Yesterday's Sins (37 page)

"
Theos
. Reinforcements have arrived."

Men poured out of the van and pushed and shoved their way through the crowd until they reached the garden gate.

Once inside they spread out and the importunate journo was swiftly hustled outside the gate.

Alex turned to her. "Go get dressed, Cat. The sooner we get out of here, the better."

She didn't need telling twice. As she stepped into the shower she heard someone rapping on the door.

Dear God. What now.

Chapter Twenty

K
ate had never been so glad to see the high brick walls surrounding The Birches. Negotiating that screaming pack to the safety and seclusion of the smoked windows of Alex's limo wasn't something she wanted to do again, anytime soon.

Once their chauffeur negotiated the security gate a huge sigh trembled from her.

"I'm sorry." Alex's arm was firm around her shoulder. "Not quite the leisurely morning after I thought we'd enjoy."

A shudder shook her. "How did they find out about us?"

"I don't know, but now they do, it's imperative Sarah knows you're her mother."

Kate looked at him stricken and then she nodded. It had to be done. She just hoped that Sarah wouldn't hate her when she realized that the woman she knew as Kate was the mother who'd abandoned her.

Alex held her hand as they walked up the wide stairs.

She stopped just short of the main door, clammy sensation goose-stepping down her spine. She knew, with eerie certainty disaster waited on the other side of that door.

"Catriona," Alex put his free hand under her chin and lifted her face. "It's going to be okay, sweetheart."

"I'm scared," she admitted, burying her face against him. Alex slipped his arms around her holding her close.

"I'm right beside you," he reassured her gently. "Ready?"

She would never be ready but with tenderness and his support she could only hope this ordeal wasn't as bad as she feared.

He opened the door and they stepped inside.

Raised angry voices brought a black frown to Alex's face.

He strode forward opening the door into the lounge where several people were in angry and heated conversation.

"What's going on here?" Alex demanded.

Kate gasped and paled as her gaze skittered over the group in dazed disbelief.

"Thank God you've arrived—"

"Alex this woman—"

"Here's Daddy, Sarah—"

Luke, Emily and Gregori turned, all speaking at once trying to explain the cause of the fracas.

When had Luke and Emily arrived? Did they come in on the flight last night with Alex?

But that would have to wait. Her curiosity paled into insignificance as she looked past Gregori and saw the woman seated regally in one of the armchairs, legs crossed elegantly; wearing a smug, satisfied smile at the chaos she'd created.

Jessica Howard.

Kate stared at her, momentarily stunned.
What is my cousin doing here in Alex's house?

Even as she asked the question, Kate knew. And she knew who was behind the leak to the press.

Her presentiment of disaster was well founded.

"My, what a cosy twosome," Jessica drawled with sarcastic malice, rising to her feet. "Really Catriona, I thought you'd have more sense than to fall for Korda a second time. Didn't you learn anything from your last encounter, or are you still a gullible fool?"

The enormity of the threat behind the veiled words robbed Kate of speech.

Sarah hurtled across the room, sobbing, and. Alex scooped her up into a ferocious hug as he surveyed the others.

"What upset Sarah, Gregori?"

"Ask her." Gregori's dark eyes glittered with anger as he indicated Jessica.

"She's not my mummy. She's not." Sarah cried, lifting her furious red face from Alex's shoulder. "You tell her she's not going to send me away when she marries you. You won't let her will you, Daddy?"

"She told you that?" Alex, outraged, impaled Jessica with a look that turned hardened business opponents to jelly.

As some of her smug
sangfroid
evaporated, Kate glared at her cousin, burning with a fury eight years in the simmering.

How dare this woman who had done her such grievous harm come here and lie to Sarah? How dare she claim to be marrying Alex?

"Hello Jessica," she said so quietly everyone swivelled in her direction. "I've been expecting you."

Ever since the telephone call several days ago Kate had been watching her back. She'd just not expected Jessica to show up here in Alex's house or upset Sarah with her lies.

"You knew she was here?" Alex asked, his lips thinning ominously. "You let her get near my daughter."

Kate's heart sank; surely Alex knew she would never lend herself to anything her cousin schemed?

But he was looking at her as if last night had never happened. Sarah buried her face in his shoulder, hiccupping softly. With a deathly sense of inevitability, Kate returned his angry stare without flinching. If they were to come to a parting of the ways it would be with every deck cleared between them.
 

"I was warned she was nosing around."

"Who warned you?"

"Joe Kallinikos rang me several days ago to warn me Jessica was behind our troubles with the press."

There was a collective indrawn gasp.

"My God." Alex paled and Gregori staggered and sat down.

"Holy sh—" Luke's hastily cut off expletive summed up everyone's thoughts.

Jessica's smile and self-assurance evaporated.

"Did you say Joe Kallinikos rang you?" Alex enunciated every word with exaggerated care. Kate nodded. His horrified reaction came as no surprise.

Joe Kallinikos was feared throughout Australasia.

Approaching eighty, the crime king may be old, but he still held a powerful hold on the biggest underworld syndicate in the Southern Hemisphere.

"How in the name of all that's holy do you know him?" Alex asked in a hushed voice.

"He was a friend of my mother's."

"
Jesus.
" Alex sat down cradling Sarah in his lap, covering her ears as if protecting her from even hearing this conversation.

"You went to Kallinikos when you left Brisbane?" Gregori asked with dawning comprehension.

Kate shook her head. "He came to me; or rather his son found me and took me to his father."

"Are you telling me you lived in the Kallinikos compound?" Alex asked in a strangled voice.

"For almost a year." Kate managed a strained smile. "Joe was very good to me."

"Why? Why would he do that?"

Kate looked down at her hands and then looked straight at Alex. "When his younger son was six, he either fell or was pushed from the platform under a train. My mother died saving his life."

"A blood debt." Alex shook his head. "Can this get any worse?"

"He created your new identity?" Gregori's agile mind put together the missing pieces of the puzzle. "No wonder you disappeared without trace. Did he know about Alex?"

"He did."

Alex swallowed convulsively, staring at her as if she'd sprouted horns.

"He considered you'd acted with good reason," Kate said dryly.

His eyes glistened with stunned apology and he turned to Jessica. Kate held up her hand, shaking her head. "You, he despised, Jessica. I'm so sorry you had such a hard time in jail."

"Yeah right." Jessica's expression turned ugly, her hand clenched into fists.

A shiver slithered down Kate's spine and she was glad the men were present. Jessica was evil. This woman wasn't the cousin Kate remembered.

She crossed to Alex and Sarah crouching down until she was level with Sarah.

"You love your daddy?" Sarah hiccupped and nodded. "Has he ever lied to you?"

"No."

"Do you think he would marry someone without telling you first?"

"As if he'd consult a bratty little kid," Jessica drawled maliciously.

Alex stiffened and his eyes flashed dangerously.

Kate touched Sarah's cheek. "Trust me,
caraid
, your daddy is not going to marry my cousin, neither is she your mother. She lied to you."

Kate stood up and faced Jessica, running her eyes over her in a silent insolent survey. Alex stood up towering over both women his hand firmly on Sarah's shoulder. Kate met his eyes, hers brim full of impish amusement.

"You won't think it's so funny when the press gets wind of the rest of the story. How will you deal with the fallout then, Mr.-filthy-rich-Korda? Or with the sworn affidavit of my uncle's I'll quite happily give the police," Jessica drawled with deadly venom. "The price of my silence is marriage or a very handsome payoff."

Kate heard Alex's hissing indrawn breath, and the grip on her shoulder tightened.
How in hell had Jessica come by this information?

She'd worry about that later, now she had to stop this woman damaging her family even further.

"He would never marry you, Jessica Howard," Gregori stated flatly, his eyes never leaving Kate's face, "even if it were possible."

Jessica's eyes swivelled to Gregori then back to Alex.

"You always were greedy, Jessica," Kate said icily, taking the enormous leap of faith. "You killed one child of this family. None of us will ever forget or forgive that. But get two things straight in your avaricious, scheming brain. There will be no hush money and although we've been apart for several years, Alex is still my husband."

"You're married." Luke's soft exclamation was almost drowned in the collective gasp.

Relief from the burden of silence made Kate go limp and she clung to Alex's hand. There could be no turning back now from such a public declaration.

"You're lying," Jessica said shrilly.

"Thank you, Catriona." Alex ignored the interruption, his whole attention on Kate. He lifted her hand to his lips kissing it gently, his eyes caressing. Then he turned to confront the woman who had caused so much strife and grief in all their lives.

"You've invaded my home, upset my wife and terrorized my daughter," he paused and Kate shivered at his expression. "You have a nerve even thinking I would marry you or pay you blackmail? But you will pay for this treachery. The papers disclosing your father's embezzlement will be handed to the police to press charges. No one hurts my family and escapes unscathed."