Tycoon's Choice: Kept by the Tycoon / Taken by the Tycoon / The Tycoon's Proposal

Her heart overflowing with love and gratitude she lay quietly enjoying their closeness until he moved away and, turning onto his back, gathered her against him and settled her head on his shoulder.

Chapter Three

AFTER a night OF love-making, it was almost ten o’clock when Madeleine woke. She was alone in the big bed, but just as that fact registered the door opened and Rafe came in carrying a tray.

His dark hair was still damp from the shower, and he was wearing a short, navy-blue silk robe. ‘Good morning.’ He smiled lazily as she pushed herself upright. ‘I thought we’d be decadent and have breakfast in bed.’

He put the tray on the bedside table and, leaning over to kiss her, remarked wickedly, ‘After the night we’ve just spent, I don’t know how you can look so beautiful and fresh.’

‘I’m happy,’ she said simply. She had never thought she would say those words again.

He smiled at her. ‘Happiness suits you.’

As he sat on the bed and fed her toast and scrambled eggs and coffee, his voice casual, Rafe suggested, ‘Tell me some more about yourself.’

Instantly uneasy, she said, ‘There’s not a great deal to tell.’

Sensing that unease, and wondering what was causing it, he decided to go slowly. ‘Do your parents still live in London?’

‘They got divorced when I was twelve.’

‘Presumably it was your father’s dedication to work that caused the break-up.’

‘Yes. Though my mother loved him passionately, eventually she got fed up with him never being there for us.’ Madeleine turned her head away from him.

‘Was it an amicable parting?’

‘As amicable as these things ever can be.’

Rafe probed further, ‘But you must have missed him?’

‘Yes, I did, and I don’t think my mother ever really got over it.’ She felt her eyes begin to water, but she smiled as she looked up at Rafe.

‘She didn’t marry again?’

‘No. I believe she still loves him. Certainly there was never anyone else.’

‘Do you still see him?’

Madeleine shook her head. ‘Some time after the divorce he remarried and went to live in Los Angeles. We haven’t had any contact for years.’

Then, wanting to escape from the spotlight, she said quickly, ‘Now it’s your turn to tell me something about yourself.’

His face straight, he replied, ‘There’s not a great deal to tell.’ He laughed and kissed her, before beginning, ‘I lost my father when I was twelve. A year after he died, my mother married again. Her new husband was an ex-army officer.’

‘Did you all get on as a family?’

‘Diane, who’s seven years older than me, was away at university, so that left just the three of us, and unfortunately my stepfather and I didn’t get along. I resented him taking my father’s place and showed it, which, with hindsight, must have made life extremely difficult for my mother. My stepfather was a strict disciplinarian and after he’d whacked me a couple of times for what he termed insolence, I began to seriously hate his guts.’ Rafe paused for a moment before continuing.

‘Things went from bad to worse, and the whacks changed to beatings. On the final occasion, when he began to lay into me with his belt, my mother tried to intervene. He pushed her out of the way so roughly that she stumbled and fell. I saw red and went for him. I wasn’t quite fourteen at the time.’

Her aquamarine eyes full of concern, Madeleine asked, ‘What happened?’

Matter-of-factly, he said, ‘I managed to split his lip before ending up in Casualty.’

As she winced he added, ‘I think he may have been genuinely sorry afterwards. But it was patently obvious that things couldn’t go on like that, so I was hastily packed off to live with my godparents.’

Madeleine reached out to touch his arm. ‘Were you very upset?’

‘For a time I was very bitter,’ he admitted. ‘Though my godparents were amazing.’

‘Had they any children of their own?’

‘One daughter, Fiona. But they had always hoped for a son, and were only too delighted to have me.’

‘Fiona wasn’t jealous at all?’

His face softened. ‘Oh, no. We got to be very close. In fact for a while she hero-worshipped me. She was nearly three years younger than me, and I always called her my kid sister.’

‘So it was a good move?’

‘Oh, yes. The whole family treated me exactly like their own, and I was very happy with them until I went up to Oxford. My godfather died eighteen months ago and it was like losing a father…

‘But that’s enough doom and gloom—let’s talk about something else. What shall we do for the rest of the day? Would you like to—’

‘I can’t,’ she broke in desperately. On Sundays she always had lunch at the nursing home, and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening there. ‘I mean, I’m already going out.’

When she made no effort to elaborate, he asked, ‘What time do you need to start?’

‘In about an hour.’

‘Then as soon as you’ve showered and dressed, I’ll take you home.’ Though his voice was even, she knew he was vexed by her reticence, but she couldn’t bring herself to tell him about her mother. He was sure to ask questions that, burdened with guilt, she didn’t want to answer.

His profile cool and aloof, he drove through the Sunday streets in silence. She longed to break that silence, but could think of nothing to say.

When he drew up outside her flat and, still without speaking, helped her out, she felt a sudden panic in case this was the end.

What would she do if he simply drove away?

As though to keep her guessing, he unlocked her door and handed her back the key, before asking, ‘Are you free tomorrow evening?’

‘Yes,’ she said eagerly.

‘Then if you like, I’ll take you to see Katie and her parents. I’ve already mentioned your name to them.’

‘There’s just one thing…’ Madeleine began a shade awkwardly.

Reading her hesitation, he said, ‘You prefer to keep your private and professional lives separate?’