Double Standards

Tony's hand clamped reassuringly on her shoulder, and Lauren drew a long, unsteady breath. "I'll leave as soon as the attorney arrives with my purse." She dragged her gaze upward. Instead of despising her, the boys and Tony were looking at her with helpless sympathy.

After everything that had happened to her, Lauren felt better able to cope with animosity than kindness, and their compassion wrenched her heart, weakening the dam that was holding back her emotions. "Don't ask me to explain," she whispered. "If I did you wouldn't believe me."

"We would believe you," Dominic said with blushing fierceness. "I was standing behind the screen where the coffeepots are kept, and I heard every word that… that pig said to you at lunch, but I did not know his name. Papa recognized him and he came to stand with me, because he wondered why you would be eating with someone Nick hates."

Lauren's composure slipped another notch toward tears, but she blinked them back and said with a tremulous smile, "The service must have been terrible that day, with both of you standing guard over me." She hadn't cried in years until she'd met Nick. After last night there would be no more tears. Ever. She had wept at his feet, begging him to listen to her. Just thinking of it made her cringe with mortification and fury.

"I tried to call Nick after you left that day," Tony said, "to tell him that Whitworth was threatening you and that you were in trouble, but Nick was in Italy. I told Mary to have him call me as soon as he came back, but I did not ever believe you would really give Nick's stepfather the information."

Lauren heard the reproof in Tony's voice at that, and she lifted her shoulders in a weary shrug. "I didn't give him what he wanted. Nick only thinks I did."

Half an hour later Tony and Dominic escorted her downstairs to the restaurant, which wasn't open for business yet, and stood protectively behind her chair. Lauren instantly recognized Mike Walsh as the man who had been with Nick the night she'd literally fallen at their feet. He introduced the man who was with him as Jack Collins, the head of Global's security division in Detroit. Then both men sat down across from her.

"Your purse," Mike said, handing it to her. "Would you like to check the contents?"

Lauren kept her face carefully expressionless. "No."

"Very well," he said curtly. "I'll come directly to the point. Miss Danner, Global Industries has sufficient evidence against you to charge you with theft, conspiring to defraud and several other serious crimes. At this time, the corporation is not going to insist on your arrest. However, if you are ever again seen on the premises of Global Industries, or any of its subsidiaries, the corporation can and will press charges against you for the crimes I just mentioned. A warrant for your arrest has already been prepared. If you are seen on our premises, the warrant will be signed, and you will be arrested. If you are in another state, we will insist on extradition."

He opened a large manila envelope and withdrew several sheets of paper. "This is a letter stating the terms I have just set out." He handed her a copy of the letter, along with an official-looking legal document. "This—" he indicated the document "—is an injunction, signed by the court, which now makes it illegal for you to set so much as one foot on Global property. Do you understand?"

"Perfectly," Lauren said, lifting her chin in silent rebellion.

"Do you have any questions?"

"Yes, I have two of them." Lauren rose, then turned to press a fond kiss to Tony's cheek and another to Dominic's smooth one. She knew she would break down under the strain of an emotional goodbye; she was saying farewell to her two friends now, when it was easier. She turned back to the attorney and asked, "Where is my car?"

The attorney inclined his head toward the door of the restaurant. "Mr. Collins here drove it over. It's parked right outside. What is the other question?"

Lauren ignored the attorney and asked Jack Collins, "Are you the one who discovered all this 'proof' against me?"

Despite his pallor, Jack Collins's eyes were inquisitive and sharp. "A man who works for me conducted the investigation while I was in the hospital. Why do you ask, Miss Danner?" he inquired, watching her closely.

Lauren picked up her purse from the table. "Because whoever did it was not very good at his job."

She pulled her gaze from Jack Collins and managed a brief teary smile at Tony and Dominic. "Goodbye," she said softly. "And thank you."

She walked out of the restaurant and never looked back.

Both of the men from Global Industries watched her leave. "Stunning young woman, isn't she?" the attorney said.

"Beautiful," Jack Collins agreed, his brows knitted thoughtfully together.

"But treacherous and deceitful as they come."

Jack Collins's frown deepened. "I wonder if she is. I kept watching her eyes. She looked angry and she looked hurt. She didn't look guilty."

Mike Walsh heaved himself impatiently out of his chair. "She's guilty. If you don't think so, go look at the file your assistant put together on her."

"I think I will," Jack said.

"You do that!" Tony said angrily, shamelessly eavesdropping. "Then you come talk to me, and I'll tell you the truth. Whitworth made her do it!"

20

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Nick leaned back in his chair, watching while Jack Collins, Mary, Jim and Tony filed into his office. He had agreed to this meeting about Lauren only because Jack had insisted that it was vitally necessary for the corporation's sake, in case she should decide to sue them.

Sue them for what, Nick thought bitterly. He wished to God he were somewhere else right now. Anywhere else. They were going to talk about her, and he was going to have to listen. She had been gone for a month, and he still hadn't been able to tear her out of his mind.

He kept expecting to look up and see her walking into his office, her shorthand notebook and pen in hand, ready to write down his instructions.

Last week he had been deeply engrossed in the corporation's new financial statement, and suddenly a woman in the reception room had laughed. It had sounded like Lauren's soft, musical laugh, and he had leaped out of his chair, telling himself that he intended to drag her into his office and warn her for the last time to stay away. But when he strode into the reception area and saw that it was some other woman, his heart had sunk.

He needed a rest, he told himself—some relaxation and the right sort of diversion. He had been pushing himself too hard, trying to drive her out of his thoughts by working until he was mentally and physically exhausted. All t

hat was going to change now. In a few hours he was leaving for Chicago to attend the international trade committee meeting— the meeting he had walked out on to go rushing after Lauren, and which had now been rescheduled so that the committee could conclude the business they'd been unable to resolve without his vote. On Sunday, three days from now, when the meeting adjourned, Vicky was joining him in Chicago, and they were flying to Switzerland for three weeks. Three consecutive weeks of skiing during the day and making love at night should solve all his problems very nicely. Spending Christmas in Switzerland again, as he had three years ago, was also a vastly appealing idea.

Whom had he spent it with three years ago? He tried to remember.

"Nick," Jack Collins said, "may I begin?"

"Yes," he said shortly, turning his head toward the windows. How long would it take before he could blot out the memory of Lauren weeping at his feet? "Please don't do this to us," she had sobbed. "I love you so much."

He rolled his gold pen idly between his fingertips, aware that Tony was watching him angrily, just waiting for the slightest opportunity to plead Lauren's defense.

Her defense, Nick thought sarcastically. What defense? Because Lauren was Italian, Tony was automatically biased in her favor. Because she was so heartbreakingly beautiful, Tony was blind to her treacherous nature. He couldn't blame Tony, because he himself had been just as blind, just as stupid. Lauren had captivated him, fascinated and enchanted him. From the very first, he had been enthralled by her, rendered senseless by his uncontrollable, fiery desire for her…

"I realize," Jack Collins was saying, "that Lauren Danner is a very unpleasant topic to all of you, but the five of us in this room have all known each other for many years, and there's no reason we can't speak openly among ourselves, is there?"

When no one replied, Jack sighed with frustration. "Well, she's a damned difficult subject for me to discuss too. The investigation on her was technically my responsibility, and I'm going to tell you now that it was done very poorly. The young man who handled the security check while I was in the hospital was inexperienced and overeager, and that's putting it politely. If I hadn't been back in the hospital twice since then, I'd have looked into this before.