Hired For His Pleasure: The Talk of Hollywood / Keeping Her Up All Night / Buttoned-Up Secretary, British Boss

‘What I think,’ Stazy said slowly, ‘is that, whatever you found, my grandfather will have ensured the reporter didn’t find it.’

‘You believe Geoffrey has that much power …?’

‘Oh, yes.’ She smiled affectionately.

Jaxon shook his head. ‘You don’t even know what this is about yet.’

She shrugged. ‘I don’t need to. If my grandfather left some incriminating papers in the library for you to look at then he meant for you to find them.’

That made Jaxon feel a little better, at least. ‘There were two things, actually, but they’re related.’

Stazy looked down at her fingertip, running it distractedly around the rim of her cup as she waited for him to continue.

He sighed. ‘I found your grandparents’ marriage certificate for February 1946.’

‘Yes?’

‘And your father’s birth certificate for October 1944.’

‘Yes?’

‘Leaving a discrepancy of sixteen months.’

‘Two years or more if you take into account the nine months of pregnancy,’ she corrected ruefully.

‘Yes …’

The tension eased out of Stazy’s shoulders as she smiled across at him. ‘I’m sure that there are always a lot of children born with questionable birth certificates during war years.’

‘No doubt.’ Jaxon was literally squirming with discomfort now. ‘But—’

‘But my father’s place of birth is listed as Berlin, Germany,’ she finished lightly.

‘Yes.’ Jaxon breathed his relief.

‘With no name listed under the “Father” column.’

‘No …’

‘Meaning there’s no way of knowing for certain that Geoffrey was actually his father.’

‘I didn’t say that—’

‘You didn’t have to.’ Stazy chuckled. ‘It would have looked a little odd, don’t you think, to have the name of an Englishman listed as the father of a baby boy born in Berlin in 1944?’

‘Well, yes … But—’

‘More tea, Jaxon?’ She stood up to put more hot water into the teapot before coming back to stand with the pot poised over his cup.

‘Thanks,’ he accepted distractedly. He had been dreading having to talk to any of the Bromley family about his discovery earlier today, and especially the unpredictable Stazy. Now, instead of being her usual defensive self, she actually seemed to find the whole thing amusing. To the point that he could see laughter gleaming in those expressive green eyes as she refilled his cup before sitting down again. ‘Like to share what’s so amusing …?’

‘You are.’ She gave a rueful shake of her head as she resumed her seat. ‘You’re aged in your mid-thirties, Jaxon, a Hollywood A-list actor and director, and yet you seem scandalised that there might have been babies born out of wedlock seventy years ago!’ She grinned across at him.

‘I’m not in the least scandalised—’

‘Um … protesting too much, much?’ she teased, in the manner of one of her students.

Jaxon eyed her frustatedly. ‘These are your grandparents we’re talking about. And your father.’

‘Geoffrey and Anastasia never tried to hide from me that my father was actually present and sixteen months old at the time of their wedding,’ she assured him gently. ‘We have the photographs to prove it. Which I can show you tomorrow—later today,’ she corrected, after a glance at the kitchen clock revealed it was now almost two o’clock in the morning. ‘If you would like to see them?’

‘I would, yes.’

She nodded. ‘I’ll look them out in the morning.’

‘So what happened?’ Jaxon said slowly. ‘Why didn’t the two of them marry when Anastasia knew she was expecting Geoffrey’s child?’

‘They didn’t marry earlier because Anastasia didn’t know she was pregnant when she was dropped behind enemy lines in late February 1944. By the time she realised her condition she had already established her cover as a young Austrian woman, recently widowed and bitterly resentful of the English as a result, and it was too late for her to do anything but remain in Berlin and continue with the mission she had been sent there to complete. She always maintained her pregnancy actually helped to confirm that identity.’

‘My God …’ Jaxon fell back against his chair.

‘Yes.’ Stazy smiled affectionately. ‘Of course my grandfather, once informed of Anastasia’s condition, ensured that she was ordered out of Berlin immediately.’

‘And she refused to leave until she had finished what she went there to do?’ Jaxon guessed.

Stazy met his gaze unblinkingly. ‘Yes, she did.’

‘She went through her pregnancy, gave birth to her son, cared for him, all the while behind enemy lines under a false identity that could have been blown apart at any moment?’

Her chin tilted. ‘Yes.’

He gave an incredulous shake of his head. ‘God, that’s so—so—’

‘Irresponsible? Selfish?’ There was a slight edge to Stazy’s voice now.

‘I was going to say romantic.’ Jaxon grinned admiringly. ‘And incredibly brave. What a woman she must have been!’

Stazy relaxed slightly as she answered huskily, ‘I’ve always believed so, yes.’

Jaxon nodded. ‘And so you should. You’re very like her, you know,’ he added softly.

‘I don’t think so, Jaxon.’ Stazy gave a choked laugh. ‘Even in her nineties Anastasia would have made sure she got on that Harley tonight and somehow managed to ride it out of here, despite all those guards trying to stop her!’

‘Maybe,’ he acknowledged dryly. ‘But you definitely gave it your best shot.’

She shrugged. ‘Not good enough, obviously.’

‘Choosing the Harley for your first attempt was extremely gutsy.’ In fact Stazy’s behaviour tonight was so much more than Jaxon would ever have believed possible of that stiffly formal and tightly buttoned down Dr Anastasia Bromley he had been introduced to six weeks ago. ‘So you think Geoffrey meant for me to find the marriage and birth certificates …?’