Innocent In The Boardroom. Joss Wood

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      The hotel, when they finally arrived, was a modest building, with a car park in the front, sandwiched between a fast food restaurant and a shop advertising all manner of office supplies.

      Kate could see that Alessandro was taken aback at the place George and his wife had chosen to stay for their vacation, but he said nothing as they walked through the glass revolving doors and straight to the reception desk, which was manned by a bored-looking girl, twirling her hair and chatting on her mobile.

      Kate wondered whether they had chosen this spot because it offered access to the city but also access to the outlying countryside...pine forests, lakes...beautiful terrain to explore. She didn’t know what George and his wife did for fun, aside from family stuff with their kids and grandkids. Maybe they loved mountaineering, hiking...who knew...?

      The blonde twirling her hair instantly hung up and straightened as they approached the desk.

      Mr and Mrs Cape... Would she buzz through to them...? Tell Mr Cape that Alessandro Preda was in Reception and wanted to have a word with him...? Tell him that Kate Watson was there as well...?

      The blonde shot Kate a covert look that simmered with envy.

      ‘Mr and Mrs Cape aren’t in.’ She didn’t need to consult the register for this information. ‘They leave at the same time every morning. Eight sharp. I can leave a message for them and get them to contact you—or you can leave a note and I’ll make sure they get it as soon as they’re back.’

      ‘Which would be at what time...?’

      ‘This evening. Six sharp.’

      ‘Unusual sightseeing activities that can be planned with such precision,’ Alessandro said with stinging sarcasm, and he received a shocked and surprised look from the blonde in response.

      ‘Can I ask whether you’re related to George and Karen?’

      Alessandro raised his eyebrows expressively. Cosy relationship with the girl at Reception? he thought. Bit odd... Admittedly the hotel was only the size of a bed and breakfast. For all he knew that was exactly what it was, despite its grandiose name: the Ruskin Hotel. But still...

      ‘I’m his boss, and I’m here to see him on a business-related matter.’

      ‘If you’re his boss then I’m surprised... Didn’t he mention...?’

      ‘Mention what?’ Kate asked gently, reading sudden confusion in the receptionist’s blue eyes.

      ‘They go to the hospital every day. They’re allowed some leeway with the visiting hours, but they tend to stay there pretty much for the whole day, so that they can be there for Gavin and Caroline.’

      ‘Caroline’s their daughter...’ Kate turned to Alessandro, her mind a whirl. ‘Gavin’s their son-in-law. I know that because there’s a family photo on his desk...’

      ‘Right. Hospital. Perhaps you could tell us which hospital this is...?’

      They arrived at the hospital in under an hour. It had been a largely silent journey. For the first time Alessandro had been caught on the back foot—handed information he had not been expecting...information that altered the straightforward situation he’d thought he would be dealing with.

      Despite the fact that George and his wife had chosen to stay outside the city, the hospital was actually in downtown Toronto. Kate guessed that either the little hotel was very reasonably priced, or else they had some experience of being there before. Or maybe they just needed to be outside the main drag of a city to clear their heads at the end of the day.

      A long day.

      Because the days would be long. In the back of the car Alessandro had looked up the hospital on the internet, so they both knew that it was a centre for the treatment of sick children.

      Now, as they approached the white-fronted building visible through a bank of trees, Alessandro turned to her and spoke for the first time.

      ‘This is not what I expected,’ he said roughly, raking fingers through his dark hair. ‘And you won’t be accompanying me into the hospital.’

      ‘Perhaps we should wait until they’re back at the hotel this evening. And I will be accompanying you, by the way.’

      ‘It wasn’t a suggestion, Kate. It was an order.’

      ‘And my answer wasn’t a suggestion either. It was a statement of fact.’ She sighed. ‘I’m very fond of George. He’s been good to me, and I want him to know that I’m here for him and his wife. Whatever the outcome of your...talk with him.’ She paused and looked at Alessandro’s averted profile. His beautiful eyes were veiled.

      He turned to her before opening his door. ‘Stubborn.’

      ‘Yes, I can be.’ She stuck her chin out defiantly, prepared to go all the way into an argument, but there was no argument as he shrugged and stepped out of the car, waited for her to join him.

      She wished she could reach into his head and see what he was thinking. She had the strangest urge to rest her hand on his forearm in a gesture of comfort, although she had no idea what she would be comforting him for—unless it was just for getting something wrong, for showing himself to be fallible like the rest of the human race.

      She didn’t imagine that he liked being wrong. She thought that he had probably never been wrong about anything in his entire life—at least not when it came to business. In business—and this was a business matter after all—his judgement would always have been faultless.

      ‘Stubborn can sometimes be a good thing,’ he mused, glancing down at her.

      ‘What...what do you intend to do?’ she ventured, half running to keep up with him and longing for a bit of cool, because she was beginning to overheat in her outfit.

      ‘I intend to play it by ear...’

      ‘Can that sometimes be a good thing?’

      ‘I’ll let you know later. Can’t say it’s something I’ve ever done before.’

      They entered the cool foyer of the hospital, and after that everything seemed to happen very quickly.

      Alessandro commanded attention. How did that work when he wasn’t Canadian, wasn’t a doctor and had no connections to the hospital? It just did.

      Within half an hour they knew where they could locate George, and after an hour and a half—during which time they sat in a very modern, very nice restaurant in front of cups of coffee, with Alessandro working via his smartphone and Kate pretending to be hard at it in front of her tablet—George came to meet them.

      A wearily resigned George, who had obviously sussed why they had landed up in Toronto and at the hospital.

      Kate’s heart went out to the older man. He was in one of his usual trademark brightly coloured outfits. She had always smiled at that. Even when he was in a suit his shirt was always jolly, his tie was always patterned, his hankies were always ridiculously gimmicky. He had told her once, laughing, that his wife chose his shirts, his daughter chose his handkerchiefs and his grandchildren chose his socks. So what СКАЧАТЬ