by Abby Green
* * *
Zach heard the front door opening and closing. He knew she was gone.
It was only now that the volatile mix of inarticulate rage and lust was finally clearing from his brain. Except when he thought of seeing his father raise his hand to strike Ashling he felt the anger rise again. Not even anger. Murderous rage.
His insides turned to ice. No. Not going there.
And then all he could see was Ashling standing in front of him just now. Looking pale. Stricken. Mouth swollen from his kiss. He’d had to put her away from him. He’d been afraid that he wouldn’t be able to stop kissing her, and that was all he had intended. To make a point. It had been very important not to expose himself.
There was a bitter taste in his mouth. Four years ago he’d stood in a room and felt the judgement and condemnation of his peers. He’d thought he might never recover. It had happened again this evening. With possibly worse repercussions. He had more to lose now. A lot more.
But instead of that being his focus all he could feel were the four walls of the empty room closing in around him and the sensation that, whatever damage had been done in that ballroom full of his peers this evening, somehow the real damage had been done here in this room.
And then he told himself he was being ridiculous. The only damage he needed to worry about was damage limitation. Putting Ashling out of his head once and for all. She was right—they were done. He didn’t need a lover who tied him up in so many knots he couldn’t think straight. Or a lover who waded in to fight battles he’d been fighting on his own for years.
He didn’t need any of that.
He didn’t need her.
He didn’t need anyone.
In a bid to prove something to himself, Zach went upstairs, taking the stairs two at a time. He found the dress Ashling had been wearing hanging up in the wardrobe. Something about that detail irritated him intensely.
And then he looked around for the sheen of cool, pale pearls. He saw the box and picked it up, opening it. It was empty.
Annoyingly, his first reaction wasn’t a sense of vindication because she’d taken the jewellery—after all, he’d told her it was a gift. But he was disappointed.
He was almost out of the room before something caught the corner of his eye. He stopped. The bracelet and earrings were on the top of a chest of drawers, neatly lined up. She hadn’t taken them.
CHAPTER TWELVE
THREE DAYS LATER, and back in his office, Zach was in a foul humour. Suddenly he became aware of a commotion coming from the other side of his door and heard Gwen’s slightly raised voice.
Zach’s heart thumped. Could it—?
But before he could finish that thought the door burst open and a man strode in. He looked vaguely familiar, but Zach couldn’t place him.
Before he could say anything, the man said, ‘I need to know where Cassandra James is.’
‘Who the hell are you and how did you get into my office?’ Zach shouted to Gwen. “Gwen, get in here.”
Gwen appeared at the door, looking concerned. ‘I’m so sorry, Mr Temple. He said he had an appointment.’
‘Like hell he—’
‘I’m Luke Broussard of Broussard Tech.’
Now Zach recognised him. This was the man he’d sent Cassie to suss out in America. He felt anger that it wasn’t Ashling—that he’d even wanted it to be her—but he cut off that direction of thinking. Focused on the other very valid reason for his anger.
He narrowed his gaze on the man in front of him, who almost as tall as he was. ‘Terrific. The man who managed to lose me the best executive assistant I’ve ever had. What are you doing here? Have you come to gloat?’
‘What do you mean “lose you”? Where is Cassandra?’
‘I expect she’s at home, being head-hunted by one of my rivals. So thanks for that.’
‘She’s resigned?’
Broussard looked genuinely shocked.
Then he said, ‘You need to give me her address. Please, man, I need to talk to her... To explain.’
Zach put up a hand. ‘What the hell makes you think I’d give you my executive assistant’s address? Why should I? Not only is it unethical, but it’s also quite possibly illegal. And I really could not care less if—’
‘Because...’ the man cut him off, and stopped.
Zach was getting seriously irritated now. ‘Because what?’
Broussard ran a hand through his hair. ‘Because I know why she resigned her position here. You want her back? You need to let me speak to her—so I can explain.’
Something about the man’s demeanour caught at Zach’s gut. He recognised it. He looked as tortured as Zach felt.
Muttering about ethics, and threatening to do him serious damage if he did anything to hurt or upset Cassandra, Zach scribbled her address on a piece of paper and handed it over. The fact that it was also Ashling’s address...that she might be there...was something that stuck under his skin like a thorn.
Broussard left.
Zach put his hands on his table and dropped his head. Damn. Ashling was even managing to eclipse the fact that his best assistant had resigned for no apparent reason.
The sense that things were beginning to fray badly at the edges of his life was not welcome.
* * *
And it only got worse.
After one of the most tumultuous weeks of his life, Zach walked into another exclusive society gathering with a beautiful woman on his arm. The fact that she’d agreed to come with him—she was closely related to the royal family—was proof positive that he’d survived the storm unscathed.
It should be a moment of triumph. But it felt unbelievably hollow—like a lot of other momentous occasions recently.
He couldn’t stop his eyes scanning the room. Looking for a splash of colour. A bright blonde head. A flower in hair. A huge open smile.
A stricken, pale face.
The woman beside him tucked her arm into his. He felt like recoiling. He forced a smile. She’d already irritated him by asking him about Ashling—about the identity of the mystery woman who had confronted Henry Field—but thankfully the photographer hadn’t caught her face because Zach had stepped in front of her.
It was still all anyone could talk about, though. And it appeared his date wasn’t willing to let it go.
She said now, with a little pout that really didn’t suit her, ‘Honestly, I won’t tell a soul. Who was she?’
‘She was—’ Zach stopped. He’d been about to say no one, but the words wouldn’t form on his tongue. He literally could not voice the lie.
He looked at the woman on his arm. This was it. She was stunning. Perfect. He was on the threshold of everything his mother had wanted for him. The culmination of all the years of work that had precluded his making friends. Having fun. Because it had all been about reaching the ultimate goal.
Walking into a room with the right woman on his arm and being accepted by the very people who would have ground him to dust before he had a chance to speak. The illegitimate son of a cleaning lady.
His mother had been the wrong woman, and all she’d wanted for him was this. To be standing here with the right woman, who would make everything worthwhile.
But he realised now that had been his mother’s fight. She’d lived her life through him, bitter and vengeful. She’d blamed Zach for the fact that no man would want to take on a child that wasn’t his. But the truth was that she’d never even looked.
‘Zach?’
He looked at his date. She was perfect. The right woman. And so wrong.
He extricated her arm from his, said, ‘I’m sorry,’ and turned and walked out.
* * *
‘Are you sure you’re okay, love? You say those are happy tears, but I know there’s something else going on.’
Ashling forced a smile. Of course she cou
ldn’t fool her mother, but she really didn’t want to distract her today of all days. ‘I’m fine, honestly. It’s nothing.’
Just a shattered heart.
She pushed her pain aside and hugged her mother. ‘I’m so happy for you and Eamon. You deserve this happiness so much. He’s so in love with you, it’s just...’ More tears welled and Ashling had to clamp her mouth shut.
Her mother’s partner had rung Ashling during the week, to remind her that it was her mother’s fiftieth birthday that weekend and also to ask for Ashling’s blessing in his asking for her mother’s hand in marriage.
So this evening, while her mother had been celebrating what she’d thought was just a surprise party for her fiftieth, Eamon had got down on one knee and proposed.
Her mother had said yes even before he’d finished speaking.
The surroundings couldn’t be more romantic. It was a beautiful garden in the middle of the eco village, just yards from a sandy beach and the wild Atlantic Ocean. Poles had been set around a central area and there were flaming lanterns and fairy lights imbuing the space with a golden glow as the dusk drew in on a long late summer evening.
Children were running free. People were laughing and chatting. Teenagers were building a bonfire on the beach. Music came from the traditional Irish musicians on a makeshift stage. At some point the younger people would moan and complain and start playing more modern music, but not yet.
‘Are you sure you’re okay?’
Ashling nodded, wiping at her cheeks. She’d tell her mother another time. ‘I’m fine. Now, would you please go and celebrate with your fiancé? He’s looking lonely over there, surrounded by a hundred people.’
Ashling’s mother laughed and went back to Eamon, both of them beaming so hard with happiness they could probably power the national grid. Ashling sighed. She was happy for her mother, truly, she just—
‘I have no idea who that man is, but if he’s a lost tourist then I am first in line to give him directions. Straight to my bedroom.’
One of Ashling’s old schoolfriends, Dervla, had come to stand beside her. She was looking towards the entrance into the village off the main road.
Ashling turned around. And her heart stopped. A man was climbing off a motorbike. He was wearing worn jeans and a leather jacket. Even before he took off his helmet she knew exactly who he was. Her whole body did.
And her heart. That stupid, weak muscle.
Zach was looking around. Bemused. And then he saw her. Zing.
Ashling watched him put down the helmet and walk over. He should look ridiculous. A billionaire in an eco-village. Even if he was wearing jeans and a battered leather jacket.
He walked over and stopped in front of her. ‘Here you are,’ he said, as if it was entirely normal for him to just turn up in the west of Ireland.
Ashling sensed her friend melting away. She barely heard the music and the noise around her. There was a dull roaring in her ears. Blood. Anger. Desire.
‘Zach.’
His name felt rusty on her tongue. But it had only been a week or so. The longest week of her life. It was as if she had to say his name to make sure this wasn’t a hallucination.
‘What are you doing here?’ She shook her head. ‘Did you ride the bike all the way from Dublin?’
‘From Dublin Port. Yes.’
That was literally cross-country, about three and a half hours.
His dark gaze swept her up and down, taking in the sundress with its purples and pinks and reds, over which she wore a yellow cardigan, and then all the way down to her yellow wedge sandals.
‘You look...colourful.’
Ashling tensed. ‘If you’ve come here just to remind us both how unsuitable I am then—’
He caught her hand. She heard him curse under his breath. He had a look on his face she’d never seen before. Sheepish.
‘I’m sorry.’
Ashling pulled her hand back, afraid to have him touch her for fear she’d end up twined around him like a monkey.
‘How did you know where to find me?’ Her phone had been switched off for days now.
‘I went to your apartment. Saw Cassie. She told me—but only after I begged.’
‘You begged?’
He nodded. ‘I was desperate.’
Ashling’s conscience pricked. ‘How is Cassie? I left her a phone message, but I didn’t see her before I left. I just couldn’t...’ She trailed off.
She hadn’t been able to contemplate seeing her friend and explaining everything that had happened, so she’d left before Cassie had come home.
‘She’s fine. She’s a little preoccupied herself.’ Zach’s tone was dry.
‘With what?’
‘The man who followed her to London—Luke Broussard. And the fact that she’s resigned.’
‘Resigned?’
Zach nodded. He seemed remarkably sanguine about it. ‘She said to say that she’s sorry she missed the party, but she’ll make it up to you and your mother, and that you need to call her ASAP. But you’re not to worry and she’s fine. And really happy. But she might be moving to America. She’ll explain everything when you call.’
Ashling absorbed all that. She was delighted for her friend if everything Zach said was true.
Zach said now, ‘Can we go somewhere a little more private to talk?’
Ashling looked around. Dervla and a large contingent of the party guests were subjecting them to serious scrutiny. Ashling didn’t want her mother to notice and come over. If she guessed that Zach was the reason behind her tears it wouldn’t be pretty.
Ashling led him away from the party to a quieter part of the garden. She faced him. ‘What do you want, Zach? Why did you come all the way here?’
‘Because I want you.’
Her heart leapt and every cell in her body sizzled with awareness. But she clamped down on her reaction. Wanting wasn’t enough. It was temporary. She knew how persuasive Zach could be, so she had to nip this in the bud. Now.
She forced herself to look at him. ‘I want you too, Zach. I wanted you from the moment we met four years ago. When you rejected me that evening I took it so personally that I went off-script, which I know probably had a lot to do with my last interaction with my father. But I wouldn’t have reacted like that in the first place if I hadn’t felt a connection. I’ve never felt that connection with anyone else,’ she went on. ‘And I don’t think I will, ever again. The thing is, Zach, it’s more than just physical for me. It’s—’
‘I love you.’
‘I—’ Ashling’s mouth shut. She opened it. Shut it again. Opened it. ‘What did you say?’
‘I said I love you. You say you wanted me four years ago? Well, I think I fell in love with you four years ago. You turned my life upside down in less than two minutes and, as much as I’d have loved to dismiss you, I knew there was more to you than that. That’s why I reacted so strongly. Then I couldn’t get your face out of my head. I think I looked for you everywhere. And when you arrived that evening, with my tux...’ He shook his head. ‘You set something alight in me four years ago. You made me question everything I was striving for, even though I wouldn’t admit it at the time. It was only when we met again that I had to confront it.’
‘Confront what?’ Ashling felt as if she was in a dream.
‘Confront the fact that I’d been living out my mother’s ambition for revenge. She sacrificed her life for me and never let me forget it. She loved me, but she also resented me. Blamed me for a lost life. Look at your mother...getting engaged...finding happiness. She hasn’t let bitterness blight her life. Or yours.’ Zach shook his head. ‘When you stood in front of my father—’ He stopped, the colour leaching from his cheeks. ‘I’ve had nightmares about him hitting you, Ash. If he had...he could have—’
Ashling caught Zach’s hand. Lifted it up. ‘He didn’t
because you stopped him. I’m sorry again about that...’
Zach shook his head. ‘Don’t be. You were fearless. I’ve never seen anything like it.’
‘Did it come out in the papers?’ Zach nodded and Ashling winced. ‘I’m so sorry.’
‘Don’t be. It was the best thing. Not for him, though. His life has unravelled spectacularly. His wife has accused him of domestic abuse. A legion of women have come out of the woodwork claiming that he fathered their children and paid them off. He’s been accused of violence by more than just his wife. His reputation is ruined. But in all honesty I don’t even take any pleasure in it. I’m ashamed he’s my father, but I feel I can move on now and live my life for me. Not to get back at him and not to avenge my mother.’
Emotion made Ashling’s chest tight. ‘I’m really glad, Zach. You deserve that peace of mind.’
Zach looked serious. ‘And you deserve an apology. I’m so sorry for the things I said that evening. For making you wear that dress.’
Ashling let his hand go. ‘It was a beautiful dress...just a bit...black and conservative.’
He shook his head. ‘It wasn’t you. You are not conservative or monochrome.’
There was a beat, and then he said, ‘You need to know something. I went to an event last night. I took a woman.’
Ashling went very still.
Zach caught her hands. ‘A woman who made me realise that the only woman I wanted with me is you. The first thing I did when we arrived was look for you. For some colour—anywhere. There wasn’t any. So I left pretty much as soon as we’d arrived. And now I’m here. Because I want you, Ash. I want colour and I want to live in a world where cynicism isn’t the norm.’
‘That thing with Elena—’
He put a finger to her mouth. ‘Not my business. Your business—with her. And if some day it happens that you do something together I’ll be there to support you in any way I can.’
Ashling’s heart beat fast. ‘Some day...? You mean...like in the future?’
Zach smiled. ‘I mean...like for the rest of our lives. If you’ll have me.’