A Scandal Made In London

‘How?’

‘It wasn’t hard.’

No, it wouldn’t be to a man of his considerable influence and power, but—‘You had no right.’

‘Probably not.’

‘So why?’

His eyebrows shot up, the only sign of expression she’d seen in him since she’d walked in. ‘Why?’

‘Yes, why?’ What was it to him? Even if he did know who she was, which was doubtful, why would he care all of a sudden?

‘You signed up to an escort agency, Kate.’

His tone was brutal and icily condemning but she refused to be intimidated. It was all very well for him and his billions in the bank. Lesser mortals had to think more creatively if they didn’t want to firstly destroy the happiness and security of their vulnerable younger sister, secondly lose the home they’d once shared with their adored, much-missed brother and lastly be declared bankrupt and never work in the field they loved again.

‘And so what?’ she said, resisting the urge to lift her chin since a punchy show of defiance could well make him reassess his decision not to fire her.

‘How could you be so reckless?’

Reckless? She wasn’t reckless. Desperate and exhausted and all out of options, yes, but reckless, no. ‘I’m not. I did my research.’

‘So did I,’ he said ominously.

‘Well, then.’

‘Belle’s Angels is basically an online brothel.’

‘Possibly,’ she had to admit, since there was that aspect to it, ‘but it’s a very high-class one.’

A tiny muscle began to tic in his jaw. ‘That is utterly irrelevant.’

‘No,’ she said. ‘It isn’t. Because this one has different levels of service agreement, and I only signed up to level one.’

He looked at her as if she’d grown two heads. ‘Did you honestly think someone was going to pay you a thousand pounds an hour for conversation?’

‘Why not?’ she said. ‘My conversational skills are first class.’

‘I have no doubt they are. However, believe me, your...clients...would have been expecting far more.’

‘Yes, well, you obviously have more experience of such sites than I do.’

In response to her demure yet pointed little dig Theo’s face darkened and the look he gave her was hard and forbidding. ‘I’ve heard stories,’ he said flatly. ‘None of them good. Do you have any idea of how dangerous it could have been?’

Kate opened her mouth to reply and then closed it because he might have a point there. Truth be told, she hadn’t exactly been thinking entirely rationally when she’d signed up to the site late last night. Another exorbitant bill had just come through from Fairview on top of a none-too-friendly email from the loan company Mike had used and a letter from her mortgage company informing her that she’d missed a payment, as if she needed reminding.

She’d had a couple of glasses of wine to dull the resulting anxiety, but they hadn’t worked; they’d just made her feel even sicker. A documentary about webcamming had been on TV in the background, and in the midst of her despair it had suddenly struck her that sex sold. Extremely well, apparently. And while she wasn’t desperate enough—yet—to perform for the camera, she’d figured there had to be other less extreme options.

It had been remarkably easy to find an appropriate site and register. When she remembered the stash of normal-sized clothes she’d bought over the years because it made her feel dainty and feminine just to know she owned them even though none of them actually fitted, it had seemed as though the stars had aligned. In fact, the most challenging aspect of the whole exercise had been mastering the self-timer on her phone.

Of course she’d considered the possible consequences of her plan—she wasn’t a complete fool—but she’d been at her wits’ end and as a result her assessment had been brief. Conveniently, the pros had vastly outweighed the cons. What cons there were—mainly concerning the sort of people who might use such a site—she’d presumed would be neutralised by the application of filters and a robust screening process.

Clearly, however, there’d been little of that because some of the creepier emails she’d received had been downright disturbing. The staggering sums of money she’d been offered for her virginity, not to mention the many ways it could apparently be relieved, had been even more alarming. And, actually, even the more moderate correspondence had hinted at something other than conversation, so maybe Theo also had a point about her would-be clients’ expectations.

Perhaps, then, in hindsight, she’d had a lucky escape, even if it did mean that her only hope had vanished and she was now back at a terrifying square one. Because if she was being brutally honest, the reality of what the site offered was far seedier than in her naivety she’d imagined, and, regardless of the amount of money on offer, the thought of actually having to go through with some of the more lurid scenarios described made her want to throw up.

‘It is absolutely none of your business,’ she said, not inclined to admit that Theo could be right and give him the upper hand.

‘That’s not strictly true.’

No. Well. There was the small issue of pesky company policy, but still. He had no right to meddle in her affairs in this way. In any way. ‘I don’t need rescuing, Theo,’ she said steadily. ‘I’m twenty-six. I’m eminently sensible and perfectly capable of making my own choices.’ Not that she had many at this precise moment.

‘It doesn’t look like it from where I’m sitting.’

Ooh, he was insufferable. ‘Why do you even care?’

He stared at her silently for a moment, as if he couldn’t work it out either, and the hard intensity of his gaze coupled with the way he seemed to be trying to see into her soul was sending a strange sluggish heat oozing through her blood, detonating tiny sparks along her veins and electrifying her nerves.

To her consternation she found she couldn’t look away. She could hardly breathe. All of a sudden she wanted to get up, clamber over his desk and plaster herself against him. And then she wanted to—well, she wasn’t quite sure what she wanted to do next since she had little experience of such things, but she wanted to find out. So badly she was ablaze with it.

Appalled at and bewildered by her reaction, she shifted in an attempt to alleviate the fizzing of her stomach and the prickling of her heated skin, but all that did was inch her skirt up her thighs, at which point Theo’s darkening gaze dropped to her legs and lingered there a while, which sent the heat buzzing through her shooting straight down to the spot where she suddenly, alarmingly, burned.

Maybe she moved again, maybe she let out an audibly breathy gasp. She didn’t know. But Theo jerked his gaze back up, his expression once again cold and inscrutable, and the tension snapped.

‘I take it you need the money,’ he said bluntly, and all she could think was money? What money?

Ah.

Well, of course she needed the money, she thought, tugging her skirt back down with annoyingly shaky fingers as the reminder of her precarious financial state obliterated the bizarre heat and dizziness and refocused her attention. Why else would she do it? She wasn’t that desperate for a date. ‘I do.’

‘How much?’

‘A lump sum of a hundred thousand, plus around five thousand a month on an on-going basis for the next sixty, possibly seventy, years.’

Up shot his eyebrows. ‘That’s a lot of money.’

Really?

‘I am aware of that,’ she said coolly. And now, thanks to him and his high-handed ways, it was a lot of money she still had to somehow find because, quite apart from the distressing threat of homelessness, she was not having Milly moved when she was so happy and secure where she was.

‘It’s a concern,’ he said.

‘You’re telling me.’

‘It’s my concern.’

‘How?’

‘You’re an accountant,’ he said. ‘You’re about to finish your probation, at which point you will have access to certain aspects of the company’s bank accounts. Fraud is a risk.’

What the—?

Kate blinked at him, for a moment completely lost for words. Was he being serious? ‘Are you suggesting I might indulge in a little light embezzlement in order to pay my bills?’

‘It’s a possibility.’

‘It is not a possibility because I am not a criminal,’ she said heatedly.

‘What do you need it for?’

Kate took a deep breath to soothe the outrage surging through her. ‘I have a younger sister,’ she said. ‘Milly. She was in the car accident that killed our parents ten years ago.’ She swallowed hard but made herself continue. ‘She survived but she suffered catastrophic brain injuries. She can’t live on her own. She needs twenty-four-hour care. The insurance pay-out only covers the most basic of facilities, which just aren’t good enough.’

For a few long moments, Theo said nothing, just frowned. And then he nodded, as if something in his head had slotted into place. ‘Your brother used to fund the rest.’

Ah. So he did know who she was.

Well.

‘He did,’ she said, steeling herself against the surge of grief that still sometimes shot out of nowhere and walloped her in the chest. ‘And there was some money from his estate, but it’s run out.’

‘His flat?’

‘Rented. A few months before his death he gave it up and moved in with me.’

‘Life insurance?’

‘He didn’t have any.’ If only. ‘Believe me, if there was any money anywhere I’d have found it. After he died I discovered that he’d been taking out high-interest loans. They need repaying, like, yesterday.’

‘I see.’

Did he? she wondered, swallowing down the tight ball of emotion that had lodged in her throat. She doubted it. The gut-wrenching combination of despair, guilt, anger, grief and dread she’d felt when she’d found out what Mike had done had to be unique. Besides, had Theo ever needed money so badly he’d do anything to get it? Unlikely. He’d made his first million by the age of seventeen and his fortune had rocketed year on year since.

‘You’ll have it.’

She stared at him in bewilderment. What was he talking about? Have it? Have what? ‘I’m sorry?’

‘Give me the details and I’ll pay off the debt and set up a trust fund to pay for whatever your sister needs for however long she needs it.’

What?

Oh.

Right.

Wow.

‘Are you serious?’ she asked in stunned disbelief.

‘Yes.’

‘Why would you do that?’

His eyes clouded and she caught a glimpse of what bizarrely looked like...what? Guilt? Anguish? Regret? As if. By all accounts he didn’t do emotion any more than he did friends, so who knew? It was most likely irritation that he’d had to interrupt his no doubt busy schedule to deal with what he perceived to be a problem. ‘Because I can,’ he said eventually.

That was undeniably true. He was one of the ten richest men in the world according to one newspaper article she’d read. What she needed might amount to millions but to him it was a rounding error. Nevertheless, what ultra-successful reportedly ruthless businessman did something like that?

‘Do you really expect me to believe you’re that altruistic?’ she asked, unable to keep the scepticism from her tone.

‘I don’t particularly care what you believe.’

Nice. ‘Well, thank you,’ she said primly. ‘But I can’t accept it.’

‘Why not?’

Hmm. Where to start? Because she didn’t like him and the thought of being indebted to a man she loathed was abhorrent? Because any man who could single-handedly close down a large, foreign website was to be treated with caution and she didn’t trust him an inch? She could hardly tell him any of that. He was still her boss.

‘It’s too much,’ she said instead.

‘Not from my perspective.’

‘Still no.’

‘Where else are you going to get the money?’

‘I’ll think of something.’ Hadn’t her brief foray into the shady world of online escorts proved that? Surely she’d be able to come up with a workable solution, one that didn’t involve seedy sex or overbearing men.

‘It sounds like you’d better think of it quickly.’

Well, yes, there was that. She was running out of time. Fast. How much longer did she have? How much more could she take? She was so tired of worrying about the money. About the debt and the reduced quality of life her sister might have if she had to move because she—Kate—had failed. About losing her home and the precious memories she had of her brother. The responsibilities she now had, which landed entirely on her shoulders, were crushing, bewildering, overwhelming. Sometimes she wished she could just go to bed for a month and cry.

‘Just out of interest, what would you want in return?’ she asked, because even if she had been considering it, which she wasn’t, surely that amount of money would come with strings.

‘Nothing.’

She stared at him. ‘Nothing?’

He gave a brief nod. ‘That’s right.’

‘Why not?’

‘Do I need a reason?’

‘I would. You’re in the business of deal-making. No one ever gets something for nothing. Even I know that.’

‘You have my word.’

‘I don’t know what your word is worth.’ What if hypothetically she agreed and he suddenly decided that his money gave him the right to influence Milly’s future? What if at some point he decided to stop?

‘I’ll have a contract drawn up,’ he said, clearly able to read the scepticism that must have been written all over her face. ‘You can state the terms. I won’t challenge them.’

‘Things that sound too good to be true generally are.’

His jaw tightened. ‘Just accept my offer, Kate. It’s the only one on the table.’

True. But—‘I’d never be able to repay you.’

‘There’d be no need.’

‘I’d feel a need.’

‘Then I suggest you get over it,’ he said tersely, ‘because you should know that I will be doing this, with or without your consent. Your agreement will merely speed things up.’

And quite suddenly, in the face of such intransigence, what remained of Kate’s resistance suddenly crumbled. Why was she still fighting this? She was running on fumes and at her wits’ end. What Theo was proposing would obliterate all her worries and stresses overnight. So if he could afford it and wanted to help, why shouldn’t she let him? Maybe he did feel something after all. Maybe he and Mike had been good friends. Ultimately, did it even matter? She didn’t need to like him, and his motivations were none of her concern. He was offering her a ‘no strings attached’ deal, which would get the debt collectors off her back and, more importantly, ensure Milly’s comfort for the rest of her life as well as the best treatments available. So despite feeling as though she might be making a deal with the devil, she couldn’t not accept his help. She just couldn’t.

‘Okay, fine,’ she said with a brief nod. ‘You win.’

CHAPTER TWO

HE’D WON, HAD HE?

Hmm...

Theo wasn’t so sure. He might have achieved the outcome he’d been intent on getting, but in reality, given the massive debt he owed Mike, the provision of financial support for Kate and her sister was long overdue and it certainly didn’t lessen the crushing omnipresent guilt he felt over the part he’d played in their brother’s death. If anything, it made it worse because he hadn’t known about the loans and he should have.

And then there was the battle for his self-control, which he’d started waging the moment Kate had walked into his office and detonated a savagely fierce and wholly unexpected reaction inside him. Was he winning that? By the skin of his teeth, and only then because he had years of practice.

He had not been prepared for her effect on him. The first and last time they’d met—at her brother’s funeral, an insanely tough and gruelling experience for a number of reasons—had certainly given no indication. This evening, however, she’d come through that door and for some unfathomable reason every sense he possessed had instantly sprung to high alert. The way she’d moved—languidly and sinuously graceful—had mesmerised him, and as she’d approached his desk, that web page she’d set up had slammed back into his head. So much for thinking he’d successfully excised it from his memory. Clearly he’d merely drawn a veil across it, a veil that her appearance in his space had instantly swept back.

With every step she took towards him, his blood had begun to heat and questions had started ricocheting around his head. Forget her vital statistics and her hobbies, he’d thought, his pulse thudding heavily and his body hardening. What he’d like to know more about was the tattoo. Where was it, and what was it of?

Then there was the tiny yet somehow momentous detail regarding her sexual experience. The ‘none’ of it implied that she was still a virgin, but regardless of its meaning, it shouldn’t have been of the slightest interest. However, infuriatingly, he seemed to find it fascinating because all he could think was, why? She was twenty-six and it couldn’t be from lack of opportunity. She looked like a goddess. Not, perhaps, conventionally beautiful, but certainly breathtakingly striking with her long blonde hair and big blue eyes and above average height.

And last, but by no means least, there were the photos, the last two in particular, which once seen could not unfortunately be unseen and were now indelibly etched into his memory. Those had had him instinctively thinking about the suite adjoining his office, the oversized bed he had in there, and her sprawled across it wearing nothing but that negligee.

Such a savage and unexpected assault on his senses had decimated his self-control and his body had responded—and was still responding—in the inevitable way, hence the subsequent battle.

However, he was concealing the attraction scorching through his blood effectively enough and he was well used to conducting a conversation that bore no reality to what was going on inside him. He might have been momentarily distracted when she’d shifted and the movement had exposed even more lovely long leg that he’d suddenly, appallingly, wanted to touch, but their discussion had remained—and would continue to remain—firmly on track. Kate would never have any idea of the fierce need pounding away inside him. It was purely physical and of zero importance anyway, and nothing she could do or say would ever entice him to yield to it. Not the blush on her cheeks, not the darkening of her irises, not the soft breathy gasp.

‘Is there anything else you need?’ he said coolly, his voice bearing not even a hint of the inner turmoil he was experiencing.

‘No. Thank you. I have everything else under control.’

Lucky her. ‘Let me know if that changes.’

‘Of course,’ she said, about to move again before clearly thinking the better of it, thank God, and adding, ‘And, actually, thank you for your offer of help. That “you win” of mine was churlish.’

‘It was.’

‘Although, to be fair, you had just ridden roughshod over my plans without any consideration for my feelings.’

She had a point, just not one he could bring himself to apologise for. ‘Perhaps.’

‘Nevertheless, that’s no excuse,’ she continued. ‘I apologise. My parents were particularly hot on manners. They’d be spinning in their graves at my lack of them...’ She tailed off for a moment, a flash of sorrow flitting across her expression, but then gave herself a quick shake. ‘Anyway,’ she said briskly, ‘I really am grateful for your offer. And since this seems to be the moment for it, I suppose I also ought to thank you for closing down that website.’

Sitting back and ignoring the desire to respond to that moment of grief because he didn’t do emotion and it was no business of his anyway, Theo rested his elbows on the arms of his chair. ‘Oh?’ he said, arching an eyebrow since only five minutes ago she’d been outraged by what he’d done. ‘Why?’

‘There were emails,’ she said with a shudder. ‘Disturbing ones. There are some very sick people out there.’

‘What did you expect?’ he said, not even wanting to think about the offers she might have received.

‘I’m not entirely sure,’ she said with a naivety he envied because he’d give everything he had not to know the depths people could sink to. ‘A few emails perhaps, maybe resulting in one or two regular clients with more money than sense. Certainly not that kind of a response. To be honest, it never occurred to me that my virginity would cause such a furore.’

He’d never have imagined taking such an interest in it either. He still couldn’t work out why he did. ‘You are pretty unique.’

Her eyebrows lifted and another blush tinged her cheeks. ‘Am I?’

‘In this day and age a twenty-six-year-old virgin is unusual.’

She appeared to deflate for a moment, but then rallied. ‘I suppose so,’ she said with a shrug.

‘What’s the issue?’

‘It’s none of your business.’

‘True.’

She tilted her head. ‘Why would you want to know anyway?’

Good question. He barely knew her. He didn’t do personal and didn’t need to know. He certainly had no intention of helping her out with it, and where the hell had that idea even come from? Nonetheless, he could tell himself all he liked that it was important to be in full possession of all the facts so he could stop her embarking on any further acts of recklessness, but the plain truth was that for some reason he just wanted to know. ‘I’m curious.’

‘It’s hardly an appropriate topic for a boss/employee conversation,’ she countered. ‘And besides, I’m still on probation.’

No problem there. He’d spoken to her line manager in the accounts department earlier just in case she did need firing. Fortunately, she didn’t. Her work was superb and she was a reliable, valued member of the team.

‘You’re excellent at your job,’ he said. ‘You’ll pass it. And we crossed the boss/employee line the minute you tried to access the Belle’s Angels site from a computer I own.’

‘Nevertheless, no.’

‘Okay, fine,’ he said, annoyed with himself for pushing it. He wasn’t that curious, dammit. If she didn’t want to tell him, so what? In fact, it was a good thing, because she ought to go. The battle he was having to keep his eyes off her legs and his mind off the rest of her was taking more effort than he’d anticipated. Their business was concluded and, frankly, the sooner he could get back to work, back to normal, the better. ‘You can see yourself out.’

Kate watched Theo nod in the direction of the door and then turn his attention to whatever was on his computer screen, and thought that if that wasn’t a cue to leave, she didn’t know what was. As dismissals went it was unambiguous. She’d refused to play ball and he’d lost interest. Which was fine. There was no way she was going to share the issues surrounding her non-existent sex-life with her boss, of all people. Imagine the humiliation. It didn’t bear thinking about.

Therefore his cue was one she was going to take. Right now. She was going to get up, waltz out and go home, where she could ponder at length this evening’s whole surreal conversation and, when it came to her money troubles, pinch herself hard.

So why wasn’t she moving? Why did her bottom appear to be glued to the chair? Why was her heart hammering at such a rate it might crack a rib and why was a cold sweat breaking out all over her skin? She couldn’t actually be thinking of telling him what he wanted to know, could she?

No. It was out of the question. Theo Knox was the very last man she ought to want to confide in, although her brother had obviously had time for the guy and he was prepared to come through for Milly so maybe he wasn’t all bad. But that was irrelevant. Spilling her innermost thoughts and fears to him would be insane. Complete and utter professional suicide. Not to mention epically mortifying. Besides, why would she even want to? She shouldn’t. She didn’t.