Reunited by the Tycoon's Twins

Or she could leave London. Go travelling. What, with all the money that she had stashed away for a rainy day from her subsistence-level wage from a second-rate gossip site? Maybe she could find a job at a local paper somewhere dull and anonymous and spend the rest of her life chasing stories about lost kittens and parish council in-fighting. Any of those options looked preferable to having to face Finn when he came back downstairs.

The buzz from the front door intercom interrupted her thoughts. Pizza. Whatever decisions she had to make, she would make them with a full stomach, even if that did mean facing Finn. She wasn’t stupid enough to launch herself out into the night hungry.

As she brought the pizzas back through to the kitchen she heard Finn’s footsteps behind her and felt the colour rising in her cheeks before she’d even turned around to look at him.

‘Hey,’ he said, his voice hesitant as she opened up the cardboard boxes and they were hit by the smell of melted cheese and crisp dough.

‘Hey.’ She forced a smile and hoped that it looked less creaky than it felt. She leaned back on the breakfast bar to eat. Last time they had tried to find an alternative venue it had gone so horribly wrong. And she felt secure with that huge chunk of granite between them. Not that she thought that she had anything to fear from Finn any more. It was just that she thought if he got any closer she might actually melt from shame, if the floor wasn’t kind enough to simply swallow her whole before that could happen.

‘Look, about what happened—’ Finn started, but she jumped in before he could finish.

‘Really, you don’t have to... I’m sorry I overreacted. It’s nothing.’

‘It’s not nothing, Madeleine. You’re my guest and I nee

d to know that you feel safe here. I’m going to say this now so it’s out there. I know that there’s some sort of chemistry between us—I feel it, and I think you do too. But here’s the thing—I’m not going to do anything about it. You have absolutely nothing to worry about on that front. I wasn’t trying to get you into bed, and I’m not going to. You’re Jake’s sister, practically family, and I would never risk that over something... I just don’t want you to think that that’s what I had in mind when I invited you here,’ he went on. ‘I don’t want you thinking you have to be on your guard around me. You’re safe here.’

It was what she wanted to hear. She was safe. She was protected. She hadn’t wanted him to be trying to engineer her into bed.

And yet...it still felt brutal, somehow. The way that he said it—he was never going to do anything about it. The absolute certainty in his voice when he told her that he wasn’t interested in her.

Well, that was fine because she’d had every intention of shutting her own feelings down. This would only make that easier. She could carry on with her role as nanny, or babysitter, or best friend’s sister, or whatever she was to him, without any added complications.

Fine.

She was absolutely fine with that.

CHAPTER FIVE

TORTURE. THAT WAS the only word that could adequately describe the past hour. First, that look in Madeleine’s eyes when she’d thought that he was trying to trick her. Now this, having to tell her that he had absolutely no interest in following through on his feelings for her, because it was suddenly clear to him that this chemistry between them wasn’t important. What was important was protecting Madeleine, and his place in her life—as part of her family. And that meant never following where that spark between them might lead.

There was no hiding the look in her eyes when they had been on the landing upstairs. She had been terrified. Looking for the exits, calculating risks. So sure that she was in danger. He couldn’t believe that he had been so stupid. That it hadn’t occurred to him to mention that the only way out onto the balcony was through his bedroom.

But there was more to the story too. He was sure of that. The look in her eyes and that reaction—they didn’t come from nowhere. And that meant that someone in her past had hurt her. He had been surprised by the rage he had felt when he had realised that. The overwhelming desire to hunt down the person that had made Madeleine so afraid, and to make sure that he could never get to her again. But there was no way that he could say that to Madeleine. Because the minute that he had suggested that she might want to talk about it, her shutters had come down. She’d looked as terrified at the prospect of that as she had at the thought of him trying to trap her in his bedroom.

So he’d done the only thing he could think to do—he’d said what he had to, to make her feel safe. He’d decided that that was more important than any hopes he might have had that this chemistry might lead somewhere. Because of course he had been interested. In other circumstances. If things had been different. If his business had been more stable. If his divorce hadn’t left him convinced that he needed to stay single to protect the life that he had built for himself, then he would definitely have been interested. But now that he had seen she was scared of him? None of that mattered anyway. He never wanted to see that look in her eyes again.

So now he wasn’t interested, he told himself. It wasn’t a lie. Because it didn’t matter what chemical reaction his body threw up when he looked at her, he was more than just an animal reacting to his hormones or his basest desires. He was an adult with full control over himself. And he was using that control now to shut down any hint of attraction towards her. His only priority now was making sure that she felt safe. That nothing could hurt her while she was under his roof.

Thank God she had turned down his offer to get her a car. Because he had never felt such a strong urge to protect someone before. If he’d had to send her out into the night with no idea where she was going, he didn’t think he could have borne it.

He hoped she felt safe now.

He risked a look at her over his pizza slice, and found her eyes on him. As their gazes met he hesitated, wanting again to ask her what had happened to provoke such a strong reaction. Wanting to ask how he could fix it. And then remembering that it wasn’t his place to ask. She didn’t want to share what had happened with him, and he had no right to push. He had no right to anything. She was Jake’s sister, and that made her feel like family to him, but he had no expectation that she returned the feeling. To her he was probably just the annoying little kid at the end of her dining table, talking Lego and Nintendo with her brother. He was constantly surprised that she remembered him at all.

The fact that Jake thought of him like a brother didn’t automatically extend that feeling to Madeleine. They had barely spoken when they were kids. The two-year difference in age had been a gulf that had stretched too far between them. Separating their lives into different worlds. She might as well have been an alien for all they had had in common when she was fourteen and he was twelve.

‘Good pizza,’ she said at last, when the silence had stretched out to unbearable. He looked away as she broke their gaze and started to lick the grease from her fingers. Principled he might be, but he wasn’t a saint.

‘Yeah, I’m a good customer,’ he replied, trying to keep his mind on the food. He glanced up at the clock. It was still early, really early. But he had the perfect excuse to hide away from her tonight.

‘Look, I’m sorry to leave you to your own devices your first night here, but would you mind if I turned in? The twins still have a midnight feed, and I could grab an hour or two of sleep before I have to do that.’

‘Of course,’ she said, looking relieved. ‘Will you need my help—?’

‘No,’ he jumped in. The last thing that they both needed was an impromptu meeting in the middle of the night. ‘It’s fine. I can handle it. You need anything before I go up?’

She shook her head, and for a second he thought that she was going to say something more. But then she dropped her head and he knew the moment had passed.