Early to Bed

by Cara Summers

  "No." But wasn't that why she was going to see Giles—so that she could assure herself that he was behind the problems and not her family? Then she blurted out, "I'm afraid that I might have brought the problems here. My birthday is on the Ides of March."

  "Be very careful, my dear. Make sure you meet him in a public place."

  Lily felt her skin crawl as Dame Vera swept through the door. Could the woman actually read minds?

  As Sam stepped up to the foul line, Tony shoved sweat out of his eyes and concentrated on drawing in deep breaths. He'd fouled his brother on purpose so that he could get some oxygen into his lungs. The block that

  Drew had thrown him when Tony had taken his first shot was still causing his breath to hitch. The problem about playing basketball to vent your anger and frustration was that the first ten minutes were brutal. It had taken him that long to realize that Lily hadn't followed the other women out to the court.

  He'd shoved that first quick spurt of panic down, telling himself that he was overreacting. She was in the penthouse where no one could get to her. And he could hardly leave the court to check on her with his two brothers rushing him.

  The length of time Sam was dribbling told him that his brother was winded, too. So was Drew, if the way he was bent over his knees was any indication. A quick glance at his watch told him that Lily had been in the penthouse alone for nearly half an hour. This time he wasn't so quick to ignore the panic. What was she doing in there? Had she been more hurt than she'd let on? He'd taken her down with him pretty hard when that shot had gone off.

  Sam tossed the ball up with one hand and it whooshed through the basket. Drew grabbed it as it fell, but Tony threw a block that left his brother on his backside before he snatched the ball, tore down the court and scored.

  "Time out," he called as his brothers thundered past him in a heated contest for the rebound.

  "Chicken," Sam said.

  Tony grinned, but his gaze was already shifting to the penthouse. "Somebody had to call it. I think I have a cracked rib."

  "Good game." A.J. was the first to arrive from the edge of the court. "Thanks for calling it," she murmured in a low voice as she passed Tony.

  The way Gina, Grace and Lucy were congratulating Drew told Tony who had won the game. "I want a recount," he called to them.

  "Your mind wasn't on the game," Sam said, between breaths. "Next time we'll have to double team him or he'll be impossible."

  "Deal," Tony said, already moving toward the penthouse. Lily was probably working on her presentation. He certainly hadn't given her any time to prep it. Or she might be on the phone with her father. He quickened his pace.

  Dame Vera stepped into his path. "She's gone."

  This time the panic was a sharp slice in his gut.

  "Where?" But he knew even before Vera said, "To meet the Viking."

  He was cursing himself as he strode toward the penthouse door. Of course, she'd gone to meet Giles Fortescue. He'd seen the note, the flowers. He should have known she'd go to the Waldorf-Astoria to meet him.

  The problem was he wasn't thinking clearly. He hadn't been thinking clearly since he'd first heard Lily McNeil's voice over the telephone.

  Lily didn't spot Giles until she'd climbed up the stairs leading to the lobby of the Waldorf-Astoria and turned. The moment she did, a sense of déjà vu streamed through her. The lobby bar was located up another short flight of stairs. He looked just as striking as ever. There were flowers on the table—roses in a cut crystal vase. He would have ordered them specially. As she climbed the steps, she caught their scent mingling with burning candles. Nearby, champagne chilled in a silver bucket, and next to it was a box of chocolates. The table where he sat was secluded, set near a window overlooking the street. He would have taken care in the selection, slipping the hostess an extra tip for securing just the right spot.

  The scene was so typically Giles that it nearly made her smile. He'd always given her roses and chocolates. The gifts had made her feel special, but she suspected now that he'd probably given the same gifts to any woman he dated.

  The roses he'd sent to the penthouse had made her angry. Angry at herself. For the past two years she'd blamed herself for being so gullible. But she wasn't that same girl anymore. Now she found the predictability of the scene almost amusing.

  But she didn't have time for either amusement or anger this evening. She'd come here on a mission. During the time she'd taken to dress and sneak out of the hotel, she'd been thinking. Hard. There had to be some reason that both Fortescue Investments and McNeil Enterprises were so interested in Henry's Place. Perhaps something that might make it worth someone's while to eliminate Tony Romano. Just the thought had a chill moving through her. For tonight, she had to put fear aside too. She had to focus on getting information. Giles just might know why her father was so desperate to get hold of the hotel.

  As she wove her way toward the table, Giles rose and moved to greet her. She could have sworn that the smile on his face was genuine.

  "I wasn't sure you'd come," he said as he drew back her chair and settled her in it.

  He would have been sure two years ago. The fact that he wasn't now pleased her. "You went to a lot of trouble for a date who might not show up." "Hope springs eternal."

  She glanced around the room. A table to their right held two women, and closer to the bar, there was another group of women. "I don't suppose it would have taken you very long to find a replacement."

  "Ouch." He tipped champagne into their glasses. As they sampled it, he studied her over the rim of his glass. After a moment, he sighed. "You've changed. I could see the surface differences in the lobby this morning, but I can sense deeper ones now. You're not the naive young woman I romanced two years ago." He gestured toward the flowers and chocolate, and a glint of amusement came to his eyes. "This time around, you're going to see through all of this. And I'm not going to get you back, am I?"

  She laughed then. Giles had always had an ability to laugh at himself. It was part of his charm. "You don't really want me back. We wouldn't suit at all." "I suppose not. But a man can have regrets." Her eyes narrowed as she studied him. He looked much the same as he had when she'd first met him and taken that initial heady tumble into what she'd thought was love. The blond hair, the chiseled features, the intense, dark blue eyes that had made her believe she was the only woman in the room. In the world. Suddenly, Lily didn't feel quite so stupid anymore. Giles Fortescue was a man who would go to any woman's head. The problem was that he did go to a lot of women's heads, and he enjoyed that so much that he would never settle down with one. Two years ago when he'd admitted that to her, she'd blamed it on something lacking in herself.

  "So if it wasn't my charm that drew you here, why did you come?" Giles asked.

  The other thing she'd liked about Giles was that he was smart. For a moment Lily debated whether or not to tell him the truth. If he was somehow involved in the plumbing sabotage or the shooting...

  "Pardon me, sir."

  Lily glanced up to see a waitress standing at the table with a note on her silver serving tray.

  "One of the ladies at the bar asked me to deliver this."

  "Thank you." Giles gave it a quick glance before tucking it into his pocket.

  Smiling, Lily shook her head. Giles Fortescue was definitely a ladies' man. And a shrewd businessman. But a saboteur or a killer? She didn't think so. Leaning toward him, she said, "I'll try to be brief. One question before I begin. Why did you really ask me to come here?"

  He leaned back in his chair and sipped champagne. "One of the things I always liked most about you was your intelligence."

  "That's not an answer."

  His grin was rueful. "I was going to lead up to my hidden agenda—maybe halfway through the bottle of champagne."

  "Now would be good. The love of your life may be waiting at the bar."

  He laughed then, and in a quick gesture, took her

  hand and raised it to his lips. "I rea
lly do have regrets, you know. More with each passing minute. And I told you the truth in the lobby this morning. I came to see you. I learned that you would be at Henry's Place on company business, and I wanted to meet up with you."

  She frowned at him. "How did you find that out?"

  "I called the office and spoke with Pamela. She told me that I could look you up here. She always regretted that you broke off the engagement."

  Lily nodded to herself. That much made sense. Only regret wasn't the word that she would have chosen. Fury was the label she would have given to her stepmother's reaction. Control had always been Pamela Langford-McNeil's forte, but she'd nearly lost it when she'd found out that there would be no wedding. "I don't believe you flew across the country just to see if you could win me back. What was your other reason?"

  "Okay." He raised both hands, palms out. "But this isn't the way I'd planned on leading up to it. So you have to promise that you won't give me an answer tonight. You'll take at least a few days to think about it?"

  Lily stared at him. "Okay."

  "I want to hire you away from McNeil Enterprises. I can offer you a vice president's position at Fortescue Investments."

  For a moment, Lily couldn't say a word. Whatever she'd expected when she'd asked Giles the question, it wasn't this. "You should see yourself. You look shell-shocked,"

  Giles said. "For that reason alone, you ought to take my offer."

  "Why would you want me at Fortescue?" Giles made an impatient sound. "Because you're good. I've checked into what you did while you worked for the Marchmount Hotel chain. Your father should have offered you a vice presidency as soon as you returned to his company. They don't value you enough at McNeil."

  He looked sincere. But she remembered that Giles was a master at that. And he wasn't telling her the whole story. Lily was sure of it. "Are you looking for some leverage so that you can propose another merger to my father?"

  Something flickered behind his eyes. "Perhaps. But that needn't concern you. The offer is genuine, and you can hire some attorneys to help write the contract so that a merger doesn't affect your position with the new company." He shrugged. "And if you eventually want to go back to McNeil, a few years with a vice presidency at Fortescue under your belt will make you very attractive to them."

  He was right. She couldn't argue with the logic of his proposal. But she also couldn't let his offer distract her. She leaned back in her chair. "I'll think about it."

  "Good." He topped off both of their glasses. "Now it's your turn to come clean. Why did you really join me here tonight?"

  "I have some questions, and I think you might have a few of the answers."

  "Ask away."

  "Is Fortescue Investments interested in buying Henry's Place?"

  His eyes narrowed then, and it wasn't amusement she saw, but speculation. "Why would you think that?"

  "Because I know that you made Tony an offer, and

  now you're here and you're questioning the staff about the hotel."

  Giles sipped his champagne. "Okay. I'll admit I had another reason for coming here. Fortescue is interested in acquiring a string of small hotels in the New York City area, and Henry's Place heads the list." He met her eyes steadily. "But the job offer is genuine. I want you at Fortescue."

  "Why is Henry's Place so attractive to you?"

  "Three reasons. Location, location, location. It's close to the theater district, Central Park, and it's only fifteen blocks or so to prime shopping." Then the glint of amusement appeared again in his eyes. "Plus, Fortescue and McNeil are old rivals. We often go after the same property."

  That made sense. But once again, Lily was sure he wasn't telling her everything. The guarded look in his eyes made her suspect that beating out McNeil Enterprises was why he was really interested in Henry's Place. Could the old rivalry between the two companies explain why her father was so desperate to get Tony Romano's hotel?

  Or was there something going on that she didn't know about? Something that would tempt someone to get rid of Tony? She doubted very much that the hotel could continue to function without Tony. The rest of the Romanos had other careers, other priorities. Lucy wasn't nearly ready to take it over yet. Nor did she probably want to.

  Lily took a quick sip of champagne-to ease the fear that had lodged in her throat. "Someone wants very much to get hold of that hotel. Enough to cut some of the pipes last night and today someone tried to shoot

  Tony. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

  She was almost sure it was surprise that flashed into Giles's eyes before they became guarded and a frown appeared on his forehead.

  "Someone shot at him?"

  Her reply was interrupted by the waitress who appeared carrying another note on a small silver tray. The flash of annoyance on Giles's face didn't prevent him from reaching for it. Lily was amused to see that this one required a reply. Her eyes rested for a minute on his hands as he picked up a pen—the long fingers, the meticulously manicured nails, the soft palms. Giles's gestures when he made them were smooth and calculated just as his lovemaking had been. She thought of Tony's hands—strong and just a bit rough. And his gestures—she'd have to describe them as spontaneous, genuine—just as his lovemaking had been. Giles had waited three months to take her to bed. Tony hadn't even waited until they'd introduced themselves. Early to bed, early to rise...

  The little rhyme chanting in her head rekindled the memory of the first night she'd spent with Tony, and before she could prevent either, she felt her lips curve and heat stain her cheeks. Both sensations drew her back to where she was and what she'd come to do— pump Giles for information.

  While Giles continued to write a response to his admirer, Lily glanced out the window. Rush-hour traffic had thinned a bit, but it was still moving in sudden and unpredictable fits and starts. She saw in it a metaphor for her conversation with Giles. She'd made some progress with him. Maybe. Did she really expect him to

  admit to her that he'd hired someone to take a shot at Tony? Did she really believe that the suave, urbane man sitting across from her had done something like that? Or did she only want to believe it because if Giles wasn't behind the sabotage and the shooting, the finger of suspicion would point to her family?

  Her gut instinct told her that Giles lacked the passion to commit murder. He'd certainly lacked any kind of passion in their relationship. Looking back, she realized that his every move had been as smooth and calculated as this carefully orchestrated little rendezvous that he'd arranged right here at the Waldorf-Astoria.

  Directly below her, a taxi nearly nicked another car as it wedged itself a place at the curb. Behind the vehicle, a blue sedan slammed on the brakes to keep from rear-ending the cab. She wondered if she would ever get used to New York City traffic.

  The moment she realized the direction her thoughts had taken, she stiffened. Where had that stray little fantasy come from? McNeil Enterprises' main office operated out of San Francisco. She wasn't thinking, she couldn't be thinking of moving to New York City. Whatever she had going with Tony Romano was not only spontaneous, but it was temporary. Fleeting might be a better word. The affair would end when she told him the truth about why she'd really come to Henry's Place. And she was going to do that as soon as she got back to the hotel.

  On the street below, a man unfolded himself from the back seat of the taxi. Tony. She knew before he even glanced up at the window. Icy ribbons of fear moved through her, and questions flooded her mind. How had he known she was here? She'd slipped out of the back of the hotel and walked three blocks before she'd hailed a taxi.

  Dame Vera. Had she told Tony?

  Unless...had Giles let him know? Could this whole elaborate rendezvous have been a trap to get Tony here?

  _____8______

  "Hey, buddy. You owe me seven fifty."

  Swearing under his breath, Tony whirled back to the taxi and shoved a fifty into the driver's waiting hand. "I want you to go around the corner and wait for me
on the side street."

  Fear had become a rusty claw in his gut. Of the three Romano brothers, he had the longest fuse. Usually, he controlled his temper by taking a rational approach. But there was nothing rational about what he felt for Lily. Despite Sam's assurances that Lily had been followed. Despite everything, Tony hadn't been able to convince himself that she was safe. He was nearly running as he entered the revolving door and pushed his way into the lobby. Then he took the stairs two at a time.

  When Tony saw her, the fear washed away in the flood of new emotions slamming into him.

  She was standing, her palms flat on the table, leaning towards Giles Fortescue. The first thing that registered in his mind was the dress—it was black and it covered a minimal amount of skin. His first thought when he could manage one was that she was wearing it for Giles Fortescue. Never mind that the man sitting across from her at the table couldn't see her legs—which were nothing short of miraculous. Every other man in the bar—including the one Sam had assigned to follow her—could see them.

  In a desperate attempt at control, Tony tried to identify the emotions swirling through him.

  Jealousy was easy to identify. But he'd never known it to burn like a red-hot flame in his gut. Every little de- tail—flowers, candlelight gleaming off a silver champagne bucket—added fuel to the fire.

  Lust. Oh, yeah, there was that, too. Never mind that

  caveman tactics had never been his style. Right now, he had an overwhelming urge to just throw Lily over his shoulder and cart her out of the room.

  And bubbling up, fighting for equal time with the jealousy and the lust, was anger. He was furious with himself. How in the world had he ever gotten himself into a situation where one woman could have this kind of power over him?

  He wanted to grab her. He wanted to punch Giles Fortescue. It took almost more effort than he possessed to slow his steps and take a deep calming breath. The woman was driving him crazy. And it was only then as he stopped a few feet from the table that he was able to focus on the scene in progress.