Adapt

by Melanie Rachel

  “No, you won’t,” he replied with an encouraging smile. “I’m a better option than the train.” Elizabeth observed an aggravating surety behind it. “So you’ll stay again tonight?”

  “You are insufferable, Will Darcy,” she said with a sigh. “Yes, I’m too tired to leave. I’ll stay tonight, but I am going home tomorrow. I need time to think about everything that’s happening, and I have work to do. In case you haven’t noticed, the holiday is over.”

  He pulled her in tight and brushed his lips against hers. “Yes,” he replied pensively, “I’ve noticed.”

  Richard tossed his coat on one of the hooks in the foyer and called for Georgiana. He found her alone at the kitchen table with her laptop open, and she turned it to show him.

  “Nothing,” she said, her face alight with triumph. “All listed purchases are mine.”

  “Did you check all your cards?” he asked roughly, still standing.

  She tossed her hands in the air, then went into three other accounts. Each told the same story. No unauthorized purchases. Richard felt marginally better.

  “You need to order all new cards and change the numbers,” he demanded. “And why do you need four cards? Just keep two and shut the other two down.”

  Georgiana shook her head. “You have got to be kidding, Richard,” she protested. “Why would I close two cards? That’ll negatively affect my credit rating.” She flipped her long hair back from her face. “Do you have any idea how long it will take to get new cards, or how many online accounts I’ll have to change?”

  He put a hand over hers and replied calmly, “About a week, and you shouldn’t have your information spread out like that anyway, G. Choose one online payment service to give your information, then use that for all purchases. You know the drill.”

  She rolled her eyes dramatically. “Richard,” she moaned, “you know even if the cards get stolen, we’re only liable for fifty dollars.”

  Richard raised an eyebrow. “Did Juraj tell you that?” he asked with challenge in his voice.

  Georgiana just raised one dark eyebrow to mirror his lighter one and stared right back.

  “G,” he said bluntly, “if something were to happen down the line, we can at least point to this and say we were worried about someone taking your information, so you changed the cards out. It’s a minor inconvenience in comparison to a police investigation. Trust me.”

  “I am so not coming home at Christmas,” she snapped, but began the process of ordering new cards, manicured fingers flying across the keyboard. “Sometimes I really hate being a Darcy.”

  Richard watched Georgiana carefully. She would complain, but he suspected she would also do as he asked. The cards weren’t what worried him. Well, they weren’t what worried him most. It was these little reminders of how far Juraj, whoever he was, had gotten into Georgiana’s head. He had clearly wedged a bit of space between her and her family, and Richard intended to learn just how much. He knew Will must already have an investigator in mind. He’d check in with him later. Richard stood and walked into the kitchen. After a few minutes, surreptitiously eyeing Georgiana as he worked, he returned carrying the box of truffles and two tiny cups of espresso.

  Georgiana glanced up at Richard as he set a demitasse down on the surface next to her computer. Her lips puckered and slid to one side of her face as she tried to hide a smile. “You are so sucking up to me right now,” she said with a small shake of her head.

  “Maybe,” Richard replied teasingly. “It depends. Are you still a Darcy?”

  She snorted and flipped the lid off the Neuhaus box. “As if that could ever change,” she responded, managing to sound both pleased and chagrined as she selected a truffle and took a small bite.

  The light of the day was fading when Elizabeth sat up and rubbed her eyes, finally feeling herself again. Will had draped a Harvard sweatshirt over the easy chair for her. With a smirk, she pushed her arms into the sleeves and pulled it down over her head. It was cut for a woman, and she figured it must be Georgiana’s. She probably didn’t want to wear it at Stanford.

  When she reached the top of the stairs, she heard the television. Georgiana and Richard were laughing at something. She glanced down the hall to see the light on in Will’s office, and she moved in that direction. She pushed the door open and saw him working on his laptop, eyes intent on the screen. After a few seconds, he glanced up and saw her.

  “Hey,” he said tenderly. “Feeling better?”

  She nodded. “Back to normal, thanks.”

  He pushed a few keys and closed the top of his computer. “Somehow I doubt that,” he scoffed, shaking his head, “but I won’t argue the point.” He stood and walked to her, placing his hand lightly on the small of her back as they left the room. “Are you hungry?”

  She stopped to give him an exaggerated look of disbelief, and he grinned. “Sorry,” he said, holding up his hands, “I forgot who I was talking to.”

  “Are there any leftovers, or did the majordomo eat them all?” she asked, only half-jokingly.

  “Hey!” came Richard’s voice from the family room. “Nobody said they were off limits!”

  Elizabeth shook her head. “What do you all generally do on Christmas Day?” she asked Will as they entered the kitchen. “I’m pretty sure Aunt Maddy would like for you and Richard and Georgiana to come for dinner.” She opened the refrigerator and frowned. “I thought he was kidding.”

  “You should know he doesn’t kid about food any more than you do,” Will replied sardonically. “But we have about four different casseroles in the freezer.” He moved around her to open the other door, grabbed a glass dish, and read the label. “Chicken and mushroom sound good?”

  Once they had eaten, he cleared the dishes and led her into the family room. Richard and Georgiana had finished whatever film they’d been watching and were arguing about who would retain possession of the remote control. Elizabeth watched Richard’s sly grin as he held the remote hostage, knowing he was simply enjoying stirring the hornet’s nest.

  Will reached into the fray and plucked the remote from Richard’s hand. The television shut off, and both Richard and Georgiana protested. Will just looked at the remote. “I didn’t turn it off,” he told them. He pressed the power button—nothing. “I changed the passwords,” he said, bewildered. “Everyone who knows them is in this room.”

  Elizabeth sat up straight. “You had to change your passwords?”

  What followed was a halting story with too many tellers, but Elizabeth managed to grasp the main threads. It became clear there had been a security breach, but who? And why?

  After everything had been said, she sat silently, just thinking. “Oh,” she said as a realization hit her, “maybe that’s why the Bloomfield PD was at my door on Thanksgiving. I thought it had to do with Kaylie.” She paused. “No, they asked where I was between ten and eleven p.m. I guess that’s not it.”

  “Oh, I know why they were there,” Richard said suddenly. “Did you see the article about a bar being smashed up by a female vet? Oscar showed me.”

  Elizabeth blinked. “What?”

  “Why didn’t you tell me the police questioned you?” Will asked, displeased. Leave it to him to miss the point of the conversation. Someone was stalking him. Or his sister. Or the apartment.

  “Well, I forgot, honestly,” she informed him. “It was before Jane showed up—I just went back to sleep.” She glanced at Richard, then back at Will. “I had a lovely conversation with Officers Spinoza and Goring, who were not happy I wouldn’t let them into my apartment.”

  Georgiana forehead was furrowed. “Why not?”

  Elizabeth shrugged. “They didn’t ask nicely.”

  Will and Richard shared a look. Suddenly, Will blurted out, “Wait, they saw you Thursday morning, when you were sick?”

  She nodded.

  “And they didn’t help you?”

  She lifted one shoulder and let it drop. “I told them about the migraine, but they accused me of being
hungover. I suppose they see a lot of that.”

  Will’s eyes narrowed, and she could see he was itching to pick up the phone and file a complaint. She almost smiled.

  “Don’t bother, Will,” she said. “I don’t need to make enemies of the police. It was a mistake, that’s all. They left when they confirmed my alibi.”

  But that hadn’t been all, had it? They’d left after the phone call, but Mr. Pizanski had been making noise and Mr. Ivan downstairs had been listening, too. Where did that piece fit in with Georgiana’s boyfriend and the apartment issues? Her head began to pound. It was frustrating to have to let things go until she felt better, but she didn’t want to bring anything up until she’d had more time to think about it. Richard was here. If there really was a problem, he’d keep everyone safe. And Will was no slouch, either.

  Will didn’t say anything more, but she could tell he was brooding. She shot a pleading look at Richard, who gave her the slightest of nods and took his cousin downstairs. When the men left, Elizabeth turned her attention to Georgiana, who had quickly pounced on the remote and was trying to make it work. She needed to get into the system to see what was happening, but she’d need Will’s permission for that. And his security company’s, too.

  “I don’t like this,” she said to herself. She rubbed both temples. “Georgiana,” she said quietly, “I know you’re annoyed with me, but I have one more thing to ask.”

  Georgiana paused, leery. “What’s that?”

  Elizabeth knew she had to ask this no matter how much the girl resented her for it.

  “If Juraj asks you to go home with him for Christmas,” she said softly, “will you please say no?”

  Chapter Twelve

  “You know,” Georgiana replied after a shocked silence. “I’m getting pretty tired of all this cloak-and-dagger stuff.” She glared up at Elizabeth. “Richard checked my credit, and it hasn’t been touched.”

  “Fair enough,” Elizabeth replied cautiously. She was disappointed not to receive a direct answer, but realized she’d need to change the approach. She stepped to the television and checked the wires. Everything was plugged in. “Try the remote again,” she said. “Is it working?”

  “No,” Georgiana replied, tossing the remote down. Her expression was troubled, and she turned to face Elizabeth. “Why do you think something is going on? Why are you so sure he doesn’t just love me?”

  “He might,” Elizabeth admitted, standing and moving to the couch. “And if he does, he won’t mind your cousin making sure of him.” She sat, then reached out to touch Georgiana’s hand and was encouraged when the girl didn’t automatically pull away. “When you truly love someone, you do what’s best for them. Is trying to divide you from your family in your best interest or his?”

  Blue eyes the exact shade of Will’s gazed steadily back at her, assessing, appraising. Elizabeth laughed a little, discomfited. “You could run interrogations with that look.”

  Georgiana blushed a little but recovered quickly. “How do you know he’s trying to separate me from Will and Richard?”

  Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at Will’s sister. “Did you not just tell me that he didn’t want you to come home?”

  Georgiana’s forehead furrowed. “Because he’d miss me too much, that’s all.”

  “He could’ve gotten on a plane with you,” Elizabeth pointed out. “I assume you bought him a ticket and everything, so it wasn’t about money.” She let that sit with Georgiana for a moment before she lifted an eyebrow. “You want to hear what your brother did the first time I met him?”

  Georgiana frowned. “It’s not some sappy love-at-first-sight story, is it? ’Cause I don’t think I could stomach that right now.”

  Elizabeth grinned. “Oh no, this is hilarious. Richard set up a job interview for me and didn’t tell Will. Then Will walked into Ms. Soames’s office all overworked and broody . . .”

  Georgiana’s eyes lit up. “Did he mutter and complain and generally act like he’s God’s gift to CEOs?”

  “Well, at first I was so busy looking at him that I didn’t notice.”

  “Ewww,” laughed Georgiana, covering her eyes. “Don’t tell me about checking Will out. Gross.”

  “Oh, I won’t,” promised Elizabeth. As soon as Georgiana looked up, she continued, “But he was fine.”

  Georgiana reached out to hit her on the arm, and Elizabeth dodged it and shook her head. “So, I’m getting a feast for the eyes, and then . . . “

  “The mouth, right?” Georgiana leaned forward. “He said something all haughty and stupid?”

  “He said,” replied Elizabeth, pitching her voice lower in imitation of Will’s, “‘I don’t have time to interview Richard’s ex-Marine girlfriends or cast-offs or whatever. She probably has no qualifications and is homeless.’” She rolled her eyes. “I think he also said something about lice.”

  Georgiana’s eyes widened dramatically. “He did not,” she said, vastly entertained.

  Elizabeth just nodded. “Okay, not about the lice,” she confessed, “but the rest is pretty accurate, I’m afraid.” She shook her head in an exaggerated show of chagrin. “Of course, he didn’t realize I was standing in the doorway to his office listening to every word of his petulant little display.”

  Georgiana let out a little shriek and dissolved into peals of giggly laughter.

  “Oh, that’s not all,” added Elizabeth, greatly encouraged by Georgiana’s response. “So there we are, Ms. Soames making all these little obvious gestures to shut him up.” Here, she mimicked Wanda by looking at Georgiana, casting her eyes to the left and inclining her head just a fraction of an inch, then again and again with increasing urgency. Georgiana laughed delightedly. “He’s totally ignoring her, and it occurs to me that he didn’t even bother to read my résumé. He had no idea why I was even there until she told him.”

  She waited for Georgiana to recover and as the girl wiped her eyes, she added, “But even with that beginning, we’re together now. Do you know why?”

  Georgiana, having at last caught her breath, shook her head.

  “Because he realized he’d behaved badly, so he drove out to New Jersey to apologize to me. Where I was having dinner. With my entire family.”

  “He did?” Georgiana asked, surprised.

  “He did,” Elizabeth confirmed eyes sparkling. “And just so you get the full picture, my Uncle Ed is also a retired Marine. Will had to face him down just to get in the house.” She giggled a little with Georgiana at the thought of it. “But he did it.” She paused, preparing to wade into the deeper waters. “Will wasn’t asked or forced to humble himself in front of my family, but he did it anyway, because he felt he owed me an apology. And he didn’t even love me then, though he’s confessed he thought I was attractive.” She captured Georgiana’s gaze before moving to her point. “That’s because your brother has integrity.”

  Georgiana glanced down at her feet and gave Elizabeth a little nod.

  “Let’s just compare,” Elizabeth continued. “Juraj was invited to a friendly Thanksgiving dinner. Free meal, good business networking with your uncle’s friends, Georgiana Darcy on his arm, everything easy . . . yet he was too worried about Will’s scary new girlfriend to hop on a plane and sit in a first-class seat his girlfriend purchased for him?” She let that sink in before adding, “If Juraj loves you, Georgiana, that’s a pretty weak sort of love.”

  Georgiana thought about that. They sat in a friendly silence for a few minutes until Georgiana asked, eyes sparkling with mischief, “So how did you go from hating to dating?”

  “Oh, you know, once your brother removed his head from the darkest part of his anatomy,” Elizabeth said glibly, with a wave of her hand, “he realized what a catch I am and practically forced me to go to coffee.” She thought about it. “Although, maybe I owe that to Richard being bossy.”

  Georgiana smiled widely and raised her eyebrows. “You know, you aren’t anything like Will’s other girlfriends,” she said, almost shyly.


  “No?” asked Elizabeth. “How many has he had?”

  It was a tease, but Georgiana seriously considered the question. “Not very many for a man as old as he is,” was her reply.

  “You make him sound like he just sat up out of crypt,” Elizabeth responded wryly. “Okay, I’ll bite. How am I different?”

  Georgiana shrugged. “You’re just . . . I don’t know. Not all stuck-up, I guess.”

  Elizabeth laughed. “A ringing endorsement,” she replied, straight faced. Georgiana just rolled her eyes.

  “I need to call the police department in Bloomfield,” Will said angrily. “I can’t believe they just left her there!”

  “I have names now,” Richard said, placating him. “Let me have Oscar call over. After all the years working behind the scenes for Dad, he’s a wizard with this stuff.”

  Will glared at his cousin before closing his eyes and nodding. “If he doesn’t get a reasonable response from them, Richard, you know I have to go.”

  “Fine,” Richard replied. “They’ll be very impressed with the big city businessman who’s come to yell at them for doing their job.”

  “I have no problem with them doing their job,” Will shot back. “But even prisoners get medical care when they need it.”

  Richard held up his hand and made the call to Oscar, who sounded amused, but agreed that he would contact the department.

  “It’ll be fun to rattle their cages a bit,” he told Richard. “Did you have to hold Will back?”

  “Yes,” Richard replied. “It will be to the benefit of us all if you handle it.” They said their goodbyes.

  Before Richard could broach the topic of Juraj Farkas, Will began to speak about Elizabeth’s experience at her sisters’ high school. At the end of the recitation, Richard shrugged.

  “Well, they’re guttersnipes, Will, but what can we do?”

  “The posters belonged to the Marines, right?” Will asked.