Winner Takes It All (28 page)

She returned to her
office and made some more coffee, wondering how she was going to
get Tom away from Tara. Her cousin was vulnerable and weak at this
present time and easy prey for an unscrupulous bounder.
Unfortunately Tara could also be painfully stubborn and was blinded
by love, so it was likely she wouldn’t believe them anyway. She
needed to be physically apart from Tom, so they could lay into and
get him away from her.

Alex idly looked around
the room, thinking of what she could do, when her eyes rested on
her copy of
Marie Claire
sticking out of her handbag. There
was an advert for holidays to France on the back and Alex’s mind
immediately went to Natalie Favreau. She was an Anglo-French girl
who was a friend of Jemima’s. She was married to an associate of
Jean’s - Pierre Favreau. He was as charming as Jean was brutal and
his wedding present to his wife had been one of his hotels - ‘Le
Boutique’, just behind Place de la Concorde. Alex had met Natalie a
few times, the last time being in 2005 when she took Tim to Paris
for his birthday and had stayed at Le Boutique. Natalie was one of
those fun loving, up for anything posh girls who’d led a charmed
life but had not let it turn her into a brat. Instead she liked to
share her good fortune with others.

Searching through her
PDA, Alex finally found Natalie’s mobile number and called her,
wondering if she had an awful cheek doing what she was about to
do.

‘
Alex?’
Natalie chirped. ‘Is that you?’

‘
Yes it’s me,’
Alex laughed. ‘How are you?’

‘
I’m very
well. Well, I say very well, I feel like an absolute heffalump, I’m
expecting number three in September.’

‘
Oh my
goodness. I’m so sorry. I can’t ask you what I was going to. Forget
it.’

‘
Don’t be
silly, ask away.’

As concisely as she
possibly could, Alex explained her suspicions about Tom, from the
fire at the hotel in Liverpool through to the IRA story and the lie
about the inheritance. She hoped Natalie hadn’t lost the plot half
way through.

‘
What an
absolute bastard,’ she said at the end of it, showing she had been
listening. ‘What do you want me to do?’

‘
I want you to
pretend Le Boutique is up for sale and I’m going to send Tom to
check it all out. If he’s doing what I think he’s doing, you’ll
find you get other bids. I want you to tell me who the bids are
from.’

‘
Wow! A bit of
espionage, I love it. I’ll pretend I want to sell because so much
of my time is taken up with the children.’

‘
Excellent. Do
this for me Natalie and you can have whatever you want.’

‘
Well when are
you getting married?’

‘
We haven’t
settled on a date yet. We’ve a holiday in the Maldives booked for
November, Robin wanted that to be our honeymoon but I’m far too
busy to organise a wedding in a few months. It’ll probably be
January or February.’

‘
Okay, well
how about once the sprog’s out and I can move again, you come over
and have your Hen night at the hotel.’

‘
I can’t ask
that of you.’

‘
After
spending all my time with toddlers and covered in baby sick it’ll
be wonderful to catch up with the girls. And make sure Jemima comes
along. I do worry about that girl.’

Alex left the office for
the day and drove down to Summerset. As she passed The Cherry Tree,
she saw the two very people she had come to see. Tom and Tara sat
outside, either side of a table. Their heads were close together
and they giggled, obviously sharing some private joke. Alex
wondered if Tom and Tara had slept together yet. She hoped not; she
was pretty sure Tara had been a virgin before the rape and she was
almost certain there had been no one since, and so her first proper
time with someone would mean so much, and to know it was with the
man who was out to destroy her family would break her
heart.

Being the boss, Alex was
allowed to park her car in the back yard of the pub and came round
to see her cousins. Tom spotted her first and his complexion paled
somewhat. On reflection, he always did bear the expression of
someone who was expecting to be found out.

‘
Hello you
two,’ Alex chirped breezily. ‘You’ve saved me a trip over to
Claremont Hall. I’m just going to get a drink.’

She went into the pub
where her grandmother had grown up. Her father remembered many a
time coming here to spend Christmas with Mick and Barbara Alex’s
great-grandparents. They’d both died before Alex was born and she
wished she’d known them. They sounded lovely, especially Mick with
all his boxing tales and stories of when he stormed the GPO
Building in 1916. Alex also wished her grandmother was here. Lou
could spot a bullshitter at a hundred paces and would have eaten
Tom Montague for breakfast.

Whilst she waited at the
bar to be served, she imagined the young Lou - all pretty and
innocent, being chatted up by the local boys. If she closed her
eyes, she could almost feel herself there. Tears came to her eyes,
knowing she would never have a hug from her gran ever again, never
have her stroke her hair and tell her everything was going to be
okay.

She took her drink and
went outside, the brilliant July sunshine hitting her and making
her squint. She sat next to Tara so she was opposite Tom and could
judge his facial expressions.

‘
How are you
both doing?’ she asked.

‘
Fabulously
well thank you Alex,’ giggled Tara. ‘We’re going to look at pigs
next week.’

‘
Pigs?’

‘
For the
petting zoo,’ chipped in Tom. ‘We think it would be great to have
pigs.’

‘
I see. Well,
the pigs might have to be put on hold as I have another job for you
to do.’

‘
Me?’

‘
Both of you.
Firstly Tara, I’ve decided that I want to get married in Claremont
Hall.’

‘
Claremont
Hall? Not Layton House?’

‘
No. Weird
things have been happening lately Tara, slurs on the Cusack family
and Sheridans as a company and I want to show we mean business. So
rather than have my wedding in the safety of Layton House, I want
it at Claremont Hall. After all, we do own it.’

She looked at Tom, hoping
for some reaction; instead he remained gazing at his
pint.

‘
And Miss
Tara, I want you to be my wedding planner.’

‘
Me!’ she
gasped.

‘
Yes. I’m
handing my wedding over to you. Everything; the venue, my dress,
the reception. Do you think you can do that?’

‘
Of course. I
mean, we’ve got the new wing opening and all that, but, wow, that
would be amazing.’

‘
Fantastic.
Let’s meet tomorrow and start the ball rolling.’

She turned her attentions
to Tom.

‘
I’m sending
you to Paris Tom,’ she announced.

That made him look up and
she could swear there was some nervousness in those smoky grey eyes
of his.

‘
Paris?’ he
uttered.

‘
Yes. As I
said, there’s been some weird things happening lately. I think one
of our main competitors is trying to ruin the reputation of Cusacks
for their own ends. Therefore daddy and I are only revealing our
plans to close family and board members. I’ve been impressed with
the work you’ve done with Tara here in Summerset and was wondering
if you could help with my new acquisition.’

‘
But Tom’s
needed here,’ whimpered Tara, obviously upset at the thought of
being separated from him.

‘
It’ll only be
for a couple of weeks. There’s a hotel called Le Boutique, just off
the Place de la Concorde. The owner is looking to sell it and I
would like to open a Sheridans hotel in Paris. What I need you to
do Tom is be a spy for me. You’re going to book into the hotel and
for the first week make a few notes. I want to know the types of
client they have, are they busy etcetera. Then if you’re satisfied
it’s a viable option, you’re going to meet with the owner, Natalie
Favreau and put in a bid for me. Do you think you could do
that?’

‘
Yes of
course. But who will be running things here if Tara’s helping you
with your wedding?’

‘
Tara will be
able to cope. Don’t worry about her. You’re an honorary Cusack now
and I’m expecting you to help keep this family out of
trouble.’

‘
Then consider
it done,’ he struggled to smile. ‘Paris it is.’

Alex left shortly after
this and, unable to face trudging back up the A23, decided to drive
over to Layton House and stay there for the night. Her plans were
cut short when, just as she passed the Abbott’s Leigh Hills, her
mobile started to ring. Pulling over, her heart did a little flip
when she took it out of her bag and saw the caller was
Jack.

‘
Are you
busy?’ he asked.

‘
I’m just
heading back to Layton House, why?’

‘
Come up to
the Mandarin. I’ve got something to show you.’

‘
Can’t it wait
till tomorrow?’

‘
No. Come on
Alex. You’ll like it, I promise.’

Unable to refuse him,
Alex bypassed Abbott’s Leigh and drove straight up onto the A23.
She wondered what he could possibly have that was so urgent. She
panicked a little; scared it was just an excuse to get her alone in
the hotel so he could try to seduce her. Even so, she couldn’t stop
herself and ploughed on against the heavy traffic, heading back to
London.

Jack opened the door to
the suite with that smug, pleased with himself smile on his
face.

‘
How come you
were down in Sussex?’ he asked, ushering her into the
room.

‘
I was setting
a trap for Cousin Tom,’ she replied, sitting upon the sofa. ‘I’m
sending him to Paris to do a bogus deal on a hotel that actually
belongs to Jemima’s friend. If he proves himself to be a rat, then
I’ve the horrible decision to make as to whether or not I tell
Tara.’

Jack poured her a small
glass of brandy and sat beside her.

‘
I’d be gutted
if I found out one of me own cousins was going against me like
that,’ he said. ‘Family are supposed to stick together.’

‘
Yes, well
Tom’s from the side of the family with no morals or conscience and
I’m afraid us Cusacks have fallen victim to it.’

‘
Well,’ he
chirped. ‘Let me show you something that I hope will cheer you
up.’

He leaned forward and
opened his laptop which was lying on the table before him. From the
taskbar, he opened up a programme and suddenly before them was an
elaborate, almost CGI quality mock up of a lavish looking
hotel.

‘
Welcome to
Sheridans Liverpool,’ he smiled.

Alex leaned closer. It
looked wonderful, just how she imagined; with an old fashioned
wooden desk, brass fittings, etched glass, and sumptuous
Chesterfield sofas in the lobby area. Jack clicked another link and
it opened a mock up of a room. There was a French Empire bed, deep
red Damask curtains with gold tie backs and expensive looking flock
wallpaper. With a move of the mouse they went into the bathroom
that had an antique bath, gold taps and huge mirrors. It was like
seeing a dream come to life and Alex was speechless.

‘
I told Greg
Dale what you liked and was looking for and we came up with this.
What do you think?’

‘
It’s
beautiful,’ she uttered, wiping a tear away. ‘Oh my God Jack it’s
so beautiful.’

‘
I thought we
could have the same layout for The Exchange as well.’

‘
When can work
start?’

‘
As soon as
you give the go ahead.’

‘
I’ve never
had anything that’s mine before,’ she said. ‘This is going to be
part of the Sheridans Group and it’s all my idea. Well, with your
help.’

‘
I’m just the
middle man,’ he shrugged modestly. ‘You’re the brains.’

‘
I couldn’t do
any of this without you and you know that,’ she reached up and
kissed him on the cheek. ‘Thank you.’

Alex immediately
regretted doing this, knowing what was going to happen. Jack caught
her and pulled her to him, kissing her before she could wriggle
away. Alex tried not to respond, she tried to remain detached but
it was so difficult. She and Jack fitted together so well, like
they were meant for each other. Unable to resist temptation any
longer, she slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him
hungrily in return. He pushed her back onto the sofa, his body
broad and heavy on top of her. As his mouth moved clumsily down her
neck Alex wondered what the hell she was doing. He was a married
man and she was engaged to someone else. They were business
partners and this would undoubtedly change everything between them.
But it felt so good and she was powerless to stop him.

Suddenly there was a
knock on the door. Jack stopped moving, raising himself on his
elbows.

‘
Are you
expecting anyone?’ she asked.

‘
Nope,’ he
gave that lazy smile. ‘So I’m just gonna ignore it.’