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“You couldn’t find your way back?” He didn’t feel in the least sympathetic, although she made an irresistibly poignant picture.
She gave herself a second to get herself together. “I had serious concerns about Zoe.” She couldn’t elaborate. “And there was the question of money.” At that time she had been pretty well without resources.
“Zoe wouldn’t give you any?” One black eyebrow shot up.
“Her nest egg had been more than halved. She was terribly worried. She’d made a disastrous investment. A person she thought highly of abused her trust. Zoe’s so impulsive. She acts before she thinks.”
“Hell, yes,” he agreed discordantly, thinking of how hard Eric Streeton had worked for his money. “Let it go, Toni. It’s all in the past now.”
“Unfortunately the past is never truly past. It follows us around. I was very surprised when Cate wanted me for a bridesmaid.”
He knew there had been a big power struggle, the family dividing into two camps, pro and anti Antoinette. “You got on very well as girls,” he said evasively. “You are her fiancé’s only sister.”
“I’m sure that was the only reason I made the bridal party.”
“I have to say one or two of us were concerned you mightn’t show up on the day.” He saw a quick flash of hurt in her eyes and instantly regretted his cutting remark. Lord, was he trying to punish her? Maybe he was.
The waiter returned, bearing a silver tray. He deposited a bottle of Dom Pérignon on the table and proceeded to uncork it, murmuring a fervent thank-you as he pocketed his tip.
“Welcome home,” Byrne said, lifting his glass to salute her. “I must apologise, Toni. I’m being too hard on you .”
“I may pay you back one of these days,” she retorted, sounding a different person suddenly. “Anyway, you’re a hard man.”
The gray eyes frosted over. “Is that my reputation, really?”
“Whether you like it or not.” She sipped her champagne.
“Listen to me, Toni.” He loosened the button of his beautifully cut jacket and eased back. “I’ve got a lot of people depending on me. A cattle chain to look after. These are tough times. Testing times. Toughness is a quality to be desired. You’d do well to remember it.”
“Oh, I will! Be sure of it. And Joel isn’t offering a challenge?”
For a moment he looked like he was going to ignore the silky taunt. “I’m not going to put my own brother down, but I think you’ll find Joel wouldn’t want to take on my responsibilities.”
“Just as well, under the circumstances. Personally I don’t go along with the old law of primogeniture. Both of you still unmarried?”
He took his time replying, a little nettled, more amused. “Not even engaged. Joel has plenty of time. I’ll get around to it when I’m ready.”
“You might even have someone already in mind?” She kept those lotus eyes trained on him.
“Not at all.”
“You don’t need women?” She knew she sounded challenging. But then she’d already been labelled.
“Oh, but I do, Toni. I don’t always sleep alone.”
No. Indeed not, Toni thought, endeavouring to ignore the shiver that ran down her spine. “Do we name names?”
“No,” he said bluntly.
So that was that.
“Drink up and we’ll go in to dinner,” he murmured. “I’ve had meetings most of the day. I feel like a Porsche with the engine still running. It will be nice to relax.”
Relax they didn’t. The tensions tightened a notch, even though an attraction between them was tacitly admitted.
The main dining room was opulent, softly lit, with beautiful paintings and tapestries on the wall, the tables glowing with candles and posies of flowers.
“It’s lovely here,” Toni murmured appreciatively, watching the light glance off his dark copper skin.
He glanced around, used to grand surroundings from infancy. “The main dining room has recently been refurbished, I understand. If it’s all right with you I’d like to get away fairly early in the morning, Toni.”
“Have no fear. I won’t put you out.”
He looked at her keenly, almost laughed. “Well, I’d like to be at the. airport by eight-thirty, at the latest. I suppose it’s reasonable to conclude you’ve brought a fair bit of luggage?”
She grimaced at the implication. “I’m not Mommy Dearest, Byrne. I’m here for the month, then I’ll go back to Paris.”
There was a sudden flare in his eyes, like diamonds exposed to bright light. “It sounds like you have someone waiting for you.”
“There is someone.” She took a deep breath, pretending to go starry eyed.
“There always is.” He stared at her for a minute before picking up his menu.
“His name is Akbar,” she confided. “We have crazy times together.”
His handsome mouth tightened. “I’m not sure I’m ready to hear about your little jaunts around Morocco. In many respects I lead a conservative life.”
She opened her eyes wide. “Don’t be ashamed of it, Byrne. You’re a gorgeous man, really,”
Her power to discomfort him was impressive. “Why, thank you, Antoinette. Just so long as you remember I don’t party with youngsters.”
“Which I might say without fear of contradiction lets me out. I’m twenty-two.”
“A considerable age.” His voice was half mocking, half gentle.
“I’m not going to let you patronise me, Byrne.”
“Good for you. I’m enjoying your efforts.” He looked at her.
“Oh? I thought you were trying to make me suffer.”
That put a brake on him.
“Forgive me, Toni, that wasn’t my intention.”
“Of course, I forgive you,” she lied, anxious to defuse the simmering tension. “As long as you remember something.”
“Please don’t stop yourself from telling me.” He poured them both another glass of champagne.
“I’m not stupid.”
He looked at her, light leaping from his silver-gray eyes. “That makes you doubly dangerous.”
Toni waited until they were airborne before she allowed herself to speak. “I’ve got to say I love the new plane.” She tapped one beautifully manicured nail against the arm of her chair. “What happened to the Beech Baron?”
“I sold it to Winaroo Downs. It was just what they wanted.”
“And this is the Super King Air?”
“Yes. Turbo prop. Averages about two hundred and eighty knots. A jet would have been fairly useless to me, what with trying to find suitable landing strips. This can get in just about anywhere the Baron could, which is what I need. I find I’m doing more flying around the country, checking on other properties, attending meetings, whatever.”
“It must have been hellishly expensive,” Toni said. Millions. Probably five or six.
“It’s not a luxury, Toni, not a rich man’s toy. It’s a necessity. A way of life. It comfortably seats ten passengers, as well as your seat beside me. A lot of the time I have a full complement on board. Especially when I’m carrying fellow cattlemen. They like to cadge a lift on the most comfortable plane.”
“Don’t I know.” She glanced at the earth. “I never grow tired of flying,” she said. “It’s a miracle.”
“You know Kerry had to part with the Cessna?” He shot her a keen look.
“Of course.” She bit her lip. “No matter how hardworking Dad and Kerry were, there were so many reversals.”
“And Zoe wanted a big slice of the pie.” The old bitterness slipped out.
“I don’t know anything about that, Byrne.”
“You had to know. Why lie?”
“Dad didn’t discuss the settlement with either of us. I was thirteen when Zoe left, remember? Kerry had only just finished school. Dad tried to protect us.”
“Then I’m sorry. He wasn’t happy about you going off to join your mother, either.”
“He agonised, then, loving me, gave in.”
“Did she never marry the man she went off with?” Byrne asked after a long pause, “or wasn’t he sufficiently well-heeled?”
She looked out the window. Brilliant blue sky and a streaming wedding veil of clouds. “Something like that.”
“How long were you with your mother before Von Dantzig disappeared?”
“It was all very distressing, Byrne.”
“I bet it was.” He felt a sudden wave of protectiveness. “In fact it must have been a nightmare for a beautiful young girl.”
“I had nothing to fear. I cried a little when Zoe and Rolf split up. Zoe had already met Claude. He decided to convert her to a grand lady. She liked that.”
“Dear, dear.” He clicked his tongue. “How did you keep up with these dreadful affairs?”
“I’m infinitely older than my mother,” she said simply.
“Is that why you stayed? To protect her?” His eyes were shrewd.
“And all the time you thought I was raging back and forth. Into guys. Into parties. Into drugs.” She shot a mocking glance at the hard, handsome profile, which he caught.
“I saw your pals at the hotel.”
“What pals?” She blinked in confusion.
“The two who were anxious to get your address.”
Her shoulders slumped. “Oh, them! You get pleasure seeing me as an air head, don’t you?”
“I know perfectly well you’re not.” She had wit, intelligence, her own apparent strengths.
“Actually I was giving them some tourist destinations on the Barrier Reef. They’re Americans, heading that way.”
“They didn’t invite you?” Hell, he was going out of his way to taunt her.
“All right, they tried. It’s no big secret men are convinced blondes know how to enjoy life.”
“It sounds just about right to me.” He smiled, and it was like the proverbial ray of sunshine spreading radiance across his dark, daunting face.
“Didn’t you have a wild girlfriend at one time?” she countered, trying to fight the punch his smile delivered.
“I doubt it, Toni. Wild women aren’t my style.”
“Yet I seem to remember her. Hettie? Lettie? Tall, good-looking brunette, not shy about spouting off.”
“I think you mean Charlotte Reardon.” The silver-gray eyes sharpened.
“Yes, Lottie. Everyone said she was very fast.”
“What the hell are you up to, Toni?” He raised a brow.
“I just wanted to see if I could take the mickey out of you,” she joked.
“You’d better wait until you know me a little better.”
“I’ve known you all my life.” Not in this way, she thought. Not with all the flash and challenge.
“Not up close,” he told her, eyes narrowing. “Tell me why you really came home.”
As a question it was almost aggressive. “To be with Kerry, of course. To be one of Cate’s bridesmaids. I consider it an honour.”
“What will Zoe do without you?”
“Zoe has made her decision, Byrne. She’s going to marry Patrick. There’s nothing I can do about it.”
“But you’ve got a problem with it?” He glanced at her, trying to pierce her guard.
