Текст книги "The Billionaire Banker"
Автор книги: Georgia Le Carre
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Текущая страница: 13 (всего у книги 13 страниц)
Thirty two
Victoria Jane Montgomery, daughter of the fourth Earl of Hardwicke, enters the large conservatory built on the east wall of the great house. In her opinion, it is the most beautiful part of the house with its old Victorian stained glass and its profusion of citrus trees, tropical palms, and orchids. When she was younger there was even a banana tree. But Geoffrey died some years ago and this new gardener has other ideas, newer ideas. Her mother is reading a book. Another cheap period romance with a swashbuckling man clutching a buxom woman with flowing hair on the cover.
Victoria has never understood why a woman of her age should read romances. Surely, the instinct for romance dies when one reaches a certain age. Victoria herself has never understood the allure of romances. They bore her. She has the real thing in her life. She has Blake, all six feet two inches of him. All she has to do is think of him to make her toes clench. When she thinks of him with that hussy, her stomach actually knots and she has to stop herself from doing the bitch bodily harm. In fact, in a dream she once had she was tearing her eyes out. The feeling is so strong that sometimes she has to clench her hands, so hard her nails bite into her flesh and leave half moon marks.
Her mother looks up from her book. ‘Oh, daahling. Have you just come from the hospital? How is Blake doing?’
Her mother’s King Charles, Suki, jumps happily at her feet. Victoria picks it up and, tickling the fur next to its pink crystal-studded collar, sits on a chair opposite her mother. ‘He hasn’t come around yet,’ she says, as the dog tries to lick her mouth.
Her mother has pink cheeks, soft blue eyes and a small pink mouth. ‘Oh dear, what are the doctors saying?’
‘It’s a matter of time. The swelling needs to go down. They expect they will be able to operate tomorrow.’
‘I’m sorry, my dear.’
‘Actually, Mummy, I’ve come to talk to you about a different matter.’
‘Oh?’ Her mother puts her book down.
‘Well, it is about Blake, but it’s not about his accident, well maybe it is a little bit. Anyway, I found out that Blake has a mistress.’
‘Oh,’ her mother says again. Victoria bites her lip. It is a blow to her pride to tell her mother this.
‘I went to the apartment where he keeps her and paid her to leave the country and never see Blake again. Her mother is Iranian or something, and I suggested she live there for a while until everything blows over.’
The foolish look drops from her mother’s eyes and her voice loses that simpering softness that Victoria grew up with. Victoria’s mouth drops open in shock. In that moment she realizes she has never known her mother. This woman is nobody’s fool.
‘You have taken a huge and unnecessary risk by doing that. These types of women will grow in such soil as ours and wither quickly, but when you force one out by the roots the way you have done, they leave a mark, an ugly scar that some men will mistake for a lost love.’
The wisdom in her mother’s words makes undeniable sense and Victoria looks at her mother worriedly. ‘But he took her to the Craft ball!’
Her mother looks at her with narrowed eyes. ‘How do you know that?’
Victoria looks away. Gently, she lowers Suki to the ground.
Her mother sighs and throws an imperial mint on the floor. Immediately Suki catches it in her mouth and crunches it. ‘You’ve had him followed. You are playing a dangerous game, Victoria. What does she look like?’
‘A slut.’
Her mother looks steadily at her.
‘All right, she’s very beautiful and young,’ she spits out.
‘But dirt poor?’
‘Poorer than dirt.’
‘Oh dear. Perhaps you did the right thing then.’
‘What do I do now then?’
‘Nothing much. Persuade your father to talk to Blake and take the blame for paying the girl off. It will appear less sordid if such a thing is done by a father to protect his daughter’s interest. You must remain spotless. Go and see your father now. He is in the study. He never could resist a tear or two from you.’
Victoria stands and her mother says, ‘You do know that this will not be the last woman that will come into your life, don’t you?’
‘Yes.’
‘Are you sure you want this life?’
Victoria did not hesitate. ‘Yes.’
Her mother nodded sadly. ‘Remember this. I married beneath me. So will you. All women do.’
Victoria gasps.
‘Well, run along then, daahling,’ she simpers and picks up her lurid novel.
Thirty three
The first person Lana calls is Jack. He answers on the fifth ring when she is just about to give up.
‘What is it?’ he says, instantly alert.
‘Oh, Jack,’ she says.
‘Where are you?’
‘Going to Mum’s.’
‘I’ll meet you there.’
‘Jack, you don’t have to meet me there. I just wanted to hear your voice.’
‘What happened?’
‘Nothing.’ But her voice breaks.
‘Fuck nothing. What happened?’
‘I have to leave. I’m taking Mum back to Iran.’
‘What?’
‘Just for a year.’
‘I’m coming over.’
‘Please don’t, Jack. I was feeling weak, but I’m all right now. Funny, just hearing your voice did it. I know now what I have to do. I’ll email you when I get settled. It’s a bit primitive over there, so it might take a bit of time, but you’ll be the first person I write to.’
‘Don’t you want to see me before you go?’
‘I’ll be gone by the time you get here. Someone else is making the arrangements. They don’t mess about. I kinda jumped from the frying pan into the fire, but I think it will be OK when I get to Iran.’
‘What about Blake?’
‘He is history. He must never know where I am.’
‘Has he hurt you?’
‘No. He’s still unconscious in hospital.’
‘You’re not going of your own free will, are you?’
‘No, but it is for the best and I’ve got to go now, Jack. I will write as soon as I can.’
‘Goodbye, Lana.’
‘Goodbye, darling Jack.’
Thirty four
It is a rich room in which Victoria finds her father. He is sitting in a large armchair reading the newspapers. His favorite foxhound, Sergeant is curled up on a rug at his feet. At her entrance, Sergeant does no more than swivel his mournful eyes in her direction and wave the tip of his thirteen-year-old tail.
‘Daddy.’
He tilts his head so his washed out blue eyes can peer over his glasses. ‘Hello, pet,’ he welcomes genially.
‘Daddy, I’ve done something rather awful.’
Hugo Montgomery lowers his paper and narrows his eyes. It is amazing how different his eyes now appear.
‘Sit down,’ he orders.
Victoria walks over to the chair opposite him, her face troubled and unhappy.
‘Well?’ he prompts.
She looks down and twists a black pearl on her bracelet. ‘I found out that Blake was keeping a woman. A horrible woman from a council estate.’ She stood suddenly and moved a few feet away. ‘He was paying her.’
Her father wisely says nothing.
‘Anyway, I went to see her, Daddy, and it was awful. Just awful. Ghastly woman. There she was in all the designer gear that he had bought her, and she was so arrogant about it too. She challenged me to take him away from her. I was so desperate I offered her money to leave him.’ Victoria looks him in the eye.
Her father’s face is expressionless. ‘Did she agree?’
Her voice becomes hard and cold. ‘Of course. I had Martin draw up the papers and I transferred the money from my Gibraltar account. I’ve checked and she’s gone. Left the country.’
‘It appears you’ve taken care of your little problem. What do you want me to do?’
‘Daddy, I love Blake, he is a good, strong man, and I know that once we are married he will be a good husband and a fine father. I can forgive him for this little indiscretion.’
Her father nods carefully.
‘But I know that he will never forgive me for interfering with his affairs if he finds out it was I who offered her the money. Daddy, could you please see him and tell him that it was you who offered her money. Surely he will be able to see what a little tramp she is to leave him while he is still in hospital.’
‘That will surely ruin my relationship with him.’
‘Does it really matter? You will still be his father-in-law and he will come to recognize that you did it for his own good.’
‘You are certain you want this man?’
‘I have never been more certain of anything in my life.’
He turns away from her and looks out of the window.
‘Do you have a copy of her signature?’
‘Yes.’
He nods. ‘Of course, the contract.’ A thought occurs to him. ‘What about a sample of her writing?’
‘Yes.’
He raises a bushy, enquiring eyebrow.
‘I have a copy of her application form at the temporary agency she used to work at.’
He smiles regretfully. Shame she had not been born a boy. He could have used her at the helm of the family instead of being a tool of consolidation.
‘Give them both to me. I will work something out with Jason.’ Victoria has never met Jason, but she knows of him. He is a master forger.
‘Thank you, Daddy,’ she says and running up to him snuggles her perfumed cheek against his. Her father’s arm comes around her shoulder and he gives her an affectionate squeeze.
‘Oh, my pretty, pretty little viper—what that man doesn’t know about you!’
She moves away from him and looks up into his eyes.
‘Daddy?’
‘Yes, Victoria.’
‘Is it very wrong what I have done?’
‘You should have left it alone, Victoria. He is a man and men, my dear, have needs, but these needs do go away.’
‘He took her to the Crafts ball.’
Her father’s eyes narrow to slits with disapproval. Immediately she feels bad that she told him that. She wants her father to think well of Blake.
‘He’s a good man, Daddy. He’s just a bit lost. She has bewitched him. He has never done anything like this before.’
Her father says nothing but it is obvious he is not impressed.
Victoria cannot leave it alone. ‘Are you angry with me, Daddy?’ she asks, her eyes misting over.
‘Of course not. You did what you thought was best, but there is a very important lesson that a woman can learn from a dog. When a dog finds another dog’s scent on his master, he does not panic, feel threatened or hurl abuse, but merely finds it interesting. If you can cultivate that habit you will have a very happy marriage.’
When his daughter leaves, Hugo Mongomery looks out of the window at the rolling green fields of his estate and the beautiful Van Gogh clouds in the sky. He has known about Blake’s woman. Seen photos of them together. Something about the pictures makes him worry that this might not be the end of the matter. Still, his daughter is an intelligent, cunning fox. And to date there is nothing she has wanted that has eluded her.
To be continued…
Book 2
Hey you,
Thank you for choosing and reading The Billionaire Banker. It is my first attempt at Contemporary Romance, and I have to say I simply loved writing it, especially the steamy scenes!
Book 2 is written through Lana’s eyes.
Once again, fate has dropped her at Blake’s feet, but he is no longer the man who upgraded her mother to first class, took care of her when she was as sick as a dog, and risked his own life to save hers. He is a cold-eyed, vengeful stranger who demands that she finish the term of the contract.
He is owed 42 days, and he will have it.
Book 2 will be out on January 24th, 2014. Until then, kiss a good-looking stranger…
xx Georgia
Feel like saying hello or just want to know what the totally delectable Blake looks like?
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