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‘Lured him out? Why on earth would I do that?’
‘Now, Miss Edwards, you must surely realise that anyone living in a place like this would be able to pay whatever money you might ask for in return for the safe return of his charge? I won’t go so far as to say that you kidnapped the boy. Perhaps it was an opportunity that presented itself, one you decided to take advantage of. Maybe you saw Jake out with the nanny at some point? Noticed where he lived? Temptation and opportunity often have a way of finding one another.’
‘That is the most outrageous thing I have ever heard in my entire life!’ Cheeks flaming, Ellie sprang to her feet and then stopped dead when he commanded her to sit back down.
‘When you’re sitting on a fortune, you find that people will do anything to try and get their hands on some of it. Had the police been called, trust me when I tell you that the line of questioning would have been far more intrusive.’
‘Perhaps in your world, Mr Ross, people will do anything to try and steal your money—maybe you’re surrounded by people who have no scruples—but I can assure you that I’m not interested in getting my hands on any fortune of yours! I had no idea that Jake lived in a place like this. Thank goodness,’ she added sarcastically, ‘that he was wearing a convenient dog tag so that I knew his address.’
Luca had the grace to flush. ‘He’s six years old and he’s only been in the country for a few months. It was important that he carried some form of identification on him, just in case he ended up lost for some reason. His nanny was instructed never to let him out of her sight, but as you can see for yourself my instructions were lamentably ignored. Jake is a bright boy, but he can’t be expected to remember an address he is not familiar with.’
‘Do you believe me when I tell you that I just happened to find him in the park, Mr Ross?’ Ellie said tightly. ‘Because I don’t have to stay here and be accused of...being a criminal!’
‘Yes.’ Luca sighed and twirled the pen on his desk between his fingers before fixing his riveting dark eyes on her. ‘I had a word with my godson and it would seem that he got bored. Alicia, the nanny, was on her phone—doubtless on a personal call, which is clearly against the rules—and he thought he’d go and do a little exploring.’
Luca preferred not to dwell on that conversation which, as with most of the conversations with his godson, had been monosyllabic and unsatisfactory.
He had sat on the bed, while Jake had conspicuously refused eye contact, and had done his best to elicit information from him.
‘What did you think you were doing, leaving the house without the nanny?’ Luca had asked, tempering an inclination to be impatient and critical.
Jake had shrugged.
‘Not a good enough answer,’ Luca had gritted, which had met with another shrug.
In the end, he had managed to drag a ‘I hate it here and I was bored so I went outside to play’ from Jake and that had been the sum total of words exchanged.
‘It’s what six-year-old boys do, unfortunately. They explore, especially when outside looks like more fun than inside.’ Her voice was cold. She was still bristling at his insulting insinuation that she might have had something to do with his godson’s absconding from the less-than-happy home sweet home. Whatever world Luca Ross inhabited, did he honestly think that everyone around him had some sort of underhand motive and had nothing better to do than to try and access his bank account?
That there wasn’t a person out there who wouldn’t do what it took to get their hands on what he had?
Except...
She, of all people, was uneasily aware that she should have known what power money and wealth could exert.
She had grown up with the disastrous consequences of a beautiful mother who had been one of those people Luca had talked about; one of those people who would have done anything for money.
Her mother had yearned for that very thing Luca Ross accepted so casually, and that yearning had created a war zone within the Edwards household. Andrea had, as she had made patently clear over the years, married beneath her. She had married a lowly clerk who had failed to rise to the heights she had initially hoped when they had both been young and hopeful. Riven with bitterness and disappointment, she had focused all her energies on ensuring that her youngest daughter, Lily, a beauty like her, could make good on the dreams and aspirations she had had to watch wither away.
And the casualty had been Ellie, studious, hardworking and a sparrow to her little sister’s shimmering peacock.
Oh, Ellie knew just how damaging the quest for money could be. She had grown up loathing the way people were prepared to behave to get it. Her father had been the one with the strong moral compass and she had adhered to him from a very young age.
The arrogant billionaire sitting in front of her was just the sort of guy she loathed.
The fact that he could sit there and casually accuse her of deliberately trying to con him out of money by snatching his nephew and then returning him in the guise of a Good Samaritan said it all.
‘If that’s all, Mr Ross...? I have to return the dogs to their owners. I’ve texted to tell them that there’s been a bit of a situation but I can’t afford to antagonise any of them.’
‘Let me have the addresses of these people. I will ensure that their pets are returned to them.’
‘I’ve already been here for nearly an hour and a half. I have things to do. You said you wanted to talk to me and I’m thinking that you wanted to establish whether you had to bring the police in to arrest me. Now that you’ve seen I’m not a criminal, I shall leave and take the dogs back to their owners myself. They’re tired and they need to be fed.’
‘There are a couple of things I still want to straighten out. I can assure you that the dogs will be delivered safely back.’
‘By your housekeeper?’ Ellie smiled at him without warmth. ‘I think she blew the bonding bit when she chucked them out into the pouring rain and locked the door behind them.’
‘My orders. I had no intention of letting those dogs drag any more mud into my house than they already had. They’re dogs. Enjoying the great outdoors is what they do. My driver has two dogs. He will deliver them, unless you want to hang onto them for another hour or so. Your choice.’
‘What else is there to say, Mr Ross? I’ve told you everything that happened. I saw Jake playing with the dogs and, when I went over, he let slip that there was no adult with him. At first I didn’t believe him, because kids are clever when it comes to twisting the truth to get what they want, and I thought that perhaps he wanted to have a bit more time with the dogs, but I very quickly realised that he was telling the truth. He was in that park on his own. Naturally, I was horrified.’
‘Naturally.’
‘And I got him back here as fast as I could. And, no, I don’t want any money for returning your nephew. I’m just relieved that—’
‘Yes, got the drift. As for the money element to your statement, why don’t we return to that later?’
‘There’s nothing to return to, Mr Ross.’
‘You rescued my godson. I feel we can step away from formalities. Why don’t you call me Luca? And you... Ellie, I believe you said?’
Ellie flushed. Luca. Strong, aggressive name for a strong, aggressive male, was the thought that ran through her head. She squashed it flatter than a pancake and gave him a little half-shrug.
‘You seem to imply that you’re familiar with children.’ The dark eyes watching her were careful and speculative as he continued to command the conversation, thinking on his feet as he talked, observing—something he was extremely good at. ‘Have you any of your own?’
‘I’m twenty-five. I would have to have started very early.’
‘And you’re not married...’
‘How on earth do you know that?’
‘No ring on your finger. Jake took to you as well as the dogs. If he hadn’t, he would never have allowed you to walk him back to the house. He would have scarpered. It’s obvious he trusted you. He was also holding your hand when he returned.’ He tilted his head to one side and inspected her in silence for a few long seconds. ‘None of this may seem like much of a big deal to you, Ellie, but I can assure you that it is. Since he came over here, he has found it difficult to...settle.’
‘Can I ask what happened?’
Luca’s initial response to that was to shut down, because answering questions posed by other people was seldom within his remit, unless those questions were work-orientated. Personal questions were off-limits. This was a personal question, but for once he wasn’t going to drop the shutters, because he was in a jam and he was beginning to think that part of the solution could be sitting right there in front of him.
‘His parents were killed in a car accident,’ he intoned flatly. ‘Freak situation. They left Jake an orphan. By virtue of the fact that I was Johnny’s closest blood relative—his cousin, to be precise, not to mention Jake’s godfather—and the fact that Ruby, his wife, had no close family members, I inherited Jake.’
‘So you’re Jake’s second cousin as well as his godfather...’
Luca frowned. ‘As I have just said.’
‘And yet, despite that connection, things must be a bit strained between you for him to have run away.’
Was he being called to account? For a few seconds, Luca’s mind went blank because being called to account was not something with which he was familiar.
‘A bit strained?’ he questioned in a voice that would have had grown men quaking, a voice he had perfected over the years, one which was very handy when it came to controlling anyone who had the temerity to breach his barriers.
The slender, dark-haired gamine sitting opposite him wasn’t quaking.
‘It happens,’ she said, her voice rich with sympathy. ‘Just because you’re family doesn’t always mean that the relationship is close.’ She thought of her own relationship with her sister, which was anything but close even though, once upon a time, they had been far closer than they were now.
‘Jake and his parents,’ Luca said heavily, ‘went to America to live. Keeping in touch was difficult.’
‘I’ll bet.’
‘I’m an extremely busy man.’ Luca heard the irritation in his voice and was exasperated with himself for launching into explanations that were, frankly, unnecessary.
‘It wasn’t meant as a criticism,’ Ellie murmured, lowering her eyes and thinking that that was exactly how it had been meant—because what she was deducing was that Luca would have been way too busy making money to remember some cousin on the other side of the world.
‘The fact is that we have both found ourselves in a situation where adjustments have had to be made and Jake has found those adjustments somewhat difficult.’
‘Poor, poor kid. No wonder he’s had trouble settling down. I’ve come across that sort of thing a couple of times, usually involving kids who have come to London from another country, and in one instance to stay with a distant relative they really didn’t know very well. Adjusting was an issue.’
She sat up straighter, on more solid ground now that she was in possession of a few facts. ‘I don’t suppose...’ she had nothing to lose by speaking her mind ‘...it’s helped that he’s been farmed out to a nanny and a housekeeper, and heaven only knows who else, when all he probably needs is one-on-one time with you as the adult responsible for his welfare.’
‘Is that a criticism?’ Luca asked coldly. ‘Because I’ve been sensing a few of those under the demure replies and the polite questions.’
Ellie dug her heels in and shrugged. ‘I can tell you don’t appreciate it,’ she said eventually, when the silence threatened to become too tense, ‘but I’m just speaking my mind. I’m a teacher, and I have quite a bit of experience when it comes to young kids.’
‘So you’re a teacher? That’s very interesting.’ Luca dropped his eyes and doodled something on the pad in front of him.
‘Is it? Why?’
‘I feel I would have worked that out eventually,’ he murmured, and she reddened.
‘Why is that, Mr Ross?’
‘Luca.’
Ellie stared at him, lips tightly pressed together, and just like that Luca smiled.
Her expression—thorough disapproval even though she was let down by having such a delicate, feminine face, all huge green eyes, short, straight nose and a mouth that was a perfect Cupid’s bow. The more defiantly she tilted her chin, narrowed her eyes and aimed for severe, the more amused he was.
‘I’m not seeing the joke.’ Ellie’s heart was slamming against her rib cage, and not just because she knew that he was laughing at her. That smile was so sexy and, just like that, she glimpsed someone other than the ice-cold billionaire who had rubbed her up the wrong way the second she had met him and who represented everything she had no time for.
And this someone other was dangerous. She felt it. This someone other wasn’t just drop-dead gorgeous. He was sinfully sexy, the sort of sexy that should come with a health warning.
‘You should see your face,’ Luca drawled. ‘Tight lips, pursed mouth, disapproving eyes. Could you be anything but a school teacher?’
He made that sound like a source of amusement instead of consternation, which somehow made his criticism all the more offensive.
‘Maybe most of them are too scared,’ she snapped with reckless abandon.
‘I don’t care for that tone of voice.’ Cool eyes fastened on her flushed face. He realised that she had signally made no effort to try and impress him from the second she had walked into his house, just as he realised that most people did, which was something he took for granted.
‘And I don’t care for the fact that you think it’s okay to sit there and laugh at me. I’m a teacher, an excellent teacher, and if you think that it’s hilarious that I speak my mind then too bad.’
‘Not hilarious,’ Luca said slowly, speculatively. ‘Refreshing.’
His mobile buzzed and he took the call, which lasted a matter of seconds. Not for a second did his eyes leave her face.
Ellie had the strangest sensation of intense discomfort under that scrutiny. It was as if her body was on hyper-alert, sensitive in ways she couldn’t quite understand. She felt restless in her own skin and yet frozen to the spot, barely able to breathe.
‘The dogs have gone. I’m sure their owners will be overjoyed to have them home.’ He sat back and inclined his head to one side. ‘Can I ask you something, Ellie?’
Ellie felt that he would anyway, whatever answer she gave, so she tilted her head to one side and didn’t say anything.
‘Why are you walking dogs when you have a job?’
That wasn’t what she had been expecting and she went bright red.
‘I don’t see what that has to do with anything,’ she muttered.
‘The nanny has gone.’ He changed tack so abruptly that she was left floundering and wrong-footed.
‘The nanny...?’
‘Second in six months.’
‘That can’t be a good thing. The poor boy probably needs continuity,’ Ellie said when he made no attempt to elaborate on this. ‘Children really need defined boundaries and, especially in Jake’s situation, stability would be very important.’ Tight lips...pursed mouth...disapproving eyes... Ellie was impatient with herself for letting him get under her skin, because who cared what the man thought one way or another?
‘I fully agree with you. It’s been disappointing but what can one do? The first nanny was a middle-aged lady who was clearly out of her depth dealing with Jake. He’s extremely clever and very strong-willed underneath that quiet exterior. It would seem that he simply refused to go along with any plan he didn’t agree to.’ Luca paused. ‘He also created such a fuss about going to school that, as it came out in the wash, the woman was browbeaten into keeping him at home on a couple of occasions which, naturally, didn’t work.’
‘Has he not settled into school life either?’
‘It’s been a difficult period,’ Luca murmured with exquisite understatement.
Confused, because she had no idea where this roundabout conversation was leading, but very much aware that there was a definite destination in sight even though it eluded her at the moment, Ellie stared at Luca with fascination.
Everything about him was compelling, from the graceful, economical movements of his hands when he spoke to the proud angle of his head and the harsh beauty of his features.
For the first time, she was awkwardly conscious of the gaping chasm between them—and not just in the money stakes.
He was so breathtakingly beautiful that he made her aware of her shortcomings, and that was a place she hadn’t visited for a long time.
Growing up, she had learned to accept that when it came to looks she was second-best.
Lily was the one with the looks. Like her mother, she was tall, willowy and blonde, her vanilla hair dropping like a waterfall down her narrow back. From the day she’d been born, she had been attracting attention, and that had only become more pronounced as she had grown and eventually matured into a stunningly beautiful adolescent.
With a sister blessed with such spectacular looks, Ellie had quickly learned to fade into the background, developing skills that did not rely on physical appearance. She had studied hard, got A grades in everything, helped out during summers at the local kennels and played as much sport as she could, because being outside the house often beat being inside it.
So it was irritating now to find herself thinking about her looks and wondering what Luca saw when he stared at her with such a veiled expression.
‘I had hoped,’ Luca said truthfully, ‘that Alicia might have worked out. I’d come to the conclusion that it might have been a mistake relying on experience to deal with Jake, without taking into account that experience might come with the downside of being a little too stuffy to handle a kid of six.’
‘Mr Ross... Luca... I’m sorry that your nephew hasn’t settled over here as well as he might have. I would advise you to try and bond with him a bit more, but I’m sure you’ll ignore me. Perhaps, after this little incident, his nanny will be a little more vigilant. Maybe she just needs to get him out and about a bit more. It’s the summer holidays and there’s an awful lot going on in London at the moment for kids. Or she could even take him out of London. To the seaside, perhaps.’
