Despite the revelations of the last two hours, he hadn’t changed his initial assessment of Madeleine Myers. A typical gold-digger out to capitalise on an unfortunate incident. Except now she had a solid basis from where to launch her attack.
His mind froze as the horror of it replayed itself. Dio, Jules had nearly run her over. Had she been petrified? Or had shock numbed her?
Unbidden, the stark script of Celeste’s last few days tumbled through his mind, reminding him of life’s fragility with a punch in the gut.
He sucked in a deep breath and slowly loosened his fists. The circumstances of his fiancée’s death and Maddie’s accident were miles apart. Yet that underlying helplessness against fate remained.
‘Has no one ever told you it’s rude to stare so openly?’ she demanded waspishly as the lift arrived.
His gaze flickered over her brazenly defiant face. ‘Not if they risked a flogging, no,’ he answered drolly, and silently cursed Jules again.
But it wasn’t his brother’s fault he was caught in the loop of his past. The conversation in his mother’s office had also raked up a subject he didn’t want to think about, never mind act on it.
Nonetheless it was an issue he needed to tackle.
He gestured Maddie forward. With another wary glance at him she preceded him into the lift that would take them directly to his penthouse suite.
When they exited, seconds later, she surprised him by neither glancing around at the luxurious decor or at the priceless Montegovan paintings and artefacts that lined the hallway. Without fail, every visitor granted access to this private floor was bowled over by the opulence and grandeur his mother had spared no expense in commissioning five years ago.
Still, Remi didn’t doubt Maddie Myers’s motives for one minute. S
he was definitely after something. And he was determined to find out what.
The moment they entered the suite, she faced him across the space of the vast living room. ‘I’m here now. Can we get this over with so I can return to my life?’
‘Is that what you’ll do once you leave here? Return to your life and forget all about Jules and my family?’
She frowned. ‘Of course. What else do you think I plan to do?’
His mouth twisted. ‘I abhor liars, Madeleine.’
‘And I don’t like bullies, so I guess we’re one for one.’
‘Sit down.’
She stared at him for several seconds before swivelling to glance around the room. For some reason her expression tightened as she finally took in its elegance.
‘No, thank you. I don’t plan on being here that long.’
‘You’ll stay for as long as I wish you to.’
‘Or for as long as it takes me to call the authorities. I came here of my own volition. I have a right to leave when I wish.’
‘We seem to be going around in circles.’
‘Then I suggest you cut to the chase.’
Such fire. He would have been impressed if it hadn’t been for the desperation he sensed in her.
‘Very well. I want you to strike a new bargain with me.’
She froze, her eyes widening. ‘Excuse me?’
‘Jules is gone. Whatever deal you had with him now belongs to me.’
Her eyes narrowed. ‘What is this? Some sick game of Pass the Parcel? You don’t even know what the deal was.’
‘Whatever it is, you didn’t get it. If you had, you wouldn’t have been distressed when I told you he’d left.’