Lifelong Affair (3 page)

Alex
Hammond. It could be no other man.
 
She might only have met him once, but the memory of him had stayed
indelibly printed on her brain for some unknown reason. Possibly because she
had never met anyone quite like him before.

Tall,
taller even than Sam, he had a force of energy and determination that would
make him stand out in any crowd; the dark hair was showing signs of greying at
the temples now, the eyes were still the same icy grey she remembered, his
nostrils flaring angrily now in his displeasure, his mouth thinned for the same
reason. He wore a dark three-piece suit and snowy white shirt, and looked for
all the world as if he hadn't just spent an exhausting eleven hours on a plane.

He
grasped her arm in a vice-like grip. 'Let's go inside,' he muttered.

Morgan
was only too pleased to comply, wondering why Alex Hammond had felt it
necessary to fly over here rather than just telephone her. Unless he felt her
father's collapse was enough on his conscience for one day! She could have told
him she was past collapsing, that the long hours she had spent beside the
telephone had at least given her time to calm, to realise that Glenna really
was dead.

'Who
the hell is he? The members of the media weren't silenced for long. They might
have recognised the authority of this man, but it was a recognition that had
only made their curiosity all the deeper. 'Where did he come from?'

'With
shoulders like that I don't care
where
he came from,' drawled the beautiful
chic television reporter. 'I'm just glad he's here. Sir, are you a friend of
Morgan McKay's?' There was more than a little personal interest in the blonde
woman's question, although a microphone was thrust aggressively into Alex
Hammond's face.

'I
thought she was seeing Sam Walters,' murmured someone else.

Alex
Hammond's hand had tightened on Morgan's arm at the intimacy of the woman
reporter's words, and he pushed the microphone away from him with a dark scowl.
'I believe Miss McKay's privacy has been invaded enough for one day,' he
snapped, his hand firm on her arm now as he turned her back into her apartment.
'If you'll excuse us—lady, gentlemen,' he nodded dismissively.

'Hey, the guy's English
  
'

'Your
powers of deduction are amazing,' Alex Hammond taunted dryly, caring nothing
for the ruddy hue that coloured the younger man's cheeks, pushing Morgan the
rest of the way into her apartment and closing the door in the face of the
renewed questioning. 'Like vultures!' he muttered as he followed her through to
the lounge, then his silvery-grey eyes narrowed as he saw her packed suitcase
standing next to a chair. He looked up at her with a frown. 'Are you going
somewhere?'

T—I'd
given up on your call.' Her voice came out husky—and slightly defensive.
She shouldn't need to explain herself to this man, damn it! 'I'm booked on a
flight to England in a couple of hours time.

He
merely nodded acknowledgement of the fact, seeming impatient to end the
conversation before it had started. 'Is it true, has your father collapsed?'

Her
antagonism faded as quickly as it had begun. Of course, her mother had said her
father collapsed
after
Alex Hammond called—he didn't even know about it!
'It's true,' she admitted heavily. 'There's no danger, but it's hit him hard,
harder than I realised. He wanted boys, you see,' she knew she was babbling,
but she couldn't seem to control herself. 'That's why we were named Glenna and
Morgan; he didn't have any names for girls,' She broke off. 'I'm sorry, you
don't want to hear all this.' She avoided his all-seeing gaze, realising she had
revealed too much of herself with these unguarded words.

She
and Glenna had never doubted their father loved them, but they had always known
of his desire for a son, had known their names had been chosen for boys and
converted for the girls that had come in the place of the sons he wanted. She
hadn't even realised her own feelings of inadequacy until she found herself
telling it to Alex Hammond!

'I
had no idea your father had collapsed.' He chose to ignore her lapse into the
melancholy, confirming her thoughts that he hadn't known; his silver eyes were
icy, his expression cold. 'Although it's been a shock to all of us.'

Then
how did he manage to look so unmoved! Morgan knew she looked haunted, her
parents and his mother were deeply shocked, and yet Alex Hammond looked—detached.
There was no other way to describe the way he looked.

Morgan
swallowed hard in the face of that detachment. 'They said—on the
television—that there were no survivors.' She searched his face for some
sign of that information being wrong. Not by the flicker of an eyelid did he
show emotion. Oh, he was a cold bastard! She shuddered at the vehemence of her
feelings, having taken even more of a dislike to this man.

'They
were wrong,' he stated flatly.

Hope
leapt in her heart. 'They were?'

'Yes.
It appears—Sit down, please,' he told her abruptly.

She looked startled. 'I—I'm fine. I
     
'

'I
said sit down, Morgan.' He didn't raise his voice, his expression didn't
change, and yet Morgan sat, knowing the words were an order and not a request.
'It appears there were half a dozen survivors—all of them severely
injured, but alive nonetheless.'

'Glenna
---
'

'Was
not one of them. Neither was Mark.' Still the man showed no emotions.

Her
breathing became ragged as the full impact of his words hit her. 'They—they're
both dead?' she choked, having been given hope for a few seconds only to have
it taken away from her again.

'Yes,'
Alex Hammond stated flatly.

'Oh,
Godl'
She hadn't realised how much hope she had still been harbouring,
secretly believing that no news was good news. It was all gone now. She didn't
doubt for a minute that Alex Hammond knew what he was talking about.

'But
their son is very much alive,' his softly spoken words interrupted her weeping.
'And well.'

Morgan
raised a tear-wet face, swallowing hard. "Their—son?'

He
nodded. 'Glenna was one of the survivors. She lived for two hours after the
crash, badly—fatally injured herself. And somehow she kept alive long
enough to give birth to her child. She had a son. His name—the name she
chose for him—is Courtney.'

This
time Morgan cared nothing for his lack of emotions. 'Courtney .. .!' she gave a
choked sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a cry. 'That's my father's
name!'

'Yes,'
Alex Hammond acknowledged. 'And I'm sure your father will be very proud of his
grandson.'

'You—you've
seen him?' She wiped away her tears with the back of her hand.

'Briefly,'
he acknowledged tersely.

She was under control again now, hardly able
to believe what he was telling her. Glenna had a son, a son who was alive!
'What docs he look like? Is he like Glenna or Mark? Is
     
'

'He's
like all newborn babies,' Alex Hammond dismissed impatiently. 'Small, pink, and
he cries a lot. And incredibly like Glenna,' he added gruffly, showing he
wasn't quite as unmoved by the baby's existence as he appeared.

'I
want to sec him,' she decided firmly.

'I
have no doubt you will,' he drawled. 'But there's something else I think you
should know before we go any further. Glenna also made provision for her son's
future. She made you and me Courtney's legal guardians. Jointly,' he added
pointedly.

CHAPTER
TWO

Morgan
blinked; she was too stunned to do anything more than
that. She was overjoyed, thrilled, at the thought of her nephew being alive and
well. But she had no idea how both Alex Hammond and herself could be the baby's
guardians, one living in England, the other in America.

Obviously
Alex Hammond couldn't either. 'Of course it's impossible,' he said abruptly,
placing his briefcase on her dining table. 'I have some documents here,"
he unclicked the lock. 'Legal documents, drawn up by my lawyers, relieving you
of all moral and legal obligation to Courtney.'

Morgan
stood up slowly, feeling the anger burning up from within her. Just who did
this man think he was! He came here and told her that her beloved sister was
dead but that the child she had been expecting was alive. And now he calmly
suggested she relinquish all rights to that child. The man was insane!

'No,'
she told him bluntly.

He
raised dark brows, halting in the removal of the official-looking papers from
his briefcase. 'No?'

'Certainly
not!' Her green eyes sparkled in challenge, her tall slender body as taut as a
ripcord in her fury. 'Courtney is my nephew, and if my sister wanted me to be
his guardian then that's what I intend being.

'He
has two guardians,' Alex reminded her. 'You
and I':

'So
Glenna made a mistake,' Morgan snapped. 'Nobody's perfect!'

The
haughty face took on an even more withdrawn expression. 'I don't believe
insults are going to help the delicacy of this situation,' he told her quietly.

'Neither
is your insensitivity,' she glared at him. 'My sister has just died,' weakness
washed over her in waves, 'and now you calmly suggest I reject her son from my
life—my own nephew, my parents' only grandson!' Her voice rose shrilly.

'My
nephew too,
my
mother's only grandson,' he pointed out dryly.

'But
not her only grandchild! And when you have a 'The same applies to you in regard
to your own parents.'

She gave an impatient sigh at the way this man
had an answer for everything. 'Giving up my guardianship
of Court
is not
-
'

'Courtney,'
he substituted firmly.

'Court is short for
'

'He
was named Courtney, let's stick to that, shall we?' he said abruptly.

'I'm
sure Glenna meant it to be shortened to Court, like my father,' she insisted
stubbornly.

'But Glenna isn't here
   
'

'You bastard!' Morgan choked raggedly. 'You
cold
blooded, unfeeling
bastard! You
   
' she sank
slowly to the floor as blackness overcame her.

She
woke up to find herself stretched full length on the corner unit sofa, her head
propped up by several cushions, the darkly intent face of Alex Hammond bent
over her. She snatched her hand away self
consciously as she realised it was held between long tapered
fingers, the fingers of the other hand lightly tapping against her pale cheek.

Alex
Hammond moved back instantly and sat back on his heels, seeming unexerted from
having to carry her to the sofa; and she might be thin, but she wasn't a
lightweight. Still, those shoulders and arms looked capable of great strength.

She
sat up awkwardly, moving back and away from him. 'I'm sorry,' she said
abruptly.

He
nodded distandy. 'I've been expecting something like it ever since I arrived
and found the press harassing you.'

'How
clever of you!' Her voice was brittle.

Alex
stood up, very dark and forbidding in Morgan's openly bright apartment,
dwarfing it. 'You were at cracking point. I doubt you've slept all night. I had
no idea of the added worry of your father's illness.'

Morgan
swung her legs to the ground and stood up, feeling at less of a disadvantage,
her own height being considerable, although Alex Hammond still topped her by a
head. She swayed slightly as she stood, not as recovered as she thought she
was, although her back was straight, her gaze steady as she faced Alex Hammond
across the room. Like adversaries. And she had a feeling that was exactly what
they were.

'It
was waiting for your call that stopped me sleeping.' Her words were defensive
because of the weakness she had shown by fainting in that way. 'You didn't have
to come all the way to Los Angeles, you could have explained everything over
the telephone and saved yourself the trouble of flying out here. I could have
told you no just as easily that way,' she added hardly.

His
mouth tightened. 'You won't even look at the papers I brought with me?' 'No.'

'Even
though you know Courtney will be better off with us in England?'

'And
who is
usT
she derided scornfully. 'You and your mother? A bitter and
resentful widow and an unfeeling man?'

Icy
grey eyes raked over her with cool disdain. 'Or a fun-loving young actress with
no morals?' he rasped.

'You
mean
me?'
she gasped. "Where did vou get that impression, Mr Hammond?'

'Glenna
was very proud of your first English televised role,' he drawled. "Wc were
all made to watch your undoubted talent as Mary-Beth Barker.'

That
was what she had thought. 'Talent is the right word, Mr Hammond,' she taunted.
'I was acting a part—I thought you were intelligent enough to realise
that.'