Dangerous Alliance

by Jane Corrie

  the roll of notes. 'I didn't need these, but thank you, anyway.'

  Matt's jaw stiffened, and he closed his large hand over hers holding the notes. 'Keep it,' he said harshly. 'It's not blood money, if that's what you think. You're a partner now. Call it advance salary if you like, but never ever return anything I give you like that again! '

  A slightly shaken Kent got in the car; she was utterly perplexed by his attitude, for he was absolutely furious. Anyone would think she had thrown the money back at him!

  It was hardly a good start to the partnership, she thought miserably, as the ninety miles back was covered in frosted silence. After what seemed an interminable journey the chalet at last came into view, and Kent could have shouted with relief.

  Matt did not have to summon Juan this time, for as the car drew up he, was there waiting for them, dressed in what Kent presumed to be his best suit, although it was badly in need of a press.

  Matt's surprise was evident, but it was nothing to the sight that met their eyes as they entered the hall. A large bowl of flowers took pride of place on the cane table that normally held cold drinks, and a beaming Juan waved excitedly towards the study door, which was open, and here another transformation had taken place. The table, usually littered with site plans, was now covered with a snowy white

  tablecloth, and loaded down with carefully arranged plates of food.

  Kent's startled eyes went from the displayed table to Matt's face, and she would have grinned if there had been any sign of amusement on his. As it was, he was anything but amused. Without an 'excuse me', he brushed past Kent and Juan, and disappeared into his rooms, leaving Juan looking very perplexed at the obvious displeasure on his employer's face.

  Kent no longer felt like laughing; she wanted to cry. Above all, she wanted to try and explain the situation to the dejected Juan, who must have spent hours on the culinary effort alone, without the flower arrangements. Somehow he had got to know about the wedding, and a horrible thought crossed Kent's mind, and when an enraged bellow came from Matt's quarters, her fears were confirmed.

  Going a trifle pale under his honey-coloured skin, Juan went to answer the war cry.

  Miserably Kent made her way to her rooms. There wasn't much she could do about the situation, and she'd prefer to be out of range of that lashing voice. However, even from her sitting-room she could still hear Matt laying down the law in no uncertain terms, and unable to stand it any longer she made her way to his quarters.

  She was so incensed she did not stop to knock on his bedroom door but walked right in. 'Stop it ! ' she

  shouted at Matt. 'It's not Juan's fault. He just doesn't understand.'

  "then he'll be made to understand,' Matt answered coldly. 'And since you're here, you might as well collect the rest of your things he so thoughtfully moved in here.'

  Kent's eyes fell on her small dressing table, now sedately standing next to Matt's wardrobe, and moved to the bed on which lay her nightdress, placed beside Matt's pyjamas. She wished she could sink through the floor and her face was flaming as she scooped it up in painful embarrassment, and glanced wildly around for any other possession of hers she was capable of carrying.

  Not content with venting his fury out on Juan, Matt started in on Kent. 'I suppose you didn't have anything to do with this, did you?' he asked silkily.

  Kent stiffened and stared at him; her flushed countenance changing white with shock and temper. 'How dare you ! ' she said in a low vehement voice. 'Why don't you take on someone your own size? Or are Juan and I all you can manage?'

  Her words had the desired effect, and Matt stood surveying her for a moment or so before he drawled a soft, 'Okay, forget it.'

  Turning to the now trembling Juan, he spoke to him in his native tongue. Kent did not know what he said, but presumed he was making some sort of appeasement. Whatever it was, it worked wonders, giving Juan a new lease of life.

  Breaking out in rapid Spanish, now all smiles, he gesticulated towards the study.

  Matt shook his head slowly, then looked at Kent. 'He wants to know if he should remove the food as well. Are you hungry?' he asked.

  Feeling as if food would choke her, Kent made an effort. 'It seems a pity to waste it; he's gone to a lot of trouble,' she replied quietly.

  Matt nodded, and answered the boy's question, which cheered him even further, and he seemed to grow several inches taller as he quickly excused himself to serve the meal.

  Giving Kent a sardonic look, Matt walked to the door and waited for her to join him, then with emphasised politeness stood aside for her to precede him into the improvised banquet room.

  Kent started work the following Monday, and was thankful to do so. The uneasy truce between Matt and herself continued through Sunday—not that she had seen a great deal of him, but at least he had attempted to make some conversation with her during their main meal in the evening, and this, to Kent's relief, was on business matters only.

  He told her where she would be working; what her job entailed. and how he hoped she would relieve Tony Sims from the pressures now surrounding him.

  Listening dutifully, Kent did not ask questions, although she would have liked to have done so, but

  she did not want to set Matt on his high horse again. It appeared, she thought sadly, she had an unfortunate habit of upsetting him. To her way of thinking, he was a very unpredictable man, and mindful of a certain episode that had taken place not so long ago, she decided her best bet would be to remain silent.

  Tony Sims, she felt certain, would prove much more approachable than the prickly man seated opposite her.

  Tony not only proved approachable, but decidedly loquacious. Kent had wondered whether her marriage to Matt would cause any embarrassment, but she was grateful, if a little surprised, to find it had been taken as a matter of course.

  'Only thing to do in the circumstances,' Tony commented airily. 'Only sorry I didn't qualify,' he added with twinkling eyes, 'but I've a feeling my wife would have objected!'

  During the next few weeks, Kent was fully occupied learning the job. Apart from the small section she worked in. she was known as Mrs King, and addressed as such. Matt had been very firm on this point, and Kent realised the stipulation was a necessary one, although it took her a little while to respond naturally to the name.

  At the end of the working day, she would find Matt waiting to escort her back to the chalet. At first she was surprised to see him, especially as Tony had volunteered to run her back, commenting that Matt

  was probably tied up somewhere on site and would expect him to do so.

  However, Matt expected no such thing, and Kent felt just a little elated that he had remembered her existence. Alas, it soon became clear that he was finding the time for what he considered a necessary show to his employees slightly irksome.

  `Later on, I'll get Tony to run you back,' he said brusquely, as Kent thanked him for his thoughtfulness.

  Immediately she wished she had held her tongue. Here again, it seemed to her, he was pointing out with his usual lack of finesse that for all he cared, she could walk the two miles back, be it up the side of a steep valley!

  He didn't waste the time he spent with her on the journey either, but plied her with questions on the day's work, making it also clear that she was expected to pull her weight.

  As soon as he had dropped her at the chalet, he would return to the site, leaving Kent wishing fervently for the time when such formalities could be discarded.

  During the day she was kept busy, she found much to do. Tony thankfully left the small unimportant tasks to her and concentrated on the estimates Matt was so impatiently waiting for. Although capable of doing more specialised work, she did not complain, knowing they were taking care not to overload her, in other words, breaking

  her in gently. Gradually she was given work more equal to her training, and Tony was sharing his top priority jobs with her.

  The days taken care of, Kent only had the evenings to while away, and it w
as not long before she started to dread them.

  It was during her last year at university that she had met Jack, and from then on her free time had been spent in his company. She had never experienced loneliness before. Now she missed not only Jack, but the company of the students she had roomed with.

  Finishing her solitary meal, she walked back to her sitting-room. Once again, Matt had elected to stay at the site for the evening. Kent was sure that but for her presence, he would have spent more time at the chalet.

  He had not objected to their sharing meals, and Juan having started the practice going on the day of the marriage, had continued to use the study as the dining room, and Kent had not felt so isolated, but apart from breakfast, Matt rarely put in an appearance for dinner. At the start, she had been relieved by his non-appearance, now she began to feel resentful of this uncavalier treatment.

  She heard Juan clearing the plates from the table and knew he would soon be off home. She had learnt that he came from the village they had passed on the way to the chalet—not from Juan, but from Matt. Juan," although most polite and willing to be of use

  to her, was also a little awed by her. He was still uncertain of the precise relationship between Matt and herself, and was taking no chances of falling between two camps and finding himself out of a job.

  Taking out her writing-case, Kent settled at one of the occasional tables. She had replied to Jack's letter, and it was no use putting it off any longer. She re-read the short missive; not unnaturally he wanted to know why she hadn't written, and how she was finding things out there, adding almost as a second thought how much he missed her, and looked forward to the time when they would be together again.

  When, she thought bitterly, I have the money he needs. Had she still been uncertain of Jack's love for her, his letter would have pushed any doubts she had left out of her mind. It could hardly be called a love- letter. It was more in the nature of two old friends writing to one another.

  Going back over her association with him, she had to admit she had known the truth all along the line. There was so much she had shut her eyes to— cancelled dates, hints from friends, the time she had rung his flat when he was supposed to be working and a girl had answered' the phone.

  And all along, she thought wearily, it had been pride that had made her refuse to face the facts. She sighed; Matt King would have understood, hadn't he said he'd seen her father in her?

  Had her father accepted Jack, Kent knew she

  would in time have acknowledged the truth about him. The very fact that her father chose to call a spade a spade made her cling tenaciously to a man who was using her for his own ends.

  She also had to admit ruefully that it was his looks that had attracted her, and not the man himself. He was everything she thought a man should be, tall, well-dressed, good-looking and fastidious, with an eye to the main chance, she reminded herself relentlessly.

  Very much a ladies' man, he would have no trouble in finding another backer for his scheme for branching out. In that way, he wouldn't be quite so fastidious; a rich widow, perhaps?

  Sighing again, Kent pulled the writing paper towards her, and started to write the letter. Giving no explanation for her extraordinary action in marrying Matt King, but just stating the simple fact, she let him draw his own conclusions on the act. It simply didn't matter any more, and he was intelligent enough to see the writing on the wall.

  As she sealed the letter, she felt oddly relieved. It was over, and from now on she could stop lying to herself.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  To relieve her loneliness, Kent got into the habit of bringing work home with her.

  For the first few weeks, she contented herself by strolling in the partially weeded garden that had once been carefully tended. The chalet was built on a plateau, and practically in the middle of nowhere, and must have been used as a retreat by some wealthy business man. She wondered why it had been suddenly deserted.

  During her first short excursion, she found an ornamental pool, now overgrown with weeds like the rest of the garden, and would have loved to have set to and cleared it, but she dared not. Although it was out of view of the chalet's rear windows, she could not risk Matt either finding her at the task or hearing about her efforts from Juan—in all innocence, of course.

  It was so stupid, anyone else would have understood she needed something to do, as Tony had, when he'd protested earlier on finding that she was taking work back to the chalet.

  She didn't have to go into diagrams with him,

  just simply stated she found time on her hands in the evenings. Tony had understood, and from then on had made no objection. A day later he had brought her some detective novels, remarking blithely that he hoped she was partial to such literature. Kent felt like crying at his thoughtfulness, but swallowed and thanked him.

  She very much doubted if Matt had given her loneliness a thought. Even though, she admitted to herself, he had given her isolation thought.

  As she walked through to her sitting-room, her eye caught the buzzer he had had installed in the hall. If ever she were in trouble, she had only to press that button. It was on a direct line to Matt's office quarters at the site, and where Kent suspected he spent most of his time in the evenings, now that she was in residence.

  She glared at the innocuous-looking button as if it were the man himself. For one mad moment she contemplated putting it to the test—she could always say it was a test run It would suit her just fine to see one Matt King tearing up that hillside to come to her aid She nodded musingly to herself; why, she could almost hear the squeal of brakes as the car screamed to a halt and he took those few steps to the chalet in one great leap!

  Her smile sobered suddenly. The trouble was, she could also see, indeed hear, his reaction on learning her lame excuse for pressing the buzzer! He'd put it all down to the ring doing things to her, and see it

  as a rather pathetic excuse for his company. She sighed; he wouldn't be all that far out either, she , thought sadly. She would have liked some company; not necessarily his—in fact, she told herself fiercely, anyone's company, but hiss

  The glorious muted pink of the sunset filled the room she entered. but this time it failed to hold her spellbound as it had for the first few weeks, when she would stand at the windows gazing out at the rainbow-coloured mountain tops, drinking in the hush that seemed to fall over the entire valley as the sun made its graceful exit.

  Sunsets were made to be shared, preferably with a loved one, and Kent had no such person in her life.

  Shrugging off these unhappy thoughts, she switched on the lamp and determinedly fetched out the work she had brought back with her.

  A week later she received a shock in the form of a visit from Jack. When told someone was waiting to see her at the site office, she was vaguely surprised, but thought it was probably one of her father's friends who, on hearing she had joined the company, had decided to make her acquaintance.

  Entirely unprepared, she walked into the office to meet Jack's accusing eyes.

  On satisfying himself that Mrs King did indeed know the man who had demanded to see her in such high-handed fashion, the site foreman muttered something about a job, and made himself scarce.

  Catching hold of her left hand, Jack said heatedly as his eyes took in the ring on her third finger, `So it's true, then.'

  Kent wished she could have had more time to work a few answers out, and thought dully how much more she would have appreciated this gesture of his, had she not faced the truth about him. It was money that had made him make the trip.

  Meeting his eyes, she replied quietly, 'Yes, it's the truth. I had no reason to lie to you.'

  `You had no reason to marry a stranger, either,' he returned furiously. 'Or did he sweep you off your feet?' adding sarcastically, 'I'll bet there's more than meets the eye in his swift proposal. I suppose you asked him to buy you out, and this was his answer.'

  Watching him, Kent wondered how she could ever have thought she lov
ed him—or that he loved her. There was no sorrow, or pleading application of how much she had hurt him; just plain fury at being cut out of the money stakes.

  'What you mean is, I'm hardly likely to rouse a grand passion in a man—so there has to be another reason. Is that what you're saying?' she asked with a glint in her eye.

  Realising he was treading on dangerous ground, Jack tried another approach. 'Come off it, Kent. Surely we know each other well enough by now to say what we think. You must realise the news gave me a shock.'

  He moved forward and his arm crept round her

  waist. 'So he bowled you over; but can't you see what he's up to? For all you know he could have been swizzling the company for years; and,' he went on swiftly, convinced he had got the answer, 'he never came to see your father, did he? Why, you'd never met the man before you joined the firm. Stands to reason there's something fishy going on.'

  Kent could have told him Matt couldn't keep the firm going and pay social visits as well. The work took him all over the globe; besides, Matt was a working partner, not a social friend of her father's.

  Sidestepping out of his encircling arm, she took a deep breath. 'I'm afraid you're chasing moonbeams, Jack. Matt would never cheat at anything.' She was about to tell him the whole truth of her relationship with Matt, and how, even when she was free, she had no intention of marrying him, when a heavy step outside the door made her wait.

  Matt's keen blue eyes took in first Kent, then Jack. He said nothing, and Kent got the impression he was waiting for a cue, so she gave him one.

  'Matt, this is Jack Langridge. I believe I told you about him,' she said in noncommittal tones. 'This is my husband,' she added, with much emphasis on the 'husband'.

  She did not miss Matt's slight start, or the narrowing of his eyes, and she met them full on, not realising how much her eyes pleaded with him to help her out. He could help, or he could abandon her, and she had no idea which he would choose.