‘I’m sure the lady knows best, Hawk,’ the other man drawled.
‘The lady is still very much a child—despite the dress.’ He frowned at her darkly. ‘Did I pack that for you?’ he demanded.
Her eyes were widely innocent. ‘What’s wrong? Don’t you like it?’
‘A man would have to be blind and senile not to, Miss Morgan,’ Glyn Briant mocked.
‘Well I know he isn’t blind,’ she drawled.
‘Well, Hawk?’ the other man challenged laughingly at his stony silence.
He drew in a ragged breath. ‘I’m beginning to wonder myself about the senility,’ he grated.
‘But, Hawk, you know I—’
‘Whitney!’ he silenced forcefully.
‘He’s too modest, Mr Briant,’ she confided lightly. ‘And I’m too much of a lady to tell.’
‘Hell!’ Hawk swung away from her, glaring at the other man. ‘I can’t go through with this,’ he told him firmly.
‘Hawk—’
‘I was her guardian for six years, damn it, and now she thinks I’m some sort of criminal!’ Hawk was breathing hard.
Whitney blinked dazedly at his vehemence, and Glyn Briant looked furious at the outburst.
‘Hawk, we agreed—’
‘You agreed,’ he snapped. ‘And I went along with it because I thought you knew what you were doing. But she’ll ruin everything if we don’t tell her the truth, can’t you see that? She tried to go over the side of the yacht earlier today just to get away from me and she doesn’t even swim that well! And don’t try and tell me you have to OK this with some damned superior,’ he bit out furiously. ‘I have to tell her now!’
Glyn Briant looked even more angry than Hawk. ‘It’s too dangerous!’
‘The little she knows is too dangerous!’
‘Hawk—’
‘Either you tell her, Glyn, or I do,’ Hawk told him coldly.
Whitney was utterly bewildered. What did Hawk want her to know?
The other man still looked furious. ‘I’m not going to jeopardise years of work!’
‘You—or me, Glyn,’ Hawk repeated threateningly.
‘If he gets away after all this time—’
‘He won’t,’ Hawk promised harshly. ‘But you’ll just have to accept that I value Whitney’s respect as much as you want him!’
‘Damn you!’ Glyn groaned.
‘Yes,’ Hawk acknowledged heavily.
‘I’ll tell her only as much as she needs to know to exonerate you,’ the other man finally conceded harshly. ‘But no more than that,’ he warned coldly.
Hawk looked straight at Whitney’s puzzled face before nodding slowly.
Whitney turned to Glyn Briant questioningly. She still felt afraid for Hawk, and yet now she felt anticipation too; exoneration had to mean he wasn’t guilty of anything!
Glyn Briant’s mouth tightened as the sound of a car arriving could be heard outside. ‘That’s them now,’ he rasped impatiently. ‘All you need to know, Whitney, is that I’m an undercover policeman and Hawk is helping me with my inquiries.’
All the colour drained out of her face, her eyes deep violet pools of fear. ‘Hawk…?’
‘Well done, Glyn.’ He glared at the other man before taking Whitney in his arms. ‘You’ve just succeeded in convincing her you’re about to arrest me!’
‘Believe me,’—the other man strode purposefully to the door—‘at the moment that doesn’t sound such a bad idea! Oh, for God’s sake,’ he bit out impatiently. ‘Hawk is helping me to make an arrest,’ he snapped. ‘He isn’t guilty of anything, has never been guilty of anything. Satisfied?’ he grated to Hawk.
‘Whitney?’ he frowned down at her anxiously.
Relief brightened her eyes as she swayed weakly against him.
CHAPTER SIX
AFTER what she had been imagining the last two days the relief at learning that it had all been a mistake, that Hawk was out to trap Tom Beresford, too, was immense.
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ She looked up at him with accusing eyes once the relief faded to be replaced by anger.
He grimaced. ‘You heard Glyn, he wouldn’t have told you now if I hadn’t pressured him into it. But I’ve seen the look in your eyes since I told you Tom Beresford is coming on board tonight, and after years of being responsible for you I just couldn’t stand the thought of you believing I’m guilty of something,’ he rasped. ‘Maybe I was wrong, maybe it was better when you didn’t know the truth,’ he muttered. ‘My self-gratification isn’t going to mean a whole lot if we lose him now!’
‘But—’
‘Just behave yourself tonight, Whitney,’ he bit out. ‘And I’ll try to explain more later. Just don’t let me down,’ he warned at the sound of approaching voices.
She would have lain down and let him use her as a carpet if he had asked her to now that her faith in him had been restored. But she knew he would never ask her to, knew that he would never ask anything of her, that he only felt responsible for her. God, how that cut to the quick.
But her hurt confusion over his actions had gone now, and she was standing proudly at his side when Tom Beresford, Geraldine and Alex Cordell entered the lounge, closely followed by Glyn Briant.
Tom Beresford’s eyes narrowed on her speculatively, but it was to Geraldine her gaze strayed—and remained. The other woman was more beautiful than ever, her red hair a gleaming cap of riotous curls that framed the gamine beauty of her face with its dominating green eyes with their cat-like slant, the perfection of her curvaceous figure clearly shown in the clinging red gown that enriched the colour of her hair rather than detracted from it. As she stood next to her husband, her diminutive size seemed to make him look taller and more muscular, although Whitney knew that if she were to stand next to him she would still manage to make him look small, once again having three-inch heels on her sandals. The other woman’s ability to look small and helpless had always made her feel big and clumsy!
But if she had been looking for changes in Geraldine, the other woman had been using the same time to assess her—and by the angry flash in her eyes she didn’t like what she was seeing.
‘Hawk.’ Tom Beresford took the other man’s hand in a firm grip. ‘And Miss Morgan,’ he added smoothly. ‘I had no idea we would meet again so soon.’
She felt Hawk stiffen at her side, and bit back the cutting retort she had been about to make. ‘I never can resist Hawk when he asks me for something,’ she returned huskily, hoping her double meaning would be lost on no one.
Silver brows rose speculatively. ‘Really?’ Tom Beresford said questioningly.
She gave a bright smile. ‘When he asked me to be his hostess tonight I just couldn’t refuse,’ she explained lightly. ‘Hello, Geraldine, it’s good to see you again,’ she greeted softly.
The other woman gave a mocking inclination of her head. ‘You always were half in love with Hawk,’ she taunted disparagingly.
Colour darkened her cheeks. But she knew the other woman had hoped to disconcert her, and she wouldn’t give her that satisfaction. ‘Only half?’ she challenged.
Anger flared in the narrowed green eyes. ‘We often laughed together over your childish infatuation for him,’ Geraldine bit out waspishly.
Whitney didn’t for a moment believe Hawk would laugh at her in such a cruel way, but just the thought of him knowing she had always loved him and that he had been embarrased by it was enough to make her pale. There was no way she could turn and look at him—as she longed to do. ‘He doesn’t appear to be laughing now,’ she returned confidently.
‘You—’
‘Should you really be showing this much interest in your ex-husband’s love life, Geraldine?’ she derided at the other woman’s outburst, knowing she had hit a nerve as Geraldine flushed angrily.
‘Ladies,’ Tom Beresford lightly chided, although the coldness remained in his pale blue eyes. ‘You made your choice, Geraldine—and it would seem Hawk has made his,’ he added harshly. ‘I lik
e your taste in women, Hawkworth,’ he rasped.
Hawk gave an acknowledging inclination of his head. ‘Alex.’ He put out his hand to the third man in the room, Tom Beresford’s other quietly watchful ‘minder’. ‘I expected to see you earlier.’
‘Glyn got that job,’ the man returned in the reserved manner that seemed to be typical of him. ‘Nice craft.’
‘I think so,’ Hawk nodded.
‘I’m starting to feel ill already.’ Geraldine’s caustic tone put a dampener on the conversation, her gaze critical as she looked around the refurbished lounge. ‘I really must give you the name of our interior designer, Hawk,’ she dismissed scathingly, sitting down.
‘I think this room is perfect as it is.’ Whitney couldn’t stop herself leaping to Hawk’s defence.
Green eyes swept over her derisively. ‘But then our tastes have always been so—different,’ Geraldine finally drawled.
Whitney could feel her anger rising, knowing this last had been a slight to Hawk. Her snapped retort froze in her throat as she felt his arm move possessively about her waist.
She didn’t know how he could just stand by and let Geraldine insult him in this way! Probably the same way he always had, because he loved her. And with that realisation came another one. Hawk could be helping Glyn Briant to catch Tom Beresford because, once he had, Geraldine would be free again! Whitney’s relief at knowing he wasn’t guilty of anything turned to dismay as she realised his motive.
‘But not necessarily better,’ she bit out resentfully, moving away from Hawk as she did so. ‘Hawk, perhaps our guests would like a drink?’ she prompted, in need of a sustaining drink herself.
The conversation certainly couldn’t be said to be flowing smoothly as they waited for dinner to be served, Tom Beresford only speaking occasionally, as did Hawk, the two ‘minders’ sitting quietly watchful at the back of the room, so it was left to Whitney and Geraldine to fill in the gaps—and as neither woman made any attempt to hide their dislike of the other the conversation was fraught with tension. It was no better during the meal either.
There were so many questions Whitney wanted to ask Hawk, so much he still had to tell her, that all this seemed a waste of time to her. Surely Hawk didn’t actually have to socialise with the man to pretend to do business with him. Or was it Geraldine he really wanted to see? The thought made Whitney pale.
‘Would you care for a stroll on deck, Miss Morgan?’ Tom Beresford offered, his all-seeing gaze seeming to guess the reason for her sudden distress.
‘No! Er—thank you,’ she added abruptly at Hawk’s sharp look.
‘You’re looking a little pale,’ Hawk frowned.
She felt pale, had never felt so sick in her life, the food she had forced past her lips heavy on her stomach, the realisation that Hawk was probably doing all this so that he could have Geraldine back making her feel ill. She could almost have wished it had been because he needed the money badly enough to use any means to get it.
Tom Beresford stood up. ‘I really must insist, Miss Morgan.’ He came round the table to pull back her chair for her. ‘You look as if you’re about to pass out!’
Hawk’s expression hardened. ‘Whitney—’
‘She’ll be fine with me, Hawkworth,’ the older man rasped.
Whitney was barely aware of Alex Cordell standing up to follow them quietly out on to the deck. It was another clear, moonlit night, and she breathed deeply of the clean air.
‘Feeling better?’ Tom Beresford asked not unkindly, his eyes warm.
‘A little,’ she lied. ‘Should you have left your wife with Hawk?’
His mouth twisted. ‘She hates him,’ her husband stated flatly.
‘What?’
He gave a mocking inclination of his head. ‘ “A woman scorned…” ‘
‘Geraldine wasn’t scorned,’ she scoffed. ‘Hawk loved her. Why, he—’ She broke off as she realised what she had been about to do. Glyn Briant had been right to doubt her; she had almost blown his cover because of a jealousy that she should have accepted long ago. ‘He did everything he could to make her happy,’ she amended tightly.
‘My wife is a very demanding woman.’ Tom Beresford shrugged. ‘And Hawk is a very demanding man. He asked Geraldine for one thing too many.’
‘Her love!’
‘Her fidelity,’ Tom Beresford murmured, leaning on the rail to stare sightlessly across the water. ‘My wife is something of an alley cat,’ he added grimly.
‘You know that and yet you—’ She broke off, shaking her head. ‘What is it about the woman that makes men love her?’ she added disgustedly.
He gave a mirthless laugh. ‘I can only answer for myself—who else did you have in mind?’
She swallowed hard at the sharpness of his gaze. Hawk was relying on her not to let him down, and to reveal that he was still in love with Geraldine would ruin everything for him, possibly even endanger his life. ‘Hawk loved her once,’ she said calmly. ‘But not any more.’
Tom Beresford gave her a sideways glance. ‘Not now he’s in love with you, hmm?’
‘That’s right,’ she challenged, knowing this man had to believe she and Hawk were lovers; it was the only acceptable explanation—to him—of her presence on board.
The man at her side nodded approvingly. ‘And how is the story on me going?’
She stiffened indignantly, knowing he had to know she could never do that story now that Hawk was involved. ‘Hawk has decided—he’s decided that it wouldn’t capture the public interest,’ she rasped.
‘I see,’ he murmured softly.
‘At the moment,’ she couldn’t resist adding defiantly, hating this man’s look of triumph.
He turned to lean back against the rail, supremely self-confident. ‘Maybe you should have consulted your lover before putting yourself to the trouble of doing all that research,’ he drawled.
She glanced uncomfortably at Alex Cordell as he stood a short distance away from them. How could the man stand there and listen so impassively to this totally private conversation? No doubt he was paid very well to forget anything he overheard. Nevertheless, it was disconcerting having this conversation listened to so closely.
‘He wasn’t my lover then,’ she snapped.
‘Are you more faithful to him than Geraldine was?’ he derided.
‘I happen to love him—which is more than Geraldine ever did!’ she scorned with distaste. ‘Now if you’ll excuse me I think I’ll go back inside; the air out here isn’t any cleaner after all!’ She turned and walked away.
Tom Beresford caught hold of her arm, swinging her round to face him. ‘I hope, for your sake,’ he muttered fiercely, ‘that Hawk can control you.’
Her eyes flashed. ‘He—’
‘Feeling better, Whitney?’ Hawk spoke pleasantly out of the darkness.
She turned to glare at him. ‘Not particularly, no!’ She was breathing hard in her agitation.
Hawk smiled at the other man, ignoring Whitney’s anger. ‘Your wife is feeling decidedly seasick, Tom,’ he drawled. ‘She’s talking about leaving.’
The other man’s expression hardened. ‘I’ll go and talk to her,’ he muttered.
Whitney breathed easier once he had left, taking Alex Cordell with him. ‘How can you even pretend to do business with him?’ she said shakily.
‘For God’s sake,’ Hawk bit out, dragging her to the back of the yacht, away from the lounge and his guests. ‘You’ve only been told that so you don’t talk out of turn,’ he grated, his eyes as hard as gold. ‘Glyn wasn’t joking when he said there’s a lot at stake.’
Whitney frowned her agitation. ‘Why doesn’t he just arrest him?’
‘He will,’ Hawk nodded grimly.
‘When?’
‘When the time is right,’ he told her forcefully. ‘Now, are you going to rejoin them and behave yourself or shall I tell them you’ve gone to your cabin because you don’t feel well?’
Behaving herself meant being polite to people
she despised, and she had done enough of that for one evening. ‘Can you do that?’ she frowned.
His mouth twisted into a humourless smile. ‘As long as you appear to be under my control I can do anything,’ he rasped bitterly. ‘Between you and Geraldine the two of you have managed to give the impression that you have been suffering from unrequited love for me for years!’
Colour darkened her cheeks. ‘It was just the way the conversation flowed.’
‘I know that,’ he nodded wearily. ‘Although it served its purpose; everyone is convinced that we’re now lovers.’
‘Even Geraldine?’ she taunted, stung that it hadn’t even occurred to him that it might actually be the truth.
‘Couldn’t you tell?’ he derided.
‘Aren’t you afraid she might cause trouble for you?’ she frowned.
‘Geraldine has a lover of her own she wouldn’t want Tom to know about,’ he rasped.
Whitney looked at him searchingly in the gloom. Could he possibly be Geraldine’s lover? She suddenly felt ill again. ‘I think I will go down to my cabin.’ She avoided Hawk’s gaze now. ‘Please make my excuses to your guests.’
‘Whitney—’
‘Good night, Hawk,’ she cut in quickly, needing to be on her own.
She was shaking with relief when he let her go. She had felt so happy when Glyn Briant had told her of Hawk’s part in his scheme to arrest Tom Beresford, but now it suddenly seemed worse than ever. She had thought Hawk accepted that Geraldine had gone out of his life after the divorce, but now it was obvious he would try to do anything to get her back. Her own love for Hawk seemed even more futile.
She was completely unprepared for Hawk’s entrance to her suite after only the briefest of knocks two hours later!
She had showered and changed into lilac silk pyjamas, but she had continued to move restlessly about her lounge, feeling like a caged lion must do. Then a short time ago she had heard the murmur of voices out on deck, and presumed the guests were leaving.
‘We have to talk.’ Hawk shut the door firmly behind him. Having discarded his dinner jacket and left it somewhere, he removed his tie to unbutton the collar of his shirt. ‘I’m getting sick and tired of you walking away from me in the middle of a conversation!’ he flared.
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