If he hadn't been so bloody-minded all these months he could have been with Leonie through her pregnancy, could have watched her grow big with his child. He would have liked to have seen that. Now he knew, even if he could persuade her to marry him, that he never would see her pregnant with his child, that after two difficult births he would never put her at risk in that way again. He would make very sure of that if he had to.
'Are they identical?'
He turned sharply at the sound of Jake's voice, having forgotten his friend was still in the room. 'Sorry?' he frowned darkly.
'Are the sisters identical twins?' Jake repeated softly.
'Yes,' he confirmed challengingly.
'Laura is very lovely,' Jake said consideringly.
'Then obviously so is Leonie,' snapped Hawk.
'I know June is the housekeeper, but who's Holly?' Jake quirked light brows. 'Another sister?'
'Something like that,' Hawk evaded, not intending to broadcast Holly's parentage; he owed Leonie more than that, telling Hal and Laura only because they had a right to know.
And a right to judge him for the bastard he was! He had set out to make love to Leonie that night, and although he hadn't known it, he had succeeded only because of who he was and the destruction Leonie had known he could cause in her sister's life. He really hadn't known she felt that way, had never had difficulty attracting women to his bed on his own merits, and she hadn't given the impression earlier that she found him repulsive. She had touched him so naturally he had believed she wanted him too. He should have looked beneath the kookiness that had so unnerved him and which he had discovered now, to his cost, had all been a sham, a barrier to her real vulnerability. She was too weak now to erect that barrier, and he and everyone else could see just how badly she was bleeding.
Damn, he shouldn't have gone to the nursery last night. Today Leonie had retreated from him completely. It had been too soon for her; he had to go more slowly.
'Let's go through the Alton Hotels proposal,' he said needing something to occupy his mind other than Leonie; he would go insane if he didn't stop thinking about her for at least a brief respite.
Leonie couldn't stay in her bedroom for ever. There was nothing wrong with her, her strength was returning daily, and although she had been happy to spend days at a time in her room when she first came home she felt restless and penned in now.
But outside this door was Hawk Sinclair. He could still reach her, despite all the pains she had taken not to be vulnerable where he was concerned, last night he had touched her in an emotional way, not just a physical one. And he had done it quite unselfishly.
She would have to make him take Holly and go, before it was too late!
'Oh!' She had bumped into a complete stranger walking along her own hallway!
The woman was tall, very elegant, possessed of a classical beauty that would only increase as she got older, her hair an ash-blonde swirl about her shoulders, the smooth lines of her face pure perfection, . her figure very slender in a midnight-blue dress that made her eyes appear almost as dark a blue.
And Leonie was sure she had never seen the woman before!
The woman smiled, the warmth filling her eyes. 'You must be Mrs Spencer,' she greeted softly.
'Yes.' Leonie still looked puzzled.
The woman gave a husky laugh. 'But who am I, right?' she acknowledged self-derisively. 'My name is Sarah Ames. I'm Mr Sinclair's private secretary.'
Hawk's secretary. Was that all this woman was? Somehow Leonie doubted Hawk would omit to take full advantage of having such a lovely woman working for and with him. But even if this woman were just Hawk's secretary, what was she doing here!
'I was just on my way to Hawk's bedroom to collect some papers,' Sarah Ames explained lightly. 'If you'll excuse me?'
Leonie absently acknowledged her assent. Papers? Surely Hawk didn't intend actually working here? And if he did, did he intend moving Sarah Ames into their house too?
As she strode into the study unannounced she saw that Hawk had another employee with him besides Sarah Ames, a tall fair man who stood beside him as they bent over some blueprints on the desk. She spared little time to notice that the other man was about Hawk's age, with a reckless attraction that rivalled even Hawk's. She was too angry to care if he were Robert Redford's double with the lethal charm to match; her home was full of strangers, and it was all Hawk's doing!
'Hawk, I want to talk to you alone,' she snapped. 'Now,' she added forcefully.
His eyes widened as he slowly straightened. 'Has something upset you?' he frowned.
'Not something, someone,' she corrected angrily, her eyes flashing. 'Now do we discuss this alone or in front of your associate here?' She faced him challengingly, twin spots of angry colour in her cheeks.
'Jake,' he instructed, his gaze never leaving hers.
The other man gave a mocking inclination of his head. 'Sure,' he drawled, strolling across to the open door. 'This is the vulnerable one?' he taunted Hawk before closing the door softly behind him.
Leonie's eyes flashed again as she turned to face Hawk. 'What did he mean by that?' she demanded.
'It isn't important,' he dismissed with a shrug of his shoulders. 'Why don't you sit down?' He indicated the chair opposite the desk.
'So kind of you to offer me a seat in my own study!' she flared, ignoring the chair. 'But then with the number of your employees walking about the place you probably think this is your house!'
His mouth quirked. 'You met Sarah,' he guessed dryly.
'On her way to your bedroom,' she confirmed agitatedly. 'Are there any more besides this Jake and her?'
He leant back against the desk, sitting on its edge, the long fingers of his right hand absently playing with the pen he still held. 'No more,' he drawled. 'Just my assistant and my secretary.'
'Just?' Leonie echoed disgustedly. 'Hawk, you can't just move in here!' she protested.
He shrugged. 'I already have. Sarah and Jake brought everything down from the hotel with them when they came this morning.'
'Then they can just take it all back again,' she told him heatedly. 'This is my home, not your damned office!'
'It's Laura's home too, and she invited me to stay,' he said quietly.
'And now I'm uninviting you!' she snapped. 'I won't let you take over my home.'
Hawk shook his head. 'I'm not leaving here unless you do. Besides,' he added firmly as he could see she was about to protest, 'are you denying me the right to be involved in my son's wedding arrangements?'
'You don't have to live here to be involved in them,' she flared impatiently.
He shrugged. 'For the moment I'm sick of living in hotels—even my own.'
'Then go home to New York!' Her voice rose frustratedly.
'I'm perfectly comfortable here, thank you,' he taunted. 'And don't worry about Jake and Sarah, they're staying at a hotel in Claymont.'
The town of Claymont was about eight miles away from the village, and boasted three hotels, none of which was anywhere near the standard of Hawk Sinclair's hotels. 'Why don't you just move in with them?' she urged irritably. 'Better yet, why don't you all go back to London?'
He shrugged. 'I've already told you why. We'll try not to get in your way,' he added mockingly.
'Having the three of you underfoot for eight hours a day—'
'Sometimes more than that,' drawled Hawk. 'I'm in the middle of negotiating a take-over for another chain of hotels,' he explained at her outraged look. 'Jake and I are burning the midnight oil, I'm afraid.'
'Trying to wipe out the competition?' she scorned.
He grinned. 'I don't have any competition,' he murmured softly.
As head of the leading hotel group in the world he was probably pretty sure of that, nevertheless his arrogance rankled. 'What does this hotel chain have that you want?' Leonie asked dryly.
His smiled deepened. 'Most of the hotels are second-rate, but they have three prime locations…'
'And those th
ree locations are worth all the others put together,' she guessed in a bored voice.
'Right,' he nodded, appreciation for her quick grasp of the deal in his eyes. 'I'll sell off the other hotels to recoup my losses, and the other three will become new HS Hotels.'
'All very neat and tidy,' she jeered. 'What about the poor man you're buying them from?'
'Company,' he corrected. 'If it were a single man they would probably never have got into the financial difficulties they're in. Too many chiefs…'
'Obviously that will never happen to HS Hotels,' she said disgustedly.
'Not while I'm still in control,' Hawk conceded seriously. 'But my two children might have differing views on how things should be run.'
'Two children? Oh,' she stiffened, 'you mean Holly,' she realised. 'Surely HS Hotels should all go to, Hal? After all—'
'My daughter is entitled to her share,' Hawk cut in harshly. 'Fifty per cent when the time comes.'
'Oh, but—'
'We have years to argue about this, Leonie,' he put in wearily. 'Holly isn't going to be old enough to care one way or the other for a long time to come.'
'But Hal is,' she protested. 'He isn't going to like—'
'Hal will adore his sister.' Hawk stood up forcefully. 'Who could help but love Holly?'
Leonie flinched at the taunt, knowing he had meant to wound, that this man never did anything by chance. 'It's your decision, of course,' she dismissed coldly.
'As my wife you'll be left everything else in my will,' he added arrogantly. 'Just in case I die before you do.'
'I will never be your wife,' she snapped. 'And you're likely to meet your end very prematurely if you don't leave me alone!'
'Leonaura Brandon never kills off her characters,' he drawled mockingly. 'Laura was a little annoyed about the television series, by the way,' he recalled with amusement. 'Accused me of trying to buy her off in another way.'
Leonie's mouth twisted. 'She was perfectly right, of course!'
'Of course,' he acknowledged unabashedly. 'But I can admit defeat gracefully when I have to.'
Again she had the feeling the remark was directed at her. And she would never admit defeat by marrying this man!
'Perhaps that's as well,' she bit out coldly. 'Because I have a feeling it's going to become a habit!'
Hawk's mouth quirked. 'I don't think so,' he drawled.
'No, you wouldn't,' she snapped. 'You know, you were wrong last night about my reason for preferring cats. I like them because unlike most humans they aren't arrogantly sure they're always right, nor do they act with a total disregard for the feelings of others!' She turned on her heel and walked out of the room, completely missing the triumphant grin that lit up Hawk's harsh features.
She could hear Holly's cry for attention even as she approached the kitchen, halting uncertainly in the doorway as she walked in to find the man named Jake sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee while June tried to calm the baby as her bottle was warmed through.
Leonie's attention zeroed in on her indignant daughter as her tiny fists struck at nothing but air, vaguely aware that Jake had risen to his feet at her entrance, watching her now as she took the baby from June.
She turned at his sharply indrawn breath. 'Is there something wrong, Mr…?'
'Colter. Jake Colter,' he supplied, his gaze fastened on Holly. 'And this is…?'
Her arms tightened instinctively. 'My daughter,' she replied defensively. 'Holly.'
'Holly,' he nodded slowly. 'Well, I'd better get back to Hawk,' he added abruptly. 'Thanks for the coffee, June.'
'What's wrong with him?' The housekeeper raised her brows as he hurried out of the room. 'Unless he's as in awe of Mr Sinclair as everyone else appears to be!' she added dryly.
'I doubt it,' Leonie derided; Jake Colter had looked as if he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself—and anyone else he chose to. She had a feeling the two men worked well together, Jake a little less arrogant then Hawk, but obviously just as capable. 'Maybe he doesn't approve of single parents either,' she dismissed.
'I doubt if that was it.' June shook her head. 'He was telling me before you came in that he brought his son up on his own after his divorce.'
Leonie shrugged. 'Then I have no idea what's wrong with Mr Colter.' She gratefully took the warmed bottle from June, sitting down in the rocking-chair beside the unlit fireplace in this huge country kitchen to begin feeding Holly.
'Well, you certainly "showed her", didn't you?'
Hawk looked up with a frown as Jake rejoined him in the study. 'I wondered where the hell you'd got to,' he scowled, having been going through the figures on his own for over half an hour since Sarah had brought them in to him.
Jake strode angrily into the room. 'I went for a walk,' he snapped.
'A walk?' Hawk leant back in his chair. 'You may have handed your notice in, Jake, but I don't pay you to go off for walks in the middle of the damned day!'
'It was either that or come in here and punch you out,' the other man growled.
Hawk put up his hands soothingly; he had never seen Jake this angry before, in fact he couldn't ever remember seeing the other man angry at all; Jake was easygoing to the point of laziness sometimes. Except when it came to work, he had always given over the hundred per cent of his attention to that. What the hell was wrong with him lately, giving in his notice and refusing to tell him why, and now coming in here attacking him like some crazy man?
His eyes narrowed. 'Maybe you would care to explain that remark?' he encouraged, silky-soft.
'I went to the kitchen while you were in conversation with Mrs Spencer,' Jake bit out. 'I made the acquaintance of a rather lovely young lady.'
'June…?' The housekeeper was attractive enough, but he would hardly have called her young. Still, if Jake thought of her that way… But why was Jake so angry with him after meeting the housekeeper? June certainly made no effort to disguise her disapproval of him, and had treated him with only cool politeness since he had arrived yesterday.
'No, this young lady's name was Holly.' Jake watched him with narrowed eyes. 'Your daughter, I believe?'
Hawk's eyes narrowed. 'Did Leonie—'
'Tell me?' Jake finished scornfully. 'Of course she didn't,' he snapped. 'But I remember how Hal looked as a kid; the resemblance between the two of them is incredible. I repeat, you certainly "showed" Leonie Spencer nine months ago, didn't you?' he scorned with distaste.
Hawk gave a weary sigh. 'I never meant for that to happen—'
'I'm sure you didn't plan Leonie Spencer's pregnancy,' Jake jeered. 'But you certainly planned her seduction!'
'What the hell does it have to do with you anyway?' Hawk demanded impatiently. 'I made a mistake—'
'And those two are going to pay for it,' Jake attacked. 'Isn't it time you grew up, Hawk?' he challenged. 'Took time out from the life you've led and realised just what a selfish bastard you've been all these years!'
Hawk's eyes narrowed on his friend as he realised the remark—and the anger—was directed at Jake as much as at him. God, how he wished the other man would confide what was worrying him! But Jake was adamant that nothing was bothering him, he just wanted to do different things with his life than he was doing now, he said.
'Jake—'
'Are you going to marry her?'
Hawk shrugged. 'I've asked her. She doesn't want to marry me, Jake,' he confided as he saw his friend's anger rising again. 'She says I can take Holly, though,' he added huskily.
Jake blinked his uncertainty. 'You aren't going to?' he finally asked softly.
Hawk drew in a ragged breath. 'No. I told you, she's—special. She was even before I know about Holly,' he admitted gruffly. 'Now how about telling me what's been bothering you all these weeks?' he prompted softly.
He could visibly see the way Jake suddenly distanced himself, as if he deeply regretted becoming involved in the conversation.
Jake gave him a derisive look. 'Can't you believe I would want any ot
her sort of life than the one we've been leading the last sixteen years?' he taunted.
Hawk gave an inward sigh of regret. He and this man were too close, had been through too much together, for them to lose their friendship now. But it seemed to be slipping away from them.
'It hasn't been that bad, Jake,' he chided huskily.
'No?' his friend scorned. 'We're both over forty— just, in your case,' he acknowledged derisively. 'And what do either of us have to show for our lives, really have to show?'
'Now this is a mid-life crisis—'
'I'm serious, damn it!' Jake rasped impatiently. 'I'm forty-three years old, my son's lived away from me for so long he's almost a stranger, and I go home to an empty flat and an empty bed every night. I may not deserve more from my life, but I want it!'
Now wasn't the time to point out that until quite recently Jake hadn't gone home to an empty bed very often, because in the last few weeks that had been the case. Why hadn't he realised that Jake hadn't dated anyone recently either? Because, he admitted heavily, his own mind had been too full of wanting to see Leonie again.
But whether Jake accepted it or not, it did sound as if he had reached a point in his life, and at forty-three he had definitely reached mid-life, where he wanted the normality of a family life, like other men had. Knowing how badly he wanted that with Leonie now, he could sympathise with his friend.
'It isn't too late, Jake—'
'You don't know a damn thing about it,' the other man bit out harshly. 'I lived my life the way I wanted to, and now I've got to pay for it.'
'What—'
'Does Hal know about Holly?' Jake cut in abruptly.
End of subject? It would appear so, from his friend's expression. Damn it, just when he had been so close to breaking through the barriers Jake had built up around himself lately! But if Jake wanted to change the direction of his life what right did he have to stop him? There were several things in his own life, especially recently, that he would have done differently if he could have done them over.
He frowned. 'I'm going to tell him and Laura when they arrive later. I don't need to tell you that what you know about Leonie and me—and Holly— is to go no further than the two of us?' He studied his friend with narrowed eyes.
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