To Have A Husband

Harrie! This woman, obviously an intimate friend of Rome Summer’s, was the lawyer he’d said would be in on their meeting!

Quinn looked at the woman with fresh eyes, reassessing her businesslike appearance in the tailored suit and blouse, the cool beauty of her face, noting the confidence in her gaze that seemed to say, whatever her private relationship with the older man, she was nevertheless a lawyer, and a damned good one!

Strangely enough, despite her unprofessional intimacy with her employer, Quinn had a feeling she was, too!

He gave an acknowledging inclination of his head. ‘This is, nevertheless, a private—very private—matter, to me,’ he repeated grimly. ‘One that doesn’t require legal advice,’ he added determinedly.

Not being in control of a situation wasn’t something Quinn was particularly comfortable with, and this situation had already been out of control before he’d been made aware of it. Rome Summer, he felt, was the only one now who could put a halt to it in any effective way. If he chose to do so… And Quinn resented having to appeal to this man in the presence of a third party. Especially a third party who, as well as being Rome Summer’s lawyer, was obviously the other man’s mistress too!

‘Quinn—I may call you that, I hope…?’ Harrie looked at him enquiringly, the perfect black arc of her left brow raised questioningly.

He gave an acknowledging inclination of his head. ‘Mr McBride’ might put this meeting on a more formal level, but in the circumstances it was that very formality that he was trying to avoid.

She smiled in acknowledgement of his agreement, her teeth very white and even against the red lip-gloss. ‘Then, Quinn, wouldn’t it be better if you just told Rome what your problem is, and tried to forget my presence here altogether?’ she suggested smoothly.

For one thing, she wasn’t the sort of woman any man could easily ignore! ‘Just what makes you think I have a “problem”—Harrie?’ he bit out, his narrowed gaze levelled on her challengingly.

She blinked once. Just the once. But it was enough to tell Quinn he had briefly disarmed her. But the brief satisfaction he felt at that knowledge was as quickly dispersed as he inwardly admitted there was a problem, even if it wasn’t of his own making. But it also made him wonder whether Rome Summer already knew exactly why he’d wanted to see him today… After all, Rome Summer was just as likely to have done his homework on him once the appointment had been made!

Harrie shrugged slender shoulders. ‘I believe you told Audrey as much when you made this appointment. Rome’s secretary,’ she explained at his questioning look concerning the mention of the other woman.

He recalled the friendly efficiency of the other woman’s voice when he had telephoned Rome Summer’s head office yesterday. And, yes, he had told her that. He would never have got this appointment to see Rome Summer so quickly if he hadn’t!

But he could also see that, with true legal guardedness, the beautiful Harrie had eluded actually answering his question…

Pompous ass, Harrie thought inwardly, knowing there would be no outward sign of her inner feelings as she continued to look across at Quinn McBride with cool impartiality.

He’d looked at her when she’d entered the room earlier, summed her up, pigeon-holed her as a frothy female friend of Rome’s, and as quickly dismissed her as nothing more than an unwanted irritation. Until he’d realised she was Rome’s lawyer.

Oh, he’d tried to hide his surprise when Rome had told him of her identity, a polite mask coming down over those handsome features, but it hadn’t been quick enough to hide the brief shock that had been reflected in his eyes, the stunned disbelief, before he’d done another mental assessment of her role here today.

Not that his second summing up had been all that complimentary, she acknowledged ruefully; he obviously believed now that Rome was a man who mixed business with pleasure. But at the same time she could see he did accept her legal qualification too!

If he’d known Rome at all, which he obviously didn’t, he would have realised the other man never confused his personal life with that of his business one; he may occasionally link them together, but he never, ever confused them…!

Rome had informed her when she’d arrived at the house earlier that this meeting with the banker, Quinn McBride, was planned for this afternoon, and in truth she’d been as puzzled as Quinn McBride obviously was that Rome should require her presence during the meeting. But she hadn’t questioned the request in the way that Quinn McBride obviously had; she’d accepted that Rome always had a reason for everything he did.

Quinn McBride finally turned away from her dismissively, his mouth a grim line as he looked across at the older man. ‘It appears I have little choice but to accept the situation,’ he bit out harshly. ‘But I do so on the understanding that what I have to say will be treated as completely confidential, that it is not for discussion with anyone outside of this room. And I do mean anyone!’

Harrie bridled with indignation. She was a lawyer, for goodness’ sake; of course this conversation would be completely confidential.

‘You have my word on it,’ Rome drawled derisively, laughter gleaming in his blue eyes as he glanced briefly at Harrie.

Well at least one of them found Quinn McBride’s attitude funny—because Harrie certainly didn’t! She’d met too many men like Quinn McBride in her years of climbing up the legal ladder, men who took one look at her surface beauty and wrote off any chance of there being a brain under the tumbling black hair. Usually she took great delight in proving those men wrong, to their own detriment, but at the moment this situation with Quinn McBride was a complete unknown to her.

‘Mine, too,’ she added softly.

Quinn McBride didn’t even glance at her this time, his expression grim as he glared down at the cooling teapot. ‘My business here today concerns one of the reporters on your newspaper, Rome. And my sister,’ he added harshly.

Harrie frowned. Rome owned a newspaper, yes, but she didn’t think the minutiae of the lives of the people that worked on it would be of any interest to him. In fact, she was sure of it!

Rome obviously shared her view. ‘Let me get this straight. One of the reporters from my newspaper is involved with your sister, and you want me—’

‘Certainly not!’ Quinn McBride cut in disgustedly. ‘My sister is—engaged to marry someone else completely,’ he rasped harshly. ‘This…reporter—for want of another word,’ he added contemptuously, ‘has information concerning my sister’s past—’

‘Something detrimental?’ Rome guessed, catching on fast to the other man’s angry tone. As he usually did…

It was the key to his success, of course. Outwardly pleasant and amiable, Rome nevertheless possessed a sharp intelligence, and a certain knowledge of his fellow human beings that had saved him from disaster more than once. Anyone who underestimated Rome was heading for disaster.

Although somehow Harrie didn’t think Quinn McBride fell into that category; she sensed the quiet respect with which he addressed the older man.

‘As you say,’ he gave an acknowledging inclination of his head. ‘Something detrimental,’ he said heavily. ‘Not of particular relevance in normal circumstances,’ he added firmly. ‘But—’

‘These aren’t “normal circumstances”,’ Rome finished hardly. ‘Am I right in assuming you only have the one sister, Quinn?’ Blue eyes were narrowed shrewdly now.

Harrie looked at him thoughtfully, having a definite feeling that he already knew Quinn McBride had only the one sibling…

‘Yes,’ the other man confirmed abruptly. ‘The situation is—delicate, to say the least, and—’

‘I can understand your concern, Quinn,’ Rome cut in smoothly. ‘I just don’t know what you want me to do about it. Information, bringing the truth to the general public, is what newspapers are about—’

‘I’m not sure I altogether agree with you there,’ Quinn scorned derisively. ‘The truth, yes. Sensationalism, for the sake of it, no.’

‘“…Let them that be without sin themselves cast the first stone” syndrome, hmm?’ Rome accepted ruefully.

‘Something like that.’ Quinn’s mouth twisted with distaste. ‘I would lay odds on there being very few adults, over the age of say…twenty-five?—who don’t have something in their past they would rather weren’t made public knowledge!’

Rome nodded. ‘And if I were a betting man—which, incidentally, I’m not—I think I would agree with you. How about you, Harrie?’ He turned to her enquiringly. ‘You’re what…? Twenty-nine now? I’m sure there must have been something in your life already that you would rather were kept a secret?’

The conversation had been turned on her so suddenly Harrie didn’t even have time to cover up her reaction to the bluntness of the question, her cheeks colouring fiery red under Rome’s mocking gaze and Quinn McBride’s scornful one.

Nevertheless, she managed to return Rome’s challenging gaze. ‘I don’t believe we were talking about me,’ she dismissed coolly.

‘Perhaps not,’ he conceded in an amused voice before turning back to the other man. ‘To get back to the problem of your sister—’ he frowned ‘—I’m not sure I have the right, even when asked as a personal favour to you, Quinn, to actually bury a story that the public may—’

‘That’s just the point, this reporter isn’t—oh, damn!’ Quinn McBride stood up impatiently to pace the room. ‘You’re a father yourself, Rome, I believe?’ he prompted irritably.

‘Yes…’ Rome confirmed guardedly.

‘My sister Corinne and I were left parentless fifteen years ago, when our parents were killed in the crash of the light aircraft they were travelling in. I was twenty-four at the time, but Corinne was only fifteen.’ He made the statement in a flat emotionless voice, but it was obvious he’d only achieved this with the passage of time. ‘I, naturally, took over the care of my sister—’

‘And the Chair of the bank,’ Rome added quietly.

Once again Harrie gave him a narrow-eyed look. Just exactly what else did he know about Quinn McBride? The expression on Rome’s face was as inscrutable as usual. Meaning he’d no intention of answering that particular question for her, either now or in the future! It was the way he worked, the way he’d always worked—alone!—and he wasn’t about to change now.

‘And the bank, eventually,’ Quinn acknowledged dismissively. ‘But that came five years later; at twenty-four I wasn’t old enough or experienced enough to take on such a position. And that isn’t the point at issue here,’ he dismissed impatiently. ‘My sister is thirty now, but it’s those past tragic circumstances that make me protective of her still.’ He sighed. ‘I’m sure you know how it is, Rome, that you must feel the same way about your own children.’ He grimaced knowingly at the older man.

Rome gave an answering smile. ‘Three girls.’ He nodded. ‘They’ve given me my fair share of headaches over the years,’ he conceded lightly.