Secret Millionaire

by Kitty Alexander

  Alexia blew her nose, anxious now to get away from him. ‘I have to get back to work now. I’ve got a meeting soon.’ It was a lie – all she had ahead of her this afternoon was a stack of paperwork, but Chris was looking at her as if he might grab hold of her again, and she didn’t think she could stand it if he did.

  He sighed. ‘All right. But will you come to the party? Because I know you – if your dad were to die, and you’d done nothing to try to make your peace with him, you’d never forgive yourself.’

  He was right. Never mind that it ought to be him making peace with her. ‘All right,’ she said. ‘I’ll come to the party, and I’ll talk to Dad. But that doesn’t mean you and I have a future, Chris. As far as I’m concerned, you made your choice five years ago. I’ve moved on.’

  It was true. Last night she’d found the courage to express her feelings for Mark, and that courage had been repaid a thousand times over. Mark was a loving, passionate man – a man who would never treat her the way Chris had done. The very thought of Mark folding in the face of her father’s twisted demands was laughable. Mark was decent and honest and strong – she knew he was. She could trust him. All being well, perhaps he would even come to the party with her. With Mark by her side, she could do anything.

  Chris’ expression was sulky and disappointed at the same time. It was an expression she’d seen many times over when they’d been growing up. Back then it had always caused her to change her behaviour – to do something to bring back the sunshine of Chris’ love. But not now. Not any more.

  Pushing back her chair, she stood up. ‘Goodbye, Chris. Thanks for coming to tell me.’

  ‘See you at the party?’

  She nodded. ‘If you’re going, yes.’

  ‘Oh, yes,’ he said. ‘I’ll be there.’

  Chapter Eleven

  As soon as she got home, Alexia had a bath. Normally a good soak in some scented water relaxed her. There was a tree outside in the yard, and when the sun was out it shone through the branches, filling the room with flickering shadows. It was peaceful, and almost guaranteed to help distress her.

  But this evening no amount of gently flickering shadows or carefully chosen homeopathic oils were going to help. Her mind was too full with the news of her father’s illness. It was two weeks until the party. Should she make contact with him before then? He hadn’t made contact with her though, had he? That meant he didn’t particularly want her to know. But then why would he? The last time she’d seen him, she’d made it absolutely clear she wanted nothing further to do with him.

  Thank goodness Mark was coming round soon – that something good was going to happen today. She would tell him all about it, and he would comfort her. And then, while he was holding her in his arms, they would kiss. Lying in the scented water, she remembered the feel of Chris’ arms around her and shuddered. After Mark, it had felt so wrong. How could that be? She’d loved Chris once – had planned to marry him. How did feelings like that turn off so completely?

  Could her father have been right all along about it being a mistake for her and Chris to marry?

  ‘How can you treat your own daughter like this?’ she’d yelled at him, that last time. ‘Don’t you even care that you’ve broken my heart?’

  ‘Of course I care,’ he’d said. ‘But one day you’ll thank me for this. Chris isn’t the right man for you, Alexia, I’m completely sure of it. He’s proved it himself, hasn’t he? If he truly loved you, he wouldn’t have accepted my terms.’

  Alexia sat up in the bath to shampoo her hair, massaging her scalp until it tingled. Even if her father had been right about Chris, that didn’t justify the ruthless way he’d dealt with the situation, treating her life like some business deal he was pulling off. If he weren’t ill, there was no way she’d be planning to go and see him again. She’d managed very well without him these past five years.

  No, she’d wait until the party to go. By then she might have calmed down a bit, and besides, then she could say she was just responding to her mother’s invitation. There would be no loss of face. And right now, she wasn’t going to think about it any more. She was going to think about Mark and the delicious evening they had ahead. In fact, it probably wasn’t a good idea to spoil their evening by mentioning it at all.

  * * * * *

  In his rented house in a neighbouring street, Mark was on the phone to his PA. ‘Hi, Charlotte. Just checking in to see if there’s anything major for me to deal with tomorrow.’

  ‘Not really, Mark – I thought you’d want a little time to get back in the swing of things. How’s it going down there? Have you found out what you expected to?’

  The girl I was falling in love with still has feelings for her ex. ‘Yes and no,’ he said, his tone not encouraging any further questions. ‘I’ve got enough information to make a decision about sponsorship anyway. Nothing to update me about?’

  ‘Not really. Oh, yes, some news I thought you’d want to hear.’ Charlotte said. ‘Kenneth Bright of Tiger Foods is stepping down – seems he’s decided to retire. Tony O’Donnell is taking over.’

  Bright – the same surname as Alexia. He’d only phoned Charlotte as a distraction, but obviously fate was conspiring to keep his mind well and truly fixed on her. ‘That’s interesting,’ he said, hoping he would be interested in work when he got back. That he would become as absorbed in it as he usually would – to the extent that it drove all other thoughts from his mind.

  ‘Yes, I thought so.’

  Mark ended the call shortly afterwards, telling his PA he’d be back in the office shortly after lunch. Then he sat on the battered sofa with the sound of the neighbour’s TV coming through the thin wall from next door and tried to focus on what Charlotte had told him. Anything but the memory of Alexia in that man’s arms this afternoon, his mouth against her hair, intimate and possessive.

  The noise from next door was jarring – a loud music video or something was playing. Mark zapped his own TV on. On the screen, a couple were kissing feverishly. God. He closed his eyes, trying unsuccessfully not to think of the previous night with Alexia. How could he have been so wrong about her? He’d always thought he was a pretty good judge of character. Jamie Rogers, for example – he’d met the man a few times at business networks and liked him immediately. He’d be an excellent successor for Kenneth Bright. Kenneth Bright had always been a stumbling block as far as Mark was concerned for any deal involving Tiger Foods. The man was ruthless in business – Mark didn’t like what he’d heard about him. It was surprising to hear he was relinquishing his power like that – perhaps he didn’t have any children to pass the business on to?

  Suddenly, something pinged in Mark’s mind and he reached for his Ipad to search Google. Within seconds, he had found an image of Kenneth Bright with his wife. And, standing next to her mother, was Alexia. The picture was an old one – but it was most definitely her. Alexia was Kenneth Bright’s daughter.

  * * * * *

  After her hair was dry, Alexia went to the bedroom to get dressed. It would be nice to have some soft, romantic lighting in here – she liked to read in bed, so the bulb in her bedside light was quite bright. The gentle glow of some tea lights would be much more romantic. Digging some out from a drawer, she arranged them around the bedroom. Then she realized she hadn’t got any matches – damn! Never mind, they’d have some in the corner shop. It would only take a few minutes to get them. But maybe she’d better stick a note on the door in case Mark arrived when she was out? Scrawling a few words on a post-it note, Alexia duly hurried to the corner shop. But when she got back, Mark still hadn’t arrived, so she put the TV on to kill some time.

  But by nine o’clock, when she’d channel-hopped her way through a selection of soaps and documentaries, he still hadn’t arrived. How stupid not to have fixed a time for him to come. And even more stupid not to have put his phone number onto her phone – short of going into the office, she had no way of finding it out. But he knew where she lived – what could be the problem? U
nless he wasn’t going to come. But of course he was going to come!

  By ten o’clock Mark still hadn’t shown and Alexia was beginning to get tired – it had been a day of high emotion. She went upstairs to light the tea lights. Surely he would be here soon? Then she lay, still fully clothed, on the bed, the gentle, flickering lights stirring memories of the previous evening. She couldn’t wait to discover Mark’s body all over again – to smooth and stroke and kiss every inch of it.

  It wasn’t until eleven-thirty that she finally acknowledged what she’d subconsciously known for hours. He wasn’t coming.

  In the office next day, she searched for his application form. He’d let her down. She’d ought to have some pride – leave it to him to make contact.

  Julia was there, looking over her shoulder. Alexia shoved Mark’s form onto a pile with lots of other registration forms.

  ‘Want me to chase up the references for that lot?’ Julia asked. Probably she wanted to copy down Mark’s phone number. Unless she’d already done that and Mark had been busy with her last night?

  God, she was being paranoid. Julia was just being helpful.

  ‘Yes, please. Just give me five minutes to do a quick skills check on them first.’

  ‘All right.’ Julia headed back towards her desk. Alexia knew she would just sit there waiting for the forms – busy herself filing her nails or something.

  ‘You couldn’t make me a cup of coffee, could you?’ Alexia asked quickly. ‘I’d do it myself, only I’m expecting a phone call.’

  ‘All right,’ Julia replied grudgingly, and then, finally, she was gone.

  Quickly, Alexia retrieved Mark’s registration form from the pile. Her mouth was so dry, she didn’t know if she would be able to speak. She took a swift drink from her bottle of water then dialled his number.

  It began to ring. She waited for him to answer, looking out of the window. A smartly dressed man was approaching the building from the car park. Answer, Mark. Answer. Before I have to deal with this visitor.

  The visitor in question paused and took his phone from his pocket.

  ‘Hello?’ said the voice on the other end of the line. It was Mark. He and the man in the smart suit outside were the same man.

  Alexia hung up. She saw Mark glance at his phone before putting it back in his pocket. Then he continued walking towards the entrance.

  ‘Holy maloney!’ said Julia, coming back into the office with two steaming cups of coffee. ‘Take a look at him! Wow! Wait a minute, that isn’t Mark, is it? Blimey! It is!’

  There was an explanation, there had to be. And one thing was for sure, she was about to discover what it was. Because Mark was ringing on the doorbell and looking in at her through the window in some perverse rerun of the day he’d first arrived at the Centre.

  ‘I’ll get it!’ said Julia, putting the drinks down so quickly the coffee slopped over onto the desk.

  There was a roaring sound in Alexia’s ears. Dimly she heard Julia go out and the ensuing conversation.

  ‘Well, look at you! Gosh, Mark, you certainly scrub up well. Not that you looked bad before, but this is something else.’

  ‘Thank you. Is Alexia available?’

  There was nowhere to hide. He’d seen her through the window. But she didn’t want to hide, did she? She needed to know why he hadn’t turned up last night. Did he have an interview or something? Was that what it was? Had he been busy preparing for it?

  Taking a few deep breaths, she got to her feet, wiping her sweaty palms on her jeans. ‘Good morning, Mark.’ Good, she could speak. And she hadn’t thrown herself at him screaming, ‘Where were you last night?’

  Close up, she could see exactly how smart his suit was. It was nothing like the suit he’d worn to the fashion show. No, this suit screamed professional tailoring. And wasn’t that a gold watch on his wrist? What the heck was going on?

  Alexia didn’t comment on the suit, or watch. She didn’t say anything else at all. Just held his gaze and waited. Mark licked his lips. Good, he was nervous. That must mean he felt bad about last night.

  ‘Good morning, Alexia,’ he said. His eyes flicked towards Julia, who was still standing there. ‘Can I talk to you, please?’

  But before she could reply, someone else came into the Centre – Laura with Lily in the buggy. Vaguely, Alexia remembered they had a meeting at nine-thirty for Alexia to go over things with Laura prior to her return to work the following week.

  ‘Hi all,’ Laura said cheerfully, then almost immediately her expression changed as she sensed the tension. ‘Everything all right?’

  Mark turned away from Alexia to smile at Laura. ‘Hi, Laura. I … I was just about to tell Alexia something, but actually, it’s good that you’re here. Because it’s about the Centre actually. If you’ve got ten minutes?’

  Laura frowned, then quickly nodded. ‘Of course. Julia, keep an eye on Lily, would you? I think she’ll sleep for a little longer, but if she wakes, just take her out of the buggy and jig her around a bit.’ Without waiting for Julia to reply, Laura led the way to the computer suite. Alexia followed, wondering what on earth Mark was going to say.

  Inside the computer suite, Laura found three chairs and grouped them together. They all sat down, then Laura looked in Mark’s direction. ‘So how can I help you, Mark?’ she asked.

  Alexia looked at Mark’s face. He seemed very tired, and suddenly it struck her that he might have been lying when he’d denied being an alcoholic. Maybe that why he hadn’t turned up last night? Because he was drunk? God, she wasn’t hoping he was an alcoholic, was she?

  ‘I’m afraid I haven’t been completely honest with you both,’ he said at last. ‘Well, with anyone here.’

  Alexia’s heart began to race. She gripped her hands together tightly in her lap.

  ‘How is that, Mark?’ Laura asked.

  ‘Well, my name is Mark Brown, but I haven’t just been here to volunteer this week. I didn’t lie about my skills – I was a lorry driver once. But the truth is, I’m a very successful businessman with my own haulage company.’

  What? Mark’s words were making no sense to her, mixing as they were with her own suspicions of relapsed alcoholism.

  ‘In fact, I’m a multi-millionaire,’ Mark continued, ‘and all this week I’ve been secretly looking for projects to invest in.’

  He paused. Laura’s hand flew up to her mouth. Alexia realized she ought to be doing something similar herself, but her brain still wasn’t computing.

  ‘I’m sorry I had to deceive you,’ Mark was saying now, ‘but when I’ve tried to sponsor charities in the past, I haven’t felt as if I’ve really been able to see how they work, warts and all.’

  Suddenly, Alexia felt sick. She and Mark had only known each other for a few days, and in that time she’d felt as if she’d become closer to him than she had to any man in five years. And now, it seemed, she didn’t know him at all. He was a wealthy businessman just like her father, and just like her father, it seemed he had no qualms about doing whatever it took to get the result he wanted.

  ‘I’ve been extremely impressed with the work you do here at The Heath Centre,’ Mark went on. ‘With the way you interact with your clients, and results you achieve. Your clients gain qualifications and, more importantly, jobs. And so I’d like to present you with a cheque for fifty thousand pounds to finance the installation of the computer suite.’

  This time Laura shrieked for joy, and reached out to grab Mark’s hands. ‘Oh, Mark!’ she said. ‘That’s fantastic! Isn’t it fantastic, Alexia? I thought we were going to have to wait years for that computer suite, and now…Oh, thank you, thank you! This means so much. You can’t imagine!’

  The door opened. ‘What’s going on?’ asked Julia. ‘I heard someone screaming.’

  Laura explained, and then Julia was screaming too, and using the opportunity to kiss Mark. Suddenly, Alexia wanted very badly to escape.

  Out in the lobby, she could hear Lily whimpering, so she left the room to go
to the baby, craving the comfort of her goddaughter’s sweet-smelling skin.

  ‘Shh, shh,’ she said softly, taking the child out of the buggy and carrying her to the window overlooking the garden.

  And all the while, behind her, she could hear the details of Mark’s deal with The Heath Centre being thrashed out. The money would be for the computer suite. Any surplus money could be used for other projects, but Mark wanted a say in what those projects were. He would return once a month for a project update. He also wanted to establish a work experience scheme within his company, and would be able to provide a range of opportunities. He would personally interview candidates from The Centre for those opportunities, and act as a mentor while placements were taking place.

  In short, he would be here a lot. And when he wasn’t here, his name would be continually mentioned. The staff – she – would have to negotiate with him, inform him, and consult him, all the time.

  Lily was asleep in her arms now, her little body relaxed. Lucky, lucky girl. A beaming Laura came out to take her from Alexia. ‘Isn’t this amazing?’ she said. ‘It changes everything for us, doesn’t it?’

  Arms folded across her chest, Alexia glanced once more out at the gardens, which were her pride and joy and a great source of peace to her, before looking across the room to where Mark was standing with Julia and a couple of the Centre users. He was looking straight at her.

  ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘It changes everything.’

  Chapter Twelve

  It was dark by the time Mark’s train pulled into Sheffield station. He queued for a taxi and the driver was chatty, talking about the major road works that were taking place around the city. Mark found he could respond sufficiently so as not to appear rude but without fully engaging his brain. And he remembered Jonathan once telling him how he could read to Oliver, Mark’s nephew, while thinking about something entirely different.

  Oliver. It was so long since he’d seen the little boy – Mark’s sister-in-law had moved away from the area after Jonathan’s death.