by Cole, Sunny
‘Humph. I should’ve hired you instead of the slew of private investigators that’ve been on my payroll for over twenty years. None of them came close. No nibbles, nothing. Two years?’ She looked incredulous. ‘Does the girl know who she is?’
‘No. I wasn’t even sure myself until just now.’
‘I see.’ Amelia’s demeanour changed, and she was no longer the stoic mistress of the mansion. She placed her hands over her face and sobbed as years of pent-up grief and frustration took their toll.
Jack, whose own parents were fairly well-contained and never cried, hadn’t expected this reaction. ‘Amelia, I’m sorry. I should have told you earlier that I suspected I’d found her, but I wanted to make sure. It would have upset you even more if I’d introduced you then been wrong.’
Amelia stopped sobbing and stared at him. ‘Did you have to marry her? Couldn’t you have simply brought her to me?’
‘Riley would have thought I was insane.’ Jack reached across the table for Amelia’s hands. ‘She so desperately longs for a family and you want to find your grandchildren. This way I’ve brought the two of you together. Now we can see if she’s really one of your son’s lost children. If she isn’t, we’ll deal with it, and I’ll continue searching with you until we find them.’
Amelia cried softly. ‘She goes by Riley, if that’s her given name, our hope is lost. The middle child’s name was Marianne. My husband’s favourite, truth be told.’ She smiled through her tears. ‘Joseph used to take her through the vineyards on his rounds. She was such a little thing, but I could see her bright hair bobbing along as she sat on his shoulders. Like him, she so loved those grapes.’
‘She’s our new viticulturist,’ Jack admitted.
Amelia’s eyes widened. ‘Riley?’
He nodded. ‘That’s how we met — I was interviewing her for the job. She has excellent qualifications and references.’ A small lie, perhaps — or bending of the truth — but it was the only thing he could think of in the way of a decent explanation.
Then Amelia’s eyes narrowed. ‘And you fell instantly in love?’
Guilt washed over him. ‘She’s amazing, isn’t she?’ He couldn’t very well profess undying love for someone he’d just met, but he refused to hurt Amelia further.
Amelia moved her hands so that hers surrounded his. ‘If she’s my granddaughter, you’ll have granted one of my fondest wishes. If you hurt her somehow in the scheme you’ve concocted, you cannot imagine my...displeasure, Jack.’
‘Understood.’
He left the comfort of her touch, sat back, and lit a cigarette. ‘We can’t tell her just yet what we suspect.’
She seemed to take offense. ‘Why not?’
“What if we’re both wrong?’ he asked.
‘I see your point, but that hardly seems relevant. She’s an adult. Surely, she can handle the disappointment if I can.’
Jack took a deep breath before telling her one last secret. ‘If my sources are correct, the children were abducted by someone who was hired by a member of your family or someone in your employ, Amelia.’
Her face clouded. ‘Go on.’
‘I believe they were hired to kill the children, but whoever it was couldn’t go through with it, so he left them at various orphanages, from the Gold Coast to Sydney, all the way into the outback.’
‘That’s absurd. How can you be sure?’
Jack cocked his head, taking a drag from the cigarette. ‘I still haven’t found the man responsible for removing them from the home. But one of my investigators is tracking him. At least we believe he’s the kidnapper. Once I know something more, I’ll tell you.’
‘I don’t understand why we cannot tell Riley.’ Amelia looked perplexed and frustrated.
‘You still retain most of the servants you had twenty years ago,’ Jack explained, ‘and the only family members who have died are the children’s parents. Right?’
‘And my husband died soon after the children disappeared.’
Jack watched the transformation on Amelia’s face as she realised what he meant.
She looked at him, fearfully. ‘If they thought the children were alive, they might try again...but...why?’
Chapter Four
Jack sucked in a deep breath. ‘Who benefits if your only child is dead and his children are believed dead as well?’
‘Impossible. You’re accusing Patrick or his father? Joseph’s own brother and his nephew?’
‘I’m not accusing anyone. I’m stating the obvious. Who would wish to do away with all members of your immediate family? Don’t just think of family members. Someone may have done this purely out of greed — money offered to them if they took the children. Revenge. They may even have considered ransoming them, but something interfered with their plans,’
‘Oh, dear.’ Amelia looked not only crestfallen but as if she might faint again.
Jack rushed to her side. ‘Amelia?’ He knelt beside her and held her hands in his. ‘I should’ve planned this better. I’m sorry.’
‘Why? Do you think you’d have done better a month from now? A year? No, whenever you sprang this the shock would be as strong.’ She looked worried again. ‘Let’s say Riley co-operates, agrees to DNA testing. What if this girl isn’t my Marianne?’
‘Then I have a wife who isn’t related to you.’
‘Ever the smart-arse. What of Riley? How do we get her to let us test her blood? Can this be done any other way, with maybe a hair sample?’ She seemed agitated and began fretting. ‘And how in hell are we to keep this from Patrick? You’ve seen him — the boy never leaves my side.’
“We just don’t tell him. If he’s kept in the dark, he won’t suspect. Are you sure you’re okay? You really should let me call Dr Mallory for you,’
‘I’m fine, just tired.’ Amelia smacked the table with her palms. ‘You’re beginning to sound like Patrick, always after me about my health.’ She looked up.
‘You don’t like Patrick, do you, Jack?’
Jack remembered comparing Patrick to the villain in Oscar Wilde’s Dorian Gray, but his feelings were based more on gut feeling than fact. ‘He’s too much like his father for my tastes. That’s all. He cares more about having eye candy on his arm and driving sports cars than he does business.’
‘Precisely why I doubt he’s behind this kidnapping nonsense.’ Amelia tapped her nails on the table. ‘Besides, he was too young at the time to have done anything so diabolical.’
She sighed. ‘You’re right about one thing — he is his father’s son. It’s a wonder Brian’s wife has remained married to him so long, but then Sharon never had much sense anyway.’
Jack rose and motioned for Amelia’s butler, who was never far from her side. ‘I can see I’m tiring you. Why don’t you have a lie down, Amelia? We can talk about this another time.’
Amelia agreed. ‘One thing I can say for you, boy. When you pack a punch, it’s a good one.’
She turned at the entry. ‘Finish what you’re doing. I’ll have someone send Riley down to meet you.’
Jack stubbed his cigarette in the ashtray and took his drink with him. ‘I’m done. I need to go upstairs before my wife thinks I’m already cheating on her.’
Riley didn’t know whether to unpack or tiptoe through the halls to peer into each room, so she did neither. Thankfully, James knocked on the door shortly after she’d been taken to the suite, and he came bearing wine.
She removed her shoes and took a tour of her suite. Their suite. Jack’s bedroom.
The thought made her shiver. She felt like an intruder, but curiosity got the best of her, so she opened this door, then that door, and poked into closets and drawers. The man is certainly tidy. Not a pair of socks or a suit out of place. But chances were it wasn’t Jack who cleaned and took care of his bedroom. Riley had never had servants, and the thought of someone else handling her underwear, pressing her clothes, and making sure her shoes were placed just so unnerved her.
She couldn’t help but smile. Jack wore b
oxers — some of them silk. Who’d have thought? And the boxers on top were red!
Riley took another sip of wine and let her free hand touch the stack of men’s shorts, fingering the scarlet pair on top of the rest.
The turning of the doorknob to their bedroom made her jump.
Shit. She’d spilled wine on Jack’s underwear!
Quickly, she grabbed the soiled pair and stuffed them into her bra, trembling as the damp silk caressed the top of her breasts on its path. Then she quietly eased the drawer shut and took another sip of wine, unable to leave the closet.
Busted, she remained still, praying a servant had entered, not realising anyone was there. Then she closed her eyes, mortified, as a familiar voice called her name. Sweet Lord, don’t let him come in here.
But heaven wanted nothing to do with her. That’s what you get for snooping.
Coming to her senses, she turned to face him. ‘I was wondering where you wanted me to hang my clothes.’
He looked puzzled at first, then slowly smiled. ‘You look like a cat that found the cream.’
Riley tried looking innocent, but she felt the blush flame from neck to cheeks. ‘So where do I hang my things?’ She absolutely refused to feel intimidated, even if his underwear was caressing her thudding chest.
‘You haven’t looked far enough. Come, I’ll show you.’ He held out a hand.
Riley refused to touch him, fearing he’d feel by osmosis what she’d done, so she took another sip of wine. And hiccupped.
Jack laughed. ‘Sounds like you’ve enjoyed your wine.’
‘Too much, it appears.’ Riley held out the glass rather than her hand, he accepted with a quizzical frown.
As Jack walked toward a bedside table and set what remained of her wine there, she took a couple of deep breaths and tried calming her racing heart and fractured thoughts.
She lowered her head, and a whiff of alcohol drifted from her breasts to her nostrils. Riley groaned. That’s all she needed, to smell like a barfly. And if she could smell it so could Jack.
She looked up to find him bemused and immediately felt incensed as well as guilty. ‘What are you staring at?’
‘You.’ He slowly walked until he stood directly before her, and there was no place for her to go. She couldn’t back up for the wall behind her. She couldn’t move forward with him only a couple of inches from her.
Jack’s hands moved up, up... Riley watched as if in slow motion. Her breathing seemed loud and ragged, even to her own ears. She wasn’t drunk, but she wasn’t feeling any pain other than embarrassment, and his nearness made her feel more vulnerable than she’d ever felt.
His fingers threaded through her hair then one of his hands cupped the back of her head, drawing her closer, she closed her eyes and swayed against him and lifted her lips for his kiss. Jack’s other hand caressed her back...lower...lower, until he palmed her butt. Riley sensed more than felt the pressure from his torso, and she ached for him to possess her. She clasped his shoulders, barely aware that she was clinging to him. Such warmth emanating from him. So much safety and security within the circle of his embrace. But...
Why didn’t he at least kiss her and put her out of her agony?
She opened her eyes and saw the corners of his mouth lift. His eyes crinkled with laughter.
‘Riley, you’ve put me in an awkward position, but I’m sure what you’re experiencing is far worse.’
Jack bent his head until they were almost at eye level, then his gaze drifted southward.
Peeking out of her blouse was a distinctively red slip of silk.
Riley blushed furiously and shoved against him, trying to disengage, but he held her fast.
‘Chérie, if you’re going to molest my underwear, the least you owe me is a kiss, no?’ Then he laughed loudly and hugged her before wrapping his arms tighter around her. ‘I just wanted you to know before I ravish you that this is the first time a woman has ever made me laugh during foreplay.’
Riley tried once more to get away from him. ‘We are not making love.’
Jack’s laughter faded, and he lifted her so that her legs had nothing to do but dangle or wrap about his waist. ‘Not yet. But we will, chérie.’ His words were a threat laced with promise. ‘Perhaps our little business arrangement will be pleasurable after all.’
Riley started to protest, and would have done so loudly, but Jack smothered the sounds with his mouth moving over hers, his tongue flitting in to duel with hers. Heat built between them, begun by laughter, fuelled by desire, and leaving no doubt they wanted one another.
This is not what I want! Riley warred between desire and determination. But it was what she wanted. Ever since he’d purchased those stupid coffee mugs then taken her shopping and made her feel like a princess.
She pushed against him again. ‘No,’ she whimpered, remembering her resolve never to have sex with him. She couldn’t — mustn’t — no children.
His breathing was as ragged as hers, and the strength she felt from him as he held her against the wall was both possessive and protective. He’d never take her against her will, but he had to fight against both their desires.
Slowly, he lowered her, both of them reluctant to end what had begun. His eyes searched her face, and Riley could tell he knew she wanted him. All it would take would be a little encouragement, and he’d complete the seduction.
His fingers slipped against her heaving breasts, and he dragged the silk from its hiding place, slowly, not teasingly, but definitely painstakingly enough to let her know he was aware of every breathing inch of her.
‘Come.’ His voice was no longer filled with laughter. ‘I’ll show you where leave our clothes to get laundered. Then we’ll go down for dinner. I’ll go ahead of you and give you some space.’
Dinner didn’t go quite as Jack had hoped; for one thing, Patrick joined them. Amelia’s nephew was a consummate womaniser, who generally skipped meals with them, always out on a date trying to make a new conquest. But there he was, sitting directly across from Riley, and entertaining her with this tale or that. Riley, to Jack’s chagrin, seemed to enjoy the attention and seemed more than willing to engage. It was as if she dropped all defences and opened up, hardly like she’d ever been with her husband.
Between their main course and dessert at Cadigal Inn’s restaurant, The Blue Fox, the brash boy even leaned across the table and grasped Riley’s hands delightedly.
‘I feel as if I’ve known you for years!’
For the first time since he’d known Fitzgerald, Jack saw what appeared to be a genuine smile. No...a beam.
Riley blushed, and Jack couldn’t lay a finger on why, but suddenly he was jealous, almost in an instant rage. He had only seen her blush when he confronted her after she’d rummaged around in his underwear drawer.
Patrick was apparently oblivious to the discomfort coming from Amelia and Jack. He released Riley’s hands but added what was the cherry on the cake of Jack’s day. ‘I don’t suppose you have a jagged scar on your lower abdomen, do you?’ The arrogant ass laughed. ‘Because if you do, we have some catching up to do.’
With Patrick’s words, Amelia choked on her coffee until her eyes watered. Jack was torn between concern for Amelia and anger toward Patrick that he’d have the bad manners to blatantly flirt with Riley.
Patrick moved toward Amelia, to his right, and thumped her none-too-lightly on the back. ‘Darling, are you alright?’
Amelia shook her head. She dabbed her eyes with her napkin. ‘I fear dinner is over for me. Patrick, would you see me back to the house?’
‘Of course.’
Amelia faced Jack, her eyes troubled. ‘You and your wife stay, please. I shall be alright. This coughing fit has given me a headache, that’s all.’
Jack nodded, ‘Of course.’ The look in Amelia’s eyes told him something was wrong, and whatever it was related to what Patrick had just said. Did the man really know Riley? Could his words have been calculated rather than off-hand? With Fitzgerald, it
was hard to tell.
He had been so concerned for Amelia, Jack hadn’t so much as glanced at Riley until now. She sat quietly, breathing in quick, short gasps, her lower lip trembling, her eyes wide.
Jack touched her arm. ‘Riley?’
He’d been so angry with Patrick, he hadn’t bothered to consider maybe Riley had been offended.
‘How...?’ She didn’t seem able to finish her thought.
Jack bristled. If Patrick had seen Riley’s body enough to know she held scars or tattoos or whatever, in places only a bikini or nakedness would reveal, then the two of them had been intimate, and the thought nearly pushed Jack over the brink of sanity.
He held his anger in check as a wave of realisation hit him. Amelia had choked because she knew it was possible. Patrick had more than likely played with Amelia’s grandchildren twenty years ago — they’d have all been close to the same age, with Patrick being a little older. As for Riley, what must she be thinking? Wondering? Of course, she hadn’t been with Patrick as an adult. Jack would’ve detected it. Riley wasn’t that good at hiding her emotions. Those eyes were the window to her soul.
‘I’ve never showed — I haven’t told — I mean, how could he have known?’ She looked at Jack, frightened, beseeching him for an answer.
Jack stood, lifted her from her chair, and held her tightly. ‘Riley, it’s probably just a coincidence. Many people probably have scars on their abdomen, but you’ve nothing to worry about.’ He kissed the top of her head, feeling her tremble.
He had questions of his own, but they’d have to keep until he and Riley were upstairs in their suite. This wasn’t the place or the time for intimate conversation.
‘What do you say we have dessert delivered to our room?’ he asked. ‘It’s our restaurant after all, just across the lawn from us, and we’re talking a matter of a few minutes to have someone bring us our food.’
She said nothing, but Jack felt her nod,
Perhaps it wasn’t meant to be that he and Amelia keep secrets from her. But at what cost? If Patrick was close to discerning the truth, how quickly would someone else who had known Riley as a child? And what if that person still meant her harm?
