Solace in Scandal (11 page)

So tempting.

And so very wrong.

She pulled her hand away. He let her go, and she stood on unsteady legs. She tilted her glass for another sip, but discovered it was empty.

He stood in a motion that was so fluid, it made her take a step back. It still surprised her how tall and swift he was.

He took her glass from her chilled fingers. ‘Let me get you a refill.’

Not a good idea. She could already feel the effects. She hadn’t had much to eat since his unexpected invitation, and she was a lightweight. Literally. She was petite, and alcohol affected her more than others.

‘Maybe later.’ She smoothed her dress self-consciously. It had cost her a whole thirty-five dollars. The wine glass she’d just clenched like a lifeline was probably worth as much. ‘Can I get that book?’

She couldn’t sit on that luxurious sofa with him any longer. The cushions just made her want to curl into them … and him …

‘Of course. Right this way – but you know that.’

His touch settled again on the place on her back, although a little higher this time, under the sweep of her hair. Awareness unfurled in her belly as they began that long walk down the hall. The closer they got to the library, the more she focused on the day before. The sounds she’d heard … The desperation she’d felt in the air … That wounded man couldn’t have been further from the one she found today. This Alex Wolfe was quiet, composed and focused. Steel-like in his control.

Yet just as rawly sexual.

Which was the real Wolfe? Had she even met him yet?

The library was dark. Alex reached inside to turn on the light before allowing her to enter first. No matter how many times she visited the place, it still made her breath catch. There was no first-floor ceiling in this part of the house. The library went up a full three floors, with books in shelves circling on each level. It was a collection that went back hundreds of years yet still managed to keep up with the latest best-sellers. She didn’t know why, but she had an inkling that Leonard had something to do with that.

‘Which book was it you needed? Or was there a subject matter that interested you?’

The questions brought her out of her reverie, and she found her host watching her curiously. ‘I know what I need. It’s right over here.’

She went to the far wall and traced her fingers along the second shelf. She paused when she found an empty space where the book should be. ‘It’s gone.’

The oddest look settled onto his face. ‘That one?’

She nodded.

His mouth tightened in a slight frown. ‘I know where it is.’

His eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly, but when he held out his hand she couldn’t ignore it. She placed her hand in his and felt his warm fingers wrap around hers. It was the first time since yesterday that she’d touched him back, and that awareness she’d felt began to expand. She couldn’t have been more alert to the difference in their sizes, their bodies and, most of all, their places in the world.

They went down the hallway to the small staircase she’d found yesterday but, instead of going to the basement, this time she followed him up to the second floor. The deeper they went into the house, the quieter it was. The more secluded. The hallway was narrower on the second level and the carpet thicker, more dense. Whereas downstairs her high heels had echoed on the hardwood flooring, here her steps were swallowed up like secrets.

Elena looked around with curiosity and some uneasiness. Leonard and Marta were puttering around in the kitchen. Up here, she and Alex were alone. She ran her tongue over her dry lips, wishing she hadn’t said no to that wine. She wasn’t afraid of him physically. She didn’t get even the slightest vibe that he’d hurt her. In fact, she got the opposite. It was just … Wild, untamed things seemed to happen whenever the two of them were alone.

They passed an open room. A bedroom. Guest, from the looks of it. She swept her fingers over a polished oak hallway table. The flowers on it were fresh. Another open room stood on the right, and then –

Another bedroom, and definitely not a guest room.

She looked inside for only a split second before she snapped her head straight again. It was his. She knew without asking. The bed was made, the room was spotless, yet it somehow seemed lived in and not by a woman.

It was his. His bedroom. His private place.

‘Here,’ he murmured.

She wasn’t ready when he turned, and she bumped up against him, a tall, muscled brick wall. He steadied her, still holding her hand. ‘Sorry. Forgot to use my turn signal.’

She smiled nervously, a little out of breath.

Again, he hit the light switch before entering the next room. When she looked around, she realised that he’d brought her directly into the heart of the wolf’s den. Her breath went short and her eyes widened. It was his office.

He walked to the desk and picked up the book that lay open next to his laptop. ‘Is this what you were looking for?’

She tilted her head to read the title. ‘Yes,’ she said in surprise. It was an advanced book on macroeconomics. What was he doing with it? ‘But I can wait if you’re using it.’

His grey stare bored into her for a moment longer than was comfortable. At last, he closed the pages with a snap. ‘I was getting nowhere with it. Maybe you can explain it to me.’

Her jittery insides cooled. Explain market behaviour and trading philosophies to a white-collar criminal who’d secretly managed to rig the entire system?

‘I somehow doubt that,’ she said flatly.

This was the home office of a billionaire entrepreneur. A software magnate and a perpetrator of a Ponzi scheme whose spider webs were continuing to be found weaving throughout society. There wasn’t much that this man didn’t understand or couldn’t master.

Was this where he and his grandfather had come up with the plan?

She took the book and clutched it to her chest. Her jaw set as she looked about the room. The office furniture was made of glossy cherrywood, and the chairs were that same luxurious leather, only deep red. Wall clocks kept track of various time zones around the world. Two monitors sat on the desk in front of the laptop she’d seen in the garden the other day – along with that red spiral-bound notebook. It was opened next to where the book had been, and a pen had been dropped haphazardly on top of it. Whatever notes had been written were scratched out in a cloud of black ink.

‘You already taught me more about the subject than my professor.’ She tapped on the photograph on the back of the hardcover book. ‘And he wrote the book.’

Alex’s face changed subtly, going first to anger. She could see it in the spark in his grey eyes, but it was forcibly dampened. The easygoing charm hardened, but his face went blank. She saw a muscle pulsing in his jaw, an impromptu expression that he couldn’t control. She watched that tiny muscle clench, knowing that it connected with deep emotions. She knew because she’d encountered them, up close and personal.

She took a step back towards the door.

‘Wait.’ His voice was controlled but authoritative. ‘There’s something else you wanted to see.’

Elena watched suspiciously as he went to the side wall, the one that separated the office from his bedroom. ‘You were curious about the situation on the road,’ he said as he picked up a remote. ‘I have a live video feed from my security team.’

For the first time, she noticed the televisions that were arranged on the wall. Pushing a series of buttons, he brought them to life. The footage was black and white, but it clearly showed the main road. The wolf’s head on the front gate was displayed as one camera panned to the left.

Yet that wasn’t what made her stomach turn.

She’d been so focused on the danger inside that fence, she’d forgotten what was lurking outside. ‘So many?’ she gasped. ‘But it’s been over a week.’

Hugging the book tighter, she moved closer to see. The road was packed with news vans. Some call-signs she recognised; others she didn’t. They were parked back-to-back along the side of the remote two-lane road.

‘They’re curious if I’m going to make an appearance at the Wolfe Financial board meeting later this month.’

Elena couldn’t stop staring at the multiple screens. ‘Are you?’

She couldn’t imagine fighting her way through that horde.

He shrugged. ‘I haven’t made up my mind yet, but I’d be more tempted to go to the Wolfe Pack company lunch on Friday.’

She mulled that over, along with the fact that he was sharing such information with her. Wolfe Financial was the blue-blood investment corporation the Wolfe family had run for generations. The Wolfe Pack was the financial software company he’d created on his own in his early twenties, the breakout SaaS startup that had become a worldwide phenomenon.

Why tell her such a thing? Was it a test? She had a phone. All those news vans would gobble up even that little piece of information, and it might lead them away long enough that she could make her escape.

She rejected the idea before it had even fully formed. He’d offered her protection, and it had been an honest olive branch. She knew that in her gut. She couldn’t offer him any less in return, not under these circumstances. He was right. They were unwitting allies in this. They’d both chosen the same spot in this grown-up game of hide-and-seek. They needed to make room for one another.

He flicked a switch and the monitors went black. The loss of the two-dimensional world brought her back to the office with the real, three-dimensional man beside her. He folded his arms over his chest. Even in his dress clothes, she could see the strength in the movement, the power of his body. ‘That’s why I stopped you from hiking up near the gate.’

She bit her lip. If that mob had caught even the slightest glimpse of her …

‘Is there enough security to keep them out?’ she asked.

‘I’ve hired the firm that normally does my security detail when I’m in the city. They’re the best, and they’ve been made aware there’s a beautiful brunette on the premises.’

Elena felt her cheeks heat. Just when she thought she’d gotten her head on straight about him, he had to remind her why being at such close quarters wasn’t a good idea.

‘They’ll give you your space, but they’ll protect you. If you stay close to the lake and the houses, you’ll never even see them.’

She pressed her lips together. Funny, but it was sounding more and more like the prison he’d just left, only they were keeping people out rather than locking him in.

He stepped closer to her, and her nerves jumped. She tilted her head back to look at his face.

That muscle was still pulsing in his jaw, but his anger had vaporised. He reached out and brushed back a long curl that had fallen forward over her shoulder. ‘We have to find a way to make this work, you and I, living together in this space.’

He’d barely touched her, but she could feel the hot trail his fingertips left on her collarbone. She nodded. They were from different worlds, two ends of a spectrum, but they had to agree on this. For both their sakes.

Off in the distance, a bell rang.

It was soft, but it reminded Elena they weren’t alone. She took a step back, but he wrapped his arm around her waist. His hand took its increasingly familiar spot on her lower back, and he dipped his head so his words brushed over her bare ear.

‘We might as well start with dinner.’

Dinner was … unexpected. As on edge as Elena was, the evening turned out to be precisely as advertised. When she relaxed enough to forget herself, the meal was pleasant. With Leonard and Marta hovering nearby, it wasn’t the time or the place for pointed questions or fireworks of any kind. She’d forgotten herself with Alex the other day. She was on guard for any signs of manipulation or innuendo, yet all she could detect were signs of a handsome, well-mannered dinner date.

Marta’s meal of cider-roasted chicken, asparagus, and mushroom risotto also made her forget her nervous stomach. With Alex supplying more white wine, the experience was a delight for Elena’s taste buds. She’d been living on cereal and peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches. She could cook, but she’d been more intent on working. It felt wonderful to sit back and enjoy food that had been prepared by someone who obviously loved her craft.

The fact that the meal was in an idyllic setting didn’t hurt.

She was still amazed at the little breakfast nook that she’d somehow overlooked. The circular room sat out on the balcony, off the kitchen. The open archway had a door with a rounded top that could be closed for privacy. Other doors opened onto the terrace. They were closed against the weather, and the small room took on the feeling of a gazebo, complete with heat and electricity.

They’d used very little of the latter.

A chandelier lit the table, but it had been dialled down to low and candles provided most of the illumination. They were placed in sconces on the walls, and the ambiance brought her back to times of knights, ladies and castles. Times of chivalry and passion. Out on the balcony, she could hear the howl of the wind and the waves hitting the shore. The darkness would have seemed threatening if they hadn’t been nestled in the safety and warmth of the little room.

‘When was this house built?’ she asked. She’d avoided the manor as much as she could, but now that she was being given access to some of its more unique features she was becoming intrigued.

‘In 1892 by Josiah Wolfe.’

‘How many greats before that grandfather?’

One of Alex’s eyebrows rose and the corner of his mouth followed. ‘Too many for me to count, especially with all the wine I’ve drunk.’

The 2008
Montrachet
had been flowing. It made everything seem to go down more easily.

Everything, and that made Elena a little nervous.

She smoothed the linen napkin over her lap. She knew who he was and she knew what he’d done, yet he could be charming.

Like a beautiful wolf who wanted to be petted.

Warning signs had been flashing in her head, but now they were dim and fading. He was surprising her. She’d expected the conversation to continue in that stilted, uncomfortable manner they seemed to have perfected, but the truce they’d made upstairs was holding. So far, they’d managed to be on their best behaviour. They’d stayed away from sensitive subjects, which were many and varied, and kept mainly to current affairs, apart from his release, which had taken over the airwaves. He seemed hungry for news of the world, or at least someone to discuss it with. He asked for her impressions, how the public had reacted to certain events and why things had turned out in certain ways.