to him about it, soften your attitude.’
‘Soften my attitude!’ Gemma looked at her mother in consternation. ‘If I do that he’ll walk away with my son, and that will be that.’
‘Marcus is a reasonable man. I’m sure you can come to some compromise.’
‘Not over this.’ Gemma shook her head firmly. She wished her mother wouldn’t always talk so positively about Marcus. She never tried to hide the fact that she thought he was wonderful and at every opportunity she thrust the fact at Gemma. Over the years Gemma had got used to it and accepted it. But given the circumstances, the fact that Marcus wanted to take Liam away, she would have thought her mother might be seeing things a little more from her side at the moment. It was disturbing that she wasn’t—hurtful, even.
‘Do you think Liam is right and Marcus is getting married?’ her mother asked suddenly. ‘Maybe he’s settling down with that Italian girl. What’s she called? Sophia? Maybe that’s why he’s moving back there.’
‘Maybe.’ That thought had already tormented Gemma through several long sleepless nights. ‘But, whatever the reason, he is not having Liam.’
Gemma was relieved when Liam appeared at the top of the stairs, bringing the conversation to a close.
As he hurried down to stand beside them, Gemma noticed he looked a little flushed. ‘Are you okay, darling?’ she asked, bending to put one hand on his forehead.
His skin felt clammy under the coolness of her hand. ‘Are you feeling ill?’
‘I’m okay.’ Liam shrugged.
‘He’s probably been racing around after that train,’ his grandmother said with a laugh.
‘I’ve built tunnels under the bed and a big loop by the bathroom door,’ Liam said with a grin. ‘Come and look, Nana.’
‘Maybe later.’ Joanne smiled. ‘We have to go now. Otherwise, Mummy will be late for work and I’ll be late for my bridge club.’
Thank heavens Liam hadn’t been ill this morning, Gemma thought, as she sat at her desk half an hour later and dealt with a mountain of paperwork. If she’d had to have today off it could have been disastrous. The office was chaotic and a lot of the top executives were huddled together in the boardroom, giving a sense of urgency to everything.
‘They’re calling a meeting later.’ Richard Barry, the new features editor of the magazine, paused by her desk on the way to get himself a coffee. ‘Looks like the take-over is going through after all.’
Gemma felt slightly ill at those words. If that was the case, it was likely that all her hard work for the job of editor wouldn’t pay off.
‘Hey, don’t look so worried.’ Richard perched on the edge of her desk for a moment. ‘You are one of the most talented editors I’ve ever worked with, you’ll get your job.’
‘Thanks for the vote of confidence, Richard, but I doubt it.’ She smiled up at him. Richard was an attractive man and he had become a close personal friend over the last couple of months. She really liked him. Liked him more, perhaps, than any other man she had met in the last few years.
‘Shall I get you a coffee from the machine to cheer you up?’ he asked now.
Gemma laughed at that. The coffee from the machine was so bad that it had become a standing office joke. It was said that anyone who wanted to end it all only had to overindulge by a few cups to achieve their aim. ‘Go on, then. I’ll live dangerously, thanks.’
As Richard left her office she watched him through the glass walls of her office. She had one of the few private offices on the floor but her door was always open and the glass walls made her feel part of what was going on out in the main body. Now she noticed there was a stir up by the reception area, and as she glanced over she saw with a shock that Marcus Rossini had just stepped out of the lift.
The nerve of the man, she thought furiously. How dared he come to confront her at work? She watched with a small gleam of satisfaction, knowing that if he didn’t have an appointment, Clare, the receptionist, would not let him in without gaining clearance from her first…clearance she had no intention of giving. Marcus could get lost.
She waited for the phone on her desk to ring, but instead, a few minutes later, Gemma watched incredulously as Marcus strode on in through the office in the direction of her desk. What the hell had he said to Clare? she wondered. Probably turned on that fabulous Italian charm of his, or maybe he had merely smiled. She noticed the effect he was having on the other women out in the office as he walked past them: they were all looking at him with ill-disguised appreciation. It was always the same, Gemma thought with annoyance, women just fell at Marcus’s feet. But not her, she thought grimly. She was older and wiser now and knew the dangers of that particular pitfall.
She had to admit, though, he did look good. The dark business suit did incredible things for an already very desirable physique. Annoyed with herself for allowing that thought to cross her mind, she glared at him as he strolled nonchalantly into her office.
‘What on earth do you want?’ she asked sharply. ‘Because I’m telling you now, Marcus, I haven’t got time for whatever it is.’
‘That’s hardly a congenial welcome, Gemma,’ he chastised softly.
‘That’s because I’m not feeling particularly congenial where you are concerned.’ She felt a tremor of apprehension as he shut the door behind him, closing her into the confined space with him. ‘That door always remains open,’ she told him, but he ignored her completely and left it closed, taking a seat in the chair at the other side of her desk.
He looked extremely relaxed and yet more formidable than ever, his expression as businesslike and serious as his clothing.
‘Clare shouldn’t have allowed you in here,’ Gemma said heatedly. ‘In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m trying to work and this isn’t a convenient time.’
‘Unfortunately, there never seems to be a convenient time, does there, Gemma? As you have not returned any of my calls, you’ve left me no option but to come in here to sort things out in person.’
She didn’t like the sound of that at all. It made a nervous flutter start in the base of her stomach. ‘Marcus, I have nothing to say to you, and I want you to leave now.’
As he made no effort to move she continued in a more heated tone. ‘Look, I’ve asked you nicely, but if you continue to refuse you’ll leave me no option but to ring through for Security to remove you.’
Far from seeming worried by that, he looked slightly amused. ‘I never realized before what a fighter you are, Gemma,’ he murmured. ‘But I have to warn you that if you take such an action, you might get more than you bargained for. You might find that you are the one who is removed from the office.’
Gemma shook her head contemptuously. ‘Your arrogance never ceases to amaze me, Marcus. You may have been able to charm your way around the receptionist, but two burly security guards will be a different matter.’
‘Why haven’t you returned my phone calls?’ he asked, totally ignoring that.
‘You know why.’
‘You’ve been
