Dark Victory

With agile ease, Lawson took the steps up to the porch two at a time, where he set her down on her feet.

‘I didn’t want my lady to slip,’ he told the eagleeyed Miriam.

Cheska seethed. If he called her ‘my lady’ once more, she would slap him. She would. And never mind Miriam broadcasting the news far and wide.

‘Sir Galahad,’ the older woman declared, with a simpering smile of admiration. She cocked a curious head. ‘Do you two know each other?’ Intimately,’ Lawson replied, hooking his thumbs in the pockets of his jeans and standing with long legs set apart. ‘The truth of the matter is’

Cheska’s nerve ends shrieked. He couldn’t tell her…He mustn’t…

“That he’s joking and we met just now, down at the pool, she gabbled, shooting a daggers-drawn look which defied him to argue.

The last thing she needed was for Miriam to know that something had happened between them—no matter how long ago. An avid ferreter and something of a prude, if the blonde sniffed a whiff of something untoward she would not cease digging until she had unearthed the facts. All of them. Cheska shuddered. Her behaviour may have been less than circumspect, but she refused to be branded as a scarlet woman.

‘Yes, we did,’ Lawson said, being dutifully obedient, though an impudent gleam shone in his dark eyes. ‘You were calling me?’ he asked Miriam.

“There’s a phone call from Mrs Croxley, Janet’s mother.’ Ushering him indoors, she wafted a beringed hand down the wide, oak-floored hall with its worn Persian rugs, to where a door stood open into the library. ‘She promised to hold on.’

“Thank you,’ he said, and strode away.

‘Francesca, how nice to see you again,’ Miriam declared, with a gracious smile. ‘Rupert tells me you had a good flight.’

She nodded. ‘It was fine. Where is Rupert?’ she asked, for her stepbrother was usually an early riser.

‘He’s getting up. After such a late night last night, he overslept.’

Wondering if she could be being blamed for her plane’s midnight arrival time, Cheska shot a suspicious look, but all she saw was raging affability.

‘You’re probably wondering why I’m here,’ Miriam went on. ‘Friday’s my day for going into Tunbridge to do my weekly shop, so I thought I’d stop by as usual to see if dear Rupie needs anything.’

‘That’s kind of you,’ Cheska said, because it was. Though it could also be regarded as a way of the blonde insinuating herself into ‘dear Rupie’s life, she thought astringently.

Miriam smiled. ‘My pleasure. While we’re alone there’s something I feel I must say.’ She paused, fingering her pearls, and her tone became that of the clucking mother hen. ‘It would be so nice if, this time, while you’re home, you could pay for your board and lodging. After all, you are a working girl and you can’t expect dear Rupie to finance you for ever.’

Cheska’s spine went ramrod-stiff. Her eyes darkened to a stormy grey. She did not consider her dealings with her stepbrother were any of Miriam’s business and she resented the interference. The woman might shop for Rupert, but that did not grant her the freedom to meddle in other aspects of his life!

‘I don’t expect him to finance me, she replied glacially, then stopped.

She had never paid for her keep. Whenever she had offered, her stepbrother had always refused. There was no need, he had told her, and indeed, until her modelling had made it unnecessary, he had insisted on giving her an over-generous allowance. Cheska’s brows drew together. She was perfectly willing to pay, but what did she pay with? Her salary had not been high and, when she had given up her job two days ago, she had also given away all of her savings. Given them away rashly, it now seemed, though she did not regret it.

‘So suppose we say thirty pounds a week? That seems fair,’ Miriam declared, in a tone which said the matter had been amicably settled. As Lawson reappeared from the library, she swivelled. ‘Not trouble, I hope?’ she enquired, for as he walked towards them he was frowning.

‘I’m afraid so. As you know, we’d arranged that Janet would join me here today, but—’

‘She can’t?’ Miriam rushed in. ‘What a shame. Janet’s an absolute sweetie,’ she informed Cheska. ‘She accompanied Mr Giordano—Lawson,’ she amended, flashing him a smile, ‘on his earlier visits and—’her conversation switched to Lawson again ‘—I could see how close the two of you were. How you shared an affinity.’

He nodded. ‘Unfortunately, last night Janet was rushed into hospital with acute appendicitis,’ he continued. ‘She’s been operated on and—’

Oh, no!’ the blonde broke in again, fluttering a hand to her ample bosom in what, to Cheska, seemed extravagant dismay. ‘How dreadful!’

Who was this Janet? she wondered. Lawson’s girlfriend? His live-in lover? Perhaps even his wife? The idea brought Cheska up with a start. It had not occurred to her that he might now be married, yet why not? His looks, his intelligence and his sex appeal made Lawson Giordano an undeniable catch and he must be all of thirty-five, an age by which most men had settled down. Her brow puckered. It was irrational, yet the prospect of his having a wife made her feel strangely… piqued.

‘How is the poor girl?’ Miriam enquired.

‘Doing well,’ Lawson reported, ‘but—’

‘Thank heavens! ‘she crooned, this time stopping him to affect extravagant relief.

‘But her convalescence means that Miss Croxley has decided she must withdraw from the shoot’ Lawson completed, a touch impatiently, ‘and I need a PA.’

So Janet—Miss Croxley—was not his wife, but his personal assistant, Cheska thought. Though this would not exclude her from also being his girlfriend. Indeed, Miriam’s reference to and his acknowledgement of their affinity more than hinted that way.

‘What kind of duties would an assistant be required to perform?’ Miriam enquired.

‘She’d have to type up notes, take and make phone calls, help me with the thousand and one matters which need attention during filming.’ Lawson massaged his jaw. ‘I’ll have to contact the office and see if they can rustle someone up and send them down from London, though it’s short notice and—’

‘Don’t bother,’ the blonde cut in, smiling. ‘I have a replacement’

‘You do?’ he said. ‘Who?’

Like a magician producing a white rabbit from a top hat, Miriam triumphantly flourished an arm. ‘Francesca.’

CHAPTER TWO (#ulink_037e4fe1-03d6-5b74-82aa-0d15c727d17a)

CHESKA’S mouth gaped. ‘Me?’ she protested.

“Thanks, but no, thanks,’ Lawson said, simultaneously.

‘It’s the ideal answer,’ Miriam declared, in a voice which sounded as though she was chewing on a bag of marbles. She stopped to listen as noises drifted down the baluster staircase from the first floor. ‘Rupert sounds to have finished his shower, so I must see to his toast.’

Cheska felt a spasm of annoyance. Her stepbrother’s ladyfriend had not only established herself as near enough a fixture, she also appeared to be running the show! Which included taking over the housekeeper’s duties.

‘Can’t Millie do it?’ she enquired, an edge to her tone.

‘Millicent and her husband are away on holiday for two months, visiting their daughter in Canada,’ Miriam informed her. ‘Would you care for some toast, too, Francesca?’ she continued, being tediously pleasant and well-mannered.

Cheska resisted the urge to tell her, most impolitely, what she could do with the toast. ‘No, thanks,’ she replied. ‘I’ll get my own breakfast after I’ve showered.’

‘Then please excuse me,’ Miriam said, and click-clacked cheerfully away down the hall on her high heels.

‘Having you as my assistant would be anything but ideal,’ Lawson said, as the well-upholstered figure disappeared.

‘I agree,’ Cheska rapped back.

‘For a start, the hours are long and antisocial. I often dictate notes in the evening ready for filming the next day, which means I need someone who’s good-natured, amenable and everlastingly willing, whatever the time and whatever the strains and stresses.’

Dropping her flip-flops down on the polished wooden floor, she slid her feet into them. As she had already vetoed the idea, there was no need for him to embark on a more detailed job description; though, of course, by stating his requirements, Lawson was also stating what he considered she was not. It was yet another dig. Another condemnation. A further chance to indulge in a gratuitous bit of Cheska bashing.

She shone a saccharine smile. ‘And I would only work for someone who was understanding, eventempered and everlastingly considerate,’ she retaliated.