsiders Eve’s DNA test, her longing for family, and her reaction to William Blake’s name in Toby’s wing, concluding that Eve may have recognized a connection to the Blake family.
Jameson notices Avery’s mind shifting and asks her to tell him what she has figured out. After Avery explains, Jameson delivers a new and alarming piece of information: Eve is at Wayback Cottage with Grayson.
Who Appears
- Avery GrambsConnects Will Blake to Toby and Eve while resisting Jameson’s controlling protection.
- Jameson HawthorneConfronts Avery over her safety and admits fear drives his overprotective actions.
- EvePossibly Vincent Blake’s great-granddaughter; her motives become newly suspect.
- Grayson HawthorneRevealed to be with Eve at Wayback Cottage, heightening Avery’s concern.
- Will BlakeVincent’s missing son, possibly Mallory’s Liam and Toby’s biological father.
- Vincent BlakePowerful enemy whose family connection to Toby and Eve may explain his actions.
- Toby HawthorneHis possible parentage reshapes Avery’s understanding of Vincent Blake’s vendetta.
- Mallory LaughlinToby’s mother, whose former lover Liam may have been Will Blake.