Bound by Contract

by Carole Mortimer

  He turned away. ‘There’s nothing to tell. Madison is contracted to star in the film I’m in the process of directing.’

  ‘Are you going to let her fulfil that contract? You gave the impression earlier that you wished her as far away from here—and you—as possible,’ Jonny pointed out softly.

  Gideon drew in a deep breath. What was he going to do about Madison?

  He’d asked himself that question once before, on the day of the film première, in fact, and his answer then had been that what he wanted to do was make love to her until neither of them could think straight! But that was no longer even an option…!

  He turned away. ‘I believe you brought me out here to tell me about my father—and your mother,’ he reminded his brother hardly.

  For a moment Jonny looked as if he wasn’t going to be sidetracked from pursuing the subject of Madison, and then he gave a shrug of acceptance that the subject of their father and his mother was the reason they had come out here to talk. ‘Don’t interrupt until I’ve finished, hmm?’ he said ruefully. ‘I’m aware that jumping in with both feet—or both fists—is also a family trait!’ He easily referred to the physical violence they had both resorted to at the hospital earlier.

  During the last month, it seemed, Gideon had begun to lose all the inhibitions he had built up over a lifetime. He didn’t drink alcohol, and yet last night he’d done exactly that, if only a sip. He refused ever to become so angry that he resorted to the violence that had possessed his father that last year of his life, and yet he knew he had intended hitting Jonny at the hospital earlier, and on Saturday night he had hit the man who was attempting to mug him, although he’d accepted the latter was a question of self-defence. And, lastly, he had sworn never to fall in love—

  ‘Go ahead,’ he invited Jonathan tightly. ‘All I can promise is that I’ll try not to interrupt,’ he added self-derisively.

  That promise became incredibly difficult to keep as Jonathan talked, the things Gideon was told about what had happened thirty years ago at such variance with what he had always believed!

  Jonny explained that his mother, although only in her early twenties, had already been a star in her own right when she had met John Byrne, who was starring opposite her in one of his films.

  History repeating itself…?

  No way! Gideon decided fiercely as Jonny continued to talk of the past.

  His father had become besotted with the actress; the fact that she rebuffed all of his advances had made no difference to his feelings. But Susan Delaney was a Catholic, and as such refused to become involved with a married man.

  So his father had stopped being married, had believed that once he was free the actress would return the love he had for her. But because of her religion Susan didn’t believe in divorce either; in her eyes John Byrne was still a married man. And he always would be.

  That was when John Byrne’s love had become obsessive—sending Susan flowers daily, following her around, causing scenes if she should talk to another man for too long, just generally making her life impossible.

  The saddest thing of all, Jonny claimed, was that his mother was attracted to the actor, and in other circumstances she would have been happy to be with him; she’d been in love with him too…!

  Gideon had heard enough. ‘I don’t believe any of this!’ he burst out contemptuously. ‘Your mother has told you what she thinks you should hear, given you a whiter-than-white account of her own involvement in what happened—’

  ‘No, Gideon, she hasn’t,’ Jonny assured him harshly. ‘Edgar knows the truth too; you can ask him—’

  ‘He’s biased,’ Gideon dismissed disgustedly. ‘He was obviously in love with your mother all those years ago too!’ Was. Because, after what Claire had told him of her involvement with Edgar, Gideon believed his assistant would soon marry the older man…

  ‘Yes, he was.’ Jonny gave a smile of affection. ‘But then she was, and still is, very beautiful. Madison looks very like her, don’t you think…?’ He quirked questioning eyebrows.

  Gideon glared at him. ‘Very,’ he confirmed tautly, refusing to be drawn any further than that on any comments concerning Madison. ‘Unfortunately,’ he added tightly.

  Jonny sighed. ‘Now who’s being biased?’ He shook his head. ‘Like Madison, my mother is one of the nicest, warmest women you are ever likely to meet—I know you don’t want to hear that, that you don’t ever want to believe it, but I’m telling you it’s a fact.’

  ‘She had an affair with a married man,’ Gideon pointed out scathingly.

  ‘No, she didn’t.’ Jonny met his gaze, holding it steadily. ‘I told you, she loved him, and loving someone, even when you personally believe it to be wrong, makes it incredibly difficult to keep saying no—’

  ‘Your existence shows that thirty years ago she must have changed her mind at some stage and said yes!’ Gideon scorned.

  Jonny sighed as he seemed to read his thoughts. ‘My mother freely admits she made a mistake, that she foolishly, briefly, allowed her heart to rule her head. But only the once, Gideon,’ he added softly.

  His mouth twisted. ‘Once is all it takes—you are evidence of that!’

  Jonny sighed, shaking his head. ‘I realise why you hate my mother, Gideon. I know you believe she deliberately took your father away from you, and your mother. What I’m trying to tell you is that she gave him no encouragement; that yes, briefly, many months after he’d already left your mother, she made a mistake—but surely the fact that she found herself pregnant and unmarried was punishment enough for that mistake?’

  ‘She could have married my father,’ he insisted ‘From what you’ve said, he was desperate for her to do so!’

  But Gideon was aware that his anger had lost some of its fierceness. Because he wanted to believe it? Because— No! He wasn’t going to think of that; wasn’t going to think of Madison!

  Jonny shook his head again. ‘Our father died the night my mother became pregnant. She’d told him it couldn’t—mustn’t—ever happen again. He was angry when he left her, and—she never saw him alive again.’

  ‘So she tricked Malcolm McGuire into marrying her,’ Gideon said disgustedly. ‘It must have been a shock to him when his “son” was born bearing no facial resemblance to him, and with dark hair!’

  ‘You know, Gideon,’ Jonny said mildly, ‘I decided long ago that bitterness only destroys the person who carries it around with them. Contrary to what you want to believe, my mother told Malcolm the truth from the first.’ He looked defiantly at Gideon. ‘The two of them had been seeing each other before our father came on the scene, and when my mother told Malcolm of her pregnancy he told her that he loved her anyway, and asked her to marry him. But I can assure you that never, at any time, did my mother try to pass me off as Malcolm’s child. He just happened to love her enough to want her in his life, even carrying another man’s child. Look at my name, Gideon,’ he continued forcefully. ‘I was named after my real father. With Malcolm’s full consent.’

  Gideon shook his head, his mouth tight. ‘I’m not sure I could have done what he obviously did; Malcolm must be one hell of a man!’ And he had the feeling he would like the chance to meet him one day…

  ‘He is,’ Jonny assured him. ‘And, despite its shaky beginning, the marriage has been a good one, too. The two of them are very happy together, and they’ve made a happy home for Madison and myself.’

  Madison again!

  ‘I’m sure Edgar would rather your mother had married him,’ he muttered caustically.

  ‘As a matter of fact he did ask her,’ Jonny drawled. ‘But she decided against it.’

  ‘She was a popular lady,’ Gideon scorned.

  ‘Am I getting to you, Gideon?’ Jonny taunted, raising mocking brows. “‘Mockery in the face of emotion”…?’ he reminded him knowingly.

  Gideon grinned ruefully. ‘You know, I always thought it was lonely being an only child, but now I’m beginning to wonder if it didn’t have its advantages�
��!’

  Jonny chuckled softly. ‘I’m going back inside now, Gideon.’ He lightly touched Gideon’s arm. ‘I think you need a few minutes to yourself, if only to think about what I’ve just said.’

  He needed more than just a few minutes; the things Jonny had told him, if he were to accept them as the truth, turned everything he had ever believed about the past upside down. They also gave a different view of Susan Delaney… What he had to decide now was whether he could accept her as a woman who’d had no real involvement in breaking up Gideon’s family, but who had finally succumbed to the love she felt for Gideon’s father. And had to live with that mistake for the rest of her life.

  Or was it all just too much to take on board…?

  ‘Oh, and Gideon…’ Johnny turned, pausing on his walk back to the house.

  Gideon looked at him, frowning. ‘Yes?’ he prompted warily.

  ‘While you’re out here, big bro, you might also want to take a little time to think of what you’re going to do about Madison,’ the younger man suggested softly, before calmly continuing his walk towards the house.

  Gideon watched him go, shaken by the term ‘big bro’, but knowing he already liked the younger man. He reminded him of himself. But a Gideon that hadn’t been affected by his parents’ broken marriage. Although Jonny had known more than his share of heartache—he must have been shocked to learn of his true parentage, no matter how he might claim it hadn’t really seemed that important to him.

  But then, maybe it hadn’t. Jonny had obviously grown up completely confident in the love of both his parents. And that of his younger sister.

  Madison…!

  Back to that same haunting question: what was he, Gideon, going to do about Madison?

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  MADISON felt herself tense nervously as she heard the front door to the house open and then softly close again. Her mother and Edgar had just told her exactly the same as Jonny claimed he had explained to Gideon—how much more upsetting it must have been for Gideon than it was for her!

  All she felt, at being told the truth about the past, was love for her mother, great admiration for her father, and aching love for Gideon. Because he’d had the whole fabric of his life turned upside down!

  And all of that on top of learning that Claire, the woman he loved, was actually involved with Edgar!

  She turned to look at Gideon as she sensed him standing in the open doorway. The other three, at Johnny’s suggestion, had gone upstairs to the empty bedrooms, to freshen up after their journey. Actually, Madison believed the real reason for that was so that Gideon didn’t have to be confronted by her mother and Edgar as soon as he came back into the house, but she outwardly accepted the excuse that had been given to her.

  ‘Hi.’ She greeted Gideon warily.

  ‘Hi.’ He nodded abruptly, moving into the room, his hands thrust into his trouser pockets.

  Madison continued to watch him with apprehensive eyes as he strolled around, apparently looking at the few ornaments that adorned the room. But Madison was sure he had no real interest in the inexpensive trinkets.

  She moistened her lips nervously; if this silence was allowed to continue for too long, it would become unbearable—and unbreakable! ‘I’m so sorry,’ she told him huskily.

  Gideon frowned and turned to her. ‘What the hell are you sorry for?’ he demanded.

  She swallowed hard. ‘My mother and Edgar told me what happened thirty years ago too, and—’

  ‘Exactly,’ he cut in scornfully. ‘Thirty years ago! You weren’t even born, Madison,’ he dismissed impatiently.

  No, she wasn’t. And if things had turned out differently, if her mother had married John Byrne, or even Edgar, then she might never have been born…! As it was, it appeared that her brother was also Gideon’s brother. And, from the little Jonny had said to them when he came back, she didn’t think there was too much chance of her never seeing Gideon again, because it seemed he and Jonny were going to get to know each other. Each time she saw Gideon as Jonny’s brother she would know the pain of losing the man she loved all over again!

  ‘Madison, it’s all right.’ Gideon cut in on her tortured thoughts, frowning across at her. ‘It’s been a shock, but— Once I get used to the idea, I think I’m going to like having a younger brother,’ he admitted gruffly.

  She was glad, so very glad; Gideon deserved to have a family of his own. But where did that leave her? What did that make her? The fact that Gideon was Jonny’s half-brother didn’t mean she was related to Gideon in any way, and yet he would be a part of her family, nonetheless.

  ‘And my mother…?’ she prompted warily.

  He drew in a deep breath. ‘That’s going to take me a little more time to come to terms with, but— I’ll get there, Madison,’ he assured her confidently.

  And what about her? What about the movie? What happened now?

  ‘You look very like her,’ Gideon bit out abruptly.

  And he despised her for it! She did look like her mother, very much so from the photographs she had seen of her when she was younger. Which was why, when Madison had decided to go into acting herself, she’d done so under her own name of McGuire. She’d wanted to succeed or fail on her own merit, and not on the back of her mother’s undoubted fame.

  Until Edgar’s interference, she’d been attempting to do just that. Maybe not too successfully, but at least her achievements so far had been her own. Which was why it had angered her so much to learn of Edgar’s interference over the part offered to her in Gideon’s movie.

  She turned away. ‘You’ll naturally want to recast the role of Rosemary—’

  ‘What?’ Gideon exclaimed sharply. ‘After all the hassle I’ve had with you so far? No way! You signed a contract, you’ll damn well keep to it!’

  ‘But—’

  ‘There are no buts, Madison,’ he told her grimly. ‘Admittedly, I would rather your mother were anyone other than Susan Delaney. But who knows?’ he shrugged. ‘Maybe it will turn out to be a bonus in the end!’

  Once again, it was ‘work as usual’ with Gideon! Nothing, and no one, must be allowed to interfere with that. And his implication seemed to be that her mother’s identity would do to pull out of a hat at some moment that would suit him, and the publicity for his movie!

  Her mouth tightened. ‘My mother and Jonny intend returning to the States in the next day or so.’

  ‘You won’t be going with them,’ he warned her gratingly.

  Madison felt an angry flush colour her cheeks. ‘This situation is impossible now, Gideon—’

  ‘Why?’

  She couldn’t quite meet the challenge in that gaze. Because she couldn’t even begin to explain just how impossible this situation was without admitting that she had fallen in love with him!

  She swallowed hard. ‘Things have changed, Gideon—’

  ‘In what way?’ he prompted tensely.

  ‘In every way!’ she insisted emotionally. ‘You’ve met my mother, know who she is now. You’ve been made aware that Jonny is your brother. And—and Edgar and Claire appear to be in love with each other!’ She saved the worst until last.

  Because surely Claire’s love for the other man, loving her as Gideon did himself, must have some effect on him?

  He nodded grimly. ‘To such an extent that it seems the two of them are going to be married.’

  And what was he going to do about that? Or was he still so determined never to admit to loving anyone that he would let the woman he loved just walk away with another man?

  ‘And that doesn’t bother you?’ Madison frowned.

  ‘It’s inconvenient—’

  ‘Inconvenient!’ she repeated disgustedly.

  Gideon nodded, his mouth twisting derisively. ‘It seems Edgar isn’t too keen on her traveling the world with me once the two of them are married, and she’ll be getting a job a little closer to home.’ He shrugged. ‘I can see the sense in that.’

  ‘You can?’ Madison gave him a disbelie
ving look.

  ‘Of course. I’m not sure I would be too keen on my own wife going off round the world with another man, either. Even if it was work,’ he added grimly.

  ‘You don’t have a wife!’ Madison muttered frustratedly. She couldn’t believe he was really taking this as calmly as he appeared to be!

  ‘True,’ he acknowledged. ‘But if I did have one I would feel exactly the same way as Edgar does where Claire is concerned.’ He shook his head. ‘Long-distance marriages don’t work; my parents’ divorce is evidence of that. Who knows? Maybe if my father hadn’t been away so often working the two of them might never have split up. Edgar is just ensuring the same mistake doesn’t happen in his marriage to Claire. Hell, he’s waited long enough for the right woman; he isn’t going to make any mistakes now!’ he added affectionately.

  Once again Madison had the feeling that there was something not quite right here. Gideon loved Claire himself—didn’t he? If he didn’t, why had he been so affected when they had visited Claire in hospital last night? Had she missed something?

  She shook her head. ‘I don’t understand you. You’re going to let her go, just like that?’

  ‘What choice do I have? I can hardly stop her getting married; she’s a big girl, more than capable of making her own decisions. Besides,’ he added thoughtfully, ‘I think they’ll actually be happy together.’

  So did Madison. Both Claire and Edgar had obviously waited until they found the right person before even contemplating marriage, and so Madison knew it wasn’t a decision they had come to lightly. But, nevertheless…!

  ‘But you love Claire!’ she pointed out frustratedly.

  ‘Well, of course I do; she’s always— Wait a minute…’ Gideon looked at her searchingly. ‘When you say I love Claire, do you mean…?’

  ‘I mean as in love and marriage!’ Madison confirmed agitatedly. ‘Gideon, I saw how upset you were when we went to the hospital last night—’

  ‘Well, of course I was upset,’ he snapped impatiently. ‘Claire had been involved in a car accident!’

  ‘Exactly.’ Madison pounced. ‘Gideon, don’t you think it’s time you stopped living behind the barrier you’ve erected around your emotions? Because if you don’t you’re going to lose the woman you love to someone else!’