Mistress On Loan

All these years she’d blotted him out of her memory, even though the legacy of those traumatic days was still with her. Haunting her each time she had to climb a ladder or stand on a chair, and found herself assailed by nausea and giddiness. Piercing her when she opened her jewellery drawer and saw the empty velvet box which had once held the garnet pendant.

But she’d managed to convince herself that she would never see him again. That she could bury the past.

And that he would have done the same.

But she was wrong, because here he was.

And once again she was stranded and terrified, with no means of escape.

CHAPTER TWO

‘IT’S been a long time, Adrien.’ His voice had deepened, but she would have recognised that husky timbre anywhere.

She would not—not—allow herself to go to pieces in front of him. Not again. Not for a third time.

Instead she lifted her chin defiantly. ‘My God.’ She kept her tone just this side of insolence. ‘It’s the Haddon boy.’

‘No,’ he said. ‘Not any longer. I’ve become the Haddon man. A distinction I advise you to observe.’

‘A threat,’ she said. ‘But then you were always good at them.’

‘And an accusation,’ he said. ‘For which you had a positive genius. Even when you were in pigtails. And later.’ The grey eyes made a leisurely and nerve-jangling inspection of her. ‘You haven’t changed a great deal—over the intervening years.’

Her throat tightened. ‘I’m afraid I can’t say the same for you. I would never have known you.’

He laughed softly. ‘Are you quite sure about that, Adie? Wasn’t there just a glimmer of recognition this morning when you were staring down at me from your ivory tower?’

His use of her childhood name grated. As did the confirmation of her earlier suspicion that he’d known she was there.

She said shortly, ‘You were the last person in the world I ever expected to see again. And you didn’t hang around to introduce yourself.’

‘No,’ he said. ‘I had business elsewhere. And besides, I knew we’d be meeting again very soon. I didn’t want to anticipate such a pleasurable moment. The first, I hope, of so many more to come,’ he added silkily.

She bit her lip. ‘So—what are you doing here? Why have you come back? I don’t understand…’

‘You’re not required to.’ His smile chafed her nerve-endings. ‘Perhaps I just wanted to surprise you.’

He looked past her as Mr Davidson peered anxiously into the room.

‘Is everything all right, Mr Haddon?’

‘Everything’s fine, thanks.’ The sudden switch to power and charm made Adrien reel inwardly. ‘Could you give us five minutes? Miss Lander and I would like to renew our old acquaintance.’

‘Yes—yes—of course.’ Mr Davidson began to back out of the room.

She wanted to cry out, Don’t go. Don’t leave me with him. But she couldn’t allow herself to betray such weakness.

Instead, she stood in silence and watched the door close. Shutting her in with him. Her enemy.

‘How very deferential of him,’ she threw into the sudden silence. ‘I’m surprised he didn’t call you sir.’

‘He probably will—given time. I’m about to become a very important customer at this bank.’

‘Does he know you were the housekeeper’s son?’ She cringed inwardly at the crudity of the query. Despised herself for voicing it too. Because she’d liked Mrs Haddon, who’d always been warm and kind to her on Adrien’s visits to the Grange with her father.

She had a sudden memory of the well-scrubbed kitchen table, being allowed to scrape the remains of the cake mixture from the bowl. And being given fresh-baked cookies, with her initial picked out in chocolate chips.

‘I’ve no idea.’ His voice was calm. ‘But it would make no difference. Because money talks—and it has a louder voice than your outdated notions of snobbery.’

Faint colour rose in her face, but she stood her ground. ‘Then you’ve come up in the world. How odd.’

His brows lifted. ‘I’ve worked hard. I’ve found it pays off. And I intend to go on working so I can have what I want in life.’

‘Wildhurst Grange, for instance?’

‘Among other things, yes.’

‘Well, I don’t believe it,’ she said. ‘Piers would never sell his inheritance—and especially not to you.’

‘Piers would sell his own grandmother to get out of the kind of mess he’s in.’

She said thickly, ‘How dare you say that? After the way you’ve behaved. You always hated him—you were always jealous…’

‘I had no reason to like him.’ The grey eyes glittered at her. ‘But I wasn’t jealous. He had nothing that I wanted—not then.’

‘And now you want the Grange. So you’ve stolen it from him—somehow.’ She lifted her chin contemptuously. ‘Well—once a thief, always a thief.’

‘What a depressingly commonplace mind you’ve developed, Adie,’ he drawled. ‘It must be through associating with Mr Mendoza. But I’m sure you’ll recover.’

‘I don’t have to,’ she said. ‘Or did you think I’d dump Piers because he doesn’t have the Grange any more?’ She moistened her dry lips with the tip of her tongue. ‘If so, you’re wrong. Because that was never the attraction. Piers and I are going to be together, no matter what’s gone wrong. As soon as I get home I’m going to call him and…’

‘Well, make sure you get the time zones right.’ He looked at his watch. ‘It’s probably the middle of the night in Brazil. And you wouldn’t want to disturb him on his honeymoon.’

The sudden silence in the room was almost tangible. Adrien could feel it beating against her eardrums, constricting her heart.

She looked at him numbly. He seemed to have retreated to a great distance, his dark figure swimming in front of her. Swimming…

‘Sit down.’ His voice was suddenly incisive, authoritative. ‘Put your head between your knees and breathe deeply.’

She obeyed for no better reason than her legs no longer seemed capable of supporting her.

When the dizziness had passed, and she could speak again, she said, ‘You’re lying.’

He said slowly, ‘No, it’s true. He’d been seeing this girl out in Portugal, and made her pregnant. Her father is Brazilian, and powerful, and insisted on marriage. And Brazil was a safer option for him than London or Lisbon.’

He paused. ‘Will you believe, Adrien, that it gives me no pleasure to tell you?’

‘No.’ She raised her head to glare at him. ‘I don’t believe it. You’ve waited a long time for your revenge, Chay Haddon. Waited to punish me for having you sent away all those years ago. I just wish with all my heart that you’d gone to jail instead.’