“How many estates does your father own?”
Malcolm set everything down on the small table by the large windows that looked out into the garden. “It’s more that the estates own him,” he explained, which was the truth. “I think there are five estates now. He sold off a couple a few years ago.”
“Why would he sell them off? I thought the big thing with you aristocrats was to own as many crumbling estates as possible.”
Malcolm grunted as he forked five pancakes onto her plate and more onto his. “He sold them off because the old man refuses to work. He firmly believes that the rest of the world should support him because he’s a duke.” He spooned a mountain of fruit onto her plate as well, not noticing the stunned look she gave the enormous amount of food he’d served her. “My father rants about how the world isn’t a feudal system anymore, furious that everyone isn’t giving him a portion of their earnings. He’s had to sell off some of the title’s properties to pay for his living expenses.”
“That sounds a bit sad.”
“I think the word you’re looking for is pathetic,” he countered, pouring coffee into her cup. “He wants the world to take care of him but he doesn’t like that he should have become a productive member of society.”
“How often do you see him?”
“Only when we run into each other at social events. And even then, I avoid him.”
“Why is that?”
“Because he’s a bastard,” he told her without hesitation. “Do you need to do anything today?”
Ella recognized a subject change when she heard it. “Okay, no talking about your father. Got it.” She put several of the pancakes back onto the serving plate. “And I can’t eat five pancakes. Two at the most.” She grinned. “Girlish figure and…well, I just can’t eat that much. But thank you very much for making breakfast this morning. I wouldn’t have thought of you as someone who likes to cook.”
“I love it. I cook whenever I have the time. Usually, I’m too busy, but on the nights when I have time, I’ll call my housekeeper and ask her to get the ingredients for a recipe so I can cook. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, I find that it’s a great stress reliever.”
“Interesting.” Ella wasn’t aware of the naughtiness of her expression. “So…cooking is how you relieve stress. Anything else?”
He lifted an eyebrow. “What are your plans for the day?”
Ella’s fork froze halfway to her mouth, the syrup dripping back down onto her plate as she stared at him. Slowly, she lowered her fork, her eyes widening initially, then lowering slightly as his intent hit her. “Um…I was…”
“Staying here with me? Letting me ravish you over and over again?’ he suggested.
Ella nodded. “Yes,” she whispered, her throat thick with desire.
He waved his fork towards her pancakes. “Eat up. I don’t know if I’ll let you out of bed for a while. You’re going to need your strength.”
Her smile was slow to come, but as images of the previous night flashed through her mind, she couldn’t stop it from forming. “Promise?” she whispered.
In response, he reached over and pulled her onto his lap. “Yes. And I never break my promises.”
Over the next several hours, Ella discovered that he was right.
Chapter 9
Ella rushed into the restaurant, running a few minutes later than she preferred. Normally, Ella was the first one to arrive for anything. Several times, that need to be early had helped her get the story first. In this case, she wasn’t early. In fact, she was a few minutes late.
Even worse, Naya and Cassy were already sitting at the table. Glancing at her watch, she hissed in frustration, determined to tell Malcolm that he couldn’t start things in the morning. Things that delayed her and made her scream his name. Darn it, even now, after a weekend of sexual bliss in his arms, she wanted to turn around and do it all over again. Even after she’d grumbled about him making her late!
As she approached the table, Naya and Cassy turned with surprise. Cassy was generally the late one. She’s the one who stayed up late doing legal stuff. Too many times, she’d stayed up late into the night writing legal briefs, only to sleep through her alarm and be late for work. Ella supposed that married life had changed her.
“Don’t!” she ordered them as she dropped into the luxurious chair and slung her messenger bag onto the back. “Sorry I’m late.”
“You got laid!” Naya gasped.
Ella froze for a long moment, then slowly turned her head to look at both of her friends. “I…what?”
Naya laughed. “She’s glowing!”
Cassy covered her laugh with a hand, her massive diamond ring glistening in the early morning sunshine. “You are,” she agreed.
“Who did you…?” Naya demanded, leaning forward as well.
Ella’s cheeks turned bright pink as she focused on carefully draping the starched linen napkin on her lap. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You did!” Cassy hissed. “Who? Give us a name!”
“I’m going to have Pierce’s security team do a background check on the guy. You can’t be too careful.”
Ella groaned. “Stop! It isn’t…” she was about to say that it wasn’t serious, but that would be a lie. Waking up in Malcolm’s arms this morning, spending the day with him yesterday had been…heavenly. She couldn’t hide it anymore, not from herself anyway. Malcolm was important. But Ella also knew that he wasn’t the kind who stayed with one woman. Besides, she had a job to do and that job wouldn’t happen here in London. As soon as she figured out this mystery with the flaming hand club, she would be gone, off on another challenge.
The birth control patch…the one that hadn’t been attached to her body the other night, flashed through her mind. But no, it wasn’t the right time of the month for her to get pregnant, she reminded herself. And besides, they’d used condoms last night, as a precaution. She’d rushed to her apartment and slapped another patch onto her hip this morning. All was good. Everything was fine. She wasn’t pregnant. She wasn’t in love with Malcolm and she was determined to make some headway with the investigation this week. Then she’d be gone, as would all of these confusing emotions about Malcolm. How she felt about him would be a thing of the past. All of her confusion would be soothed by distance, she assured herself.
“We just worry about you, Ella. We always have,” Cassy assured her. “When you go off on your trips to find the stories, it scares the bejeezus out of us.” Naya nodded her agreement.
“In the past, we haven’t been able to do much, but with a man, we can help. We can put our minds at ease.”
Ella stared at her two friends, shocked that they worried about her. But in this situation, she could easily reassure them. “I’m seeing Malcolm Reynolds,” she blurted out.
Cassy and Naya blinked at her. The waiter arrived with a fresh carafe of coffee and the three were silent for a long moment. When the waiter finally left them alone, Cassy and Naya leaned forward. “Are you saying that you’re dating the Marquis of Theeds?” she whispered.
Ella shrugged. “Yes,” she replied, although she’d sort of forgotten about his title over the past few days. He was so much more than a title to her. “He’s not like I thought he was,” she muttered defensively.
“They never are,” Naya replied. “But Ella, I thought that you suspected him to be a part of this whole secret club mystery that you’re investigating.”
“He’s not,” Ella assured them with confidence. “Actually, he’s helping me figure this out. We went to a…” she searched her mind for the right term for Friday night’s gathering, “well, it was sort of a fight club but without the fighting?” she offered. “It wasn’t a party. It was more of a way for the rich and powerful men of the country to parade their mistresses in front of each other. It was odd. Apparently, Malcolm is invited to them because his father, the Duke, is a member of this club. But Malcolm had never accepted their invitations before, so he was a b
it of a rock star that night. Everyone wanted to talk to him.”
“Ugh!” Naya groaned. “That happens to Pierce as well. He’s good about suppressing most of those offers.”
Naya and Cassy went off on a tangent about how they ran interference for their husbands when someone tried to pull one of them into a business conversation and Ella relaxed in her chair, sipping her coffee. The waiter arrived and they ordered breakfast, but Ella wasn’t really hungry. It wasn’t that she’d eaten recently, but her thoughts had focused back to her investigation.
When they finished their meals, Ella leaned forward. “Can you two ask your husbands about any information they have on Tular shipments? I heard something the other night about something being shipped from Tular that sounded odd.”
“Does this have something to do with the human trafficking you’re investigating?” Cassy asked.
Ella nodded. “Yes, but I don’t know how the two issues are connected yet. I’m still trying to figure that out. It could be a completely legitimate shipment of goods. Or it could be something more malignant. I don’t know yet and I don’t even have a sense yet either. Usually, my instincts kick in when I hear something like that, but I’m just not sure.”
“Good enough for me,” Naya told her, wiping her mouth. “I’ll ask Pierce, and I’ll also ask around and see if anyone else knows anything about Tular and shipments of illegal goods.”
“No!” Ella gasped. “Don’t do that. Please! I don’t know who to ask these things yet. I trust Pierce and Nasi,” she told both of them. “But other than your husbands, let’s keep this between us, okay?”
“You got it,” Cassy replied and Naya nodded in agreement.
“We’ll be very careful,” she added.
Ella’s shoulders relaxed. “Good. I love you both! Stay safe!”
Naya and Cassy hugged Ella, laughing. “We’re not the ones that need the warning!” Naya teased.
Ella ignored the jab, knowing that while she took precautions, nothing could stop someone if they were determined to hurt her. It was part of the job. And if Ella were completely honest, it was also part of the allure. The adrenaline rush that occurred in her job was a bit…addictive. She also loved the thrill of bringing down bad guys…and bad gals, although most of the crimes she investigated turned out to be perpetrated by men.
“Okay, I’m off to discuss my progress with my editor. He wants to talk face to face. Not a good sign,” she told her friends as they left the restaurant.
Naya grimaced. “Not good,” she replied. “Pierce has meetings today and I’m working on a new marketing campaign for one of his companies.”
Cassy waved to her security detail, telling them they should stay back for a few more moments. “Nasir has meetings with someone in the government. But we’re flying home this afternoon. You guys will let me know what’s going on, right? I’m farther away, but I can be here if either of you need me. And don’t leave me out of the loop, okay?”
Ella and Naya hugged Cassy again. “We’ve been together for this long,” Naya reassured her. “We’re not going to lose each other now.”
Ella fought back the tears, wishing that they all still lived close enough that they could do more stuff together. But life moved forward, she knew. As much as she’d love for time to stand still, her best friends had lives to live, things that they needed to get done in their own worlds. And Ella had her life as well. A week ago, she would have been sad about leaving her friends as they went off to be with their husbands. Not envious, but…okay, yeah, she’d been envious. As she hurried down the street towards the newspaper’s headquarters, she wondered about the lack of envy this time. Was it simply because she’d spent a glorious weekend in Malcolm’s arms?
That didn’t make sense because…well, because Malcolm was just a temporary lover. An amazing, wonderful lover, but there could be no future between them. She would be heading out of the country in a few weeks. That’s all this was, an affair.
Or was it? She thought about her devastation the other day when Malcolm hadn’t been with her when she’d woken up. That level of hurt didn’t come from someone for whom she had temporary feelings.
“Oh no!” she gasped, stopping in the middle of the busy sidewalk. She didn’t notice the angry glares as she realized what was going on in her head. No, in her heart. Was she in love with Malcolm?
That seemed impossible! They hadn’t known each other long enough for love to develop. Ella didn’t believe in love at first sight. Especially not with Malcolm. She’d suspected him of being a part of that secret club! She knew that he wasn’t now, but when she’d first met him, Ella had been convinced that he was.
And yet…!
“No!” she said again, shaking her head as if that could stop the realization that she had very strong feelings for Malcolm. “Impossible!” she said out loud.
Lifting her chin, she forced her feet to move forward. “I’m going to be late and I hate being late,” she muttered, not noticing a woman’s startled glance before she hurried away from Ella. “Focus on the meeting and ignore everything else,” she whispered.
Ella hurried, pushing her feelings for Malcolm to the back of her mind. She didn’t have time to examine her feelings right now. She had an investigation to finish and a meeting with her editor.
Ten minutes later, she stepped into her boss’s outer office. “Hey George, is he ready for me?” she asked of her editor’s assistant, who stood guard outside of Jim’s office.
“He’s been waiting for you,” George replied with a smile. “Go on in.”
Ella thanked him and moved forward, pushing open Jim’s office. “Hey boss,” she said once she was sure he wasn’t on the phone.
Jim turned away from the computer monitor and smiled at Ella. “Hey, Ella. How’s it going?” He waved to the table in the corner instead of towards one of the chairs in front of his desk. That was a relief, she thought. This would be a less formal conversation. Always a good sign.
“It’s going pretty well. I discovered a few new leads over the weekend that I’m following up on with my sources.”
Jim nodded. “What did you find out?”
If anyone else had asked about her leads, Ella would have simply smiled and shrugged. Or probably not even mentioned that she’d discovered something new. But this was Jim and she trusted her editor. He’d helped her out of a lot of difficult situations, plus, he’d been in the business for decades. The man had sources and resources that she might be able to tap into.
“I overheard a conversation about something mysterious being shipped out of Tular. It isn’t a country that was on my radar for this type of illegal trafficking, but I’m not discounting the possibility.”
“Where did you hear about this?” he asked.
She hesitated. She respected Jim and knew that he was a good newsman. But she didn’t want to lose this source. “I was at a social gathering,” she admitted, mentally acknowledging that her reply was a bit ambiguous. “The party itself wasn’t significant though. The conversations were generally boring and pointless. All but the one I overheard. So, I’ve gotten a few sources to ask around about it, see if they can find out anything. It might be nothing, but I thought it was worth looking into.”
“I agree,” Jim nodded. “Some of the best leads are the ones we don’t think mean anything.”
“Exactly,” she replied, relaxing back into her chair. “I have some ideas on the connections, so I’ll look into those this week.”
“Good!” He shuffled some papers on the table. “I was hoping you could look into something else. This story might give you some good cover in case one of these sources becomes suspicious.”
Ella didn’t like the sound of that. “Jim, this story is huge. I don’t know how big, but pulling me off the flaming hands idea isn’t a good one.”
“I’m not pulling you off it,” Jim assured her. But she didn’t relax. “This story might be connected, or it might be something else. I don’t know. But I do think you are th
e perfect person to look into it.”
“Jim, if you send me off on another story, I can’t–”
“This story is right here in town. Someone came across a story about a politician that might be taking bribes. Think you can uncover the truth?” He handed her notes from another reporter.
Ella quickly skimmed the pages. “Why didn’t the reporter follow up on this?” she asked.
“Those notes are from Randy Oslo. He’s flying out to research possible deaths from a pharmaceutical company. He thinks that they are covering up dangerous side effects. There could be more than fifty people who have had coronary episodes caused by this medicine.”
“Fifty people?” she gasped. “That’s a lot!”
“Yeah. Randy interviewed several of the families here in London. They said that they’d spoken to the consumer protection agency to ask for help. The lower level employees that took the initial calls were interested in helping the victim’s families. But the complaints were quashed when they reached the desk of this person,” he pointed to the name scribbled in the margin. “So, while Randy goes to Canada to look into that side of things, I want you to check into this person.”
She nodded, already considering areas she could investigate. “I’ll check into his financials, his mortgage, debt problems, find out if he has a gambling problem. All of the usual background checks.”
Jim nodded. “Good. But while you’re looking into that, keep your ears open. This consumer protection agency has ties with other government employees. You might hear something from them about imports, bogus shipments, or something that doesn’t add up.”
“It’s a long shot,” she told Jim, referring to the connection to her original investigation. “But I’ll see if there’s anything that pops up.”
“Good. Go to it, Ella,” he stood up, indicating the end of the meeting.
Ella gathered up the papers, eager to get started. Her mind was full of questions and ideas. There was an area of the newsroom where roaming reporters like her could find an open desk. She opened her laptop and started her background research. If her thoughts lingered around Malcolm, wondering what he was doing now, where he was, if he was still in the city, then she pushed her mind right back to the bribery issue. Once she had some background information, she started making calls, lining up interviews with the government employees. They all seemed eager to talk to her, so by noon, she had a full afternoon of meetings.
The Secrets of Seduction (The Ladies of The Burling School Book 7) Page 11