Читать книгу To Have A Husband - Кэрол Мортимер, Кэрол Мортимер - Страница 9

QUINN’S fingers tapped restlessly on the arm of the chair he sat in. Quite frankly, he was tired of waiting for the arrival of his host for the afternoon, Jerome Summer. Justifiably so, in his book.

He’d been flown in by helicopter to the Summer estate earlier this afternoon. After landing on the smooth lawn that backed onto the impressive manor house, he’d been informed by the pilot that the man he had come here to meet, Jerome Summer, had been called away elsewhere, but would hopefully be back later on this afternoon.

It had been that ‘hopefully’ that had rankled him the most about that statement. Jerome—Rome—Summer was obviously a busy man, hence this Saturday afternoon appointment in the first place, but Quinn’s time was no less valuable, and hanging around at the country fête that was being held on the estate, for most of the afternoon, was not using that time effectively as far as he was concerned.

Besides, it was one of the most boring afternoons he had spent for a very long time!

Well…except for the fortune-teller; she might have proved interesting. But he’d hardly begun to talk to her before being interrupted—by the red-haired virago he was quickly learning to dislike!—with instructions that he was wanted up at the house—now.

Well, he had been up ‘at the house’ for fifteen minutes now, and Jerome Summer still hadn’t put in an appearance. Quinn should have realised that the tea tray waiting for him in the sitting-room was rather ominous!

He would wait for another five minutes, he decided coldly, and then he would ask to be flown back to London. Which wasn’t in any way going to help solve the problem he’d come here to talk over with Jerome Summer, but at the same time Quinn refused to be treated offhandedly.

‘Ah, my dear Mr McBride, so sorry to have kept you waiting!’ greeted a jovial male voice seconds after Quinn had heard the door open behind him.

The man who’d entered the sitting-room was recognisable on sight as his host, Jerome Summer. The man’s photograph as often as not adorned the pages of the newspaper Jerome owned, admittedly usually on the financial pages, about one successful business feat or another. He was tall, blond-haired, with a still boyishly handsome face despite his fifty-odd years—those photographs in no way portrayed the sheer power of the man, both physically and charismatically.

He smiled cheerfully as Quinn slowly stood up, holding out his hand in greeting. ‘Estate business, I’m afraid,’ Rome excused his tardiness dismissively. ‘With a place this size, it’s never-ending.’ He shrugged good-naturedly.

Quinn knew something of the other man; he never liked to meet adversaries without being at least partially briefed. Jerome Summer had bought this estate, comprising the house and extensive grounds, including a deer-park, and half the cottages in the village itself, some twenty years ago. A widower for some years, he now lived here with his three children.

But, as Quinn also knew, those facts only told half the story. Jerome Summer was a self-made man. As the youngest son of a country doctor, he’d built up a financial empire over the last thirty years with various business enterprises, until now, aged fifty-four, he was one of the richest and most powerful men in England. And his complete ease of manner spoke of the confidence that wealth gave him.

It also explained why he’d felt no qualms about keeping Quinn waiting about for hours; if Jerome Summer was half the man of shrewdness Quinn guessed him to be beneath that boyish charm, then he would also have done his homework on him. The McBride family, of which Quinn was now the head, chaired and was the major shareholder of one of the most prestigious banks in London. But it was a bank with which Jerome Summer had no personal or business dealings.

‘Ah, good, you’ve been given tea.’ Jerome Summer indicated the tea tray on the table.

For all of Jerome Summer’s breezy attitude, Quinn was quite sure the other man was well aware of what his movements had been for the whole afternoon, tea being the last thing Jerome was interested in!

‘It’s probably cold by now,’ he told the other man dryly as his host poured tea into the second cup that had been on the tray when he’d arrived—giving Quinn the hope at the time that Jerome Summer himself would appear at any moment!

The other man looked up to grin at him. ‘Believe me, over the years I’ve become used to drinking tea in all sorts of guises.’ As if to prove his point he straightened to take a swallow of the lukewarm brew.

Quinn was becoming impatient again. He’d come here because he had something he needed to talk to this man about, something of great importance to him, and with this man acting as if he’d just called in on the off chance of being offered afternoon tea it was becoming increasingly difficult to bring the conversation round to what he wanted—needed!—to talk to Jerome Summer about.

‘Mr Summer—’

‘Please call me Rome,’ the other man invited lightly, relaxing back in one of the armchairs. ‘And do sit down, dear boy; you’re making me nervous towering over me like that!’ He laughed softly up at Quinn as he still stood.

Quinn’s eyes narrowed. ‘I doubt that very much— Rome,’ he bit out tersely, not fooled for a moment by the other man’s apparent friendliness. And he certainly wasn’t a ‘boy’, dear or otherwise. At thirty-nine, he’d controlled the McBride Bank for the last ten years, and very successfully too.

The other man continued to smile, giving an inclination of his head. ‘Perhaps so,’ he drawled in an amused voice. ‘But humour me anyway.’ He indicated the comfortable chair opposite his own across the coffee-table.

Quinn had an idea that most people humoured this man, for whatever reason. In his own case, he decided as he sat down, it was because the matter he wanted to talk to Jerome Summer about was urgent—and very personal. ‘I really do need to talk with you, Rome.’ He sat forward in his seat. ‘You see—’

‘Could you just wait a few more minutes, Quinn?’ the other man asked. ‘I’m expecting my lawyer to join us at any moment,’ he explained at Quinn’s frowning look.

Quinn stiffened in his chair. Lawyer? What the hell—?

‘I believe I explained to your secretary, when I made this appointment to see you, that this was a private matter?’ he bit out harshly. Damn it, he didn’t want a lawyer involved in this!

Rome gave another gracious inclination of that leonine head. ‘Of course, dear boy, but I’ve invariably found that the presence of a lawyer is always a good idea—in any situation,’ he added hardly, revealing some of the steel Quinn had been sure lay beneath that surface charm.

Quinn’s mouth tightened. This was personal, damn it. He didn’t want a lawyer present.

‘I can assure you that Harrie is the soul of discretion,’ Rome added dismissively, bending confidently forward to help himself to one of the sandwiches Quinn had ignored earlier and which were now starting to curl a little at the edges.

Quinn had no doubt that, over the years, discretion was something this man’s lawyer had been much in need of! Quinn’s expression was grim. He had, he already felt, been jerked around enough by this man for one day. Of course, that had always been the danger when agreeing to meet Rome Summer on his own home ground, but when Quinn had originally been offered this meeting at the Summer estate it had seemed better than no meeting at all. Now he wished he’d tempered his impatience and waited until the other man were free to see him in town. Except, as he inwardly acknowledged, neither he nor Corinne had that time to wait…

Although he’d already learnt enough about this man to know any sign of weakness on his part would quickly be spotted—and as quickly taken advantage of!—by this shrewd adversary.

Quinn drew in a softly controlling breath, deliberately maintaining his own relaxed posture. ‘I believe, in this case, you will find you have wasted your lawyer’s time,’ he drawled dismissively, his own eyes narrowed now, deciding he would hate to play chess with the other man!

Rome Summer shrugged. ‘It’s my time to waste,’ he murmured pleasantly.

‘But—’ Quinn broke off as he heard the door open behind him, noting the pleasure that lit up the other man’s face as he stood up. The shrewdness had gone from Rome Summer’s face now as he grinned boyishly before crossing the room to greet the person who had just entered.

‘Sorry I’m late; I was unavoidably detained,’ murmured a huskily soft voice in apology.

A female voice, Quinn noted with a frown, turning in his chair before slowly standing up to get a better look at the woman who had just entered the room.

Only to find himself looking at the most beautiful woman he’d ever set eyes on!

She had long hair, the colour of midnight, which fell in soft tumbling curls down her back; while long lashes of the same colour surrounded eyes the colour of emeralds, her skin the colour of magnolia, her nose small and pert, covered by a sprinkling of freckles, her mouth wide and smiling, a poutingly sensual mouth, the red lip-gloss she wore a perfect match for the long painted nails on her slenderly expressive hands. She was tall and slender, the tailored grey suit and white blouse she wore adding to that impression of height; her legs were long and shapely beneath the knee-length skirt.

But it wasn’t only the woman’s obvious beauty that made Quinn stare across the room with narrowed eyes; Rome Summer had grasped both of those slender white hands in his, even as he bent down and kissed one pale magnolia cheek!

Quinn’s brows rose knowingly. Obviously—despite their own appointment today!—life wasn’t all business for the older man. But as Rome Summer had been a widower for the last ten years, and was obviously still a very attractive as well as powerful man, that wasn’t surprising. Quinn just wished the other man’s current girlfriend—for this young woman must be almost thirty years younger than Rome Summer—had waited until Quinn had finished his own business with the older man before disrupting their meeting!

Rome put his arm about the woman’s slender shoulders as he brought her further into the room, his grin more boyish than ever. ‘Come and say hello to Quinn McBride, darling,’ he invited softly.

The woman walked like a dream too, Quinn thought contemptuously, her movements fluid while at the same time totally feminine. Sheer perfection, in one five-foot-eight-inch package, Quinn acknowledged grimly. But then, with Rome Summer’s wealth, Quinn wouldn’t have expected anything less of the current woman in his life!

‘Mr McBride,’ the woman greeted huskily, standing only inches away from Quinn now.

He found himself looking down at one of those artistically slender hands, at the same time becoming aware of the light headiness of her perfume, a perfume that jolted a memory for him from somewhere, although for the moment he couldn’t remember where.

But one thing he was sure of, he’d never met this woman before; she wasn’t the sort of woman any man would ever forget once having seen her!

He took the slender hand in the largeness of his own—and almost pulled it away again as quickly!

Something that felt very like an electric shock had passed from the woman’s fingers through to his own; a slightly tingling sensation remained in his hand even now, although he resisted the urge to massage away that sensation with his other hand.

His eyes were narrowed to aqua-blue slits now as he looked at the woman for any sign in her own expression that she’d also felt that electrical charge. The gaze that steadily met his own was as cool and impersonal as the jewels they resembled.

Beautiful but cold as ice, Quinn decided, impatiently dismissing his own reaction as he turned to look at Rome Summer once again. ‘I have to be back in town by early evening,’ he prompted the other man pointedly.

‘Of course,’ the other man accepted lightly, indicating Quinn should resume his seat. ‘Fire away,’ he invited cheerfully once they were all seated, Rome having opted now to sit on the sofa beside the young woman.

Quinn gave her a frowning look. Okay, it was a weekend, and the other man obviously had other, more pleasurable plans to occupy his time, but Quinn still had no intention of discussing his private business in the presence of Rome Summer’s girlfriend!

‘I’ve already explained to you that my business is private,’ he began tautly.

‘And I’ve already assured you—’ the other man nodded abruptly ‘—that anything you say in front of Harrie will be completely confidential.’ He looked at Quinn challengingly.

It took tremendous effort of will on Quinn’s part—helped by years of running and controlling a worldwide banking concern, where his own tremendous control could mean the difference in millions of pounds for his bank and investors alike—to keep his own expression bland.

Harrie! This woman, obviously an intimate friend of Rome Summer’s, was the lawyer he’d said would be in on their meeting!

Quinn looked at the woman with fresh eyes, reassessing her businesslike appearance in the tailored suit and blouse, the cool beauty of her face, noting the confidence in her gaze that seemed to say, whatever her private relationship with the older man, she was nevertheless a lawyer, and a damned good one!

Strangely enough, despite her unprofessional intimacy with her employer, Quinn had a feeling she was, too!

He gave an acknowledging inclination of his head. ‘This is, nevertheless, a private—very private—matter, to me,’ he repeated grimly. ‘One that doesn’t require legal advice,’ he added determinedly.

Not being in control of a situation wasn’t something Quinn was particularly comfortable with, and this situation had already been out of control before he’d been made aware of it. Rome Summer, he felt, was the only one now who could put a halt to it in any effective way. If he chose to do so… And Quinn resented having to appeal to this man in the presence of a third party. Especially a third party who, as well as being Rome Summer’s lawyer, was obviously the other man’s mistress too!

‘Quinn—I may call you that, I hope…?’ Harrie looked at him enquiringly, the perfect black arc of her left brow raised questioningly.

He gave an acknowledging inclination of his head. ‘Mr McBride’ might put this meeting on a more formal level, but in the circumstances it was that very formality that he was trying to avoid.

She smiled in acknowledgement of his agreement, her teeth very white and even against the red lip-gloss. ‘Then, Quinn, wouldn’t it be better if you just told Rome what your problem is, and tried to forget my presence here altogether?’ she suggested smoothly.

For one thing, she wasn’t the sort of woman any man could easily ignore! ‘Just what makes you think I have a “problem”—Harrie?’ he bit out, his narrowed gaze levelled on her challengingly.

She blinked once. Just the once. But it was enough to tell Quinn he had briefly disarmed her. But the brief satisfaction he felt at that knowledge was as quickly dispersed as he inwardly admitted there was a problem, even if it wasn’t of his own making. But it also made him wonder whether Rome Summer already knew exactly why he’d wanted to see him today… After all, Rome Summer was just as likely to have done his homework on him once the appointment had been made!

Harrie shrugged slender shoulders. ‘I believe you told Audrey as much when you made this appointment. Rome’s secretary,’ she explained at his questioning look concerning the mention of the other woman.

He recalled the friendly efficiency of the other woman’s voice when he had telephoned Rome Summer’s head office yesterday. And, yes, he had told her that. He would never have got this appointment to see Rome Summer so quickly if he hadn’t!

But he could also see that, with true legal guardedness, the beautiful Harrie had eluded actually answering his question…

Pompous ass, Harrie thought inwardly, knowing there would be no outward sign of her inner feelings as she continued to look across at Quinn McBride with cool impartiality.

He’d looked at her when she’d entered the room earlier, summed her up, pigeon-holed her as a frothy female friend of Rome’s, and as quickly dismissed her as nothing more than an unwanted irritation. Until he’d realised she was Rome’s lawyer.

Oh, he’d tried to hide his surprise when Rome had told him of her identity, a polite mask coming down over those handsome features, but it hadn’t been quick enough to hide the brief shock that had been reflected in his eyes, the stunned disbelief, before he’d done another mental assessment of her role here today.

Not that his second summing up had been all that complimentary, she acknowledged ruefully; he obviously believed now that Rome was a man who mixed business with pleasure. But at the same time she could see he did accept her legal qualification too!

If he’d known Rome at all, which he obviously didn’t, he would have realised the other man never confused his personal life with that of his business one; he may occasionally link them together, but he never, ever confused them…!

Rome had informed her when she’d arrived at the house earlier that this meeting with the banker, Quinn McBride, was planned for this afternoon, and in truth she’d been as puzzled as Quinn McBride obviously was that Rome should require her presence during the meeting. But she hadn’t questioned the request in the way that Quinn McBride obviously had; she’d accepted that Rome always had a reason for everything he did.

Quinn McBride finally turned away from her dismissively, his mouth a grim line as he looked across at the older man. ‘It appears I have little choice but to accept the situation,’ he bit out harshly. ‘But I do so on the understanding that what I have to say will be treated as completely confidential, that it is not for discussion with anyone outside of this room. And I do mean anyone!’

Harrie bridled with indignation. She was a lawyer, for goodness’ sake; of course this conversation would be completely confidential.

‘You have my word on it,’ Rome drawled derisively, laughter gleaming in his blue eyes as he glanced briefly at Harrie.

Well at least one of them found Quinn McBride’s attitude funny—because Harrie certainly didn’t! She’d met too many men like Quinn McBride in her years of climbing up the legal ladder, men who took one look at her surface beauty and wrote off any chance of there being a brain under the tumbling black hair. Usually she took great delight in proving those men wrong, to their own detriment, but at the moment this situation with Quinn McBride was a complete unknown to her.

‘Mine, too,’ she added softly.

Quinn McBride didn’t even glance at her this time, his expression grim as he glared down at the cooling teapot. ‘My business here today concerns one of the reporters on your newspaper, Rome. And my sister,’ he added harshly.

Harrie frowned. Rome owned a newspaper, yes, but she didn’t think the minutiae of the lives of the people that worked on it would be of any interest to him. In fact, she was sure of it!

Rome obviously shared her view. ‘Let me get this straight. One of the reporters from my newspaper is involved with your sister, and you want me—’

‘Certainly not!’ Quinn McBride cut in disgustedly. ‘My sister is—engaged to marry someone else completely,’ he rasped harshly. ‘This…reporter—for want of another word,’ he added contemptuously, ‘has information concerning my sister’s past—’

‘Something detrimental?’ Rome guessed, catching on fast to the other man’s angry tone. As he usually did…

It was the key to his success, of course. Outwardly pleasant and amiable, Rome nevertheless possessed a sharp intelligence, and a certain knowledge of his fellow human beings that had saved him from disaster more than once. Anyone who underestimated Rome was heading for disaster.

Although somehow Harrie didn’t think Quinn McBride fell into that category; she sensed the quiet respect with which he addressed the older man.

‘As you say,’ he gave an acknowledging inclination of his head. ‘Something detrimental,’ he said heavily. ‘Not of particular relevance in normal circumstances,’ he added firmly. ‘But—’

‘These aren’t “normal circumstances”,’ Rome finished hardly. ‘Am I right in assuming you only have the one sister, Quinn?’ Blue eyes were narrowed shrewdly now.

Harrie looked at him thoughtfully, having a definite feeling that he already knew Quinn McBride had only the one sibling…

‘Yes,’ the other man confirmed abruptly. ‘The situation is—delicate, to say the least, and—’

‘I can understand your concern, Quinn,’ Rome cut in smoothly. ‘I just don’t know what you want me to do about it. Information, bringing the truth to the general public, is what newspapers are about—’

‘I’m not sure I altogether agree with you there,’ Quinn scorned derisively. ‘The truth, yes. Sensationalism, for the sake of it, no.’

‘“…Let them that be without sin themselves cast the first stone” syndrome, hmm?’ Rome accepted ruefully.

‘Something like that.’ Quinn’s mouth twisted with distaste. ‘I would lay odds on there being very few adults, over the age of say…twenty-five?—who don’t have something in their past they would rather weren’t made public knowledge!’

Rome nodded. ‘And if I were a betting man—which, incidentally, I’m not—I think I would agree with you. How about you, Harrie?’ He turned to her enquiringly. ‘You’re what…? Twenty-nine now? I’m sure there must have been something in your life already that you would rather were kept a secret?’

The conversation had been turned on her so suddenly Harrie didn’t even have time to cover up her reaction to the bluntness of the question, her cheeks colouring fiery red under Rome’s mocking gaze and Quinn McBride’s scornful one.

Nevertheless, she managed to return Rome’s challenging gaze. ‘I don’t believe we were talking about me,’ she dismissed coolly.

‘Perhaps not,’ he conceded in an amused voice before turning back to the other man. ‘To get back to the problem of your sister—’ he frowned ‘—I’m not sure I have the right, even when asked as a personal favour to you, Quinn, to actually bury a story that the public may—’

‘That’s just the point, this reporter isn’t—oh, damn!’ Quinn McBride stood up impatiently to pace the room. ‘You’re a father yourself, Rome, I believe?’ he prompted irritably.

‘Yes…’ Rome confirmed guardedly.

‘My sister Corinne and I were left parentless fifteen years ago, when our parents were killed in the crash of the light aircraft they were travelling in. I was twenty-four at the time, but Corinne was only fifteen.’ He made the statement in a flat emotionless voice, but it was obvious he’d only achieved this with the passage of time. ‘I, naturally, took over the care of my sister—’

‘And the Chair of the bank,’ Rome added quietly.

Once again Harrie gave him a narrow-eyed look. Just exactly what else did he know about Quinn McBride? The expression on Rome’s face was as inscrutable as usual. Meaning he’d no intention of answering that particular question for her, either now or in the future! It was the way he worked, the way he’d always worked—alone!—and he wasn’t about to change now.

‘And the bank, eventually,’ Quinn acknowledged dismissively. ‘But that came five years later; at twenty-four I wasn’t old enough or experienced enough to take on such a position. And that isn’t the point at issue here,’ he dismissed impatiently. ‘My sister is thirty now, but it’s those past tragic circumstances that make me protective of her still.’ He sighed. ‘I’m sure you know how it is, Rome, that you must feel the same way about your own children.’ He grimaced knowingly at the older man.

Rome gave an answering smile. ‘Three girls.’ He nodded. ‘They’ve given me my fair share of headaches over the years,’ he conceded lightly.

Harrie gave him a frowning look beneath lowered dark lashes; he made those ‘three daughters’ sound like hellions! Something she knew they most certainly were not!

‘But a lot of fun and happiness, too,’ Rome added affectionately.

‘Mmm,’ Quinn agreed distractedly, still moving restlessly about the room. ‘My sister married five years ago, but unfortunately her husband died of cancer two years later. Corinne was, naturally, devastated,’ he murmured heavily. ‘She was inconsolable for the first year after Paul died. And then, when she finally felt able to look at the world again, she—she made a mistake,’ he added firmly, looking challengingly across the room as he did so.

For her own part, he could have saved himself the trouble, Harrie puzzled thoughtfully; she was no nearer knowing what point he was trying to make than she had been when she’d arrived a few minutes ago for this meeting! Although she very much doubted that Rome, despite his encouragingly friendly expression, was as uninformed…

‘It happens to the best of us,’ Rome conceded gently.

Quinn McBride’s mouth set grimly. ‘Not to the woman who is about to marry the MP tipped to be a future prime minister of the country!’

Corinne Westley, Harrie suddenly realised dazedly; Quinn’s sister was Corinne Westley. Up till now she’d been going on the surname McBride, which had totally thrown her, but Corinne’s previous marriage now explained that mistake.

Corinne Westley… Tall, beautiful, blonde, elegant, engaged to marry the MP, David Hampton. The wedding was to take place later in the summer, and her photograph, usually at some charity occasion or a political function, appeared in the tabloids nowadays almost as much as the equally elegant and beautiful Princess Diana had once done.

And a reporter working on Rome’s newspaper had uncovered some sort of scandal involving the beautiful Corinne that could bring all of that particular castle tumbling to the ground…

No wonder Quinn McBride was worried! Although, in the circumstances, she didn’t know what he expected Rome to do about it.

‘Why don’t you sit down again, Quinn?’ Rome invited smoothly. ‘I’ll have some fresh tea sent in.’ He picked up the telephone and rang down in the kitchen. ‘And then you can explain all this to us quietly and calmly.’

Harrie could see by Quinn McBride’s momentarily irritated expression that he was about to argue the point, that he already considered he was discussing all of this ‘quietly and calmly’! And then he obviously thought better of it, sitting back in the chair he had so recently vacated, staring rigidly out of the window as Rome dealt with the ordering of the fresh pot of tea.

It gave Harrie chance to study the younger man further. At thirty-nine, he was ten years her senior, but she could see from the faint sprinkling of grey in the dark hair at his temples, the lines beside his nose and mouth, that those ten years hadn’t been easy ones. And, from the sound of it, the reasons for that were understandable; Quinn McBride had had the onerous burden of responsibility thrust upon him at a very young age, both for his younger sister and, even more heavily, as chairman of a bank. His own youth had probably been put permanently on hold!

She reached out impulsively and lightly touched his arm as it rested on the side of the chair. ‘I’m sure Rome will help sort this out,’ she assured him softly; underneath all that money and power, she knew that Rome was really a softie at heart.

Aqua-blue eyes were turned to her glacially. ‘Unfortunately, this isn’t something that can be “sorted out” by the gift of a diamond bracelet, or the promise of a weekend in Paris,’ Quinn answered her contemptuously.

Harrie pulled her hand away from his arm so quickly it was as if she had been burnt. She’d been right about him earlier; he did think she was Rome’s mistress. And a very shallow one at that!

She looked at Quinn with narrowed green eyes, back in her role of lawyer now, deeply regretting her completely feminine reaction to his obvious worry concerning his sister. ‘The price of happiness comes a little higher than that nowadays,’ she bit out harshly.

Those aqua-blue eyes also narrowed. ‘I’ve heard something similar to that once before today…’ he murmured in a puzzled voice.

Harrie’s gaze didn’t waver. ‘If your attitude continues to be as unyielding as it appears to be today, my guess is you’re going to hear it a lot more in the future, too!’ she told him scornfully.

His mouth thinned angrily. ‘I—’

‘Tea will be here directly,’ Rome put in cheerfully. ‘I don’t suppose you would like to join us for dinner this evening, Quinn?’ he pressed lightly.

Harrie turned to him with accusing eyes. Quinn McBride, despite his obvious genuine love and concern for his sister, was one of the rudest most arrogant men Harrie had ever met—and that was saying something! The last thing she wanted at this moment was the anticipation of having to sit down to dinner with him this evening too!

Quinn’s mouth twisted ruefully. ‘Perhaps you should wait and hear the rest of what I have to say before making such an invitation,’ he drawled mockingly.

Rome laughed softly. ‘I doubt that will make the slightest difference,’ he assured, obviously enjoying the other man’s company despite the gravity of the situation Quinn wanted to discuss with him.

Quinn gave an inclination of his head. ‘Nevertheless, I think—’

‘Ah, tea,’ Rome said with satisfaction as, after the briefest of knocks, the door opened. ‘Delivered by the beautiful Audrey, no less!’ He smiled his thanks to the other woman as he moved to take the laden tray from her.

Audrey Archer, forty-two years of age, petite and blonde, and undoubtedly beautiful, had been Rome’s secretary and assistant for the last twelve years—and her slightly exasperated glance in Rome’s direction as he took the tray from her unresisting hands showed she wasn’t in the least impressed by his flattery. Flannel, Audrey called it. And she was undoubtedly right!

But at least the light-hearted incident had diverted the attention for a few minutes, giving Harrie time to recover from the insult Quinn McBride had delivered to her without so much as a second’s hesitation. He’d obviously summed up not only her, but also what he believed to be the situation between Rome and herself. Pompous ass! she inwardly repeated her earlier summing up of him.

She rejoined the conversation to find that Rome had introduced Audrey to Quinn McBride, but also to hear Rome inform Audrey to tell Cook there would be one more for dinner. Obviously Quinn McBride was staying whether he wanted to or not!

‘Leave the number for dinner as it is, Audrey,’ she told the other woman pleasantly. ‘I have to go back to town in a couple of hours,’ she explained at Rome’s questioning look.

She noticed there was no such look from Quinn McBride, the mockery of his gaze telling her he knew exactly why she was leaving earlier than obviously expected—and that he was amused by the fact!

Whereas Rome didn’t look at all pleased by her change of plan. ‘You made no mention of that this morning,’ he bit out, giving her a frowning look.

Harrie decided he could frown all he liked; she would not subject herself to any more of Quinn McBride’s insulting company than she had to. And for the moment she’d no choice but to sit out the rest of this meeting, but this evening, she considered, was her own time, and she would spend it how she wanted to—and that most assuredly did not include being in Quinn McBride’s arrogant company!

She shrugged unconcernedly. ‘I’m sure you’ll cope without me,’ she mocked lightly.

‘That’s hardly the point,’ Rome bit out impatiently. ‘You—’

‘Andie is feeling a little better now, Rome,’ Audrey cut in smoothly. ‘I said you would probably pop up later,’ she added in parting.

‘Half an hour or so,’ Rome promised in a pleased voice.

From the abrupt change in Rome’s mood at the mention of Andie’s recovery, Harrie knew Audrey had succeeded in what she had set out to do—namely divert Rome’s displeasure away from Harrie. She turned to give Audrey a grateful smile before the other woman left the room, receiving a conspiratorial one back before Audrey closed the door softly behind her.

But Harrie’s smile faded as she turned back to find Quinn McBride watching her with narrowed eyes, obviously well aware of the silent exchange between the two women—and as obviously drawing his own conclusions!

Well, let him; she wasn’t answerable to him or anyone else for anything she did or said! Although Rome’s next comment wasn’t conducive to that impression!

‘Would you like to pour the tea while Quinn and I continue our discussion?’ he invited distractedly, his thoughts having already returned to the matter in hand. ‘You were about to tell us about your sister’s “mistake”,’ he prompted softly.

Quinn McBride looked grim once again. ‘I don’t think I was about to go that far,’ he bit out curtly. ‘It’s enough that the mistake was made, without going into the details. It’s this reporter’s reaction to the knowledge of it that is really the point at issue,’ he added harshly. ‘I—ugh!’ He grimaced his distaste after distractedly taking a swallow of the tea Harrie had just poured for him.

In the absence of any preference from him as to how he liked his tea, Harrie had added milk and two sugars before placing the cup of tea on the table in front of him.

‘Too sweet?’ she prompted too ‘sweetly’ herself!

He carefully put the delicate china cup back down onto its matching saucer before turning to look at her. ‘For future reference—I do not take sugar in either tea or coffee,’ he bit out grimly.

For ‘future reference’, she had no intention of ever pouring him either brew ever again!

Rome’s narrowed gaze in her direction was sternly disapproving, bringing an end to her mental berating of the man who was fast becoming more than just an irritation. ‘Please—take mine.’ She held out a second, as yet untouched, cup to him. ‘And for your future reference, I don’t take sugar in tea or coffee, either,’ she added pleasantly, knowing by his throaty chuckle that Rome, at least, wasn’t fooled for a moment by that pleasantness.

‘I’ll bear that in mind,’ Quinn McBride acknowledged dryly before turning back to the older man. ‘Did you know that at least one reporter on your newspaper isn’t averse to using blackmail in exchange for information?’

Harrie was stunned by the question, although, having come to know a little of Quinn McBride in the last fifteen minutes or so, not nearly so much so by the bluntness with which it was made!

Blackmail…? What on earth was he talking about?

And he’d said this meeting had no legal, or illegal, connotations! The last Harrie had heard, blackmail very definitely came under the heading of the latter!

She glanced at Rome, not fooled for a moment by the calmness of his expression—the angry glitter of his eyes, prompted by the other man’s words, told a completely different story!

Rome placed his own cup and saucer back down on the coffee-table before meeting the younger man’s accusing gaze with a frown. ‘What sort of information?’ he pushed hardly.

‘Political, what else?’ Quinn snapped harshly. ‘When this man first approached Corinne with the information he had concerning her past, she believed it had to be the end of her relationship with David, that the last thing he needed to forward his political career was a wife who was going to bring disgrace to his name.’ His mouth twisted contemptuously. ‘But that isn’t what this particular man has in mind at all…’ he added grimly.

‘Go on,’ Rome prompted softly.

Harrie wished he would too. It wasn’t too difficult to guess what Corinne Westley’s ‘mistake’ might have been—a young widow, devastated by the premature death of her husband; she’d been prime material for a relationship she hoped might help to ease some of her pain. And, in this case, it sounded as if the partner in that relationship had probably been a married man…

As Rome said, it happened, especially when someone was that vulnerable. And also extremely beautiful.

But that was still no excuse for what seemed to be happening to Corinne Westley now…

Quinn sighed heavily. ‘This man believes, as do most of us in the City, that David will eventually become Prime Minister. The price for this reporter’s silence is any inside information Corinne can give him on political issues—hoping to make them political scandals!’

After what Quinn McBride had already intimated, this wasn’t too difficult to guess. And in view of his closeness to his sister, it was no wonder he was angry about it.

Rome looked just as angry. ‘The man’s name?’ he bit out in that flat, emotionless tone that showed just how angry he really was.

‘I have your guarantee that nothing we have said so far will go any further than this room?’ the other man prompted again cautiously.

The guarantee was unnecessary, Harrie knew that; Rome could be determined, even ruthless if the occasion warranted it, but he had never done an underhand thing in his life. And he couldn’t abide the characteristic in others. Harrie had no doubt that the reporter’s days of working on any newspaper Rome owned, and possibly any others either, were numbered!

She also felt that perhaps Quinn McBride was right, and her presence at this meeting wasn’t needed…

‘Rome?’ she quietly demanded his attention for a moment. ‘Perhaps it would be better, after all, if I left you and Mr McBride to finish this conversation in private?’

‘You’ll stay put,’ he rasped harshly, causing Harrie to look at him with puzzlement for his vehemence. ‘The man’s name?’ he prompted Quinn again.

Harrie turned to look at the other man too, knowing there was no point in reasoning with Rome on her own behalf when he was in this mood; ‘Rome’s inflexible mood’, she’d always called it. And it meant literally what it sounded like; generally the most affable and charming of men, Rome was implacable in this mood.

‘Richard Heaton,’ Quinn told him with distaste.

Harrie’s breath caught in her throat, the look she gave Rome now one of silent accusation. Because she could tell by the now calm expression on his face that he wasn’t in the least surprised by the name the other man had just given him—because he had already known it!

What else did he know…?

From the fact that he had told her this morning he wanted her presence at this meeting, and the way he’d told her to stay put a few minutes ago, Harrie had the feeling that he ‘knew’ quite a lot more than he had so far revealed to her.

Most important of all, she was sure that Rome knew of her own relationship with Richard Heaton…