As a wealthy man it’s considered my prerogative to give rather than to receive.’
Had he no shame?
‘How you can have the gall to wear them around Carolyn, I don’t know,’ she whispered raggedly.
He shrugged, seemingly unconcerned at their proximity to his fiancée. ‘But then you don’t know me at all, do you? I didn’t keep my family together against all the odds, and fight off the wolves that almost tore my father’s corporation to pieces by being sweet-natured, mild and forgiving. As it happens, I was running late tonight and in a hurry to dress. I just scooped up the first things that came to hand…’
In spite of his logic she still didn’t entirely believe him. ‘You knew I might be here tonight,’ she accused him.
His cynical eyes hooded. ‘Let’s say I thought it too much of a coincidence that you should be sneaking around the property, spying on me, if you didn’t intend to make some kind of contact.’
Shades of Ryan and his James Bond!
‘I wasn’t spying on you. I was just taking an innocent stroll in the gardens! If you think I was pleased to see you, you must be crazy!’ she choked.
His mouth thinned. ‘If it was so innocent why did you run? That’s the second time you’ve disappeared on me, but now that I know who and what you are, you won’t find it so easy to elude me in future. I’m sure Frank will prove even more informative if I flatter him about his charming protégée. A distant relative, I think he said…?’
‘Yes, and when you marry Carolyn that means you and I will also be relations,’ she pointed out with sweet relish.
But he turned even that point against her. ‘You and I have already established our relations. You obviously think that entitles you to special consideration.’
‘Do I?’ Regan fenced, uncertain of his meaning.
He flicked at finger at her glass. ‘You’re running on empty again. Shall we revisit the bar together?’ He cupped her elbow in his hand and turned his sleek head. ‘Regan and I are going to get another drink. Shall I get you a glass of something, Carolyn?’
‘Preferably water or punch,’ Chris tacked on sharply.
Carolyn paused to give him a fierce look before she tossed Joshua a glittering smile. ‘I’d rather have a glass of champagne.’
‘That is so typical! Go ahead, then. Put your own selfish desires first, just as you always do—’
‘I think you really should have something non-alcoholic,’ interrupted Joshua, with a gentleness that sent tingles up and down Regan’s spine. On this subject at least the two men seemed united in their opinion. She looked curiously at Carolyn, wondering if that high-strung air indicated an addictive personality.
‘Oh, all right,’ she was saying, with a pretty pout in his direction. ‘If you say I should, Jay Darling…’
‘No need to overdo it,’ sniped Chris, and they were off again, arguing the point.
The clamp on Regan’s elbow tightened and she found herself thrust reluctantly into motion.
‘But I don’t want anything else to drink,’ she protested, dragging her steps as he manoeuvred through the crowd.
‘You can keep me company.’
She tried to look back over her shoulder. ‘Aren’t you afraid to leave them alone together without someone to play referee—they might kill each other or something?’
A whimsical smile touched his lips. ‘Or something.’
He didn’t seem very worried. Stupid to think that anyone would be allowed to steal anything from this man.
That was why it was imperative that Regan get access to the Palm Cove advertising accounts before his auditors did. Bad enough that Michael had stolen from his employer through a fictitious printing company, but Regan had no desire to be tarred with the same dishonest brush if she was discovered trying to repay the money he had embezzled all those months ago.
She had believed Cindy when the other woman had sobbed that she hadn’t known about the thefts. Cindy had willingly helped him cheat on his wife but she hadn’t known—or evidently been bright enough to ask—how he had managed to finance his dual lifestyle. She had been horrified when, a few weeks ago, she had stumbled on the evidence of his activities, along with a stash of money, hidden in her garage. Afraid of the consequences to herself and her son if she went to the police, she had flung herself on the mercy of Michael’s ‘clever’ wife, who knew the ins and outs of the law and surely wouldn’t want to endure a public scandal, or condemn her husband’s natural child to grow up in poverty, under the shadow of his father’s crime…?
The child that should have been Regan’s…
She was sick with shame at the way that Michael had abused Sir Frank’s personal and professional trust. He would never have been in a position to do either if Regan hadn’t introduced the two men. Sir Frank put great stock in his reputation for integrity and honest dealing, and she knew what a deleterious effect the belated discovery of embezzlement would have on his pride, not to mention his pocket, if it was uncovered by a close audit during the sale of his company. Determined that would never happen, Regan had used the information on the hidden disk to tot up the exact amount of Michael’s theft and worked out a way to pay it back, hopefully without anyone ever knowing it had been gone. It had taken all the cash that Cindy had found, plus every spare cent that Regan could rake up from the sale of her former home and possessions, to get enough to square the accounts. All she needed now was the time and opportunity to put her plan into action.
‘This isn’t the bar!’ she said, suddenly realising that Joshua had opened a door and was dragging her into an empty room.
A lamp shone on the desk, and twin pendant lights hanging from the high ceiling revealed the button-backed leather chairs and walls of bookshelves of the library.
She spun around as Joshua backed against the door, closing it with a definitive click. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’
‘I thought you might like a little more privacy for this discussion.’
‘Then you thought wrong! We have nothing more to discuss.’
‘On the contrary. We have a great deal to settle.’ He folded his arms across his chest. ‘First up, you can stop flirting with my brother.’
Her jaw dropped. ‘I was not flirting!’
‘I can read body language as well as the next man…you were leaning into him as he talked, giving him a close-up of those sultry little smiles and big violet eyes—’
‘We were having a conversation. It was difficult to hear him over the music. Anyway, I didn’t know he was your brother—’
‘Ignorance is no defence in law, as you should know better than most. Stay away from Chris. Second: how much?’
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘How much were you going to demand from me to keep your mouth shut?’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about! You’re being deliberately insulting—’
‘And you’re being deliberately obtuse. It won’t work. You’re a very bright lady, as Frank was at such pains to point out to me. Keen to make the most of your abilities. An eager opportunist. So…how much?’
Her slender bosom heaved. ‘You think I’m here to blackmail you?’
His eyes flickered down to the rippling white silk and back up to her blazing eyes. ‘It’s a reasonable assumption. You found out who I was—who I’m engaged to—and figured that you were in a perfect position to threaten to disrupt my wedding plans unless I agreed to pay you soothing amounts of cash.’
That