The Baby Who Saved Christmas. Alison Roberts

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СКАЧАТЬ the rest of his body were as tense as his jaw by the time he’d taken two steps into the room. He didn’t want to be in here at all but he’d discovered it was a place that contained some particularly useful technology. Not the huge screen that had an endless loop of overpriced cars racing through the streets of Monaco. No...it was the smaller screen that provided a live feed to every security camera the property boasted. He knew which corners of the screen came from the cameras on the gateposts because checking them was becoming a half-hourly ritual.

      He only needed the crowd to thin out enough and he would be able to escape a property he’d never intended setting foot inside in the first place. It wasn’t as if he was getting anywhere on the mission that had brought him through the gates. It was clearly a stalemate.

      The media interest didn’t seem to have died down at all yet, unfortunately. And what on earth was going on right in front of the gate?

      A girl looked, for all the world, as if she was kissing one of the security guards. No wonder he looked so shocked, stepping back and staring at her as if she was completely crazy.

      Julien found himself leaning closer to the screen, as if that would help him see the image more clearly. The woman was nothing like any journalist he’d ever seen. Was it because she wasn’t holding a camera or microphone? Maybe it was the odd accessory of what looked like a child’s schoolbag on her back. Then she turned enough for him to see her face and he realised that his impression probably had more to do with body language than anything else. The confidence was missing. The pushiness...

      Yes. She looked like a fish out of water. Bewildered even, as the guard moved further away from her, reaching for his phone.

      Frightened?

      The urge to offer protection was instinctive. Well honed. And quite enough to trigger a wave of a grief that he’d believed he’d come to terms with by now.

      He’d tried, so hard, to keep Colette safe...

      And he was failing her again, even now...

      If only the tears of grief would come, they might wash away some of the anger building today but it wasn’t going to happen here in this room of all places.

      And it wasn’t going to happen now. Not with a phone ringing yet again. And this was his personal mobile, not a house landline, which meant that it was a caller he needed to take notice of. His solicitor, probably. He’d walked out on the argument still going on in the small drawing room on the other side of the foyer but decisions had to be made about which legal documents had precedence. Was he going to win the battle he’d come here today to fight?

      But this call was not a summons back to the tense meeting. It was coming from outside the gates, from a member of his own entourage.

      A glance at the screen gave him the odd feeling of a breath of wind that targeted only the hairs on the back of his neck. As he answered the call, his gaze went straight back to the security images. He could see his caller. The bodyguard his solicitor had deemed necessary for this potentially volatile visit.

      ‘Sorry to disturb you, Monsieur Dubois.’

      ‘What is it?’

      ‘There’s a girl here...an English girl...’

      His gaze shifted fractionally. Yes, he could still see her. Just standing there, looking lost. He wasn’t the only one looking her way either. In the boring hours of waiting for something newsworthy, any distraction for the reporters was probably welcome.

      ‘And?’

      ‘And...’ The security guard muttered something incomprehensible.

      ‘Pardon? You’ll have to speak up.’

      ‘I’m not sure that’s a good idea.’ On the screen, Julien could see the guard turn his back on his audience and step even further away. He spoke in a hoarse whisper that hissed over the line.

      ‘She’s saying that Monsieur Laurent is her father.’

      Julien’s breath came out in a derisive snort. ‘Of course she is. She won’t be the first to turn up with a convenient claim like that now. Send her packing.’

      ‘But...she wants to talk to him...’

       ‘What?’

      ‘I know. It’s bizarre but she really doesn’t seem to have any idea what’s going on. I thought it might be better to deal with it away from prying eyes and ears.’

      Julien closed his eyes and cradled his forehead in one hand, applying pressure to both temples.

      Could this day get any more complicated?

      After a long silence he forced his eyes open again and let his breath out in a defeated sigh.

      ‘Fine. Send her up to the house.’

      * * *

      Alice McMillan wasn’t used to being the centre of attention.

      It was unnerving the way she could actually feel the intense interest of the crowd of people behind her as the massive gates were opened just far enough to let her squeeze through in the company of the security guard she had whispered her secret to. She could imagine the crowd pressing closer as they shouted questions at her.

      She should feel safer shut away from the pack but, if anything, Alice felt like she was falling further into a rabbit hole, like the Alice she’d been named for. Tumbling into an alien world that she was not at all sure she wanted to visit. She lifted her chin. No...this was a fairy-tale, she reminded herself. She was Cinderella and she was being escorted to the palace where the ball was about to begin.

      The guard escorting her to the house was completely silent and it was a long walk. Plenty of time to look around. At a perfectly manicured garden with enough palm trees to make it look like a tropical island and citrus trees with lemons bright jewels against a glossy green background. The blue of the infinity pool was an almost perfect match for the sea it blended into, and the house...

      The house looked like the kind of mansion people paid good money for the privilege of being allowed to enter. Not quite a palace but an ancient, stately villa with pillared terraces and enormous windows that probably did have a ballroom tucked away, along with a whole wing for staff quarters. It loomed ever larger as Alice walked towards it and by the time they reached the stone paving leading to the biggest front door she had ever seen, she could feel the shadow of the house settling onto her like a dark cloud that was menacing enough to suggest an imminent storm. The heavy chopping beat of a hovering helicopter overhead added to the unreality and made her feel as if she’d stepped into a movie. A modern twist on an old fairy-tale. Some kind of psychological thriller perhaps.

      The guard stopped and jerked his head towards the door.

      ‘Allez. Il vous attend.’

      The message was crystal clear. Somebody was expecting her arrival.

      Her father?

      Oh, Lord...this was all far more dramatic than she’d ever imagined it could be. Maybe she should have paid more heed to the advice her gran had given her so many years ago.

       ‘Don’t ever go СКАЧАТЬ