Married By Christmas

Her father straightened determinedly in his chair, that air of defeat instantly dispelled. ‘Devlin and I are involved in some business that isn’t going quite the way he wishes it would,’ he explained briskly.

Lilli frowned, realising that, with this blunt statement, her father had decided not to tell her anything. ‘He called me a sacrificial lamb,’ she persisted.

‘Did he, indeed?’ her father rapped out harshly. ‘What the hell does he think I am?’ he cried angrily, rising forcefully to his feet. ‘Devlin is right, Lilli—it’s past time the two of us met again. Damn Gerry and her diplomatic approach—’

‘About Geraldine Simms—’

‘She’s not for discussion, Lilli,’ her father cut in defensively, those few minutes of father-daughter closeness definitely over.

Obviously Geraldine Simms was too important in his life to be discussed with her! It made Lilli question exactly how long this relationship with the other woman had been going on. Since her mother’s death—or before that? The thought of her father having an affair with a woman like Geraldine Simms while her mother was still alive made Lilli feel ill. He couldn’t have—could he...?

Lilli stood up too, eyes flashing deeply emerald. ‘In that case,’ she rebutted angrily, ‘neither is the night I spent with her brother!’

‘Lilli!’ Her father stopped her as she was about to storm out of the room.

She turned slowly. ‘Yes?’ she said curtly.

‘Stay away from Devlin,’ he advised heavily. ‘He’s trouble.’

He might be, and until a short time ago she had been only too happy with the idea of never setting eyes on him again. But not any more. Patrick Devlin was the other half of this puzzle, and if her father wouldn’t tell her what was going on perhaps Patrick would!

She met her father’s gaze unblinkingly. ‘Stay away from Geraldine Simms,’ she mocked. ‘She’s trouble.’

Her father steadily met her rebellious gaze for several long seconds, and then he wearily shook his head. ‘This is so much deeper than you can possibly realise. You’re playing with fire where Devlin is concerned. He’s a barracuda in a city suit,’ he added bitterly.

‘Sounds like a fascinating combination,’ Lilli replied.

‘More like deadly,’ her father rasped, scowling darkly. ‘Lilli, I’m ordering you to stay away from him!’

Her eyes widened in shock. This was much more serious than she had even imagined; she couldn’t remember the last time her father bad ordered her to do anything. If he ever had. But the fact that he did it now only made her all the more determined.

The real problem with that was she had no idea—yet!—how to even make contact with Patrick Devlin again, without it seeming as if she was doing exactly that. Because she had a feeling he would react exactly as her father was doing if she went to him and asked for answers to her questions: refuse to give any!

Well, she might be young, as both men had already stated quite clearly today, but she was the daughter of one man, and had spent the previous night in the arms of the other—she certainly wasn’t a child, and she wasn’t about to be treated like one. By either of them!

‘Save that tone of voice for your employees, Father,’ she told him coldly. ‘Of which I—thankfully!—am not one!’ She closed the door decisively behind her as she left the room.

It was only once she was safely outside in the hallway that she allowed some of her defiance to leave her. But she had meant every word she’d said in there, she would get to the bottom of this mystery. And she knew the very person to help her do that...

‘Sally!’ she said warmly a few minutes later when the other woman answered her call after the tenth ring. She had begun to think Sally must be out. And that didn’t fit in with her plans at all. ‘It’s Lilli.’

‘Wow, that was quick,’ Sally returned lightly. ‘I didn’t expect to hear from you again for weeks.’

Lilli forced a bright laugh. ‘I said I would call you,’ she reminded her.

‘It’s a little late in the day for lunch,’ Sally said dryly. ‘Although to be honest,’ she added confidingly, ‘I’ve only just got out of bed. That was some party last night!’

Lilli wouldn’t know. ‘Any luck with that gorgeous man?’ she said playfully—knowing full well there hadn’t been; her father had spent the night with Geraldine Simms.

‘None at all.’ Sally sounded disappointed. ‘But then, with Gerry on the hunt, I never expected it. She monopolised the man all night, and then—’

‘Are you free for dinner this evening?’ Lilli cut in sharply—she knew what came ‘then’!

‘Well...I was due to go to the Jameses’ party this evening, but it will just be like every other party I’ve been to this month. Christmas-time is a bitch, isn’t it? Everyone and his cousin throws a party—and invites exactly the same people to every one! In all honesty, I’m all partied out. And there’s another ten days to go yet!’ Sally groaned with feeling.

‘Does that mean you’re free for dinner?’ Lilli prompted.

‘Name the place!’ The grin could be heard in Sally’s voice.

Lilli did, choosing one of her own favourite restaurants, knowing the other woman would like it too. She also promised that it was her treat; Sally knew ‘everyone and his cousin’, and anything there was to know about them. Lilli didn’t doubt she would know about Patrick Devlin too...

She wasn’t disappointed in her choice of informant!

‘Patrick!’ Even the way Sally said his name spoke volumes. ‘Now there is a gorgeous man. Tall, dark, handsome—He’s Gerry’s brother, you know—’

‘I do know,’ Lilli confirmed—she knew now!

‘He’s also intelligent, rich—oh yes, very rich.’ Sally laughed softly.

‘And single.’ It was almost a question—because Lilli wasn’t absolutely sure of his marital status. She had beea to bed with the man, and she didn’t even know whether he was married!

‘He is now,’ Sally nodded, nibbling on one of the prawns she had chosen to start her meal. ‘Sanchia wasn’t the faithful kind, and so he went through rather a messy divorce about five years ago. Sanchia took him for millions. Personally, I would rather have kept the man, but Sanchia settled for the cash and moved back to France, where she originally came from.’

Sanchia... Patrick had been married to a woman called Sanchia. A woman who had been unfaithful to him. She couldn’t have known him very well if she had thought he would put up with that; Lilli had only known him twenty-four hours, but, even so, she knew he was a man who kept what he had. Exclusively.

But at least he wasn’t married now, which was a relief to hear after last night. Although there was still so much Lilli wanted to know about him...

‘What does he do?’ Lilli frowned; chairman of a bank didn’t tell her anything.

‘I just told you.’ Sally laughed. ‘He makes millions.’

‘And then gives them away to ex-wives,’ Lilli scorned; that didn’t sound very intelligent to her!

‘One ex-wife,’ Sally corrected her. ‘And he didn’t give it away. It was probably worth it to him to get that embarrassment out of his life. Sanchia liked men, and made no secret of the fact...’

‘She sounds a lot like his sister,’ Lilli said bitterly. How could her father have been so stupid as to have got mixed up with such a family?

‘Gerry’s okay,’ Sally said grudgingly. ‘Although Patrick is even better,’ she added suggestively.

Lilli gave her a guarded look. ‘Sally, you haven’t—You and he haven‘t—’

‘I should be so lucky!’ Sally laughed again ruefully. ‘But Patrick doesn’t. Not any more. Not since Sanchia,’ she amended wistfully.

Lilli hoped she succeeded in hiding the shock she felt at this last statement. Because Patrick most certainly did! At least, he had last night. With her...

Sally gave her a considering look. ‘You do realise I’m going to have a few questions of my own at the end of this conversation?’ she teased. ‘And the first one is going to be, just when and where did you get to meet Patrick? As far as I’m aware, he’s lived in New York for the last five years, and he’s very rarely seen over here.’

Lilli kept her expression deliberately bland. ‘Hey, I’m the one buying you dinner, remember,’ she reminded her. She liked Sally very much, found her great fun to go out with, but she was also aware that her friend was the biggest gossip in London—that was the reason she had been the perfect choice for this conversation in the first place! ‘Besides, just what makes you think I have met him?’ She opened widely innocent eyes.