Web Of Darkness. HELEN BROOKS

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ Janie never did know, but the big masculine chest was incredibly comforting as she howled out her misery, in spite of it belonging to the perpetrator of all the pain.

      When the tempest had ceased and her weeping had died to the odd hiccuping sob, he put her firmly to one side.

      ‘So your grievance is genuine,’ he stated expressionlessly. She glanced up at him quickly, noting that the hard blue eyes were guarded and there was a subtle change in him she couldn’t quite discern. His mouth was still cruel and cynical, the deep lines grooved either side of his nose still fiercely prominent and the overall impression was still one of ruthless ferocity, and yet…there was some-thing. ‘I can recognise real misery when I see it, Miss Gordon,’ he said slowly, ‘but your actions are still inexcusable. You could have made an appointment to speak with me at any time to sort out this misunderstanding——’

      ‘Misunderstanding!’ She reared up like a small tigress. ‘There’s no misunderstanding, believe me, and you can’t fool me like that either; I’m not stupid.’

      ‘I won’t make the obvious retort to that statement,’ he said coldly. ‘Your actions speak far louder than any words of mine could do. How long has it been since your father died?’ he finished abruptly.

      ‘Two years.’ She stared at him tightly.

      ‘Did you cry when he died?’ He ignored the painful tensing of her body, his face demanding an answer.

      ‘Well, of course…’ Her voice trailed away as her brow puckered in thought. ‘No, I suppose not, not really.’

      ‘That is very bad for your soul.’ She stared at him in surprise. It was the last thing she had expected from a callous, harsh entrepreneur like him. ‘It creates a darkness, like a web, that blankets everything.’

      ‘Look, I’m fine.’ She straightened slightly as she spoke, her chin jutting out aggressively. ‘There’s nothing wrong with me.’ The last words were full of meaning and he nodded slightly, his eyes hardening.

      ‘I take it we’re back to the accusations?’

      ‘Oh, you know what I mean.’ She brushed a strand of hair from her damp face wearily. ‘You can’t have forgotten so completely. I could see you remembered at the hotel.’

      ‘The name of your father’s firm, that is all.’ She was aware as they talked, in a tiny separate little compartment in her mind, that her body was still registering the feel and smell of him as he had held her in his arms. The knowledge was painful and treacherous and altogether unwelcome, but it was there. She had never met anyone like him before. She didn’t like the way he made her feel, but she couldn’t do anything about it either. Every little cell in her body seemed determined to hold on to the tingling electricity his hard male shape had induced. ‘Look, start at the beginning; humour me.’

      As he walked across the room to his chair her senses registered a carefulness in his walk, almost a hesitancy, that was incongruous in such a giant of a man, but as he sat down she brushed the fancy aside irritably. He was getting under her skin for some reason and she could do without it.

      ‘Well, there’s not much to tell really.’ She sniffed dismally and looked across at him slowly. ‘Have you got a handkerchief?’

      ‘Yes, I’ve got a handkerchief.’ He answered her in the same dull tone in which she had spoken and a burst of adrenalin put scarlet in her cheeks as he reached across with a large square of white cotton. Had she sounded like that? She’d have to watch herself—it wouldn’t do for him to think he had the upper hand. And how dared he mock her?

      ‘My father founded the firm with my mother the year I was born,’ she said quietly, after she had blown her nose and settled back in her seat. ‘They did quite well too—we had a nice house and the usual little luxuries. Not like this, of course—’ her eyes bit at him with heavy sarcasm ‘—but we were happy.’

      ‘Yes?’ he prompted her as she paused, her eyes cloudy with memories.

      ‘Then my mother got ill, a heart complaint, when I was in my early teens. Dad spent more and more time with her. I don’t think she knew he mortgaged the house to keep the firm going—I certainly didn’t. She died just as I started university.’

      ‘I’m sorry.’ The piercing blue eyes never left her face for a moment, the deep voice quite devoid of expression.

      ‘Dad was devastated, naturally, but then he threw himself into the firm, trying to claw back the time he had lost, I guess, and he was doing quite well. We had a loyal workforce and he could spend as many hours as he wanted there now with Mum gone, which helped him actually, took his mind off things. He’d just secured a big contract which he was thrilled about; it would have made the house safe again and he wanted that for me, but then——’ She stopped abruptly and raised her eyes full on his face. ‘Then Steel Enterprises stepped in.’

      ‘How?’ he asked grimly.

      ‘Don’t you remember?’ She stared at him angrily. ‘It was only just over two years ago; you can’t have forgotten the details so quickly.’

      ‘Do you have any idea just how vast my corporation is?’ he asked tightly. ‘And I have other business interests abroad that take a lot of my time and attention. I can’t personally get involved in everything.’

      ‘No, I suppose not.’ The thought hadn’t occurred to her and her eyes opened wide for an instant. ‘Well, you—your firm,’ she corrected hastily, ‘had bought the rest of the block our small factory and office was in and you wanted our space. There was nowhere else we could go immediately—your offer was abysmally low. It was common knowledge that Dad’s firm was having problems, and when Dad refused to sell you put the squeeze on.’

      ‘I see.’ His face was blank, almost uninterested.

      ‘Banks suddenly foreclosed, contracts died, the whole caboodle folded in on itself.’ She glared at him angrily. ‘It’s a lovely way to do business, isn’t it, Mr Steel, but I suppose all is fair in love and war? That’s obviously the principle you promote. Even if you yourself weren’t personally overseeing this particular deal, you can’t tell me your employees would go against the rules, your normal operating procedures.’

      ‘I wasn’t aware I had to tell you anything,’ he said coldly and she flinched at the icy tone. He was talking to her, listening, but part of his mind seemed to be ticking on elsewhere. She stared at him hard. What was he thinking about? ‘Do continue.’ He leant forward slightly, the movement causing her heart to jump into her mouth as the shirt stretched tight for a moment over his broad chest. Stop it, she chided herself angrily, you’re as jumpy as a kitten.

      ‘And goodbye firm.’ She forced herself to speak calmly. ‘Goodbye house. Dad got a part-time job for a pittance and lodged with friends, and within four months he was dead. The doctor said it was pneumonia aggravated by a dose of flu, but he just gave up the will to live, that’s what killed him.’ She stared at him painfully. ‘He wanted to die; he told me so.’

      ‘And you blame me for that?’

      ‘Totally.’ She rose as she spoke. ‘My dad used to have a saying—the buck stops here. Do you know it?’ She smiled grimly. ‘Well, the buck stopped fair and square at your door, Mr Steel, even if you aren’t man enough to pick it up. Your company policies stink, your employees stink—and you stink.’

      ‘Graphically СКАЧАТЬ