wasn’t aware her face was speaking volumes, not until the big, dark man in front of her said softly, ‘You do not believe this?’
‘No,’ she said, because there was no point in lying. ‘At least, I believe you’ll do your best to get to the truth, but you won’t. You see, everyone likes Mr Roberts Senior as much as they dislike his son, and they know how much he and his wife think of him. Also…’ She paused, wondering if she should go on.
‘Yes, Miss Stanton?’
‘You are not here most of the time,’ she said baldly.
‘Ah, this I see.’ The beautiful eyes narrowed thoughtfully. ‘Then my enquiries will have to be in confidence and no names mentioned to Jeff’s father, apart from yours, of course.’
Oh, great, wonderful. The sacrificial lamb. Still, it was only what she had expected after all; it just grated doubly that he seemed so unconcerned.
‘That’s all right, then.’ She tried, she really tried to keep the sarcasm to a minimum but she was so angry she could spit.
Like before, he read her mind perfectly. The firm, slightly stern mouth suddenly twisted with the nearest thing to genuine amusement she had seen in the last caustic hour or so.
‘You are not in awe of me, Miss Stanton,’ he said softly.
It was a statement, not a question, which was just as well because Holly was beyond speaking at that moment. He had leant forward as he’d spoken, both hands resting on the desk and his body close enough for the warmth and smell of him to surround her. She felt her senses quivering and was furious with herself for being so weak and trembly.
‘And that is unusual,’ he continued thoughtfully, almost as though he was speaking to himself now. ‘I am surrounded by a whole host of sycophantic beings, Miss Stanton. It comes, as they say, with the territory. The people who really speak their mind to me I can count on one hand and I would not use all my fingers.’
She didn’t know what to say and so she said nothing.
‘This was a…novelty at first. Perhaps even satisfying, I am ashamed to admit, in the early days.’
He didn’t look ashamed, Holly thought, and she had no doubt he loved every moment of the power he was able to command so effortlessly, especially where the fairer sex was concerned. She had seen men like him before, men who considered themselves nothing less than demi-gods with the ability to direct and control other people’s lives. Admittedly none of the others had looked as good as Jacques Querruel, but that would have to have made him more puffed up in anything.
She became aware he was waiting for her to speak. She pulled herself together and said evenly, ‘So it isn’t satisfying now, Mr Querruel?’
He looked at her for a moment without speaking and she wondered if she had gone too far, even though her tone hadn’t been openly acidic. And then he grinned. ‘Occasionally,’ he admitted softly. ‘Yes, occasionally it serves a purpose.’
Oh, wow! Oh, wow, oh, wow, oh, wow. Where had all the natural arrogance gone? If the other girls thought he was dynamite normally he had just moved up to nuclear-missile potential.
Holly cleared her throat, thinking that if she had known this morning she was going to have such an amazing, one-in-a-million day she would have worn her new suit and given more attention to her hair and make-up. And then she suddenly realised where her thoughts were going and checked herself firmly. It wouldn’t make any difference if she was covered from head to foot in Dior and diamonds. Jacques Querruel was as far removed from her orbit as the man in the moon! Not only that, he was a heartless so-and-so.
‘Margaret tells me your work is more than acceptable,’ Jacques continued after a moment. ‘In fact, “excellent” is the word she used.’
Good old Margaret!
‘How old are you, Miss Stanton?’ he asked with a directness that took her by surprise.
‘Twenty-five.’ She frowned. ‘Why?’
He liked that in this young woman, the candidness, but she was something of a paradox and he did not like that. He did not trust what he did not understand, and one of his strengths was that he could sum people up very swiftly. She appeared to be strong and determined, one could almost say aggressively so, and yet several times now he had seen something else behind those great blue eyes. She intrigued him, and it had been a long time since that had happened.
‘Why?’ He repeated the word and then didn’t answer her question, saying instead, ‘Have you ever considered working abroad, Miss Stanton, or are you bound to home shores by family or maybe a boyfriend?’
Holly blinked. What had that got to do with anything? She stared at him, wondering how they had arrived at this from his initial reading of her statement. He was watching her coolly and she envied his detachment as her nerve-ends began to prickle. Her wary expression seemed to amuse him. His amber eyes glinted and a faint cynical smile twisted his lips. ‘Well?’ he prompted lazily.
‘I…I wouldn’t be averse to travelling in the future,’ she said carefully, hating the little stutter at the beginning of her words and warning herself to show no weakness before this man.
‘And family commitment? Love commitments?’
His French accent gave the last two words a sexy intonation an English voice couldn’t hope to compete with. Holly hoped the heat which had surged in her blood wasn’t reflected in her face, but she had the nasty feeling she was a definite shade of pink. ‘I live alone in rented accommodation, Mr Querruel,’ she answered primly, ‘and I have some good friends but not a special man-friend if that’s what you mean.’
He surveyed her for a second more as he straightened and then he said quietly, ‘Mr Roberts has already left the premises so you can relax. I have some business to deal with but I would like to see you again before you leave tonight, Miss Stanton. You will not forget this?’
She wanted to ask why. He had her statement, and there was nothing she was prepared to add or delete from it. But, in view of the way he had successfully deflected any unwanted questions to date, she didn’t bother, inclining her head as she said, ‘Of course not, Mr Querruel. In Mr Roberts’s office?’
‘Just so.’
And with that he was gone.
CHAPTER TWO
THE rest of the day was an anticlimax. Holly went to lunch as usual with Margaret, in the excellent canteen the firm boasted, but the other woman didn’t mention the events of the morning at all and fielded any attempt Holly made to discuss them. Holly was left with the distinct impression Margaret had been warned not to talk about the matter by a higher source: perhaps by Jeff’s father, who was now ensconced in his office with Jacques Querruel, or the tycoon himself.
The afternoon was spent typing a long and involved but boring report with one ear cocked towards the outer office. Although Holly was aware of Jeff’s father leaving at some point after she and Margaret had returned from lunch, Mr Roberts Senior did not look in on her, for which she was grateful. Another confrontation was beyond her for the present.
There was the usual coming and going in Margaret’s office, and once or twice Holly heard a female speaking in a hushed but excited tone—no doubt due to the occupant
