The Lady Vanishes

by Nicole Camden

  “So I have her to thank for that body?” Regina tried to lighten the mood a little. There was nothing they could do to help Saint George except treat him and pray.

  “Yeah,” he said, giving her a smile. “She’d get a kick out of it if you did actually thank her. I should take you to meet her.”

  Okay. Now they were swimming in seriously dangerous waters. He was talking about her meeting his mom.

  “Well, Shaw the Magician, I don’t think she’d approve of what I have planned for that body.”

  “Oh, yeah?” The worry lines around his eyes relaxed, and he straightened on the bench. “You coming over tonight to do bad things to me?”

  Regina had actually planned to go home tonight. She wanted some space to gather her thoughts while they weren’t clouded with lust, but he looked so hopeful that she laughed. “Yeah. Sure. Why don’t we grab a bite?”

  WALKING BACK TO THE LOCKER ROOM to change out of her scrubs, Regina thought the rehearsals had gone well; at least the kids had certainly enjoyed seeing her tied up. She’d had to trade shifts with Charlie to get the afternoon covered so she could practice with everyone, which meant she was working Saturday morning, but that was all right.

  The kids had practiced their tricks while Milton or Blake helped them with their gestures and finger position. Saint George had stopped by for an hour or so, but had to leave because he’d gotten tired.

  Regina had read her script and studied the diagram Milton had drawn for her of how she would be tied, how the container he was going to build for her would have a latch that she could reach with her teeth. They’d practiced in his attic, but somehow she hadn’t quite been paying attention.

  The MRI-like contraption she would step into wasn’t finished yet—so they’d practiced her moves with a huge person-size box that someone from maintenance had located for them. More of the staff had indeed shown up—practically all the nurses. Regina thought they’d mostly just wanted to catch a glimpse of the magician without his mask on. Well, they’d glimpsed, and several of them had taken pictures. The whole world was going to know that billionaire Milton Shaw played magician at Boston Children’s very, very soon.

  The thought unnerved her. What did that mean? There would be photographers, looky-loos, fortune hunters like her sister hanging around the hospital. As if to underscore her worry, her phone dinged. A message from Celeste. You coming home tonight?

  Celeste. Regina grimaced. She hadn’t really seen her sister in days, but she’d promised Milton that she would go out with him again. She thought she should at least call and make sure her sister hadn’t gotten kidnapped and shipped to Uzbekistan or something.

  Celeste answered on the first ring. “Hey, Reggie, how’s the sex-fest going?”

  “Awesome. Thanks for asking.”

  “Oh, anytime.”

  “I was just calling to check on you. I haven’t seen you in a couple days.”

  Celeste sighed tragically. “I’m not a teenager anymore, Reggie. You don’t have to babysit me.”

  If only that were true. “All right. I just wanted to make sure.”

  “Of course, if you wanted to bring home dinner, that would be great. There’s like zero food in the house.”

  “Well, that’s the thing. I’m going out with Milton again tonight.”

  “I see,” Celeste said knowingly. “Tell me something. When you guys are doing it, do you scream his name? Mil-ton! Mil-ton! I mean, it’s not exactly sexy, is it?”

  “Celeste, grow up. Order a pizza or something.”

  “Sure thing, big sis. Oh, and El Greco needs cat food.” She hung up.

  Cat food. Damn.

  Her phone dinged. Celeste had sent a picture of El Greco looking pissed.

  It dinged again, only this time it was a link. When she touched it, it opened to a small article on the Boston Globe website. It showed Milton helping Chuck with one of his tricks. The caption read, “Software billionaire plays magician for sick kids.”

  “Oh, shit,” she muttered. She’d known it was bound to happen, but she hadn’t expected it to be quite this soon. She was enjoying spending time with him, and now she’d have to be even more careful not to be connected to him, especially at the hospital. The article was on the local gossip page, and simply said that it was rumored that billionaire Milton Shaw was helping with a magic show on behalf of Boston Children’s Hospital. The article went on to review the many charitable organizations that received funds from Accendo or Milton Shaw in particular. He, Roland, and Nick were to be honored by the Boston Business Journal for their corporate philanthropy at a banquet a week from Saturday.

  Regina chewed on her lower lip. She hoped he wouldn’t ask her to go to that. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but she wasn’t about to go to something public like that, not as his date.

  Still thinking about it, she texted him to meet her outside again and hurried to change out of her scrubs. She’d told him she’d stay with him tonight, but maybe he could stay with her instead, just in case any bored reporters decided to hang around outside his house.

  Several minutes later, she went out to the parking area where he usually picked her up, and nearly ran into Blake Webster as she came outside, her long blond hair streaming from underneath a knitted cap.

  “Hi,” Blake greeted her cheerfully, as if they hadn’t just spent the afternoon together with the kids.

  “Hey,” Regina replied. “Are you getting a ride home from Milton?” He hadn’t mentioned it, but that didn’t mean anything.

  “Oh, no”—Blake waved in the general direction of the parking lot—“I borrowed Nick’s car.”

  “Oh.”

  Blake was looking at her, her face curious, as if she wanted to say something.

  Regina waited, wary. This woman was Milton’s friend, had known him a long time. Who knew what he’d told her?

  “This is none of my business, and I really shouldn’t tell you this, but Milton really likes you.”

  Regina blinked. “Yeah, he’s mentioned it. He’s not exactly subtle.”

  “No.” Blake shook her head, making her blond hair slide over her shoulders, and smiled. “I’ve never seen him like this with anyone.”

  “Well, thanks for telling me,” Regina allowed. “I appreciate it.”

  Blake leaned a little closer. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t break his heart. He’s got a big one.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  “Great,” Blake said, grinning. “I’d hate to rip your hair out. It’s really pretty.”

  Regina raised an eyebrow. “You could try,” she said calmly, quite certain that she could hold her own against the blonde.

  “Ha. I like you, too. Have a fun night!” Blake said cheerfully and headed out among the parked cars.

  Regina didn’t know quite what to make of that exchange and was still frowning slightly when the limo pulled up to the curb. Milton opened the door from inside and Regina ducked down and let Milton tug her into his lap.

  He closed the door with his free hand. “Can you still come over?”

  “Actually,” Regina said, letting her arms fall around his neck. “Can we stay at my place tonight? I need to get groceries, feed the cat, do some laundry.” Regina listened to herself and realized that none of that sounded very exciting, or sexy. He was a billionaire used to calling in for dinner every night, sending out his laundry, and having a housekeeper clean his bathroom. Not to mention no little sisters to get in the way.

  “Cool,” he said, sounding pleased. “That sounds like fun. I don’t remember the last time I went grocery shopping.”

  He wasn’t lying. He looked genuinely interested. Regina sighed. “Okay, great. We can have Shane drop us off at the grocery store near my house.”

  “Hey, Shane,” Milton called to the front. “We’re going to the grocery store near Dr. Burke’s pl
ace.”

  “All right, boss,” Shane replied.

  “Does he always talk so much?”

  Milton nodded. “He grew up in South Boston. Nick knew him growing up.”

  “So why does he work as a chauffer? I would have thought he’d work at Accendo, or something. Good ol’ boy network.”

  “He doesn’t like computers. He likes to read.”

  “Ahh.” Regina guessed a chauffer would get the chance to read quite a bit. It didn’t sound like a bad job, actually. “Does he get dental?”

  “Hey, Shane, you get dental?”

  “Yes, boss. Full coverage. Medical. 401(k).”

  Milton raised a hand. “There you go.”

  Regina rolled her eyes.

  Milton laughed and kissed her, letting it linger, before pulling away and tucking her more firmly against him.

  “So what are we buying at the grocery store? I’m starving. Running around all day with those kids wears me out.”

  “I was thinking grilled cheese and soup.”

  Milton’s phone beeped and he pulled it out of his pocket. “Sounds good,” he said absently, reading the text.

  He frowned, his face tightening.

  “Everything okay?”

  He shrugged. “Just Roland asking me to take a look at the security on a couple of our other software programs. The team has a few questions for me.”

  “You have to do that now?”

  “No,” he said, shaking his head. “Morning is soon enough.”

  He put away the phone and gathered her in his lap again. “I stopped by Saint George’s room before I left. His mom said you popped in as well.”

  “Yeah, I just wanted to check on him. He’s going to be pretty tired.”

  “We’ll go easy.”

  “I can’t spend time on the show tomorrow,” she explained. “I traded a shift to spend the afternoon there today.”

  “That’s all right. We’ll practice your part at my house.”

  Thinking about the “practice” session they’d had yesterday, Regina didn’t think they were going to get a hell of a lot of work done, but she nodded. “You really don’t mind grocery shopping?”

  His fingers tightened around her waist, and she knew he was thinking about last night as well.

  He stroked a finger down her nose. “Why would I?”

  Regina shrugged. “It just seems so normal.”

  “That’s what I like about it.”

  They went grocery shopping—well, Regina shopped for groceries while Milton touched everything in the store, made oranges disappear to the delight of a four-year-old girl and her mom, and generally made a spectacle of himself. Regina wasn’t too worried about him attracting attention in her neighborhood. It was unlikely that anyone would recognize him as Milton Shaw, billionaire.

  When they arrived at Regina’s apartment, Celeste was there, sitting on the couch in full makeup, a tight black top, designer jeans, and four-inch heels, texting someone. El Greco was perched on the back of the couch next to her, looking as if he was contemplating attacking the top of her head.

  Regina raised an eyebrow at her. “Celeste, are you going somewhere?”

  “No, why?”

  Regina rolled her eyes. “Milton isn’t an idiot, you know. He’s aware that you don’t sit around the house dressed like that.”

  “Actually, I invited someone over for dinner.”

  “You had me pick up groceries so you could invite someone to dinner?”

  “Yeah.” She smiled and stood. “Don’t look so irritated, Reggie. I’ll cook it.”

  “That’s all right. I’ll cook. But we’re having grilled cheese and tomato soup.”

  “Grilled cheese?” Celeste wrinkled her nose and looked at Milton accusingly. “A billionaire and you let her make grilled cheese for dinner?”

  “It’s Gruyère and brioche grilled cheese.”

  “Hmm . . . yum. That could work.”

  The bell rang on the door downstairs, scaring El Greco off the couch. “That’s my date. Be right back.”

  While Celeste went to get her date, Milton and Regina carried the groceries into the kitchen. Regina began putting them away while Milton watched. El Greco began twining himself eagerly around her legs, so she opened his bag of cat food and poured some into his bowl.

  “Sorry about that,” Regina said, referring to Celeste inviting someone else for dinner.

  “I’m not upset,” he laughed. “She’s funny. I’m just glad we bought enough.”

  “Well, I’m irritated,” Regina muttered. “I didn’t want to share the wine.”

  Milton had insisted on making an additional stop on the way home from the grocery store, a high-end liquor store named Marty’s. He’d walked out with two bottles of wine. Regina hadn’t even ventured to guess how much they’d cost.

  “You know I’d be happy with a ten-dollar bottle from the grocery store,” she’d said.

  “That’s why I like buying you this,” he’d explained.

  Regina smiled, thinking about it, and pulled the bottle opener out of a drawer. “Would you do the honors?”

  “Sure.”

  While he opened the wine, Regina located two wineglasses—Celeste could get her own—and set them down on the counter.

  The door opened again to the sound of Celeste laughing, and then she was walking through the door with Corbin Gould, her arm linked through his.

  Regina froze, her mouth falling open.

  Celeste walked up to the bar between the kitchen and the living room. “Reggie, you know Corbin already. Milton, this is Professor Corbin Gould.”

  Milton set down the open bottle of wine and walked into the living room to shake Corbin’s hand.

  “Milton Shaw.”

  Corbin shook his hand, a puzzled frown between his brows. “Milton Shaw. The software designer?”

  “Milton Shaw, the genius software billionaire,” Celeste chimed in. “He’s also a magician.”

  Milton grinned at her. “I should hire you to introduce me to people. When I say all that, it sounds like bragging.”

  Regina rolled her eyes, but then she cut Celeste a sideways look. The professor? Celeste ignored the unspoken question.

  Celeste and Corbin took a seat on the red stools at the bar while Milton poured wine in two glasses and handed one to Corbin and one to Celeste. Regina shook her head, but he nudged her with his shoulder, silently telling her to relax.

  Regina sighed and fetched two more glasses. Milton poured again, nearly emptying the bottle, though most of it went into her glass.

  She took a long sip, and knew that no ten-dollar bottle of wine would taste quite as good. She pulled out the cast-iron pan that had been her grandmother’s and a saucepan for the soup.

  “Can you handle the soup?” she asked Milton.

  He gave her a look. “It’s not exactly from scratch. Heating up soup is one of the limited kitchen skills I possess.”

  Regina wasn’t sure she trusted him. “Don’t make it levitate or anything.”

  He put his hand over his heart. “I promise.”

  Pulling out the cutting board for the bread, Regina set it on the counter, and started looking for the big bread knife.

  “So, Milton, I saw the article about your magic show at the hospital on the Globe website.”

  Regina, about to slice the bread, paused to give her sister an annoyed look. Milton turned around from where he was opening the containers of soup they’d bought from the small deli at the grocery store.

  He glanced at Regina with a worried frown. “I didn’t know.”

  Regina shrugged. “I saw it. That’s why I thought we could eat here,” she confessed.

  “Ah,” he said, his voice completely lacking inflection. His fingers twitched restlessly before he went back t
o the soup. “Professor, what do you teach?”

  “Medieval literature.”

  “Really?” He nudged Regina. “Did you know the medieval era was one of the most innovative, despite its reputation as being the Dark Ages? Many modern inventions began then, including computing.”

  “That’s true,” Corbin agreed. “Medicine, philosophy, fashion, all have their roots in the work of medieval scholars.”

  Milton nodded. “I’ve used medieval philosophy and garden design in building security around our software programs.”

  “Really?” Corbin sounded fascinated. “I would love to hear about it sometime.”

  “Sure,” Milton agreed. “It was actually something my father taught me. He was a professor of literature at Harvard.”

  “Not Burton Shaw? His name is on a plaque outside the antique book room in the library.”

  Milton nodded. “That was my father.”

  Regina would bet anything that Milton had donated extensively to that library, like millions. And here he was standing in her kitchen looking extraordinarily hot in a gray shirt and black jeans, his chin scruffy and his hair a mess.

  “How extraordinary.”

  Celeste groaned, “Am I the only one here who is not a complete nerd?”

  “I’m afraid so.” Corbin laughed at her and patted her hand. “But we like you, anyway.”

  Regina gave Celeste a pointed look as she prepared the cheese. “You could have finished school. No one was stopping you.”

  Celeste waved her off. “Don’t start that, Reggie. Not tonight. I like my job.”

  “Uh-huh.” Regina wondered if she’d explained to Corbin why she’d chosen it. Not likely.

  “So, how is work at the hospital?” Corbin asked Regina.

  She smiled at him. “As good as it can be, I guess. Milton is putting on a show for the kids and asked me to help.”

  “Really?”

  “Only now half the hospital staff has volunteered along with a good number of the patients—the ones that are up for it, so we have quite a production on our hands.”