Her Best Laid Plans

‘Like I said, this is just stuff.’ He paused. ‘I suppose I’d better warn you. London may be a little … more, than this.’

She whistled softly under her breath and looked around once more. ‘Okay. So essentially what you’re telling me is that I was a fool to turn down your, at the time insulting, but I now realise practical, offer of dressing me for this job, given that your family are rich and I’m about to look thoroughly out of place?’

‘What you have on is fine.’

More than fine. The simple royal-blue shift and matching heels transformed her into a sleek, confident career woman, who now looked way too grown up, way too sophisticated, way too hot and way too available. Somehow he thought he’d be safer if she was back in the usual gypsy-like clothes she wore. At least there’d be less smooth skin on show.

‘But they are—you are … rich?’ she tentatively asked.

He inclined his head a fraction.

‘Lord. How rich? Like they invented money, rich?’

Jared pursed his lips to stop the smile from growing.

‘Oh, you are in such trouble, mister. Right, I need a complete etiquette run-down pronto. Make every word count or I’ll probably be thrown out the country before we even set down.’

Jared leaned forward in his seat, ‘You don’t need any kind of run-down. You’ll be absolutely fine. There are no mistakes you can make that could be seen as not done in King company because you are not there for the King family. You’re there for me. You don’t answer to anyone but me and if anyone upsets you or asks you to do something you feel isn’t appropriate you tell me and I will sort it out.’

From Amanda’s raised eyebrow he realised he may have gone a little over the top. Her large brown eyes bore into him and then slowly she reached out to get her flute of champagne. She took a long, slow sip and remained silent. A good tactic, he realised, as it made him feel as though he should explain himself.

‘Look. I just don’t want you to feel that all of the stuff that comes with the name is more important than it actually is, or that it’s designed as a way of intimidating a person.’

Amanda leant forward in her seat, her ringless hands dangling the champagne flute delicately in front of her.

‘Jared, why haven’t you seen your family for so long? If I don’t understand at least some of it how can I have your back? And that is, primarily, why I’m here, isn’t it—to have your back? I’m the extra eyes and ears. If you just wanted someone to make appointments for you, you could have brought over one of your lim—’ she stopped and brought the glass hurriedly to her lips.

‘One of my what?’

‘Limpets,’ she said defiantly.

‘You call my girlfriends Limpets?’ He didn’t know whether to be amused or horrified.

‘Don’t change the subject.’

Jared leant back in his chair.

How did one explain ten years of no contact or the ugly year preceding it? Badly, he guessed.

‘I haven’t seen my family since the day I was no longer considered King business material and as a consequence no longer considered King family material.’

‘The two are synonymous?’

‘Where my father’s concerned? Absolutely.’ He tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice. One look at her stricken expression and he wasn’t entirely certain he’d managed it.

Amanda gradually became aware her mouth was hanging open. ‘You were kicked out of your own family? I don’t get it; you have more integrity than any man I know.’ Had that been the wrong thing to say? Something fierce flashed in his eyes but then he blinked and it was gone.

‘I was a spoilt, irresponsible, selfish young man who bought shame on the family name.’

‘Baloney!’

‘There isn’t any one part of that statement that isn’t true.’

‘No way!’

‘No?’

She didn’t like the way he was so convincing and had a feeling that at any moment the shutters would fall. She took another sip of champagne and thought for a second before speaking.

‘Okay, well … so now you’re going back a changed man. A successful businessman with a reputation for being forward-thinking, shrewd, and above all, fair. What?’ she asked, taking in his half-smile, ‘so I did some research, read a few articles. The point is, even if what you say is true, and I don’t for one minute think it’s the whole truth, you’re now older, wiser and more mature. Your father will be proud.’

She wanted desperately to take that glint out of his eyes. The one that told her he thought she was being naive. She didn’t want to be thought of as naive by him. She wanted to be thought of as the voice of reason. But there was still so much she didn’t understand.

‘He won’t be proud of the fact that you went into the same line of business?’ She watched the quick shrug of his shoulders and couldn’t determine whether Jared didn’t care if his father was proud, or deliberately didn’t care that he might not be. ‘Well, isn’t it lucky for him that you did—the fact that he needs your help now—’

‘Oh, I doubt he even knows of Nora’s rescue mission.’

‘So, I guess this whole trip is going to be trickier than I realised, but you’ve probably been working on those plans of yours twenty-four-seven. I trust you.’ Her eyes bounced off the stack of documents between them and up to study the strong features of his face. She looked into his eyes and suddenly the atmosphere in the small jet felt charged, as if they’d passed through an electrical storm.

‘Are you sure you should?’

She watched him watching her as she brought the champagne hastily to her lips and took a healthy last swallow. ‘Don’t be ridiculous. Of course I trust you.’ Once again his green eyes sparked with something she didn’t understand, and quickly turned inscrutable. ‘Want to hear my plan?’ she said, aiming for some light humour.

‘Your plan?’ Jared mocked.

She tipped her head, touché. ‘Proposal then. I propose we land, settle in, you have a few deep-and-meaningfuls with the family, a board meeting is convened, you present your plan to save the company and then tomorrow? Well, I hear the shopping is fantastic.’

Jared was silent a moment. He swirled the remaining amber liquid in his glass, considering. In one smooth motion he downed the last mouthful and she distinctly heard the last piece of ice being crunched between his teeth. He grinned.

‘Do you know in all my figuring out the angles, that wasn’t the way I ended up going.’

‘It wasn’t?’ Why did she have a funny feeling? Her hand pressed gently over the butterflies flitting about inside her stomach.

‘Well for a start who said anything about saving KPC?’

The tiny air-pocket that the jet hit, causing Amanda to be lifted slightly and then set down abruptly in her seat, was nothing compared with the shock of Jared’s statement and the ruthless edge she didn’t recognise.

Chapter Three

‘You’ve gone mad.’ Amanda accused, struggling to keep up with him. She barely registered the plush private airport lounge as they proceeded towards the exit at what seemed like a hundred miles an hour. ‘You’re out of your mind.’

‘Why? For putting a failing business out of its misery?’

‘But, it’s not just any business; it’s the family business. And it would be for all the wrong reasons.’

If she had thought for one minute he’d asked her to travel thousands of miles to help him push the final nail into an eighty-year-old family business, just because he hadn’t been allowed to be a part of it, she would never have come. There were few things she stood firm on. Family was family. ‘Jared, you are not about wrong reasons. You are about right reasons. Hey,’ she finally managed to get a half step in front of him, and as her hand shot out to stop him in his tracks it landed full square on his chest, right over his heart. She kept it there as she spoke. ‘As I was saying, you are all about integrity. Fact: the friendship you share with Mikey is based on just that—friendship and not because you feel responsible for his accident.’ She felt his heart thump solidly against his chest. Finally, she had his attention. ‘I see you struggling with that sometimes and yet you never let it get in the way. You don’t think I had to wrestle with, and let go of, the fact you paid Mikey’s medical bills and for the house to be specially adapted?’ She pushed back against his hard chest when he made to step forward. ‘If you tell me you did that solely out of guilt, I think I’ll hate you!’ He blinked and she pressed her advantage. The shutters came down but his heart was still thumping. ‘If you do this, just because you can, what does that say about you?’

‘You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.’

‘So then, explain it to me. Family is family, Jared.’

‘Family is not always family. Family is sometimes—’ but then Jared broke off to stare ahead of them. ‘Sephy?’ he called out softly.

Frowning, Amanda followed his gaze in time to see a beautiful woman with flowing jet-black hair jog towards him. She was carrying an equally beautiful toddler.

‘Jared—’ the woman broke off; seemingly at a loss for words but then someone wriggled in her arms and a smile lit up her face. ‘This is Daisy; my daughter,’ she said proudly, offering a giggling Daisy up for inspection.

Amanda looked at the stunned expression on Jared’s face and when it became apparent he was incapable of speech, she stepped in.

‘I’m Amanda, Jared’s PA.’ She reached out to stroke a fingertip over Daisy’s chubby forearm. ‘Hello, Daisy.’

Jared’s eyes lingered on Amanda’s outstretched finger before he slowly seemed to collect himself.

‘Amanda, this is my other sister Seraphina—Sephy, and, er, her daughter.’ He shot questioning eyes to his sister and Amanda realised that he hadn’t even known he was an uncle.

Maybe he was right. Maybe family wasn’t always family as she understood it. She only had Mikey since their parents had died and they were such a unit, she couldn’t envisage being strangers, the way Jared and his sisters had so obviously become. She wanted badly to place her hand in his and offer a squeeze of comfort, but was fairly certain that PA’s didn’t do that.

‘Okay, I’m confused,’ Sephy said. ‘Nora gave me the impression you were Jared’s—’

‘No,’ Amanda hastily cut in. ‘Not at all. There was a gargantuan mix-up on my part when I met your sister. We’re strictly professional. Er, that is, we have a strictly professional relationship.’ She shot a look towards Jared that said, ‘Pull yourself together and help me dig myself out of this hole, will you?’ and it seemed to work, because from out of nowhere Jared grinned, Daisy gurgled and Sephy chuckled.

‘No problem.’ Sephy assured. ‘I have a car waiting to take us back to the house.’

‘Amanda and I are not staying at the house.’

Sephy instantly plopped Daisy down beside her and reached for her phone. She punched in a number and managed to grab Daisy before the toddler could shoot off.

‘Nora? You were right. Er,’ she looked up at Jared with a question on her face and he sighed and took the phone from her.

Amanda watched him take control with natural ease. Could she find a way to get him to at least look at the business before he waltzed in and pronounced it beyond saving? Was it really her place? He was the expert here, not her. Most definitely not her, she thought, feeling the nerves start to gather.

She glanced at Sephy and Daisy. They were watching Jared; rapt fascination on their faces and she had to smile. He tended to have that effect on people. She tuned back in and heard him say, ‘Well you’ll have to find a new plan then … I’m glad you understand. I’ll tell her.’ He snapped the phone shut, ‘She said to tell you to go ahead with Plan B,’ looking at Amanda he said, ‘We’ll be staying at Nora’s apartment in the City. She’s staying elsewhere.’

Her nervous feelings doubled as she acknowledged an underlying zing of excitement. Wasn’t the property in the UK supposed to be all small and poky? Wouldn’t they end up all on top of one another? Her eyes grew wide at the Technicolor graphic her imagination supplied. Realising Jared was looking at her oddly she rallied herself, smiling benignly when his eyebrow raised in query.

She had to get a proper grip of herself. What did she care if plans changed and she wasn’t staying in the sprawling formal country estate with space to spare? She was Amanda go-with-the-flow Gray. No sweat. No problem.

Later, travelling in the lift up to Nora’s penthouse apartment, Amanda tried to stave off the mounting apprehension as to what Jared would say to her when they were alone. Surely she’d over-stepped the mark when she’d virtually accused him of deliberately hanging the family business out to dry?

Before she could dwell too much on his reaction, the lift doors opened onto acres of creamy deep-piled carpet. Light pooled in through floor-to-ceiling windows that framed a view of the city.

‘Oh. Wow.’ Amanda walked over to stare at the London skyline, desperate to grab her camera and guide book out of her bag and run off and explore.

She turned to find Jared watching her with a soft smile on his face. Her heart missed a beat. He didn’t look as though he was holding a grudge. She crossed her eyes comically to show she realised she was being a bit gauche and picked up some of her bags to head off, she hoped, in the direction of the bedrooms.

Choosing the smaller room with its silk, champagne-coloured wallpaper and beautifully polished Venetian furniture, she set about unpacking, content to leave brother, sister and niece to some private time. After storing her toiletries in the sumptuous bathroom she crossed back to the plate-glass window in front of the bed. At night she’d be able to see thousands of artificial lights wobbling back at her from their reflection in the Thames below. Running her hand over the pane, she realised that the intricate skyline was cleverly etched onto the glass. Idly tracing it with her finger, she wondered if the window was redone as the skyline changed. Maybe they didn’t have to. Maybe nothing changed here. She shook her head at her naivety; as if London was any different to anywhere else. Everything changed sooner or later. That was why it did no good to plan. Zoning back in to the sound of stilted conversation in the living room area, she went to join them.

‘—wait till you see Dad with Daisy,’ Sephy was saying. ‘She has him wrapped around her little finger and he loves it, doesn’t he, Daisy?’ Daisy giggled back up at her mother but Amanda was more intrigued by the look of pure disbelief on Jared’s face.

‘You’ll see. You’re both invited for dinner, by the way.’

‘I’m afraid tonight’s out of the question.’

Amanda busied herself searching her capacious handbag for a notebook, but not before she saw a look of disappointment pass over Sephy’s face.

‘Of course. No rush. You probably have jet lag or something. Um, you may not remember, but Dad always holds a winter party and this year it’s on the 26th. You’re both welcome.’

‘Has he even been told I’m here or why I’m here?’

‘Of course. Nora would never have flown over to see you unless father had sanctioned it.’

‘Of course,’ Jared mimicked.

Amanda winced into her handbag and heard Sephy rush on.

‘He knows this is to be conducted on your terms—’

Jared’s laugh was tinged with bitterness. ‘Tell me, where is the real Jeremy King and what have you done with him?’

In the awkward silence, Amanda’s anxious handbag-search became more pronounced.

‘The real Jeremy King,’ Sephy said through pinched lips, ‘is right where he’s always been, Jared.’ She started stuffing Daisy’s bits and bobs into her bag. ‘He’s not the one who left.’ She grabbed up Daisy in her other arm and walked towards the lift.

‘Well stop her, then, idiot.’ For a moment, as Amanda watched Jared’s head whip around to his sister’s departing back, she thought she’d uttered the words aloud.

But then the lift doors swished shut, leaving Amanda and Jared alone.

Emotion pulled at Jared’s features, making the beautiful sculpted bones of his face stand even more proud. Amanda wanted to soothe him, hating she the fact that she didn’t know what he needed. She cleared her throat, ‘Well. I’m no reunion connoisseur, but under the circumstances I think that went quite well, don’t you?’

Jared was busy computing Sephy’s parting words. He didn’t understand. Could it be that neither of his sisters had been told of what had happened back then? How was that possible?

He shook his head slightly in automatic denial. It was simply inconceivable that his father had been trying to protect him. No, it made more sense that his father was simply protecting his daughters. Better his sisters think ill of their brother and the choices they thought he’d willingly made.

All of a sudden, he felt absolutely shattered.

‘Feel like taking a walk?’ he asked, raising dead eyes to Amanda.

‘Sure, just let me grab my guide book and I’ll leave you alone for a couple of hours.’

‘No. I meant with me.’

Her smile lit up the room and in the moment he refused to feel guilty that he’d manipulated her into accompanying him on this trip. By way of recompense, he’d make sure she went home with a reference that would get her any job she wanted.

They walked the City’s streets and now and then he’d point out a building and give a potted history lesson. She absorbed every word and with each infectious smile he felt his inner turmoil melting away. When was the last time he’d taken time out to admire the buildings he had systematically acquired? When had he forgotten it was the buildings themselves which had first inspired him and not just the simplicity of adding them to his portfolio? Probably around the time he’d realised he was good at acquiring things, that he’d inherited some of the King genes after all, and that it would be satisfaction itself if he were able to acquire more in a larger playing field than his father. Then, never again could he be accused of being …

A large raindrop splashed on the bridge of his nose, breaking into his reverie. He looked around for Amanda and found her crouching gracefully under a tree, camera pointing upwards.

‘Won’t the lens get wet?’

She shrugged her shoulders and motioned for him to adopt a similar stance as she passed the camera to him. ‘Look straight up, between those two branches. See the angel from the statue opposite reflected perfectly in the glass of the office block?’

He took the photograph and passed the camera back to her. Not many people would look through something to see what was behind it. ‘You’ve never thought of going professional?’

The shadows passed over her features as she looked at the photo he’d taken, altered some of her settings and took up her position again to take the shot. ‘I’d just completed my first year of study when Mikey had his accident.’

‘I thought you were studying business?’

‘I was. I guess photography was just for fun. You know—something extra.’

She held the camera up to her face again, and then, when he suspected she’d composed herself, lowered it and moved off.

He followed at a slower pace, sighing internally when he realised which building she’d reached.

‘So this is where we come tomorrow?’

‘Yes.’

Together their eyes swept over the intimidating steel sculpture that spelt out KPC in the foreground of the towering office block. Amanda stepped closer to peer into the lobby at the enormous potted trees and marble reception area, where a security guard sat staring at a bank of screens.

Hunching into his coat, Jared turned and began walking.

He could tell the exact moment she caught up with him; her presence thawing the icicles forming in his veins. He took one step away, trying to protect the ice that was creeping and crawling up his spine. He deserved all the punishing feelings that this particular building evoked. Turning abruptly, he stared at the office tower immediately opposite and felt the same sickening jolt.

He hadn’t realised he’d wandered into this particular plaza.

‘Wow,’ she whispered, ‘great combination of office and courtyard.’

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