Bestseller Collection 2010

by Carole Mortimer

  ‘No, it is not all right, damn you!’ he shook her hand off roughly, all of his attention still centred on Madison’s mother. ‘What are you doing here?’ he bit out icily.

  Her mother drew herself up to her full height of five feet two inches. ‘Gideon—’

  ‘Don’t call me that,’ he cut in harshly. ‘Don’t ever call me that! In fact, I would prefer it if you didn’t speak to me at all!’ He turned furiously to Edgar. ‘What the hell are you playing at, Remington? What is she doing here?’ His hands were clenched into fists at his sides.

  Madison was dazed by Gideon’s absolute fury at seeing her mother. She’d known he wouldn’t be too happy once he knew who her mother was, but his reaction seemed out of all proportion with the little deceit she had practised. She had figured that with his desire for an unknown, if he knew she was the daughter of a famous actress he wouldn’t give her the part. Now she wished she’d been more honest…

  ‘Behave yourself, Gideon!’ Edgar turned briefly from where he stood at the bedside holding Claire’s hand, the tension having disappeared from his face now that he had assured himself that Claire, although obviously injured, wouldn’t suffer any lasting damage from the accident.

  ‘Behave myself?’ Gideon repeated in controlled fury. ‘You bring that woman here—and you expect me to remain calm? You—’

  ‘I have no idea who you might be—’ Jonny stepped forward, his voice soft, but edged with warning ‘—but I would advise you not to talk to, or about, my mother in that contemptuous tone again!’ He met the other man’s gaze with icy challenge.

  Gideon looked at him with disdainful scorn. ‘And who the hell might you be—besides her son, of course?’

  ‘I warned you not to talk about my mother in that way—’

  ‘Jonny!’ Madison cried as she stepped forward, putting her hand on her brother’s arm just as he would have struck the other man; this whole thing was spiralling out of control!

  Something was so wrong, so very wrong…!

  Gideon turned to include her in his anger now. ‘Jonny?’ he repeated disgustedly. ‘Are you telling me that your boyfriend Jonny is that woman’s son?’

  ‘Damn it, I warned you…!’

  Before Madison was aware of what was happening, Jonny’s arm had swung out and he had hit the other man, Gideon staggering backwards from the blow, although he didn’t fall; he quickly regained his balance, before swinging his own arm back and aiming a blow towards Jonny’s chin.

  ‘What on earth is going on here?’

  An astonished nurse stood in the doorway, obviously well aware that there was a fight taking place in the room of one of her patients—and horrified at the fact!

  With just cause, Madison conceded dazedly. Her brother and Gideon had just hit each other!

  ‘I think you should all leave,’ the nurse told them stiffly.

  ‘But—’

  The scowl the nurse gave Edgar instantly silenced him. ‘Miss Christian was involved in an accident last night. She’s still in need of rest and quiet. Visiting time is later this afternoon, when you may visit two at a time,’ she added, pointedly holding the door open for them to leave.

  Which they all did, slowly. Jonny was nursing his punched jaw, his mother’s usual calm replaced by obvious distress, Gideon glaring at them both as they preceded him. Madison gave Edgar a slightly dazed look before she also left the room. Edgar remained only a few seconds longer so that he could make his goodbye in private to Claire before joining them.

  ‘Well, I hope you’re proud of yourself,’ he snapped at Gideon once they were outside on the pavement.

  ‘I’m proud of myself?’ Gideon repeated icily, his fury unmistakable. ‘Don’t even try to lay the blame for this on me, Edgar! You must have known all the time that Madison is involved with this Jonny character, which must also mean you’ve also known exactly who his mother is. You—’

  ‘I’m afraid that isn’t quite right, Gideon,’ Madison was the one to put in quietly. It was time someone put a halt to all this misunderstanding.

  And minutes ago she’d realised something that meant it had to be sooner rather than later!

  She’d always thought Gideon reminded her of someone, but until today, until a few minutes ago, she hadn’t realised who that someone was. But as she’d looked around the hospital room at all the furious faces she had suddenly known exactly who Gideon reminded her of.

  What she didn’t know was why.

  But before the day was out she was determined that she would know the answer to that, too…!

  Gideon turned to look at Madison, so angry he couldn’t think straight. And the reason for that was standing only feet away from him. Susan Delaney!

  He’d hated her for most of his life, and now, completely without warning, she had just strolled back into his life. That she knew who he was too he didn’t doubt; that one simple murmuring of his name had told him that much!

  And Madison was involved with her son!

  ‘In what way isn’t it right?’ he prompted scornfully. ‘He’s her son, you’re involved with him—’

  ‘No, Jonny!’ Madison stepped forward, her hand once again on his arm as she restrained him from going into physical defence of his mother.

  Gideon wished she would stop touching the other man in that way; it made him feel as murderously angry as coming face to face with Susan Delaney had done a few minutes ago!

  Madison turned back to him. ‘You’re under a misapprehension concerning my relationship to Jonny,’ she told him quietly. ‘You see—’

  ‘Madison, I don’t believe a public sidewalk is the correct place to have this conversation,’ Susan Delaney put in quietly after several people had walked by and given them curious looks for the obvious heated exchange that was taking place, shooting Gideon a quelling glance as he would have cut in on her remark.

  She was still beautiful, he would give her that, Gideon acknowledged grudgingly. Thirty years ago she had been stunning, with beautiful golden hair, a breathtakingly lovely face and an hourglass figure, and maturity had only given more character to her face, and a mature allure to her figure.

  Yes, she was more beautiful than ever, but Gideon knew, better than most, how that beauty hid a treacherous heart.

  ‘No place would be the right place for this conversation,’ he told Susan Delaney scornfully. ‘And, quite frankly, I have no wish to hear anything you might have to say,’ he added insultingly. ‘Control that short fuse, buddy,’ Gideon advised Jonny harshly as he again tensed in his mother’s defence. ‘Maybe it’s you your mother should be talking to; you obviously don’t have a clue just what a bit—’

  ‘That’s enough, Gideon.’ Edgar briskly took charge of the situation. ‘We are going to get into a couple of taxis—’

  ‘I have my own transport, thank you,’ Gideon assured him with arrogant dismissal.

  ‘Okay, a taxi—and a car,’ Edgar amended with a warning glance in his direction. ‘Then we’re going back to the house where you’re all staying. And we’re going to sit down and talk about this like the grown-up people we all are,’ he added pointedly.

  They might all be grown-up, but there was no way Gideon was going to sit down and talk to Susan Delaney about anything. Unless it was to ask her how many other lives she had wrecked during the last thirty years!

  And as for Madison, he was no longer sure how to even look at her, let alone anything else, now that he knew she was involved with the Delaney family!

  She stood slightly apart from all of them now, her green eyes swimming with unshed tears, a look of total bewilderment on her face.

  She looked so young, damn it, so vulnerable, that part of him wanted to go to her and put his arms about her, to reassure her that everything was going to be okay. But he would be lying if he did that. Because unless she could assure him she would have nothing more to do with the Delaney family it would never be okay between them again…!

  ‘I don’t think so, thank you, Edgar,’ he began dismissivel
y. ‘I—’

  ‘It wasn’t a request, Gideon,’ the older man cut in harshly. ‘It’s time—way past time!—that all this was sorted out once and for all.’

  ‘It’s sorted, Edgar,’ he assured the other man hardly. ‘I want these two—’ he indicated Susan Delaney and her son ‘—off the island on the first available plane—’

  ‘You can’t do that, Gideon,’ Madison gasped in shocked dismay.

  ‘No, he damn well can’t,’ Jonny put in contemptuously. ‘As far as I’m aware, you don’t own the damned island, Mr—Mr—’

  ‘Byrne,’ Edgar put in softly. ‘His name is Gideon Byrne, Jonny.’

  It was as if Edgar had struck the younger man, his recoil on hearing Gideon’s name completely spontaneous, his gaze wary now as he looked at Gideon with narrowed eyes.

  So, Jonny had heard of him, Gideon realised scornfully. His mother had confessed all her sins, then, he thought scathingly. Not quite what he would have expected from what he knew of her, but then that was her business. As he’d already said, he wasn’t interested in anything she had to say.

  He turned to Madison, his gaze steely. ‘It seems your boyfriend and his mother intend staying for a while. If that’s the case, I don’t want either of them anywhere near the house, or near my film. In fact—’

  She drew in a ragged breath, shaking her head. ‘Gideon—’

  ‘I think we’ve all been made aware of what you do and don’t want, Gideon,’ Edgar interrupted harshly. ‘But I can assure you that it is in your best interest to come back to the house with us now and hear what needs to be said.’

  Gideon turned angrily to face the older man, his gaze narrowing as he saw how determined Edgar looked. But in actual fact none of this had anything to do with Edgar. He wasn’t even sure what the other man was doing here!

  Except he had seemed, on reflection, very close to Claire earlier at the hospital… In fact, Gideon believed he had seen Edgar holding Claire’s hand at one stage!

  What the hell was going on here?

  He shook his head. He could sort that out with Claire at some other time. What was important now was that he get away from Susan Delaney—and all the memories she’d brought with her!

  ‘There’s nothing that needs to be said—’

  ‘I’m afraid there is, Gideon,’ Madison cut in quietly, moving to lightly touch his arm.

  Gideon looked down at her, frowning as he saw the pained look on her beautiful face. Damn it, he hadn’t meant to hurt or upset her, knew she was the innocent one in all of this; it was just unfortunate that her involvement with Jonny had brought Susan back into his life…!

  ‘It’s nothing I want to hear, Madison,’ he told her gruffly, briefly covering her hand with his own. ‘I’ll explain it all to you some other time. Or your boyfriend can!’ he added hardly, shooting Jonny a look of intense dislike.

  And it wasn’t just because he was Susan Delaney’s son! This man, tall, dark, and good-looking, was involved with Madison—and that made Gideon almost as angry as discovering whose son he was!

  Madison gave a negative movement of her head. ‘Jonny doesn’t need to explain anything to me,’ she murmured huskily, shooting her mother a pained grimace. ‘Nothing at all,’ she added softly.

  Gideon moved sharply away from Madison’s hand resting on his arm, his gaze cold now as he looked down at her. ‘Then you knew from the beginning of the connection between—’

  ‘No!’ she cut in brokenly. ‘No, I didn’t realise that until a short time ago. But—’

  ‘I don’t believe you.’ Gideon raked his gaze scathingly over all of them. ‘You—’

  ‘She didn’t know of any connection, Gideon,’ Susan Delaney was the one to murmur huskily, her gaze unflinching as he looked at her coldly. ‘In fact, she still doesn’t know,’ she added gently, looking at Madison with beseeching eyes. ‘Not everything.’ She shook her head sadly, before once again looking at Gideon, her chin raised defensively. ‘And neither do you,’ she told him firmly. ‘You were a child, Gideon, only seven years of age—’

  His eyes blazed furiously. ‘Old enough to know you stole my father from my mother—’

  ‘People can’t be stolen, Gideon,’ she reproved softly.

  ‘Okay, tempted, then,’ he amended scornfully, his mouth twisting contemptuously. ‘Whichever way you look at it, my father left my mother because he fell in love with you. Can you deny that?’ he spat out distastefully.

  She swallowed hard. ‘No. But—’

  ‘Of course you can’t,’ Gideon bit out derisively. ‘You—’

  ‘Gideon, this is not the place for this!’ Edgar thundered furiously, moving protectively towards Susan Delaney as she swayed on her feet, his arm about her waist now as he held her tightly against his side.

  ‘Not you too, Edgar!’ Gideon realised with a disgusted shake of his head. ‘Every man she meets seems to fall in love with her! The woman is—’

  ‘My mother, Gideon,’ Madison put in quietly.

  ‘—nothing but—’ He broke off abruptly, staring disbelievingly at Madison as her words slowly penetrated the angry fog in his brain. Had she just said—?

  ‘Susan Delaney is my mother, Gideon,’ she repeated softly. ‘And Jonny is my brother,’ she added as if to clarify the point, glancing uncertainly at the woman who was her mother, before looking back at Gideon, her chin raised defensively.

  As Susan Delaney’s had been seconds ago—as Madison’s mother’s had been seconds ago!

  God, he had known from the beginning that Madison reminded him of someone; that golden hair, the shape of her face—hell, their eyes were even that same emerald-green!—but that the similarity was to Susan Delaney, because she was Madison’s mother, had never even entered his head.

  Although he did recall thinking he’d found himself dwelling more on the past—his mother’s unhappiness, his father’s death, his own disrupted childhood—since that first meeting with Madison…

  It was the name that had thrown him, of course; there was no possibility there could ever have been a connection made by him between the two surnames McGuire and Delaney.

  Deliberately so?

  But if so, by whom?

  Edgar had known. He had to have known. Because he had known Gideon’s father, and Susan Delaney, all those years ago. He was also Madison’s godfather. He also had to be fully aware that, as Susan Delaney’s daughter, Madison was the very last woman he would ever want to meet, let alone have star in one of his films. And Edgar had said nothing. Damn it, he had initiated the meeting between Madison and Gideon!

  And Madison—what about Madison? Had she been in on the deception from the first? Madison said not. Her mother said the same thing—but then, Susan Delaney was the last woman he had reason ever to believe about anything!

  His mouth twisted as he now included Madison in that look of intense dislike, although for the moment his attention was centred on her brother. ‘You’re right, Delaney—or is it McGuire…?’ He seemed to remember there was a father somewhere called Malcolm McGuire…?

  ‘McGuire,’ the man Jonny confirmed hardly.

  He gave an acknowledging inclination of his head. ‘I don’t own this island—but I do own the film rights to Rosemary,’ he added harshly. ‘I also have complete yea or nay over who is cast in my film—’

  ‘Madison has a contract, Gideon,’ Edgar put in quietly. ‘And so, incidentally, do you.’

  ‘I haven’t finished yet, Edgar,’ he told the other man with icy calm. ‘And I would advise you not to threaten me,’ he warned softly. ‘I don’t respond well to threats.’

  Edgar glacially returned is unwavering gaze. ‘You’ll find neither do I!’

  Gideon gave a humourless smile. ‘I already know where you stand in all this, Edgar—and it isn’t favourably, I can assure you!’ He turned back to Madison. ‘I’m also in a position to choose who I share a house with, and so I think the best thing you can do is clear your stuff out before I get back there. Otherwise you’ll
find it—and you—put outside on the doorstep!’ He ignored her pained gasp at his deliberate cruelty, turning on his heel and walking away.

  And he kept on walking until he reached the car, didn’t falter a step. But it was his pride that kept him so rigid in his mobility. Because at this moment it was the only thing that stopped him from falling apart.

  Madison…!

  He might have ignored her pain just now, but that didn’t mean he was immune to it. Far from it. She had looked so hurt, so bewildered, so incredibly beautiful!

  But she was the one woman in all the world that he simply dared not allow himself to—

  No!

  He would get over this. Would get over Madison.

  He would have to—because he could never let Susan Delaney’s daughter into his life.

  Not now. Or at any time in the future…!

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  MADISON looked numbly across at her mother, the four of them, Edgar and Jonny included, back in the sitting-room of the house Gideon had rented. Madison hadn’t known where else to take them, and by tacit consent they hadn’t spoken about any of the scene that had taken place at the hospital until now, when Madison was sure they wouldn’t be interrupted. From what Gideon had said to her before he left, he wouldn’t be returning for some time.

  Not until he was sure enough time had passed for her to have moved her things, and herself, out!

  She drew in a shaky breath. ‘Gideon doesn’t know, does he?’ she said dully. How could Gideon know? She hadn’t realised the truth herself until a short time ago! And she’d been so stunned by the enormity of her discovery that Gideon’s reaction at the identity of her mother as Susan Delaney had faded into the background.

  ‘Madison!’ Her mother gave a pained groan, sitting forward in her seat, her hands held out imploringly. ‘It isn’t what you think. It isn’t what Gideon thinks, either,’ she added, shaking her head. ‘I was never involved in an affair with his father—’

  ‘That’s the truth, Madison,’ Edgar put in grimly as she made a protesting sound. ‘I knew Susan, and John Byrne, all those years ago, and Gideon’s version of what happened isn’t the correct one.’