London Falling (34 page)

He didn’t even know why she’d done it. He kicked his chair and it waddled across the floor until it hit the wall.

She couldn’t do this to him! If she had half the feelings he had for her, they still had a future together–as long as they could figure out a way around his father’s edict. He wouldn’t let his love get away from him with no explanation, no conversation, no chance to make it better. When he got home, he somehow had to get her to open up and tell him what she was thinking, because he refused to believe this was permanent. He had to make her understand that there were options.

What if she wasn’t going home?

She’d just broken up with him. Would she feel it necessary to leave his house? Even when she didn’t have anywhere else to go?

Her pride wouldn’t allow her to stay in his house with him. Not after they’d broken up. What if he lost her? He grabbed his coat and raced out the door, but she’d already disappeared. No matter what, he had to beat her home, or else he might never see her again.

His raced past security and ran outside. Once he had his car, he tore out of the garage, throwing several tenners at the cashier and not waiting for change. But rush-hour traffic played havoc with his plans, and he cursed every cabbie between The City and Kensington. When he finally pulled up to his house, he left his car double parked in front and raced inside.

Aimee was in the hall, wearing the same outfit she’d arrived in. He released his breath on a sigh of relief. He still had a chance.

Aimee stopped when she saw him. Her shadow, Cupcake, continued his journey and trotted over to say hi.

“You don’t have to go,” he said.

“I do.”

He had to make her see reality. “Where will you go? You don’t have any money and you have no work permit.” Anything could happen to her, and he wouldn’t be around to protect her. “I can’t allow you to go.”

Her sharp intake of breath told him that he’d misspoken. “You can’t allow me? Who died and made you my keeper?”

“I phrased that wrong. I don’t want you to go. Even if you–if we–are through, I want you to stay.”

“So you can have your cake and eat it too?” she asked.

“That’s not fair. I care about you.”

“Not enough to give up the bank.”

He felt the jab in his gut. “It won’t come to that.”

“It already has.” She stepped closer–to him or to the door, he wasn’t sure which. “I don’t want you to give up your inheritance for me, but can’t you see this won’t ever end? Your dad can hold the bank over you for the rest of your life. If you find a way around him this time, he’ll find another way to manipulate you again in the future.”

“That’s ridiculous. My father isn’t like that.”

“Isn’t he?” Aimee crossed her arms over her chest.

She was so wrong. His father had his faults, but at the end of the day, he loved Simon. “He’s simply acting out because he’s upset about losing the royals.”

“So he threatened to disinherit you?”

“He won’t do that.”

Aimee stared at him and said nothing.

“He won’t.” He stepped closer to Aimee and placed his hands on her upper arms. “You can’t break up with me because my father has gone temporarily insane. Give me time to figure out a solution.” He bent his head lower so he could look in her eyes. “Don’t give up on me.”

She avoided his eyes. “Face it Simon. You’re father has you under his thumb, and it’s pretty clear that’s not ever going to change.”

“I need to win the princes’ business, and everything will be fine.”

“I wish I could force you to see the truth. It would make this so much easier.” Aimee sighed. “We’re just not meant to be. There are too many obstacles in our way.”

“I don’t see anything except this crazy edict from my father.”

Aimee’s laugh sounded like a sigh. “Even if it were that simple, you’ve already said that you’ve lost the business. But there’s also the fact that we come from two different worlds in terms of money, social class and where we live.” She finally looked him in the eye. “We were never meant to be.”

How ironic. He’d spent years thinking every woman only loved him for his money, and now the one woman he did love was leaving him because of it “So this is it, then. You’re not even giving us a chance.”

“Goodbye Simon.” She walked past him to the door. Cupcake trotted behind her.

“Wait.” She stopped with her hand on the door. “Where are you going?

Lucy’s?”

Aimee nodded.

“You can take Cupcake to Lucy’s.”

She didn’t even look down at Cupcake. “No. I have to leave him when I go home anyway.” She swallowed. “T-take care of him,” she said, and he could swear he heard her voice break. “Goodbye Simon.” Without another word, she slipped out the door.

She was gone. Simon pressed his forehead and hands against the door to stop himself from running after her. Every muscle in his body ached for her, but he knew there was nothing he could say right now to change her mind.

The only thing that would win her back was changing his father’s mind.

And the best way to do that was to win the princes’ business.

It was a good thing that Aimee was gone. Now he could focus on what needed to be done at the bank.

Winning back the business that he’d already been told he lost.

D0ttie turned the corner and almost smacked into Aimee.

Just the person she wanted to see. “Goodness. Aimee. I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.”

“It’s okay,” Aimee said, without even looking at Dottie.

Aimee didn’t look good. Her eyes were glassy, and she looked as though she was about to cry. And what was she wearing? Some sort of street fashion?

The pants looked like flannel pajama bottoms, and Aimee had tucked them into black boots. Horrendous. She now knew she’d long passed the age where she should even attempt to look fashionable.

“Is something the matter?” she asked.

“No. Nothing,” Aimee said, at the same time she burst into tears.

“Oh dear,” Dottie said. What should she do? What should she say? She didn’t have any of her own kids, so she was way out of her element. She patted Aimee on the arm. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m never going to see Cupcake again!” she cried.

“Cupcake? That’s the Scottie, right?”

Aimee nodded. “I-I l-loved Cupcake.” She sniffled. “He was the best thing that ever happened to me, and now I h-have to l-leave him.”

Dottie continued to pat her on the arm. All this over a dog? Something else was going on here, she’d bet her life on it. She assumed her most motherly tone. “Why do you have to leave him? Are you flying home?”

“No. All my money was stolen! And now I can’t get home.”

None of this made any sense. She was never going to see the dog, yet she wasn’t leaving? “Oh dear.” Why wasn’t Simon helping her through this? “And you want to go home, right?”

“Yes. And now I won’t graduate and my life will be over.”

Aimee was being just a tad overdramatic. This didn’t seem like her at all, at least based on Dottie’s limited knowledge of the girl. Aimee had seemed as though she could handle any crisis thrown her way, yet she was close to hysteria.

This was not good, not good at all. Dottie looked around, hoping for a reprieve, or someone else who knew how to deal with these things, but the street was empty.

Okay, then, she’d just have to deal with it. Right-o. Aimee’s money was stolen and she needed to get home. There seemed to be an easy solution.

“Why don’t you have Simon give you the money?”

Aimee’s tears abruptly stopped. “No. I’m never going to see him again. I won’t give him the satisfaction.”

“Oh dear.”

Lover’s spat. Of course, that assumed the two were dating, but based on the heated looks between the two of them at the benefit, Dottie was pretty certain something was going on between the two of them. And while she wasn’t exactly in the dating pool, she had been married-happily-for over thirty years, which meant she knew her way around a lover’s quarrel.

A chill wind whipped through her wool jacket, making her shiver. Aimee wasn’t even wearing a jacket-fashion was starting to get ridiculous-and she had to be freezing. “Let’s go sit down and you can tell me everything.”

Aimee didn’t say yes, but she didn’t protest as Dottie steered her into the coffee shop on the corner. “What would you like?” Dottie asked.

“Nothing. I’m fine,” Aimee said. Her nose was red and all of the color had been chilled out of her fingers.

Too late, Dottie remembered that all of her money had been stolen.

Could she stick her foot in her mouth any more? “It’s my treat.”

Aimee shook her head. “No thanks. I don’t want anything.”

She needed something to warm her up. Dottie motioned to an empty table and went up to the counter to order two teas. A nice jazz piece played over the speakers and competed with the whir of frothing milk. The teenager handed Dottie her drinks, and she set one in front of Aimee.

“I can’t accept this.”

“It’s already paid for, so either you drink it, or it goes into the bin with my hurt feelings. It’s your choice.” Dottie dunked and re-dunked her tea-bag.

“Now, why don’t you tell me what happened?”

Dottie sipped her tea while Aimee poured out the whole sad story. Her brother could be such a right bastard.

“What will you do now?” Dottie asked.

Aimee shrugged her shoulders as she pushed her empty teacup across the table. “Start over. See if Lucy’s offer to take me in still stands. Start baking cupcakes.” She looked so forlorn and sad, Dottie wanted to reach out and give her a hug.

Why were relationships so complicated? And why were smart people always so dumb when it came to love? Dottie pushed a lock of hair behind her ears. “May I give you some advice?”

Aimee shrugged. She looked so sad that Dottie was certain she wouldn’t want to hear a word she said, but she had to try.

“Honey, you can’t break up with someone just because you think it won’t work out.”

“Isn’t that the only reason you should break up?” Aimee shifted backward in her chair. “It’s clearly not going to work out between us. We’re from two different worlds. I’m simply saving us both time.”

“You have to give Simon a chance. Do you even know what he was thinking? Maybe he would have chosen you over the bank.”

Aimee shook her head. “No. He needs the bank. And I could never ask that of him. Giving up the bank would destroy him.”

“You don’t know that. Give him a chance to tell you what he’s thinking.

Relationships only work if you are honest with each other.” She was so glad that she was past all the drama of youth. Look at how maturely she’d handled the situation with William.

Dottie sat back in her chair. Dear God, she should be listening to her own advice. Hadn’t she done the exact same thing to William? Broken it off before things got complicated and her feelings got hurt?

“The more time I give Simon, the more I care about him. And the harder it is to leave.”

Dottie could have been saying the exact same thing.

“Why put myself through that when I can already see the end? It’s better to cut it off now before it hurts even more. Better to be the breaker-offer than the breaker-ee.”

Dottie shook her head. Everything was clear now. “That’s no way to live life. That’s the way to avoid life.”

“No. That’s the only way to get through life with your self-esteem intact.”

Dottie sighed. Aimee was too upset to think about it now. She was in survival mode, with Maslow’s hierarchy in full force. She couldn’t think about her love life until she solved her money problems. And that wouldn’t happen until she was home and back in school.

If Dottie couldn’t help her emotionally, at least she could help her financially. “How much money do you need?”

“I won’t accept charity.”

Now Dottie was getting annoyed. The girl was so stubborn that she’d make herself miserable to save an ounce of pride. “I’m not offering charity.”

Aimee actually had the intelligence to look embarrassed. Good. The girl had some social skills.

“I see a good business opportunity. I loan you the money. You pay me back after your third month on the job. Double.”

“Double? That’s highway robbery!”

And it was the only way to get her to accept money, if she thought she were the one being taken advantage of. “Do you have any better offers?”

“But it might hurt Simon’s chances with the royal family.”

“You’ve already said that he’s lost that chance. Besides, no one cares what I do with my money.” Sadly. She pushed back her chair and stood up.

“Well? Let’s go.”

Aimee reminded her of a fish, with her mouth open and her eyes open wide.

“I don’t have all night,” she added. She had to get to William’s and she didn’t want to wait for Aimee. “You’ve got one minute to make up your mind.” The longer she sat on it, the more reasons she might come up with for refusing her offer.

“I thought you hated me.”

“I don’t hate you. You’re too much like me for me to hate you.”

Aimee looked about the café as if she couldn’t believe this was actually happening. “How will I get the money to you?”

“Have you heard of the post? Or, I might be in the U.S. to get it myself.”

She’d been planning a trip to find herself, which was why she’d sought out Aimee in the first place. But, now she wasn’t so sure. “We can go get the ticket right now and you can be on a plane home tonight.”

“Why are you doing this for me?”

Dottie slipped on her soft leather gloves. If only Aimee knew that Dottie had more money than she knew what to do with. But that wouldn’t help matters. Besides, Aimee had just given her a gift more valuable than money.

“I know a good investment when I see one. I trust you. Now let’s go,” she said She had things to do and places to go. A person to see.

Aimee stood up, with a firm expression on her face, like she was girding herself for some difficult task. “Okay,” she said.

Simon strode into the detective’s office. His empty office. He sat down to wait. He stood up and paced back and forth in front of the desk. He had too much energy coursing through his veins to sit.