A Daring Deception

“Did it ever occur to you, Nathan, that I’m not the person you think I am?”

Nathan’s lips curved mockingly. “No, but you couldn’t seriously expect me to. I’m one of the few people who know from experience that there’s more to you than meets the eye.”

Rachel laughed out of sheer disbelief. “You truly believe that you know me that well?” She shook her head helplessly. “You’re wrong, you know.”

His brows rose skeptically. “Are you asking me to believe that you’re a reformed character? Sorry, darling, but as felines go, you’re as sleek as they come”

“You’re very sure of yourself, aren’t you?” she asked through gritted teeth.

He looked at her, blue eyes glittering sardonically. “Very sure. Remember that if you’re ever tempted to take me on.”

Oh, she was tempted, all right, and when the time was right, she would act.

AMANDA BROWNING still lives in the Essex house where she was born. The third of four children—her sister being her twin—she enjoyed the rough and tumble of life with two brothers as much as she did reading books. Writing came naturally as an outlet for a fertile imagination. The love of books led her to a career in libraries, and being single allowed her to take the leap into writing for a living. Success is still something of a wonder, but allows her to indulge in hobbies as varied as embroidery and bird-watching.

A Daring Deception

Amanda Browning

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ONE

RACHEL SHAW gritted her teeth together in silent annoyance and paced back along the corridor. It was hot today, and the silk of her white blouse and black skirt clung uncomfortably to her skin, emphasising her hourglass figure. Her long legs, encased in sheer nylon, carried her back to the other end in seconds. As she eyed the lift, and the mute testimony of its closed door, her strikingly beautiful face, with its large green eyes and generous mouth, lost its customary serenity and took on a sternness that only one man could produce. Nathan Wade. This was typical of him. Absolutely typical. The only time the damned man was punctual was for a date with some beautiful woman or other.

Immediately she winced, knowing that was unfair. Nathan was good at his job, managing the merchant bank her great-great-grandfather had set up in the last century, and he took it extremely seriously. It was simply that when it came to answering a summons from her grandfather he could be counted upon to turn up only when he was ready and not a moment before. It was her own ridiculous jealousy talking.

What a joke that was. She, who, after her parent’s disastrous marriage and messy divorce, had declared she would never fall in love, and had never dated any man for more than a few weeks, had fallen like a ton of bricks for a man with the same attitude, and was now green with jealousy. She hated the thought of him with those other women, but there was nothing she could do about it. Not even if she knew how. Because, for reasons she had yet to fathom, Nathan Wade had taken an instant dislike to her. Nothing in the past two years had changed that.

She refused to allow it to worry her, even though his attitude had at first angered, then hurt her. An emotion she most certainly did not like. She had her fair share of pride, and refused to let him catch even a glimpse of her true feelings. Which was easy when they rarely came into contact with each other. By day she ran a catering business with her cousin, ranging from private parties to small functions. They were both cordon bleu trained, and because no job was too small business was booming. By night, when she wasn’t working, she had an extremely full social life, being seen at all the in places, though never with the same escort for long. That aspect of her lifestyle hadn’t changed.

Recently, though, she had had to juggle two jobs. Her grandfather Linus Shaw’s private personal assistant had had a serious accident and was recovering slowly. By rights he should have brought in a temporary assistant, but, being Linus, he hated change. Therefore he had turned to Rachel, his favourite granddaughter, for help. She, as he had known full well, had been unable to refuse him, so for the past few months she had been helping him with his not inconsiderable correspondence, and aiding him in the writing of his memoirs. He had been, she was discovering, every bit as flamboyant as Nathan Wade, which was probably why they fought so often. Notwithstanding that, there was genuine respect and affection between the two men, and they would probably get along much better if Linus was less fond of issuing orders that Nathan generally ignored.

As a rule, Rachel could sympathise with the younger man, but there was something about this latest summons which was different from the others. Linus was worried, and that was why she was pacing the floor outside the spacious flat overlooking Kensington Gardens that Linus Shaw had called home since his retirement from the world of high finance.

She took yet another glance at her wristwatch, and even as she did so the lift doors slid silently open, revealing the single male occupant. Her head came up and her heart did its customary flip-flop at the sight of him, although it hadn’t taken her long to learn what a waste of time it was to be attracted to this particular man. He had the attention span of a goldfish when it came to women, and changed them as often as he changed his socks. That was the irony of it. Of all the men she could have fallen for, she had had to pick one with an aversion to commitment just as she had.

In those circumstances it shouldn’t have bothered her that he didn’t like her, but it did. She didn’t know what she had done to offend him. Ordinarily she would have taken the bull by the horns and demanded to know the reason for his disdain, only her newly sensitive heart had quailed. Did she really want to know? Would it change anything? The answer to both questions having been no, she had kept her feelings well and truly hidden behind a disdainful contempt of her own for what she termed his alley-cat proclivities.

However, that didn’t stop her being pleased to see him, though she would rather eat worms than let him know it. Which was why right now her forehead creased into a frown of disapproval.

‘You’re late,’ she informed the man who had pushed himself away from the wall and stepped out into the expensively carpeted hallway.

Nathan Wade’s right eyebrow lifted quizzically. ‘Miss me, sweetheart? I didn’t know you cared.’

Rachel snorted, wondering for the trillionth time why he alone had to have a voice which crept along her spine like the softest of soft caresses. Instinctively she stiffened her backbone an extra notch. ‘I don’t. For myself. If you never turned up again I wouldn’t lose a wink of sleep.’ Great Rachel another lie to add to an already long list! To think of never seeing him again made her feel strangely queasy inside. ‘However, my grandfather seems to think highly of you. Why escapes me, but these things happen. I put up with you for his sake.’

‘As a dutiful granddaughter should. Especially as you are far and away Linus’s favourite, and therefore must loom large in his will. Something you wouldn’t want to put at risk,’ Nathan remarked sardonically, making her blood boil. Her love for her grandfather was very real, and had nothing at all to do with money.

‘Don’t be so disgusting!’ she protested sharply, and found herself under the unflinching scrutiny of a pair of fine blue eyes.

‘He still thinks butter wouldn’t melt in your mouth, doesn’t he? What does he think of the array of chinless wonders that wander in and out of your life?’ Nathan probed, and Rachel’s eyes narrowed wrathfully.

‘You’re a fine one to talk, Nathan Holier-than-Thou Wade! How many boxes of long-stemmed red roses did you send out to women this time?’ she asked, saccharine-sweet in lieu of answering his question.

Nathan had been touring the European branches of the world-renowned bank for the past several weeks. She doubted very much if he had remained celibate the whole time. In fact, if he had had the use of a company jet, she was pretty sure he would have taken along some light female entertainment to relieve the boredom!

Rather than taking offence, Nathan let his lips curl into a damned attractive smile. ‘One or two. I forget the exact number.’

She sent him a withering look, even as her heart twinged. ‘I bet you do.’

‘You know, that sounds an awful lot like sour grapes to me, sweetheart,’ he drawled, getting under her skin with the skill of a surgeon.

Despite her best efforts, the little green-eyed monster was alive and well inside her. Notwithstanding, Rachel afforded him an old-fashioned look. ‘Credit me with some intelligence. I’d have to be mad to want to get involved with a man like you. Fortunately for me, insanity doesn’t run in my family,’ she responded dryly.

‘There are a lot of women out there who don’t see it as insanity,’ Nathan argued, with a reminiscent gleam in his eye.

‘The operative words being “a lot of women”,’ Rachel returned smoothly. ‘Florists all over the world must rub their hands together with glee every time you pull into town.’

He laughed, a deep-throated sound which almost set her knees wobbling. Damn, but the man had everything. He was tall, dark and handsome, with a body to die for, and a dimple in his cheek when he smiled that was downright sinful. It was an unjust world that had such men in it. Rachel groaned silently.

‘I do my bit for the economy.’ Nathan grinned roguishly, showing her, had she needed proof, why it was women fell for him in droves.

‘More than your fair share, I would think,’ she retorted waspishly, unable to help herself, and had him laughing again. ‘I’m so glad I amuse you,’ she added tartly.

‘It’s either laugh at you or kiss you, sweetheart,’ he countered, bringing colour to her cheeks once more.

This was a new tack, and her nerves jangled. ‘Don’t imagine for even one second that I would let you kiss me!’ Rachel declared in outrage, only to see a faint smile curve his lips.

‘Darling, if I wanted to kiss you, then kissed you would be.’

Her throat closed over. Why all this talk of kissing? What game was he playing in that devious mind? Whatever it was, she wanted nothing of it. She drew herself up to her not inconsiderable height of five feet eleven in her two-inch heels, and folded her arms with a belligerent lift of her chin. ‘Not whilst I had a breath left in my body!’

Nathan’s eyes gleamed. ‘Now that sounds suspiciously like a challenge. Are you daring me to kiss you, Rachel?’ he charged softly, and the sound of her name on his lips, instead of the more usual ‘sweetheart’ or ‘darling’, did strange things to her breathing.

Did she want him to kiss her? Only all the time! She dreamt of it constantly, wondering how he would feel, how he would taste. But she wasn’t about to find out just to amuse him. She sent a warning flashing from the depth of her emerald eyes. ‘Lay so much as a finger on me, Nathan Wade, and I’ll break your arm.’

Blue eyes gleamed as he considered the threat. ‘Could you?’

Rachel allowed her lips to curve faintly. ‘Do you think I couldn’t?’ In this day and age a wise woman learned how to defend herself, and Rachel had taken several self-defence courses. She had yet to put anything she had learned to the test, but she knew a few moves which she was sure would surprise him.

Nathan appeared to think so too, for he shook his head ruefully. ‘Something tells me I would be a fool to call your bluff, and my mother didn’t raise her children to be fools.’

Realising the threat, whether real or imagined, had passed, Rachel relaxed her stance. ‘It’s a pity she didn’t do more about other areas of your character.’

‘She knows I’ll settle down when the right woman comes along,’ Nathan countered smoothly, understanding her perfectly, and she arched a dubious brow at him.

‘And just what will make one woman the right one?’ she asked curiously, interested in spite of herself.

He shrugged. ‘I haven’t the foggiest idea, but I’ll know her when I see her.’

Which clearly left her out of the running, even if she hadn’t been already. ‘In the meantime you’ll just carry on in the same old way, loving them and leaving them?’ Rachel remarked dryly, to which he grinned unrepentantly.

‘Until somebody invents some other way, it looks like I’m stuck with it. Now, delightful though it always is to share these interludes with you, sweetheart, perhaps you’d care to tell me what your grandfather’s summons is about this time.’

Rachel’s cheeks pinkened uncomfortably as she was brought back to the point of Nathan Wade’s presence, and at how far they had wandered from it. It was another thing she so much disliked about loving him, this infernal habit he had of making her thoughts stray from the path they should be taking. She had intended keeping everything cool and to the point, but history had repeated itself…again.

Collecting her thoughts, recalling her own lingering sense of unease, she frowned faintly. ‘I’m afraid I can’t,’ she said unhappily.

‘Has the old codger sworn you to secrecy again?’ he charged with some amusement. ‘OK, I won’t compromise your principles by asking you to tell me, but you can at least give me some sort of hint,’ Nathan urged in a tone of voice that Rachel knew would, on most occasions, get him his own way. This time, however, he was going to be disappointed.

Had she not already been uneasy about the reasons for this summons she might have made some flippant response, but instead she looked at him seriously. ‘I can’t because I haven’t the faintest idea why Linus wants to see you. All I do know is that something is bothering him in a way I’ve never seen before, and he won’t let me help. I don’t mind admitting I’m worried, Nathan, really worried.’

‘Is he ill?’ he asked sharply, clearly concerned, which raised him in her estimation, but Rachel shook her head.

‘Grandfather had a medical check-up only two weeks ago, and he was fine.’ She quickly allayed any fears he had in that direction. ‘No, this is something entirely unexpected. Something apparently only you can help him with.’ She looked at him with a directness that had Nathan taking a deep breath and dragging a hand through his hair.

‘If it was any other man I’d suspect woman trouble, but not Linus. OK, you’d better take me to him. The sooner I find out what’s going on the happier I will be.’

Rachel led the way to the large room her grandfather used as a study. Linus Shaw glanced up from his seat at one half of an enormous old partner’s desk. He was a handsome man in his late seventies, still in fairly robust health and sporting a full head of pure white hair. He drew the ladies every bit as much as Nathan did, though his heart would always belong to the adored wife he had lost eight years ago.

Far from looking pleased to see his much liked successor, a grunt of disapproval left his pursed lips. ‘Took you long enough to get here!’ he growled.

Nathan ignored the less than friendly greeting, and strolled over to the desk. ‘Unlike you, I haven’t retired,’ he countered. ‘I came as soon as I could.’

‘You took as long as you thought you could get away with!’ Linus harrumphed knowingly, and Nathan grinned unrepentantly.

‘I was born with a dislike of being ordered about. I take after you in that respect, Linus,’ he replied teasingly, but the older man did not look one whit abashed.

‘The trouble with you, my lad, is that you’ve no respect for your elders.’

‘On the contrary, I have nothing but respect for you, sir. What was it you wanted to see me about this time?’ He made the question sound long-suffering, but Rachel knew better. He wasn’t taking this at all lightly.

Having remained just inside the door until that moment, she now took a step forward. ‘I’ll go and check on those points we were discussing yesterday, Grandfather, and leave you two to talk in private. Shall I bring you some coffee before I go?’

‘Don’t run off, Rachel. I want you to sit in on this.’

This request was so out of the ordinary that Rachel exchanged a startled look with Nathan. ‘But surely if this is a private matter, then…’ Silently she sought his guidance.

Nathan didn’t look best pleased, but his response was to give the merest hint of a shrug which suggested they humour the older man. At least for the moment. ‘You’d better make a pot and bring three cups, Rachel. We’ll wait for you.’

The kitchen was a high-tech dream, with every modern appliance, and was generally ruled over by a very efficient housekeeper. However, Mrs O’Malley was away for a few days, and, though Linus was quite capable of looking after himself, Rachel was quite happy to make the odd cup of tea or coffee in her absence. It took her very little time to brew the coffee, place the pot and three cups on a tray and carry it back to the study.

In the interim Nathan had pulled another chair up beside the desk, but he rose when she came in and took the tray from her, setting it down on the desk. Taking her own seat, she dispensed the coffee, and it was only when they were all seated again that Linus Shaw took a deep breath and revealed what was on his mind.

‘I need your help on a matter of the greatest delicacy, my boy.’

‘You know I’ll help in any way I can,’ Nathan responded, and received a rather wry smile for his pains.

‘You may want to take that back when you hear what I have to say, but I’m going to hold you to it, just the same.’

Nathan grinned. ‘You always do, sir,’ he returned, sitting back in his chair and making himself comfortable. ‘Fire away.’

However, having been given the encouragement he required, it was a long moment before Linus finally nodded to himself and began to speak again. ‘What I am about to reveal to you is a secret that has been kept for the better part of fifty years. It concerns an old and dear friend of mine.’

‘I take it this old and dear friend is a woman,’ Nathan remarked dryly.

‘A lady,’ Linus corrected firmly. ‘In every sense of the word. And before you ask, Rachel, she was never more than a friend, to both myself and your grandmother. Of course there was a man involved— I cannot tell you his name; suffice it to say he was a noble personage of a somewhat obscure European enclave. They would most certainly have married, had that been humanly possible. Sadly, it was not.’ The regret in his voice was very real, and, recognising the implications, Rachel asked the obvious question.

‘What stopped them? Were they both married already?’

‘He was; she was not,’ Linus amended. ‘Being who he was, divorce was out of the question. The marriage had been a necessary joining of two powerful families. It was not a love match. Though I do believe there was mutual respect, and genuine love for their children, there was no grand passion. My friend and—we’ll call him the Archduke—met by the merest of chances, and fell deeply and irrevocably in love. They were, however, sensible people. Neither given to reckless or ill-judged actions. They had a choice to end the matter there, before getting in too deep, or continuing the romance as discreetly as possible.’

Rachel was utterly fascinated by this unexpected tale of romantic intrigue. ‘What did they decide?’

‘They chose to end it, of course. Too many people could have been hurt. Neither was happy, but they stood by their decision. Their lives drifted on, as lives tend to do, until one day, a long time later, their paths crossed again. It seemed to both of them that fate had taken a hand. Unable to walk away a second time, they began an affair.’

‘How long did it last?’ Nathan queried.

‘For more than thirty years,’ revealed, surprising both his listeners. ‘Of course the couple were discreet. They had a difficult life, picking up moments here and there, treasuring them, because they did not know when the next would come. Only death could part them, and that was how it turned out to be. The Archduke died not so very long ago.’

Nathan gave a soft whistle. ‘And nobody knew?’

The old gentleman’s face took on a grim expression. ‘Just a few good friends—or so we all thought. But it seems not to be so.’

‘Somebody spilled the beans,’ Nathan remarked gravely.

‘In a manner of speaking,’ Linus confirmed. ‘There were letters.’

‘Love letters?’ Rachel checked, with a wince, and he nodded.

‘They were written over that thirty-year period, and always kept safely locked away from prying eyes. Unfortunately during a recent party at my friend’s house the letters were removed from their hiding place.’

‘What did the police say?’ Rachel asked, naturally, and Nathan quirked an eyebrow at her.

‘She wouldn’t have told the police. Police make reports. Reporters ask questions. The next thing you know, the whole story is on the front of the tabloids and on prime time TV.’

‘Exactly,’ Linus agreed. ‘After nearly forty years of discretion, the very last thing she wanted was for the whole of her private life to come out. Not to mention how distressing it would be for the man’s family. No, there could be no police, which was why she wrote to me.’

‘She wants you to get the letters back?’ Nathan asked in no little amazement.

‘But how?’ Rachel frowned.

‘The method is up to my discretion,’ the old man replied, and her lips parted on an ‘o’ of surprise.

‘Are you saying she knows who took them?’

‘The thief was a man called Luther Ames,’ Linus revealed, with such a wealth of distaste in his voice that it was obvious to Rachel he had some prior knowledge of the man.

She had never heard of him. ‘Who is Luther Ames?’

It was Nathan who answered. ‘A playboy. A man with no visible means of income yet who always has plenty of money to throw around. His main hobbies appear to be collecting expensive antiques and gambling.’

‘He also happens to be my friend’s nephew. He attended the birthday party at her home on the day of their disappearance. The letters were kept in a drawer of the bonheur du jour in her bedroom. Unfortunately she had been called away upon some errand earlier in the day and had forgotten to lock it. Forgetfulness is one of the curses of old age. During the evening she discovered Ames coming out of her room. Oh, he made some believable excuse for being there, but later she found the letters were gone.’

‘But the affair ended years ago. What point is there in taking these letters now?’ Rachel argued.

‘Because although the affair is over the man’s family are still very much alive,’ Nathan responded grimly, receiving a nod of confirmation from her grandfather. ‘The threat of the disgrace is as strong as it ever was. I take it Ames wants money for the letters’ return?’

Linus sighed heavily. ‘No. When my friend demanded he return the letters, he said he would—provided she did him a little favour.’

‘You mean he’s prepared to blackmail his own aunt? That’s despicable!’ Rachel exclaimed angrily. The man had to be a monster.

‘It certainly explains how he manages to always have money to spare, despite his lifestyle. He’s probably done this before,’ Nathan observed bluntly. ‘What are his terms?’

Linus grimaced. ‘He wants her to use her influence with a certain company to make sure a take-over goes ahead. A take-over which will increase his personal fortune by several million pounds. Naturally, she flatly refused. However, time is running out, and, the situation being what it is, she cannot dare him to publish and be damned. She has to get the letters back, for she knows that if she does not he will use them. For all his charm, he has a vengeful streak if he doesn’t get his own way. She knows it, and so do I. The only sure way of knowing the matter is closed is to take the letters back—fast.’