Australia's Maverick Millionaire

Such an attractive sound, Leo thought. Josh had taken a long time to let down his guard. But eventually it had happened. Their minds met. At least their business minds. “Then come round and spread it all out before me.” Leo began to clear papers from his massive mahogany desk, shoving them into a drawer.

“You won’t regret this, Leo.” Josh was already on his feet, a number of wound-up rolls in his hands.

Driving towards the family home, Lyle Templeton thought it had been years since he’d had a real conversation with his father. He intended to have that conversation tonight. Not that there had been any estrangement as such, but things had been very different after his beloved Allegra’s tragic death. Allegra had been the glue that had held father and son together. Leo had made no effort to hide the fact he disliked and distrusted Keeley right from the beginning. He had been very much against the marriage, openly questioning whether his son was, in fact, the father of Keeley’s mystery baby. Now no one would ever know. Keeley had lost the child. Either she was one of the world’s finest actresses or she had suffered genuine grief. As had he. So he had not only lost a second child, he had lost his beloved Clio. Clio had simply not wanted to stay in the house with Keeley. She had gone to live with Leo, who had welcomed her with wide-open arms. It was as though Allegra had returned.

Of late his father’s health had been on the decline. They all saw that. The threat to family had come not from Keeley, who didn’t rate, but from the youngster, Josh Hart. Leo had sponsored the boy’s education, private school through university, doling out huge sums of money to partner the young entrepreneur Hart eventually became. Not that Hart wasn’t brilliant—he hadn’t put a foot wrong—but Lyle truly felt he had been relegated to third place in his father’s life. Josh Hart had his father’s ear, and mind, worse, his heart. Not him. His father didn’t need him any more. He had Josh Hart. And another terrible worry had taken hold. For years hostile to the young man, hostility had increased to a pervading fear.

Hart had ambitions to take his beautiful daughter.

Hart was dangerous. He always had been. Bad blood.

Hart’s Porsche was parked in the drive. He’d been reliably told Hart was looking at some property further north. Lyle would have found out he was back had he rung ahead to say he was coming, but he had wanted his visit to be in the nature of a pleasant surprise. Hart had beaten him to it. Thank God Clio wasn’t at home. One night a month she had dinner with Lisa and the family. Lisa was another one blind to any character flaws in Josh Hart. She thought the world of him. Hart had saved baby Ella’s life.

To his surprise Lyle found the front door open. He called, “Hello,” but received no reply. He stood for a few minutes, frowning. He fully expected Mrs Palmer to rush to the entrance, an apology on her lips. She really should have been on hand. He moved further down the hall, becoming aware of raised voices. They were coming from his father’s study. Both voices were recognisable. Something was the matter. He was abruptly furious. Joshua Hart was in the house. The very idea put him on extreme edge.

When he arrived outside the open study door, he was shocked to see his father lying flat on the floor, his striped blue and white cotton shirt open. Hart was on his knees, leaning over him, pressing down on Leo’s chest with both hands. Mrs Palmer was standing nearby, her face ashen, her hands clasped as if in prayer.

“What the devil is going on here?” Anger engulfed him. He was shouting, he was so perturbed. Losing Allegra had almost sent him stark raving mad, now his father?

No one answered him. He may not have been there. “Is Dad having a heart attack?”

Belatedly Mrs Palmer found her voice. “I’m so sorry, Mr Lyle. I’ve called the emergency number. Paramedics are on the way.”

“So what the hell is Hart doing? Shouldn’t he be leaving my father well alone until they arrive?”

“Mr Leo was unconscious,” Meg Palmer explained, feeling acute pity for Lyle. “He wasn’t breathing. Josh has the training. CPR is a lifesaving technique. Think about it, now, Mr Lyle.” Lyle Templeton looked like he wanted to order Josh out of the house.

“I’m thinking about what caused it,” Lyle choked. “Did Dad and Hart get into some kind of an argument? What are all those rolls on Dad’s desk? They look like architectural drawings to me. One of Hart’s schemes, trying to involve my father.”

“That’s the ambulance now, Meg.” Hart looked up from exhaling breath into Leo’s slack mouth. He ignored Lyle entirely.

“I’ll let them in.”

“The damned door is open,” Lyle exploded. “I need some explanations here.”

He wasn’t about to get one from Josh Hart.

Clio took the call on her mobile, even though they had started dinner. It had to be an emergency. It was her father, telling her to return home immediately. “It’s your grandfather,” he said, breaking into a harsh sob. Then he hung up without another word.

She made it home in record time, risking being caught for speeding. Leo had been taken ill. That much was certain. She arrived at the mansion just as the ambulance, presumably with Leo on board, turned out onto the road. For one mad moment she considered flagging them down and then thought better of it. Gravel spewed from the tyres as she pulled right to the base of the short fight of steps that led to the house.

Her father met her at the door, anger in his voice such as she had never heard before. “Hart is here.”

“Yes, I saw his Porsche.” She wasn’t aware Josh was back in town. Josh moved around a lot, scouting out land for future development. There was the possibility too he had wanted to stay clear of all the gossip that had engulfed them. Who could blame him? “Tell me quickly. What’s happened? I almost ran into the ambulance.”