Australia's Maverick Millionaire

“I apologise. You could leave town,” he suggested, his blue eyes trained on her.

She threw up her dark head so impetuously her pendant earrings danced, flashing lights across her cheeks. “Do you honestly think I haven’t thought about it? I used to all the time. But I can’t leave Leo right now. He’s been diagnosed with a heart condition. You know about that?”

“I do,” Josh confirmed. “Leo has told me about his heart condition. Not serious, he said. As a matter of fact, being Leo, he laughed if off as if he was going to live for ever.”

“My mother’s life came to an end when she was only forty-one,” Clio offered in a soft, melancholy voice. “I’ll never come to terms with it. I adored my mother. No one could ever take her place. In that way I’m exactly like Dad.”

“At least you had her that long.” Josh was battling his own fume of emotions, not the least of it his dangerous desire for a fascinating but unobtainable woman.

She could feel the hot flush that mounted to her cheeks. “I’m sorry, Josh. That was really insensitive. I wasn’t thinking for a moment. I know what a rotten time you’ve had.”

“The fact is you don’t, Clio,” he corrected her tersely, “and I’m not about to tell you.” They were surrounded by people laughing, talking, light classical music being piped through the house, but they might have been quite alone on a desert island. Josh looked out over the magnificent illuminated tropical gardens. “Your world has been safe. My world was damned scary—sinister might be a better word.”

She studied the handsome profile presented to her. He was almost painfully handsome. “You would never dream of sharing your experiences with someone who wanted only to help you?” she asked gently, though she knew it might be folly.

“Are we talking professional help here, Clio?” He swung his gleaming gold head back to her, gazing down his perfectly straight nose. “I had all that. One shrink called me a master manipulator. I think I was about ten at the time. Anyway, let’s get off me,” he said edgily.

“You don’t want me to get to know you, Josh?” she dared ask. Was he any different from the boy who had ordered her so harshly to go away?

“Clio, there are things about me I don’t wish you to hear. All right?”

Of a sudden she realized that for Josh that might qualify as an appeal. She held up her hands in surrender. “I get the message. Let’s get back to me and my world. Dad is desperately unhappy. He should never have married Keeley. They have nothing in common. Not that any woman wouldn’t have had a battle as the second Mrs Templeton. So you tell me, Josh. Should I turn my back on my family when they need me and go forge another life for myself maybe thousands of miles away, like Sydney or Melbourne? I have my great-aunts and many contacts there.”

“So you’re stuck for the time being,” he conceded. Leo and her father weren’t the only ones who couldn’t bear to lose sight and sound of her. “Why doesn’t your father divorce Keeley? He must know she only married him for his money.”

“Dad doesn’t believe in divorce.” She felt racked by pity.

“He thinks it’s better to live with a woman who doesn’t love him?” Josh asked, never in any danger of being attracted to the over-sexed Keeley with the practised throaty laugh. “That’s a character flaw he can live with?”

“Apparently,” Clio admitted with an effort. “I know I’m risking making you angry again, Josh, but …”

Such a glitter came into his eyes. “Then don’t risk it, Clio,” he said.

“So you’re going to saddle me with the worry. You don’t want me to say it.”

“Are you actually making judgements about my moral responses?”

“No, no I’m just thinking about consequences.”

“So you’ve appointed yourself watchdog?”

He looked incredibly superior. Unyielding. No vulnerability there. “I suppose I should apologize.”

“You should,” he said tautly. “Come down off your pedestal, Clio. I wouldn’t take up with your stepmother if she were the last woman on earth.”

She felt a wash of remorse. “Only Keeley has taken it into her head there’s some attraction there.”

“Really?” His handsome mouth twisted. His blue eyes blazed.

She knew she was flirting with danger. He was giving fair warning. Anger was coming off his lean powerful body in waves. “I’m sorry, Josh. I don’t want to have words with you. I must go.” She made to turn away to go back into the house, only to her stupendous shock he spun her around, pulling her to him in one supremely smooth, controlling gesture.

“Josh!” Totally thrown off her guard, Clio felt a great coursing of blood through her body. Every sense reeled.

His mouth so swiftly and completely took hers it burned up every ounce of resistance. She was flooded with excitement, robbed of all breath, all strength, willpower. Her mouth had a life of its own. It was responding to such a voluptuous invasion as if she had no other choice. Her surrender was total. Truth was, he had captured her to the core of her being.

She was gasping when he released her, losing an astonishing sense of the security and rightness she had felt with her body pressed against his. Was it possible she had chosen Joshua Hart above all others all those years ago?

“Maybe that will take care of Keeley for you and the rest of your guests,” he bit out, furious with himself for losing it. Only Clio Templeton could have robbed him of his armour. Only Clio had the woman magic to lead him on. That humbling piece of knowledge stuck in his throat. He didn’t want a woman to possess him, to turn him into some sort of a slave. He hated losing the cool order he had imposed on himself and his life.

As physically strong as he was, his heart was fluttering in his chest and there was a roaring in his ears. He stood there, aware they had created a rivetting spectacle. It would have taken everyone by surprise, indeed shock. Some of the guests were standing stunned yet Clio, with her beautiful head held high, walked back very calmly into the grand living room and didn’t look back.

CHAPTER TWO

IT WAS close on a fortnight later before Josh called in on his mentor. Gossip in the town had been rife after the incident with Clio at the gala function. People talked endlessly and breathlessly at dinner parties, in the streets, over back fences. One kiss, it seemed, had created a sensation. All allowances had been made for Clio. He was the one who had overstepped the mark. Big time. Certainly he had acted under compulsion and paid for it. He couldn’t get that kiss out of his mind. The best strategy seemed to him to stay away from the house.

Meg Palmer, the housekeeper, greeted him at the door. “Josh!” She embraced him briefly, then let him go. Never pushed it. It saddened her greatly to know Josh Hart as a boy had had little contact with warmth and affection and the gentling effect of a woman’s touch. Meg was a short, sturdy woman of robust good health, with twinkling hazel eyes and a shock of soft iron-grey curls.

“How’s business?” She looked him up and down with pleasure. She well remembered how desperately unhappy and out of control Josh had been as a boy. But hadn’t he grown! These days he was a man of achievements. Meg felt as proud of Josh as his mentor, Leo, did.

“I do the best I can, Meg.” Josh bestowed on her one of his beautiful white smiles. He rarely smiled, which was a pity, but he had a dry sense of humour. “How’s Leo today?” No rhetorical question. He was waiting on the answer.

“Really looking forward to your visit,” she assured him. “He’s in the study, waiting. Feel like a cup of coffee?”

“You’ve baked your chocolate brownies?”

“I have indeed.” She caught him by the arm. “You and Miss Clio made up yet?”

He responded with wry humour, not the cold anger most people would have elicited. “Meg you know damned well Clio and I aren’t at any place where we make up.”

“I know nothing of the kind.” Meg searched his eyes. “You’re as good as anyone. Better!”

“Ah, Meg,” he groaned. “Not everyone is like you.”

“Too true!” Meg laughed to lighten things up. “Trust me, Josh,” she added very gently as he moved off to the study. Meg had heard all the gossip about that sizzling kiss but she had the good sense not to mention it.

Josh gave her a backward wave, but didn’t answer. At sixty, Meg still believed in fairy-tales.

Approaching his seventh-fifth year, up until fairly recent times Leo Templeton could easily have passed for a man ten years younger. Now there were visible signs of ageing, worsening osteoporosis and general ill health. It hurt Josh to bear witness to Leo’s decline. Leo may have slowed down physically, but nothing was going to slow his brain. Leo turned from looking out through the open French doors that led onto the rose garden to greet his protégée.

“Josh, my boy!”

“Please don’t get up.” Josh moved towards the regal silver-haired man. He put his hands on the back of Leo’s big swivel armchair, pushing it back in front of his desk. Obviously Leo hadn’t experienced the full heat of the gossip or he had elected to ignore it as a bizarre aberration. His manner was the same as ever.

Leo’s study was a huge room, dominated by walls of floor-to-ceiling bookcases containing a vast assortment of literature—law books galore, biographies, histories, great fiction, popular fiction, the best in crime, courtroom dramas, thrillers. You name it, Leo had it in his bookcases. He knew because he had borrowed very many a book. There was a burgundy leather sofa and a pair of matching leather armchairs; a good-sized coffee table where Meg could set out tea, coffee and accompaniments.

“Thank you, Josh. I’m so pleased to see you. I’ve been missing our conversations. There was some talk you were out of town?” In truth Leo felt near starved of the stimulation he felt in his protégée’s company. Of course he knew better than anyone of the bond between Clio and Josh but he had long since acted on it. Much as he admired Josh, his chances of ever getting close to his beautiful granddaughter were very slim indeed. Regretfully, he couldn’t countenance Josh Hart as a suitor for all his brilliance. He knew nothing of Josh’s bloodline—the single mother’s drug overdose was bad, father unknown, no history—so he had to be rejected.

“Just scouting around,” Josh said, taking his usual armchair facing his mentor.

“So what’s in the briefcase?” Leo’s lined face was alight with interest. Josh and his endeavours were keeping him alive.

Josh began to unzip the large black case. “I have some plans here for Aquarius.” He named the beautiful tropical island Leo had bought many years before. “We did talk briefly about it some months back, remember?’

Leo nodded. “I had a notion this was coming.” Josh was always brimming with ideas, projects, plans. He was immensely talented and energetic. Just like he himself had once been. Every last one of the young man’s projects for which he, as Josh’s mentor, had laid out a lot of capital had paid off big time. So young to be so successful! So young to make a sizeable fortune! Josh reminded him of himself. He had long since faced the fact his son, Lyle, who stood to inherit, so much didn’t have a head for business. Sometimes it didn’t work out so well for heirs when their forebears were the ones who had made all the money.

While Leo ruminated, Josh was busy pulling out maps, blueprints, architectural drawings, floor plans. He set them on the desk. “I think it’s time for a resort complex on the island, Leo. A resort where guests can swim, sail, scuba dive, snorkel in protected waters. I have an architectural sketch here for a marina and yacht club I’d like to show you. People could sail over from the mainland and drop anchor. The other side of the island would house solar water-purification facilities among other things. We could build a splendid villa for the use of the family plus other luxury villas hidden away in the grounds for well-heeled overseas tourists.”

“Not a bit ambitious?” Leo questioned, chewing at his bottom lip.

“I don’t think so, Leo. Hear me out. I’ve done all the figures, checked out government requirements. But I do need your interest and approval. It’s your island after all. But, as we agreed, it’s just sitting there. If you don’t think it advisable at this time, the project will go on hold. Until you do!” Josh suddenly laughed.

Such an attractive sound, Leo thought. Josh had taken a long time to let down his guard. But eventually it had happened. Their minds met. At least their business minds. “Then come round and spread it all out before me.” Leo began to clear papers from his massive mahogany desk, shoving them into a drawer.

“You won’t regret this, Leo.” Josh was already on his feet, a number of wound-up rolls in his hands.

Driving towards the family home, Lyle Templeton thought it had been years since he’d had a real conversation with his father. He intended to have that conversation tonight. Not that there had been any estrangement as such, but things had been very different after his beloved Allegra’s tragic death. Allegra had been the glue that had held father and son together. Leo had made no effort to hide the fact he disliked and distrusted Keeley right from the beginning. He had been very much against the marriage, openly questioning whether his son was, in fact, the father of Keeley’s mystery baby. Now no one would ever know. Keeley had lost the child. Either she was one of the world’s finest actresses or she had suffered genuine grief. As had he. So he had not only lost a second child, he had lost his beloved Clio. Clio had simply not wanted to stay in the house with Keeley. She had gone to live with Leo, who had welcomed her with wide-open arms. It was as though Allegra had returned.

Of late his father’s health had been on the decline. They all saw that. The threat to family had come not from Keeley, who didn’t rate, but from the youngster, Josh Hart. Leo had sponsored the boy’s education, private school through university, doling out huge sums of money to partner the young entrepreneur Hart eventually became. Not that Hart wasn’t brilliant—he hadn’t put a foot wrong—but Lyle truly felt he had been relegated to third place in his father’s life. Josh Hart had his father’s ear, and mind, worse, his heart. Not him. His father didn’t need him any more. He had Josh Hart. And another terrible worry had taken hold. For years hostile to the young man, hostility had increased to a pervading fear.

Hart had ambitions to take his beautiful daughter.

Hart was dangerous. He always had been. Bad blood.

Hart’s Porsche was parked in the drive. He’d been reliably told Hart was looking at some property further north. Lyle would have found out he was back had he rung ahead to say he was coming, but he had wanted his visit to be in the nature of a pleasant surprise. Hart had beaten him to it. Thank God Clio wasn’t at home. One night a month she had dinner with Lisa and the family. Lisa was another one blind to any character flaws in Josh Hart. She thought the world of him. Hart had saved baby Ella’s life.

To his surprise Lyle found the front door open. He called, “Hello,” but received no reply. He stood for a few minutes, frowning. He fully expected Mrs Palmer to rush to the entrance, an apology on her lips. She really should have been on hand. He moved further down the hall, becoming aware of raised voices. They were coming from his father’s study. Both voices were recognisable. Something was the matter. He was abruptly furious. Joshua Hart was in the house. The very idea put him on extreme edge.

When he arrived outside the open study door, he was shocked to see his father lying flat on the floor, his striped blue and white cotton shirt open. Hart was on his knees, leaning over him, pressing down on Leo’s chest with both hands. Mrs Palmer was standing nearby, her face ashen, her hands clasped as if in prayer.

“What the devil is going on here?” Anger engulfed him. He was shouting, he was so perturbed. Losing Allegra had almost sent him stark raving mad, now his father?

No one answered him. He may not have been there. “Is Dad having a heart attack?”

Belatedly Mrs Palmer found her voice. “I’m so sorry, Mr Lyle. I’ve called the emergency number. Paramedics are on the way.”

“So what the hell is Hart doing? Shouldn’t he be leaving my father well alone until they arrive?”

“Mr Leo was unconscious,” Meg Palmer explained, feeling acute pity for Lyle. “He wasn’t breathing. Josh has the training. CPR is a lifesaving technique. Think about it, now, Mr Lyle.” Lyle Templeton looked like he wanted to order Josh out of the house.

“I’m thinking about what caused it,” Lyle choked. “Did Dad and Hart get into some kind of an argument? What are all those rolls on Dad’s desk? They look like architectural drawings to me. One of Hart’s schemes, trying to involve my father.”

“That’s the ambulance now, Meg.” Hart looked up from exhaling breath into Leo’s slack mouth. He ignored Lyle entirely.

“I’ll let them in.”

“The damned door is open,” Lyle exploded. “I need some explanations here.”

He wasn’t about to get one from Josh Hart.

Clio took the call on her mobile, even though they had started dinner. It had to be an emergency. It was her father, telling her to return home immediately. “It’s your grandfather,” he said, breaking into a harsh sob. Then he hung up without another word.

She made it home in record time, risking being caught for speeding. Leo had been taken ill. That much was certain. She arrived at the mansion just as the ambulance, presumably with Leo on board, turned out onto the road. For one mad moment she considered flagging them down and then thought better of it. Gravel spewed from the tyres as she pulled right to the base of the short fight of steps that led to the house.

Her father met her at the door, anger in his voice such as she had never heard before. “Hart is here.”

“Yes, I saw his Porsche.” She wasn’t aware Josh was back in town. Josh moved around a lot, scouting out land for future development. There was the possibility too he had wanted to stay clear of all the gossip that had engulfed them. Who could blame him? “Tell me quickly. What’s happened? I almost ran into the ambulance.”

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