He straightened, pulling back his shoulders as irritation won out – but then she relaxed from her exercise and looked over her shoulder. Their gazes connected and he nearly vaulted off the balcony to go claim her.
The air pulsed as their gazes locked. Each breath Alex sucked into his lungs was hot and jagged until she finally broke the connection. She seemed timid then, a scared little rabbit needing safety. She darted to the lake house, and he watched as the lights came on and the shades were pulled.
‘Run, little siren,’ he murmured. ‘You run good and far.’
Turning away from the night, he stalked back into the house. ‘Leonard?’ he roared.
The ceramic shards in front of the fireplace were gone as if they’d never been. The decorative pieces on the sofa table had been rearranged so no gaps appeared. His manservant floated around this house like a ghost, but he heard things and knew more than anyone suspected.
Anyone but Alex.
‘Yes, Master Wolfe?’
The butler appeared from the hallway behind him, making Ax turn. His eyes narrowed. He’d become sensitive to having people at his back. ‘When did we start renting out the lake house?’
‘We haven’t, sir.’
He let one eyebrow lift. ‘There’s a woman staying down there. She was just doing yoga out on the dock.’
The butler glanced at the watch on his wrist and nodded. ‘Yes, that is her routine. She finds the exercise challenging to the body and soothing to the mind.’
Alex cocked his head. ‘You seem to know her very well.’
‘We’re friendly.’
Friendly. It wasn’t the first word that came to mind when Alex looked at her.
He reached up to rub his stiff neck. He trusted Leonard, but the man was being deliberately evasive. ‘Who is she?’
‘Her name is Elena.’
Elena. He rolled it around on his tongue. It fit her. Elegant yet exotic. ‘I gave you specific instructions to protect the house during my absence. By whose authority is she here?’
The Feds and the Securities and Exchange Commission regulators were still on his ass. They wanted access to his home, his businesses, his charities and his financial dealings. He’d already given them a pound of flesh, but the hungry zombies wanted more. He’d be damned if he’d give it to them.
Leonard cleared his throat. ‘By my authority, sir.’
That gave Ax pause. ‘Is she family?’
‘Not quite, sir. She’s the daughter of a previous employer. Miss Elena arrived needing shelter and a place where she could work on her studies. I didn’t realise you would be returning so soon. Your … timeframe … was moved up so quickly.’
So quickly? A year and a half? Alex felt frustration bubbling up inside him. Apparently not even his butler was immune to a pretty face and a shapely ass. What did they really know about this woman? She used an old connection and they just let her inside the gates? She could be a reporter working undercover. She could be a wronged investor looking for revenge. Hell, she could be a gold-digging tramp who’d set herself up at the right time and place, hoping to latch onto the family’s remaining fortune in a time of weakness.
He dragged a hand through his hair. ‘Get her out of here. Tomorrow at the latest. I want the woman gone.’
‘But Master Wolfe, I –’
‘In the morning, Leonard. That’s all the time I’ll give her.’
The butler schooled his face and bowed stiffly from the waist. ‘As you wish. I’ll deliver the message to Ms Bardot personally.’
He was practically out of the room before the words sank in. Alex turned on his heel, away from the window. ‘Bardot?’
He moved towards the kitchen when Leonard didn’t return and they nearly collided in the hallway. ‘Did you say “Bardot”?’
The butler gave a concise nod. ‘Yes, sir. She’s Randolph Bardot’s daughter.’
Alex rocked back on his heels. Randolph Bardot, his grandfather’s business partner. Son of a bitch.
He quickly backtracked. ‘That can’t be. I’ve met his wife and kids. They’re only teenagers.’
And that seductress down the hill was a woman in every sense of the word.
‘That would be his second wife, I believe. I was employed by Mr Bardot when Miss Elena was a young girl, before your grandfather hired me away.’
Alex stepped back to look through the picture window. The lake house was still locked up tight, but light glowed, warm and inviting. He wandered closer. Randolph Bardot’s daughter. If he needed any more reasons to stay away from her, that one went to the top of the list. How much did she know?
Leonard followed quietly at his side. ‘She’s had a difficult time of it, too, since … the event. When she came asking for help, I couldn’t turn her away. I thought you’d understand.’
Oh, Alex understood all right.
It was hell when you discovered the depths to which the people closest to you could sink, and her father and his grandfather had been hand in hand on their way into the gutter. He thought of her sweet face and her delicate form.
He scanned the lake again. The glittering jewels were gone, and the surface had turned dark and impenetrable. ‘It’s not good that she’s here, Leonard,’ he said quietly.
‘I realise that now, sir.’
‘I’ll need to look into this.’
‘Of course, but in the meantime?’
Ax didn’t waver, but he decided to give an inch.
‘She can stay.’ Until he figured her out, she could stay.
* * *
Elena’s breaths were short as she braced her hand flat above the lock on the door. Darkness peeked through the window panes and she yanked the short curtains into place. She backed away until she found herself in the bedroom. She tossed the yoga mat into the corner and began to pace about the room.
Alex Wolfe. The Ax. He was back. He was here. How could that be?
She dove for the bed, opened her laptop and quickly fired it up. It didn’t take long to find the story. It was the lead on every news site she opened. ‘Alex Wolfe Freed’ read the headline.
‘Good behaviour?’ she coughed. ‘Good behaviour?’
The man had been at the heart of the biggest Ponzi scheme in the past century. He and his grandfather – and her father – had lied to people, wiped out life savings and driven businesses into the ground. Hundreds of millions of dollars were gone. She pushed the laptop aside so hard it slid across the bed. She dove to catch it before it could tip over the edge.
‘That’s all you need,’ she reprimanded herself. That laptop held all the work for her dissertation, the doctoral degree that would help her support herself and her mother and get them out of this mess. Neither of them had the funds to buy a new one now.
She rolled off the bed and began pacing again but finally stopped and leaned against the doorjamb. She wasn’t a pacer; she did her best thinking when all was still. She needed to slow down and consider what this change in her situation meant.
Alex Wolfe had been released early from prison. He’d done his time and served his sentence. He was a free man, back on his own property. She stroked the door’s oak trim. This was his property.
She couldn’t stay here. There was no way.
But where would she go?
Another shiver went through her, significantly cooler than the one she’d felt outside under his watchful gaze. There was nowhere else she could find the peace to do her work. It had become impossible back in the city. Once her classmates at NYU had figured out who her father was, the attacks had been relentless. The harsh accusations, the scathing stares, the stalking by the press …
She moved to the living room, wrapped herself in the afghan on the sofa and huddled into its cushions. The leather was Wolfe property; the afghan was hers.
She never would have come here if she’d thought she’d cross paths with the man. He was supposed to be behind bars for another six months, and she’d thought that sentence was too lenient. Most people had agre
ed with her.
‘Damn overcrowding,’ she hissed. How could the prisons be overcrowded when people who should be locked up were still roaming around free? People like his grandfather Bartholomew.
Angry with herself for going down that path, Elena tugged the ponytail holder out of her hair and ran her hands through the long strands. She was scared, she had to admit it. What was she going to do? She wasn’t ready to go back outside that wrought-iron gate, back into the real world. It had chewed her up and spit her out. She’d come here looking for answers.
But she didn’t have them yet.
She glanced around the cottage. She’d grown accustomed to the quiet little place in the month she’d been here. The house was nicer than the one she’d grown up in, but that’s how the Wolfe family thought of it … as a bungalow. Yet it fit her needs. It had given her the seclusion she’d needed to lick her wounds and concentrate on her studies. Leonard had even given her free access to the library in the main house. She’d only ventured out to Bedford a few times for groceries or to the post office. She’d grown comfortable here.
She didn’t feel so comfortable any more.
She pulled the afghan higher around her shoulders. God, the man was something. Enigmatic and provocative. She hated to think what he’d be like up close. All that danger and power and mercilessness rolled into one.
She shifted on the sofa, rubbing her thighs together unconsciously. She knew she should run, but the way he’d looked at her …
What was she going to do?
This changed everything.
Chapter Two
Elena slid another box into the trunk of her old-model Malibu and wondered for the hundredth time if everything would fit. She’d been up most of the night worrying and packing. It was amazing how deeply she’d settled into the lake house in such a short time. She hadn’t collected much stuff, but it had expanded somehow. It was certainly strewn about. She was still finding NYU mugs in the kitchen and peppermint lipgloss in the bathroom.
She wedged the box tighter against one that was already stowed. The space was going to be needed. She hadn’t packed up the second bedroom yet, the one she’d used as her office.
Her heart dipped.
She hated the thought of leaving before she was done. She’d made so much progress here. Things were organised the way she wanted, and the solitude allowed her to concentrate. That might not sound like much, but putting together a dissertation was a major undertaking. Getting rid of distractions had helped, especially the kind she’d been facing.
She hoped another move wouldn’t set her back.
She rubbed her hand over the ache in her chest. She might be leaving, but she didn’t know yet where she was going. She couldn’t return to her apartment in the city. She’d broken the lease there when she’d left to escape the paparazzi. It was going to take time to find another place she could afford where she could have some semblance of privacy. If she didn’t finish her work on time, her PhD would be in jeopardy. That would affect her job offers and her ability to pay off her student loans.
She blew out a long breath. It was circular thoughts like this that had kept her up all night. She scowled towards the main house. And that was his fault. Her life was in turmoil again, all because an over-indulged rich man had charmed the legal system into going easy on him.
She found nothing charming about the situation whatsoever.
Wiping her hands, she turned back towards the lake house. She flinched when she heard someone coming down the hard-packed dirt drive. The footsteps were clipped and precise and heading straight for her. With the lid of the trunk lifted, she couldn’t see who was approaching but she had a good guess.
She braced herself.
‘Ms Elena?’
Her spine relaxed. ‘Leonard.’
The butler came to an abrupt stop near the taillights of the car. A frown settled on his face when he saw her half-filled trunk, and the expression deepened the age lines around his mouth. ‘You’re leaving?’
She gave him a sad look. ‘It’s time. I appreciate the hospitality you’ve shown me these past few weeks, but I can’t be a burden any longer.’
‘You aren’t a burden.’ He folded his hands together primly, but she could see how tightly he held them. ‘There’s no need for you to go.’
‘We both know there is.’ She nodded towards the second-floor balcony of the manor. It was empty now. It had been empty every time she’d checked it since she’d caught his intimidating boss watching her from that perch.
He followed her wary look. ‘Yes, Master Wolfe is home, but that doesn’t mean you have to leave. He gave his permission yesterday eve for you to be on the property.’
Elena regarded her old friend. She was sure that permission had come at a cost, but had it been for him? Or would she be paying? ‘That’s a kind gesture, but I can’t accept.’
She wouldn’t take charity from a Wolfe. She couldn’t stomach it, and she couldn’t trust it.
‘At least stay until your studies are complete. It would be a shame to throw everything into a tizzy when you’re so close to getting your degree.’
A tizzy.
Elena nearly laughed. Wasn’t everything in a tizzy already? Alex Wolfe had shown up on his doorstep when she’d expected him to be in a prison cell for another six months. She’d never dreamed he’d be walking around a free man. Or that he’d be watching her … ‘I’m not comfortable here any more, Leonard. You’ve got to understand.’
‘I do understand, dear, but I think it would be more uncomfortable for you outside the manor’s gates.’ Those hands that he kept so tightly clenched together finally separated, and one waved up the road. ‘They’re already here, Elena.’
They. She didn’t need more description than that.
The media.
Her head whipped around. From her vantage point down by the lake, she couldn’t see any difference. She wouldn’t have been able to tell anything was amiss from the manor either. The drive from the main gate was a good quarter of a mile long and lined by trees, yet she could picture the news vans parked along the shoulder of the main road. She envisioned their antennas lifted and all the reporters milling about. She was well acquainted with the scene, because the same thing had happened outside her apartment in New York.
‘You’re safer here,’ Leonard insisted. ‘The gate will hold them out and their cameras won’t be of any use with the woods blocking their view.’
But they would try. Tension grabbed the muscles between her shoulder blades. Like hungry rats, the news outlets would swarm the place. They’d scurry around looking for openings and bits of tasty info.
‘That won’t stop them,’ she said.
‘If they trespass, the Bedford police will respond. They’ve already been notified.’
So the police would drop everything to respond to a call from an ex-con, but they hadn’t done anything when she’d called them for help. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. At its worst, she hadn’t been able to set foot outside her building without reporters and cameramen harassing her. One had even grabbed her in the stairwell, putting his hands on her and trying to stop her for an interview. Who knew that a pothead on the third floor would be more helpful than the NYPD?
The tension between her shoulder blades crawled up her neck. She didn’t want to go back to living like that. After that incident, she hadn’t been able to leave her apartment without fear. She’d been trapped inside, as much a prisoner as Alex Wolfe, only he’d had a trial.
‘How many are out there?’ she asked. Maybe she could just zip through.
‘Too many. The sheriff is already having to deal with the congestion. They’ve set up outside the main gate and down the road. You’d have to drive right through them.’
Elena looked at her white Malibu. It was nondescript, but on Wolfe property that made it stick out like a sore thumb. Even if she put on a scarf and sunglasses, they’d track down her licence plates before she made it to Bedford.
; The thought made her queasy. They couldn’t catch her here. Not with him.
The tension swept outwards through her entire body. The tabloids would explode if they caught wind that she’d been a guest. The Bardot and Wolfe names were already twined in a sick, unbreakable knot. If they somehow put her and the younger Wolfe together?
She braced her hand against her car. Oh, God.
‘They don’t know you’re here. At least, not yet.’ Even Leonard’s hands were twisting together now, all semblance of composure gone. ‘It’s a big place. The grounds and the house are such that you wouldn’t have to interact with Master Wolfe if you don’t want to, although I think the two of you should commiserate. The press have villainised him even more than they have you.’
That’s because the man was a villain. Her only failing was genetic. She’d been born the daughter of a man without a conscience.
She turned towards the lake. No jewels gleamed from its surface today. If anything, the view was haunting. A morning fog clung to the low-lying regions. The mist hovered over the water like vapour rising off a cup of hot coffee, while trails of it wove through the trees.
It was as if even the grounds knew that the darkness had returned.
She let out a tight breath.
Would the situation outside the gates be even worse? It would be harsher, she knew. Inside the gates, there was quiet. Seclusion, even if it was in the belly of the monster.
‘Maybe I can leave late tonight,’ she murmured, fighting the decision she knew she had to make.
‘They’ll be here around the clock until they get what they want. You know that, and those individuals assigned to late-night hours will be even hungrier.’
Hungry for the illusive big ‘get’, only she had nothing to tell them. She hadn’t been involved. She didn’t know where the money had gone. She looked at those leaves still clinging to the trees, trying to withstand the weight of the dew that had settled on them.
‘All right, I’ll stay,’ she said quietly. She had no other choice. ‘But only until things settle down.’
Leonard’s shoulders relaxed and his hands loosened into their customary position. ‘Wonderful. You don’t know what a relief that is to me.’
Solace in Scandal Page 2