The Valentine Affair

‘It’s no good glaring at me like that, my girl!’ he grinned with sardonic amusement, clearly enjoying her discomfiture. ‘Especially as we both know that you must have spun a complete yarn to poor Dora. And, since you most definitely are not Fiona Bliss, maybe you’d be good enough to tell me your name?’

She regarded him warily in silence, and then shrugged. ‘I did wonder if you’d recognise me, after all this time. But clearly it would seem that you haven’t.’ She paused for a moment. ‘I’m Alex Pemberton.’ .

He frowned, staring at her intently, before giving a shake of his dark head. ‘No, sony—I simply don’t recall that name. And I’m very sure that I wouldn’t have forgotten meeting you,’ he added, once more allowing the green eyes beneath their heavy lids to slowly and carefully scrutinise her figure. ‘Quite certain, in fact!’

‘Ah. well—that just goes to show how even the cleverest of men can be mistaken!’

Alex smiled blandly at him, suddenly feeling lightheaded, and totally amazed to find that she wasn’t frightened of this man after all.

So, OK...she had been startled and confused a few moments ago by the sudden, shocking reminder of his overwhelming sexual attraction. But she was now recovering fast, and couldn’t think why, over the past eight years, she’d stupidly allowed Leo’s dark image to become magnified in her mind until it had assumed the proportions of a nightmare.

She had, of course, been pathetically young and innocent at the time. But now, standing here in his office, everything seemed very different. For the first time in her life—certainly as far as this man was concerned—she was feeling quite extraordinarily confident, with no doubts about her ability to cope with the situation.

‘I hear that you are about to become engaged. I imagine that must make your parents very happy,’ Alex said, casually sitting down on a Chippendale chair set in front of his desk.

‘I really don’t see that the private life of myself, or my family, is any business of yours,’ he drawled coolly.

‘Oh, dear—it looks as if I might be guilty of bad manners, doesn’t it?’ She gave him a false, penitent smile. ‘I should have enquired after your mother. Tell me—how is dear Eleanor these days? Still busy raising funds for charity?’

There was a long silence as Leo stared intently at the calm, self-assured figure smiling so confidently at him from the other side of his desk. He was damned certain that he’d never seen this extraordinarily good-looking girl before. But, if so, how come she seemed to know his mother?

‘And how is your stepfather?’ Alex asked brightly.

‘I really don’t think—’

‘It’s a long time ago, of course, but I have very fond memories of Sir Geoffrey—far and away the nicest member of your family.’

She smiled artlessly at the man whose face had suddenly become a blank mask. Only the piercingly sharp green eyes gazing at her with hard, intense speculation gave any hint of the furious mental activity going on behind that deadpan expression.

‘I do hope that he’s enjoying his retirement in Gloucestershire? It must be such a contrast to all those years he spent as an ambassador in South America!’ she continued, suddenly recalling one of the snippets of information from the newspaper library commenting on the successful diplomatic career of Sir Geoffrey Lucas which she’d briefly had time to look at before driving to the bank.

This girl is definitely trouble—with a capital T! Leo told himself grimly. Although, quite why he was suddenly so certain of that fact, he had no idea. But he still had no clue as to why she was here. Or what she’d hoped to gain by pretending to be Fiona Bliss...

And leaving aside any speculation about her visit to his office, he had a very strong, uneasy feeling that his life was about to be seriously disturbed. Maybe it was that slight trace of irony in her voice? Or, possibly, the sight of those wide, clear blue eyes regarding him with such a guileless, innocent gaze? Whatever the reason, his instincts were telling him that the sooner he got rid of this Miss Pemberton the better it would be for his peace of mind.

‘Well, it’s been very interesting meeting you, but I’m afraid that I’m going to have to ask you to leave,’ he murmured smoothly. ‘Unfortunately, I’m very busy today, and...’

‘Yes. I listened to your speech downstairs just now. Very impressive!’

‘Thank you,’ he murmured through gritted teeth, making a mental note to have a few harsh, sharp words with the bank’s chief security officer.

The fact that this girl had managed to gain entrance to the building—let alone being able to wander casually around the offices—was absolutely disgraceful! In fact, now he came to think about it, such a total breach of security could have had dire consequences. He was probably lucky that she wasn’t some mad gunman, waving a kalashnikov rifle and demanding the keys to the bank’s safe!

With a slight, irritated shake of his dark head, Leo made a determined effort to clear his mind.

Oh, boy—it really wasn’t his day! First all that business about his ‘engagement’ to Fiona—and now, seemingly bemused by this unknown girl’s bewitching smile, he’d actually found himself thinking that some crazy idiot might appear in his office brandishing a gun!

Pull yourself together—get a grip on life! he told himself roughly. So...OK, he was prepared to admit that he found Miss Pemberton very sexually attractive. But so what? He had, after all, known plenty of women who were far more beautiful. And yet... well, most unfortunately, there was no escaping the fact that, while she’d only been in his office for a few minutes, this girl appeared to be having a disastrous effect on his normally levelheaded, logical mind!

‘I have several calls to make, and then an early luncheon appointment,’ he informed her curtly, pulling one of the telephones on his desk towards him. ‘So, if you don’t mind letting yourself out...?’

‘Well, yes, I do—mind, that is. Because I was really hoping that we could have a lovely long talk,’ Alex told him with another completely false, beaming smile. ‘I mean, we’ve so much news to catch up on, haven’t we?’ she added, leaning back in her chair. ‘For instance, I can’t wait to hear all about your romance with Fiona Bliss!’

Leo gave a heavy sigh, before slowly rising to his feet. ‘I’m sorry, but I really am very busy. So, unless you leave this office immediately, I shall be forced to call the security guards—and have you thrown out.’

‘I don’t think I’d like that.’

He gave a short bark of exasperated laughter. ‘No, I’m quite sure that you wouldn’t,’ he agreed grimly, determinedly averting his eyes from her long, slim legs in those sexy black stockings. ‘So, why not be a sensible girl and leave quietly while you have the chance to do so?’

‘Because we’ve got some talking to do—that’s why,’ she retorted, opening her handbag and extracting a white business card, which she placed firmly on the desk in front of him.

‘I’m simply not interested...’ he snapped, irritably flicking the card away as he lifted the receiver of his phone, angrily punching some numbers on the dial.

‘Oh, I think you will be interested,’ she countered swiftly, leaning forward and firmly cutting off his call. ‘Because, while I use the name of Alex Pemberton for professional reasons, I was actually christened Alexandra Rothstein.

‘Not that it really matters,’ she continued bleakly as he slowly put down the phone. ‘Because, as far as you are concerned, Leo, my real name is Nemesis!’

CHAPTER THREE

GAZING up at Leo’s tall frame, which had suddenly stiffened, his dark brows drawn together in a frown as he stared down at her, Alex found herself wondering why the name of Nemesis—the mythical Greek goddess of retribution and revenge—should have so suddenly come into her mind.

As he replaced the phone and slowly sank back down into his seat, Alex realised that deep down, within the dark recesses of her subconscious, she must have been waiting for an opportunity to finally confront Leo face to face. Not ever really knowing exactly how, when or where, of course. But now the strong feelings of anger and injustice, which she’d so firmly suppressed for the past eight years, were swiftly rising to the surface and demanding to be heard.

Alexandra Rothstein...? ‘Well, well...’ Leo murmured, leaning back in his chair, regarding her intently from beneath his heavy lids.

‘Surprise, surprise!’ Alex murmured, taking the opportunity to steady her nerves as she bent down to retrieve her business card, which he’d so arrogantly flicked down onto the floor by her feet.

‘It certainly is a surprise to see you again after such a long time,’ he agreed slowly. ‘Especially since you seemed to have completely dropped out of sight for the past eight years. In fact, I can hardly believe...’ He paused, staring at her silently for a moment. ‘I take it that you really are “The Bolter”’s daughter?’

Alex gave him a cool smile. ‘I’m afraid so.’

‘So, what’s your mother up to these days?’ he enquired sardonically. “The last I heard of Gina, she’d run away from a rich Italian prince—was he her fifth or sixth husband?—and “bolted” off with a young Argentinian polo player. However, I imagine that she must have married and discarded several more husbands by now.’

‘She might well have done so,’ Alex agreed stonily. ‘Unfortunately, my mother and her husband died in an aeroplane crash some years ago.’

‘Oh, Lord—I’m sorry!’ Leo exclaimed, grimacing in self-disgust and clearly wishing that he’d kept his mouth shut as he brushed a hand roughly through his dark hair.

Alex shrugged. ‘Apparently, it seems the young Argentinian was far more skilled at handling his polo ponies than he was at managing the controls of his private plane.’

‘I really am very sorry,’ Leo assured her earnestly. ‘What I said about your mother was completely uncalled for and desperately unkind. Believe me, I had no intention of...’

‘Yes, well, it all happened a long time ago,’ she said quickly, determined to avoid a discussion on Gina’s obvious defects as a wife and mother.

Besides, it had been a generous and handsome apology from Leo, who certainly had no reason to think well of her mother.

His stepfather, Sir Geoffrey Lucas, had only been Gina’s second husband for a very short time. Barely a year after their wedding she’d run off with a French pop star, leaving Sir Geoffrey to subsequently marry Leo’s mother, Eleanor Hamilton, then a widow with a young ten-year-old son.

Leo glanced down at his watch. ‘I really do have a lunch appointment with some bankers. However, I think our “family reunion” calls for a quick gin and tonic—don’t you?’ he murmured, rising from behind his desk to move lithely across the room. He opened a large bookcase to reveal a well-stocked drinks cabinet, and Alex noted that, while busy mixing her an alcoholic drink, he was pouring himself a large glass of plain water.