fact, she was surprised it had taken this long! She hadn’t wanted to work directly from William’s office after his death, and so the logical thing to do had been to move all the files into her office. It had taken her and John a day to do it, but everything was now filed away in the cabinets that lined one wall of her office.
Liam saw her quick glance in their direction. ‘Do we move them back, or do you want me to work from here?’ He turned back to her challengingly.
She most certainly did not want him working in here, and he knew it, damn him! ‘I’ve asked John to come to my office,’ she answered him calmly enough. ‘We’ll move all the relevant information into Will—your office later this morning.’ There was a slightly haunted look in her eyes at the acceptance that the office opposite this one now belonged to Liam.
He shook his head, his expression grim. ‘That isn’t good enough, I’m afraid,’ he bit out tersely.
He wasn’t ‘afraid’ at all—just very determined to have things the way he wanted them. And that included the Carlyle files! ‘I——’ She broke off abruptly, looking towards the doorway as John Morgan entered her office after the briefest of knocks.
‘Juliet, rumour has it——’ John broke off just as abruptly, looking very uncomfortable as he saw the other man standing in the room.
Liam looked at him speculatively, his stance relaxed, fully relaxed. Which the other two people in the room certainly weren’t, Juliet freely acknowledged. John looked uncertain of himself and the situation, and Juliet didn’t even try to hide the fact that she wasn’t happy with it either!
‘Rumour has it…?’ Liam prompted softly, his dark blue gaze fixed steadily on the younger man.
John recovered quickly, straightening slightly, although there was still a slightly uncomfortable flush to his cheeks. ‘Rumour has it that you’re Edward Carlyle,’ he announced.
Juliet couldn’t help but admire John’s outward calm; he might be quaking inside—Liam certainly had that effect on people!—but on the surface the younger man now looked completely composed. William’s choice of John over other applicants for the job of junior assistant seemed to have been well calculated.
Liam nodded abruptly. ‘I am,’ he confirmed shortly. ‘But my friends call me Liam,’ he continued less harshly, holding out his hand in greeting. ‘Which is probably why Juliet calls me anything but Liam!’ he added tauntingly, glancing at her, his brows raised mockingly.
John didn’t look too sure about the latter remark, but he willingly shook the older man’s hand. ‘John Morgan,’ he supplied. ‘I was your father’s—’
‘Junior assistant.’ Liam nodded tersely. ‘The one thing that did seem to have been left in my father’s office was a file on personnel,’ he said coldly, reminding Juliet that little else had been left.
Her mouth tightened at the unspoken rebuke. ‘Your father and I both had copies of that file so there was no need for the duplication in my office,’ she returned defiantly.
‘Hmm.’ Liam nodded slowly, steadily meeting the cool grey of her gaze with one equally cold. ‘I thought it must be something like that,’ he dismissed scathingly. ‘Nice to meet you, John,’ he said more warmly to the younger man. ‘I’m sure you and my father worked well together. I hope we can do the same.’
Juliet gave him a sharp look. What did he mean by that remark? Surely, if Liam agreed to keep the company running, he intended being a silent partner? Although, somehow, she doubted Liam had ever been silent about anything in his life!
‘To continue our conversation,’ Liam interrupted her musings hardly, the warmth gone from his voice as he spoke to her, ‘later this morning isn’t good enough,’ he repeated firmly.
She had already guessed that from his earlier reaction. ‘Look, Liam…’ she deliberately used his name, if only to show that she did call him that too ‘…I’ve been out of the office for almost two weeks. I have a lot of catching up to do.’ She indicated the pile of paperwork on her desk.
‘There are two of us here now, Juliet,’ he bit out coldly. ‘And the sooner I’m familiar with the workings and dealings of the company, the better I’ll be able to help you deal with the backlog.’
Grey eyes clashed with deep blue ones as the two of them visually duelled. Juliet was very aware of John in the room with them, and knew it put her at a disadvantage; without his presence she might have been better able to deal with this situation. Might. But somehow she doubted it! It was not her intention that Liam should help her deal with anything, let alone the workings of Carlyle Properties.
Finally it was her gaze that dropped, and she turned to John instead. ‘Do you have time to help me with this, John?’ She sounded clam, but inside she was seething.
Liam had spoken to her as if she were half-witted! Of course she knew he would have to know about the company—he couldn’t make a judgement without that knowledge—but it had never been her intention that he should actually help her run it, even on a temporary basis. And he could have been more diplomatic in his approach…That was rather stupid of her, she thought; the words ‘diplomatic’ and ‘Liam’ could never be used together!
‘Of course.’ John was still frowning, obviously sensing the hostility between Juliet and Liam and not feeling quite sure of his own place in the midst of it.
She turned back to Liam. ‘We’ll see to your request as quickly as possible,’ she informed him distantly. ‘As soon as I’ve dealt with anything on my desk that needs my immediate attention,’ she added stubbornly; she was not about to drop everything else in order to jump to this man’s bidding.
His mouth thinned with displeasure, his deep blue eyes narrowing coldly at what he knew to be her deliberate evasion. ‘Very well,’ he finally nodded abruptly, and strode over to the door.
Juliet breathed a sigh of relief at his imminent departure.
‘One more thing, Juliet.’ Liam paused at the open doorway, his gaze unblinking as he looked across the distance of the room at her.
She knew from the determination of his expression that she had breathed that sigh of relief too soon. ‘Yes?’ she prompted warily.
‘I realise that it will take you some time to organise the bulk of the files back across the corridor,’ he acknowledged. ‘But there’s one account I would like you to send over immediately.’
Juliet frowned. As far as she was aware, Liam hadn’t been involved with the company for at least ten years, so how could he now be asking for a specific account?
‘It’s ten years old, so you may have to get it from the store-room in the basement.’ He shrugged. ‘I take it you still store dead accounts down there?’
‘Yes,’ Juliet confirmed dazedly. She was totally thrown by his request; what possible interest could he have in a project that was ten years old?
He nodded tersely. ‘I’d like the Walters account from December of that year,’ he instructed abruptly before leaving as suddenly as he had entered a few minutes ago.
Had it been only a few minutes ago? Juliet had the feeling of having been swept along in a whirlwind for timeless minutes. She…
‘Wow.’
