Tycoon's Choice: Kept by the Tycoon / Taken by the Tycoon / The Tycoon's Proposal

‘It’s somewhat different from standing on the edge of a precipice.’

‘I pictured it as being just as terrifying.’ She laughed.

‘But still you came.’ His voice was dry.

She hoped he hadn’t guessed what she had in mind. It would make getting away all the more difficult, if he had.

But if the worst came to the worst, she would refuse point blank to go back with him. And if he tried to force her she would kick up a fuss, she decided as he came round to help her out.

The Denaught appeared to be very busy, and she was greatly cheered to see a red-coated doorman dealing with a steady trickle of taxis arriving at, and leaving, the main entrance.

There was much less snow here, a mere carpet compared to the thick covering they’d left behind them, which made walking easy even in fashion boots.

‘Better make the most of it,’ Rafe said, when she remarked on the fact. ‘If the forecast is right, we’ve more heavy snow coming overnight, with blizzards in our neck of the woods…’

‘Good afternoon, Mr Lombard…madam…’ A youngish, round-faced man in a smart navy-blue uniform appeared from nowhere. ‘Lovely day.’

‘It is indeed,’ Rafe answered.

‘If you and the lady want to go straight in, I’ll take care of things.’

‘Thanks, Steve.’

‘You seem to be well-known here,’ she remarked, as they made their way across the concreted area and through a side-entrance.

‘Yes, it’s a place I often use. Apart from the fact that they have an excellent chef, the helicopter pad is extremely useful, and I keep a car here,’ he added nonchalantly.

As they reached the foyer, with its crackling log fire and seasonal decorations, a grey-haired, distinguished-looking man wearing a cream carnation in his buttonhole, bore down on them.

‘Good afternoon, Mr Lombard…’

‘Afternoon, Charles. This is Miss Knight.’

‘Miss Knight…’ Obviously one of the old school, the manager made her a courteous little bow.

‘I must apologise for giving you so little notice, at a peak time,’ Rafe said.

Charles waved away the apology. ‘It’s always a pleasure to have you here, Mr Lombard.’

As their coats were borne away by one of his minions, he added, ‘Your usual table’s ready, and your guest has arrived.’

Rafe nodded. ‘Thanks.’

‘The young lady’s waiting for you in the private lounge.’ He indicated a door to the right.

Madeleine’s thoughts began to race as, a hand beneath her elbow, Rafe escorted her across the foyer towards the lounge.

Remembering his previous phone conversation, she felt hollow inside.

As Fiona couldn’t get to the hall, had he suggested that they meet here?

But if he had, why had he included her? Unless he’d decided that she was safer under his eye than left to her own devices.

After all, he had no idea that she and Fiona had ever met, no idea that she knew about the bargain he had made with his godfather.

And she was hardly likely to tell the other woman how he’d tricked her into going to the hall. So perhaps he was hoping to present her simply in the role of physiotherapist?

The role he had asked her to play.

Another thought struck her. Did he mean to take Fiona back in the helicopter? Though how did he intend to extract ‘reparation’ from her with his fiancée on the scene…?

Well, whatever his intentions, if it was Fiona waiting in there, he had a nasty shock coming.

But if it was Fiona, she’d rather tell him the truth now than have to face the other woman.

At the door to the lounge, her insides churning, she dug her toes in and asked jerkily, ‘Who is it that’s waiting?’

‘You’ll see.’

‘I’d like to know.’

Shaking his head, he said decidedly, ‘That would spoil the surprise,’ and, opening the door, propelled her inside.

She was aware of a log fire burning in what seemed to be a deserted room, before a small figure came hurtling towards her. Almost knocked off balance, she found herself being hugged with a warmth and enthusiasm that went straight to her heart.

‘Katie!’ she exclaimed, half laughing, half crying. ‘How you’ve grown. You’re getting really tall. You almost come up to my chin.’

‘You haven’t changed at all,’ Katie declared. ‘You’re just as beautiful as ever.’ She turned to Rafe and gave him a hug. ‘Thank you for bringing her, Uncle Rafe.’

Then, taking Madeleine’s hand, she went on happily, ‘I’m so glad you’re back. I’ve missed you. Aren’t you pleased to be home?’

Glancing up, Madeleine met Rafe’s ironic gaze. Dragging her eyes away, she said, ‘Of course I am.’

‘School’s broken up for Christmas, so when Mum told me you were staying at the hall so you could treat Uncle George, I asked if I could come and see you. But Uncle Rafe said you were all snowed up…’

So it had been Katie Rafe had been talking to when he used the endearment sweetheart, not Fiona.

‘Did you enjoy flying in the helicopter?’ Katie asked eagerly.

‘Yes, I quite liked it.’

‘I thought you would,’ the child said proudly. ‘That’s why I asked Uncle Rafe if he could bring you to see me.’

So though he must have known he was running a risk, known that she might refuse to go back with him, he’d brought her to please Katie.

‘He didn’t tell me,’ Madeleine said.

‘I asked him not to say anything because I wanted to surprise you.’

‘Well, you certainly did that.’ She squeezed the child’s hand. Then, puzzled, asked, ‘But surely you didn’t come alone?’

‘No, Helga, the au pair, brought me. She’ll be coming back for me at two o’clock…’

Which meant she would have to delay her escape, Madeleine realised. There was no way she could disappear while Katie was still here.

‘Mum is at work,’ the child went on. ‘She’s going to join us as soon as she can get away. But she said to start eating without her, just in case she can’t make it for lunch.

‘I’m hungry already. I was too excited to eat much breakfast. Are you hungry, Maddy?’

Still feeling churned up, Madeleine lied, ‘Yes, I am.’

‘Well, if my two favourite girls are hungry—’ Rafe put an arm around each of them ‘—let’s go and eat.’

Katie fairly danced along, her dark, glossy plait swinging. ‘While we have lunch I can tell you all about Bertrand…’

When, seated by one of the long windows in the pleasant dining room, they had finished ordering, Madeleine asked, ‘Who’s Bertrand?’

‘He’s the Labrador that Uncle Rafe is giving me for Christmas. Though I’m fine again now, Mum and Dad don’t want me to ride any more until I’m grown up, so they agreed I could have a dog. Bertrand’s about six months old and I’m getting him tomorrow, because the sanctuary doesn’t open on Christmas Day.

‘I decided to call him Bertrand because that’s Uncle Rafe’s middle name…’

‘Is it really?’ Madeleine laughed. ‘I didn’t know that.’

Rafe grimaced. ‘Not a lot of people do.’

Then to Katie, ‘Do you have to tell all my most shameful secrets? And come to that, how do you know?’

The little girl giggled. ‘Mum told me. But she thinks Bertrand is rather grand for a puppy, so I’ll probably call him Bertie for short.’ She turned her attention back to Madeleine. ‘He was rescued when his previous owner left him shut in the basement of a derelict house,’ she explained. ‘He’d almost starved to death before he was found. But he’s very friendly and he still likes people.

‘He’s from the Mill House Animal Sanctuary. Uncle Rafe gives them lots of money to help the animals…’

While they waited for the meal to be served, and between courses, Katie chatted away non-stop.

Madeleine smiled and listened and marvelled that a child she had regarded as quiet and a little shy could be so talkative.

Catching her eye, Rafe said with a wry smile, ‘As a rule Katie doesn’t say much, but when she gets excited she could talk for England.’

They had almost finished their coffee before Diane herself came hurrying in, wearing a businesslike grey suit and carrying a black shoulder-bag-cum-briefcase. Her cheeks were flushed and she sounded more than a shade breathless as she said, ‘Hi there.’

‘You’re very late, Mum,’ Katie pointed out.

‘Yes, I know, darling, and I’m sorry. I began to think I wasn’t going to make it at all. I was trapped into having lunch with a client.’

She gave her brother, who had risen at her approach, a peck on the cheek and, stooping to hug Madeleine, said with obvious sincerity, ‘It’s good to have you back.’

‘I expect you can do with some coffee?’ Rafe asked.

‘You’re a mind-reader.’ Dropping into the chair he’d pulled out for her, Diane smoothed a hand over the dark hair that fell straight and gleaming to her shoulders, and grumbled, ‘Sometimes I wonder why I keep on working.’

He smiled. ‘You know perfectly well that you love your work. If you didn’t have it, you’d be lost.’

‘That’s true. I just don’t want to be a mirror image of Mother.’

He raised an eyebrow. ‘I don’t think you need to worry on that score.’

‘But you wouldn’t want your wife to have a career,’ Diane noted.

‘I’d prefer her not to. Unless it would make her seriously unhappy to give it up. If that was the case, I’d have to withdraw my opposition…’ He sat back confidently.

They chatted for a minute or so until the fresh coffee had arrived and been poured, before Katie reminded him, ‘Uncle Rafe, you promised you’d show me the inside of your helicopter some time and let me sit in the pilot’s seat…’

‘Well, I will, sweetheart.’

‘Can’t you do it now?’ She glanced at her watch. ‘It’s only a quarter to two.’

As Rafe hesitated, Diane said, ‘Go if you want to. Maddy and I can catch up on some gossip.’

‘Oh, please, Uncle Rafe.’ Katie was already on her feet and tugging at his arm.

He cast his eyes heavenwards. ‘I should have more sense than promise these things.’

‘Go on,’ Diane urged, ‘you know you want to.’ Then to Madeleine, ‘Men always enjoy showing off their toys.’

‘Femaled into it,’ he said with mock-resignation. ‘Come on, then, Poppet. We’ll pick up your coat on the way out.’

‘It’s Helga’s yoga class this afternoon,’ Diane reminded her daughter, ‘so if you see her come while you’re out there, you’d better go straight home with her. Daddy should be there by the time you get back.’

‘All right…Bye, then, Mum.’

‘Bye, darling. I won’t be late tonight.’

‘That’s good. Bye, Maddy. Come and see us soon—then you’ll be able to meet Bertie. I think you’ll like him.’ Katie ran back and put her arms round Maddy.

‘I’m sure I will,’ Madeleine agreed, and hugged the slight figure.

‘Come on, then, Uncle Rafe…’ She took his hand.

Over the child’s head his eyes met Madeleine’s, an unmistakable warning in their cool green depths, as he said lightly, ‘I’ll be back in ten minutes or so. Don’t go anywhere.’

As the tall, broad-shouldered man and the slender dark-haired child turned away, they heard Katie coax, ‘If I’m very careful, will you let me try on the earphones, Uncle Rafe?’

He smiled down at her. ‘I dare say.’

‘Oh, goodie!’

While the pair made their way to the door, Diane sipped her coffee and looked after them fondly. ‘I’ll be pleased when Rafe settles down and has a family of his own…’

Madeleine felt her heart constrict as if an iron band had tightened round it as Diane added, ‘He’ll make a really good father. He’s great with Katie, and she fairly dotes on him.’ Then a shade diffidently, ‘I hadn’t realised how things were—between you and Rafe, I mean—until he told me…’

Madeleine found herself wondering exactly how much he’d told his sister, and where Fiona fitted into all this. It didn’t sound as if Diane knew about the bargain Rafe had struck with his godfather…Or if she did, she certainly didn’t seem to be blaming him for not keeping it.

‘He hasn’t been happy while you’ve been away,’ Diane went on. ‘But now you’re back, thank the lord, and I’m only too delighted that things finally look like they’re working out…’

Not knowing what to say, Madeleine stayed silent.

‘Poor Rafe…In some ways he’s had a raw deal…’

Seeing the sceptical look on Madeleine’s face, she hurried to defend her brother. ‘Oh, yes, I know he appears to be the man who has everything, but so far, through no fault of his own, he’s lost out in ways that have really mattered to him.

‘Though he was never deprived of material possessions, he didn’t have a very happy childhood. In fact it’s a miracle he didn’t grow up warped…’

Recalling the story he’d told her about his stepfather, Madeleine began, ‘You mean…?’

‘I mean he could so easily have ended up weak, psychologically damaged. But thank the lord he’s turned out to be one of the strongest, most stable people I know.

‘The only thing I’ve ever known to really throw him off balance was when you went to the States…’ She glanced up at Madeleine and then went on, ‘But to get back to the point. Our mother wasn’t a home-maker. She never wanted children. She was a career woman through and through, and well over thirty when she married Dad. Even then she only agreed to a wedding because I was on the way.

‘Children bored her, and she couldn’t wait to get me off her hands so she could be free. Unfortunately for her, there was still Rafe to come.

‘She believed she was in the menopause, and by the time she found she was pregnant again, it was too late to do anything about it. No child asks to be born, yet, as though he was to blame, she always resented him.

‘Dad and I did our best, but he needed a mother’s love, and the more he tried to get close to her, the more she pushed him away. He was much too young to understand why…’

Madeleine’s heart bled for the poor, bewildered child who’d been so cruelly rejected. But after the way he’d treated Fiona he didn’t deserve her pity, she reminded herself.

‘Then when he was twelve and I was nineteen our father died, and six months later, to our surprise, Mother remarried. Unlike Dad, who was a kind man and wouldn’t have hurt a fly, her new husband was a brute and a bully. It’s not surprising that Rafe came to hate him…

‘To cut a long story short, when Rafe was barely fourteen, for his own safety, he was sent to live with his godparents.’

Her face clouded.

‘It’s true that they welcomed him with open arms, but even there he had his share of problems…’

Madeleine was taken aback. When Rafe had talked about his godparents, he’d made no mention of any problems. Rather he’d emphasised how well they’d treated him.

As if pushing aside unpleasant memories, Diane made a dismissive gesture and went on, ‘Though at that time the Charns could well afford it, he was anxious not to be a financial burden. He wanted to be independent, to be able to fund his own schooling.

‘As though in answer to a prayer, when our paternal aunt died she left us a small legacy in her will. I used my half to further my career, while Rafe, with his godfather’s help and approval, put his into stocks and shares.

‘When it comes to finance, my brother has the Midas touch. Everything he invested in turned to gold, and by the time he went to university he had the independence he craved.

‘He could have cut free then from the Charn household, but he didn’t,’ Diane said proudly. ‘He continued to call their house home, continued to treat them as if they were his own parents. And when Christopher ran into trouble, Rafe stood by him through thick and thin…’

Well, he would do if he was expecting to inherit Charn Industries, Madeleine thought cynically. But once again there had been no mention of Fiona.

She was about to jump in with both feet and ask where the other woman was, when Diane exclaimed, ‘Oh, lord, aren’t I rabbiting on? But I wanted you to know, to understand, that Rafe isn’t—’

‘Isn’t what?’ Rafe asked.

Both women jumped.

‘Oh, you’re back,’ Diane said. And, obviously flustered to be caught talking about him, hurried on, ‘Did Katie enjoy the helicopter?’

He grinned. ‘Enormously. She’s quite determined to get a pilot’s licence as soon as she’s old enough.’

‘I take it she’s gone?’

‘Yes. Helga was running a few minutes late, otherwise she would have stopped for a word.’

Diane picked up her shoulder-bag. ‘Speaking of being late, I’ll have to get a move-on myself. Thanks for the coffee.’ She turned back to her brother. ‘We’ll be at home all over Christmas. Stuart’s mum and dad are coming to stay with us, so you must bring Madeleine for a meal as soon as you can make it.’

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