by Fiona Brand
He clamped down on his impatience. JT was a shark but, as long as their friendship was, he was a newcomer to the firm and hadn’t had time to absorb all of the nuances of the Hunt/Mallory saga. “If Esmae was going to play nice with the shares, she would have accepted my father’s offer to buy them twenty years ago, but she refused. The only saving grace was that my grandfather had the foresight to sign over ninety-five percent of the business to my father a couple of years before he died, otherwise Hunt Securities would be Mallory Securities.”
“But Esmae did give you an undertaking before she died—”
“That was when I was the only beneficiary of Esmae’s will. Then, two years ago, Allegra moved to Miami full-time, the will got changed and Esmae decided to keep the new will under wraps.” Tobias’s gaze broodingly skimmed the ranks of cars. “Esmae made changes she knew I wasn’t going to like. Why else keep them a secret?”
His pulse rate lifted as he caught a glimpse of Allegra stepping into an elevator. Her head turned; her gaze clashed with his. A split second later, the doors closed, and the fiction that she hadn’t noticed she had cut him off and stolen his parking spot died a death.
Tobias negotiated another tight turn and took the ramp up to the next level, which looked as packed as the one he had left. “The Hunt Security shares should come to me,” Tobias said bleakly “but it’s a fact that I’m not blood kin to Esmae, and Allegra Mallory is. And, when a Mallory is in the picture, all bets are off.”
His great-grandfather Jebediah had known that better than anyone. “Don’t forget, Esmae bankrolled Allegra’s spa business, and it’s a fact that Allegra has been at Esmae’s bedside for a good few months now.”
There was a small silence. “You really think Allegra’s likely to pull something like that? I’ve read the online hype, but, hey, let’s remember who’s writing it. Buffy Hamilton. I mean, seriously...?”
Tobias found himself controlling his temper with difficulty, which was unusual, because he never lost his cool, and especially not with JT. They’d spent a tour of duty in Afghanistan together. If there was one person he trusted to have his back, it was JT. “You dated Buffy, so I guess you should know.”
“You’re beginning to sound like Julia. I spent a weekend on her father’s yacht,” JT muttered. “There’s a difference.”
Julia was the girlfriend with whom JT had recently broken up. Tobias frowned. “You didn’t tell me that was the reason for the breakup.”
“It wasn’t. Let’s just say there were...other factors, but Julia managed to bring Buffy into the picture.”
“You mean there was someone else.”
Which was no surprise. JT was tall, tanned and blond, with the kind of muscular beach-boy good looks women seemed to find irresistible. He was also the son of a mega-rich Florida real estate tycoon, so he had no lack of “next” girlfriends.
“Not...exactly. My point is that the someone else I was interested in wasn’t Buffy.”
“Back to the will,” Tobias said flatly. “Six months ago, Esmae made Allegra a beneficiary of her secret will. That means Esmae’s done something I’m not going to like, and whatever it is, Allegra’s in it up to her neck.”
“I get it that Esmae’s been secretive. I just don’t think Allegra’s the type to leverage benefits from a dying relative.”
Tobias stiffened. The last time he had discussed the will with JT, they had been on the same page. Now, it sounded like JT had joined the Allegra Mallory fan club. “I didn’t know you’d met Allegra.” And fallen under her spell.
There was a brief silence. “As it happens, we, uh, did meet a couple of times. Julia was a client at her spa, used to swear by her herbal wraps and mud baths. And we might have had her over for dinner along with some other friends.”
Tobias’s jaw tightened. That was an “affirmative” on JT falling under Allegra’s spell.
He gave up on the upper-level parking and cruised back down to the lower deck, scanned the rows of cars and finally caught some movement. “I’m guessing that was before you split with Julia.”
There was a small, stiff silence. “I’m hardly likely to have had Allegra over for dinner otherwise.”
“No,” Tobias said softly, “because that would be a date.”
JT and Julia had split up a month ago. Tobias now had to wonder if Allegra was the reason JT’s relationship had foundered. If she was running true to the online hype, she could be angling for JT to be her next wealthy lover.
Grimly, he accelerated toward the area he had seen the car leaving. “There’s only one reason I asked you to be present at the reading of the will, and that’s because something’s up. I wouldn’t have needed you, otherwise. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
Tobias terminated the call.
JT and Allegra. He had not seen that coming.
And it would be happening over his dead body.
As luck would have it, the vacant space was just two down from where Allegra’s stylish convertible was parked.
He checked his watch. His annoyance shot up another notch when he noted that he was now a good ten minutes late. Exiting the truck, he locked it, strode toward the elevators and punched in the number of the floor. As the elevator sped upward, he remembered the last interview he’d had with Esmae, who, even at ninety-two, had been strong-willed, imperious and just a tad manipulative.
All recognizable Mallory traits.
From odd things his step-grandmother had let drop, Tobias knew that Esmae had done something out of the ordinary with the will. The fact that she had kept it secret, and that he had not had access to a copy of it, was the final confirmation.
Allegra’s presence at the reading guaranteed that the changes involved Esmae’s great-niece.
The doors slid open. He strode into the plush offices of Esmae’s lawyer’s law firm and was directed to her lawyer Phillips’s office. As he stepped through the door, his gaze automatically settled on Allegra. Her dark glance clashed with his. Despite bracing himself for the moment, every muscle in his body tightened.
Not for the first time it occurred to him that, usually with women, he could walk away clean. When it was over, it was over. But when it came to Allegra, the usual rules hadn’t applied.
Neither had time and distance, or the guilt that had gnawed at him, worked their magic. Despite searching out and dating other women who should have been perfect for him, just as his ex Lindsay had been, he still wanted Allegra Mallory.
Join the club with who-knew-how-many other men, including JT.
A little grimly, he refreshed himself on the past record of Mallory and Hunt liaisons.
Alexandra Mallory had slept with Jebediah, then scammed him, making herself even richer in the process. That was strike one.
Seventy years ago, Esmae had escaped the financial crash that had nixed the fabled Mallory fortune and solved the family’s poverty problem by jumping on his grandfather Michael Hunt’s newly minted money train. Strike two.
Esmae had been beautiful, but Allegra, with her rich hair, delicately molded cheekbones, firm jaw and wide mouth, was next-level gorgeous.
Even so, there was no way in hell he was going to let Allegra Mallory carry on the family tradition with him.
There was not going to be a strike three.
Two
Allegra dragged her gaze from the brooding, magnetic challenge of Tobias’s, as if in taking the parking space he had wanted, and making him a good fifteen minutes late for the appointment, she had thrown down a gauntlet.
And he had picked it up.
Guilt that she had behaved so aggressively, and other less distinct and more disturbing sensations that coiled in the pit of her stomach, was almost instantly replaced by fiery irritation. She couldn’t help thinking that it was not a bad thing that, for once in his life, Tobias hadn’t gotten something he wanted just because he had wanted it
.
Taking a measured breath, she smoothed out her expression. But maintaining any level of calm was difficult, because when Tobias stepped into the room, with his broad shoulders, cool gray gaze and that palpable air of command, he took up all the air.
Her fingers automatically went to the simple-but-classy diamond bracelet at her wrist, which had been part of that last prize package she had won as a beauty queen. Wearing the diamonds had been a conscious choice for this meeting, not just because diamonds went with everything, but because the jewelry reminded her that she was successful and goal oriented, and that her life was not defined by others’ mistakes.
And, it was a fact that in the last two and a half years, following a fake scandal that had ended the high-flying business career in San Francisco that she had sweated blood to attain, she’d had to forgive a lot of those kinds of mistakes.
Determinedly ignoring Tobias and his smooth-talking lawyer, JT, she directed a cool glance at Phillips. “Perhaps we should start? I have an appointment at twelve that I don’t want to miss.”
The appointment was with a funky little vegan café that made her favorite herb-and-nut salad, and chocolate bliss balls that were to die for, but no one here needed to know that.
“And we wouldn’t want you to be late,” Tobias said in a soft, curt voice that made her stomach clench.
Doing her best to control the flush that warmed her cheeks, Allegra kept her gaze firmly on Phillips, who was looking at her in a measuring way as he handed her a copy of the will. After six months with a finance firm that had seemed filled with men who, apparently, hadn’t yet grasped that women could look attractive and still have schedules and priorities that did not include them, she had gotten used to that look.
Apparently, because she had inherited the chestnut Mallory hair and her mother’s dark eyes and traffic-stopping figure, men found it difficult to take her seriously. That was their problem, totally, but she was a helpful person and usually, in a business setting, she did her best to tone down her appearance.
However, today, with Tobias in the mix, she hadn’t been inclined to tone down anything. The dress she was wearing discreetly hugged her curves, revealed a hint of cleavage and was short enough to showcase her long legs, which were possibly her best feature. The matching bolero jacket gave the outfit a more business feel while at the same time emphasizing the way the dress cinched in at her waist and that her bust size—courtesy of her mom—was a “don’t mess with me” 36C.
Instead of a sophisticated French pleat, she had gone for a looser, messier knot, which looked great with a pair of diamond Chanel earrings that had been a graduation gift from her father. As a gift, the earrings had been a little over-the-top. Her brothers had been annoyed because they had only gotten watches, but what could she say? She was Daddy’s girl.
In any case, the dress and the jacket—besides giving her the pampered, high-end look she needed in her business—were by the newest, hottest designer in the business: Francesca Messena.
Maybe it might seem strange that she would wear clothing made and designed by the woman she had learned had slept with Tobias both before and after he had slept with her. But the way Allegra saw it, buying Francesca’s clothing was a clear sign that she had healed and moved on, and that the stinging sense of betrayal when Tobias had ditched her in favor of Francesca had been utterly banished from her psyche.
And, of course, it went without saying that, as part of her recovery process, she had forgiven Francesca. It had taken a while—she had burned a whole ream of forgiveness statements before the job got done—but she had kept reminding herself that Francesca was basically a good person. She simply hadn’t known how big a rat Tobias was. Besides, why should she be denied the clothes she wanted to wear just because Tobias had been briefly included in both of their lives?
To not wear the Messena brand was to say that Allegra lived in a universe where Tobias controlled what she did and did not wear, and last she heard, Tobias was not the ruler of the universe.
As Phillips started reading, Allegra skimmed the first page, aware that, somewhere within the document, there was going to be a surprise she was not going to like. That surprise could only have to do with Madison Spas, because the only reason she was here was that Esmae held fifty percent of the shares.
Too late to wish she hadn’t let her aunt invest, and that she had done what she had originally planned and taken out a loan with her own bank.
Just four months ago, when Allegra had learned Esmae was terminal, she had even offered to buy out the shares, but Esmae had said there was no need, since she was leaving them to Allegra in her will. That would have been all well and good, except that Esmae had then point-blank refused to let Allegra see a copy of the will.
Now she was braced for a worst-case scenario. She could be about to lose control of the business she had started, and which she loved with passion, to Tobias Hunt!
Extracting her reading glasses from her handbag, she slipped them on and attempted to concentrate on the legalese. Normally, she was very good at speed-reading and picking out the main points, courtesy of a master’s degree in finance, but with Tobias pacing Phillips’s overlarge office like a large, caged cat, it was difficult to concentrate.
By the third page in, she was beginning to relax, then Phillips delivered the kind of punch line that had her rereading the clause.
Live in Esmae’s beach mansion, for a whole month with Tobias, or she would lose the shares in her business?
She went hot, then cold, then hot again. She reread the clause, just in case there had been a mistake.
There wasn’t, and in that moment, a mistake she had made came back to haunt her.
After spending that one night with Tobias, she had been indiscreet enough to tell Esmae what had happened. The words had practically burst out of her because she had been so confident that she was on the brink of the kind of deep, life-altering relationship with Tobias that she had secretly hoped would be in her future.
Predictably, Esmae had been reserved. Even though she had married a Hunt, she knew that if there was one man Allegra shouldn’t have slept with, it was Tobias, because the acrimony that had existed between the Hunts and the Mallorys for a good three generations was, apparently, still alive and well.
Too late to regret telling Esmae her deepest, darkest secret. A secret her aunt had promised not to tell.
Now, it was suddenly looking like the past wasn’t buried after all, because it seemed that Esmae was attempting to matchmake from beyond the grave.
Of course, there was a thin possibility that this might not be about matchmaking. Esmae, the only Mallory who had ever actually married a Hunt—a second marriage to Tobias’s grandfather—could simply be trying to help the two families reconcile their differences. Although that didn’t make sense since, now that Esmae was gone, there was literally nothing to tie the two families together.
Allegra frowned. Two years ago, when she had confided in Esmae, had she been silly enough to speculate that marriage might be in their future?
An embarrassing, too-vivid memory surfaced. That would be a yes on mentioning the marriage word.
She drew an impeded breath, abruptly aware that Tobias was standing, arms folded across his chest, gunmetal-gray eyes trained on her, as if he believed the “living together” clause had been her handiwork.
As if she had manipulated Esmae into changing the will because she still wanted Tobias.
A slow, deep flush warmed her cheeks. As if.
JT, whom she knew on a casual basis because his ex-girlfriend Julia used to be a regular client at Madison Spas, seemed more relaxed, but there was no mistaking the same cold, incisive gaze.
Mortification aside, the combined presence of Tobias and JT, in theory, should have made her feel embattled, like a small animal cornered by a powerful and efficient wolf pack. But it was a fact that she had grown up wit
h four very large older brothers and, by the time she had turned five, that tactic hadn’t worked for them, either.
Taking a deep breath, Allegra forced herself to relax. She was doing exactly what her therapist had advised her not to do: overstressing. The problem was she liked to be in control, and ever since Esmae had died, everything had been distinctly out of control.
She took another slow, deep breath and closed her eyes for just a second as she attempted to center herself by using a visualization recommended by her Christian meditation instructor. Unfortunately, the calming image of a limpid, moonlit lake seemed to have developed a roiling whirlpool right at the center.
Her lids flickered open; Tobias’s gaze locked with hers before dropping to her mouth. Another one of those stomach-clenching electrical tingles ran through her, as if, deep down, at some primitive level, her body couldn’t help but respond to Tobias.
But that couldn’t be, she thought, briskly, since she was over him. They were over one another.
It would be a chilly day in hell before either of them would willingly choose to share personal space.
Although, it was looking like there was no way to avoid it.
Tobias said something short and flat under his breath, “So, there’s no way out of this.”
Annoyed at the way his statement mirrored her own thought, her gaze clashed with his again, which was a mistake, because another jolt of tingling heat set her even more on edge.
Tobias moved so that his broad shoulders blocked a good deal of the hot sun streaming through the window of Phillips’s office. He pinned Phillips with that remote, unnerving gaze, and suddenly the stories about Tobias’s time in the military as some kind of Special Forces ghost seemed to gather force.
