Or perhaps I really was along just as eye candy. Before now, I’d used the way clients seemed to like my smile. It had backfired once, when Harry Elliott’s wife had been a littletoobowled over and he’d moved his accounts to a different bank. But behind the smile, clients knew they were paying for my analytical ability and expertise. I wasn’t used to having those overlooked completely. I gritted my teeth. This wasn’t real. This was to provide a way into the bank. That was all.
Tom was buried in his phone, so I took the opportunity to shoot Alex a text.Wish you were here.It was only after I’d sent it that I realised it might sound needy rather than a low-key humorous excuse for contact. Damnit. I’d have to be more careful in future.
ALEX
With Nate gone, I had nothing to do. I was still determined to search Steven’s room, but doing so would be suicidal without Nate acting as lookout.
Anna Fortescue invited me to sit beside her at lunch. She proceeded to quiz me on my profession and looked dissatisfied to learn I was a part-time tour guide.
“Well, it must be difficult in Cornwall,” she said. “We’ll see what we can find for you closer to home.”
I knew rich people thought they ran the world—because they actuallydidrun the world—but the arrogance of her statement on so many levelsleft me breathless.
“Some elocution lessons will help with that accent.” She must have seen the expression on my face, because she pressed on extremely swiftly. “It’s a very charming reminder of where you come from, but it won’t quite do in the circles you’ll be moving in.”
Circles that could kiss my Cornish arse. Somehow, and God only knew how, I managed not to say that out loud.
“Ella’s going to read Banking and Finance at university. She’ll go into the family business, of course.”
Woah, hold up—goingto? I hadn’t wondered where she went each day, but if you’d asked me, I’d have guessed uni. I knew there was one in Bath. “How old is she?” I asked.
“Eighteen,” Anna said. “But a very mature eighteen.”
Seriously? Even if she had been mature,eighteen?Did Anna Fortescue think I was some sort of predator? I glared at Margaret, sitting a couple of seats away, until she came to my rescue.
“Anna, I was wondering if you could show me around your garden after lunch.”
Margaret had as much interest in gardening as I had in trombones. I really owed her for starting a conversation about hollyhocks and hydrangeas. But if I’d had to talk to Anna a moment longer, I wouldn’t have been able to hide my anger.
Like Nate had said of Ella once, that poor kid. Auctioned off before she’d had a chance even to live. We couldn’t leave her here when we left. But then, that would probably result in kidnapping charges, and I doubted Ella would be happy without unfettered access to designer labels. I didn’t think I’d yet seen her in the same outfit twice.
I concentrated fiercely on my lunch. Or, as I would have called it at home, dinner. I expected that was wrong, too. Anna Fortescue would probably send me for vocabulary tutoring alongside theelocution lessons. I hated it here. I hated these people. All except Nate.
My phone sounded with a text.Wish you were here.
Me too,I sent back, and I meant it. I wanted to be with Nate. I also wanted to be as far away as possible from this amoral family with their elocution lessons. But mostly, I wanted to be with Nate.
NATE
Tom had handled the meeting expertly. He was far too professional to have brought me simply because I was, allegedly, pretty. Perhaps he’d said that to gauge how compliant I was, how willing to do unsavoury things in the pursuit of Fortescue interests.
Michel took us out for supper at one of Zurich’s best restaurants. I knew that because he told us, just before he slid his hand onto my thigh.
“Come home with me tonight, and I will show you more of the best that Zurich has to offer,” he murmured, his mouth close to my ear.
About to peel his hand off my leg, I hesitated as another reason for this trip occurred to me. The Fortescues knew that Alex and I spent a lot of time together. Steven had seen us kissing. Was this a test to see if there was anything between us? Once I realised that possibility, I changed my mind about trotting out the “I have a partner” line.
I smiled apologetically at Michel as I firmly removed his hand. “I’m sorry, but I don’t mix business with pleasure.”
He wasn’t bad looking, but noone could hold a candle to Alex. I couldn’t imagineeverwanting to be with anyone else. It wasn’t only how Alex looked, gorgeous though he was, but the connectionI felt with him. Sex with him was incredible because it wasn’t just sex. It wasushaving sex.
Okay, so the fruit brandy Michel had plied me with after the meal had been a bit stronger than I’d realised—I wasn’t making sense even to myself. All I knew was that Alex was amazing, and I missed him.
*
The following morning, Tom had some meetings to which I wasn’t invited. Even though I’d signed an NDA, it would have been reckless to disclose too much commercially sensitive information in front of me.
I took the opportunity to explore Zurich in the autumn sunshine. The previous times I’d been here had been on business, and I’d seen nothing more than the airport and boardrooms.
