“Good luck, then,” I said, standing up yet again and offering my hand to assist her.  “Focus, Miss Morrison.”  I forced a smile.

Surprisingly, she accepted my hand and let me pull her back up.  At least there was some contact.  Hands.  My hand was on hers and I didn’t want to let go.  I wanted to tug her against me and carry her off somewhere private.  I wanted to demand to hear her story and I wanted to make her listen to mine.  We deserved that much.  Both of us deserved at least that little bit of honest communication for closure if nothing else.

Elaina released my hand and attempted to tug her skirt down without losing the file for a third time.  Quite the feat for her apparently, and I had my doubts about whether the file would make it safely to Frances’s office or not.

I very much enjoyed watching her try though, just as I enjoyed the view of her magnificent arse from behind in that short skirt as she walked away.

My sweet Cherry Girl was back in my life whether she liked it or not.  I knew where she lived and I knew where to expect her every day for work.  I would get to see her and she would even have to talk to me.  I was her superior here, and she didn’t have a choice in that.

She might still hate me and never give me another chance with her, but we’d just have to see what happened, now wouldn’t we?

I had a task that needed my attention, or rather a best mate that needed murdering.

I went straight out, left the forty-fourth floor and down to number forty-two.  I sailed past Ian’s secretary holding my hand up to her surprised protest and barged into his office.

He was speaking into the telephone but I ended his call for him.  I stabbed the red button several times and disconnected him.

“What the fuck, Neil?”  Ian glared at me.  “I’m taking a call of business here.  Do you mind?”

“Yes, I do in fact mind very much, you meddling cocksucker!  What in the fuckin’ hell are you on about bringing Elaina to work at BSI?”

Ian sat back in his leather desk chair and folded his hands in his lap, looking smug and cocky.  “My sister needed a job, and well, it’s a perfect fit for her…in every way.  Frances, Mum, everyone agrees.”  He flipped his dark blue eyes, which matched Elaina’s to perfection, up to peg me hard.  “Wouldn’t you agree as well, mate?”

I pointed at him, my outstretched finger visibly shaking. “I would agree that you’re a fuckin’ arsehole, how’s that for agreement?”

Ian shrugged, picking up the telephone and redialing.  “Sticks and stones, brother.”

“How about staying out of my business…brother.”  I was so angry at being played, I knew I had to leave before I committed a heinous assault on the bloke I considered my brother, even though by blood he wasn’t.  “Fuck off, Ian,” I said, turning to go.

“You’re welcome, Neil,” Ian called out cheerfully.  “We’ll talk later at the pub.”

16

I slammed into the house I’d grown up in and started yelling.

“Mum, how could you?” I demanded, throwing my purse down on the table and kicking off my heels.  “You knew Neil worked at Blackstone Security, didn’t you?   You set me up, and Ian too, the bastard.”

“Now, darling, please don’t be upset, but think about your new job and how much you’ve loved working there in just the short time you’ve been employed.  It’s a marvelous opportunity for you.  And I know you love Neil despite whatever happened between you two,” she admonished.

Yeah, and this is not news to me, Mum.  I glared at my mother; totally unbelieving she’d done something so manipulative and underhanded to me.

“And he is so good to me…” she trailed off, taking a sip of her six o’clock gin and tonic while trying to look innocent.  She was damn good at it too.

“Did Neil suggest to you to get me to apply for the job?  Did he ask Ian to recommend me?”  Realization dawned and I felt the urge to thrash somebody.  “Wait—what do you mean Neil is always so good to you, Mum?”  I was absolutely fuming with the knowledge I’d been duped by my own family to bring me back to England, and to Neil.  But something didn’t ring true with my theory.  Neil did not act like he was expecting me.  In fact, he looked completely and utterly shocked at seeing me again.  Nobody had told him I’d been hired, I would bet my bank account.

It all made sudden sense.  My family was conspiring to get us back together.

Not.  Going.  To.  Happen.

“Well, Neil’s always been a lovely boy, Elaina darling.  You know that about him.  Such a help, especially after your father died.”  She took another healthy slug of her G&T and sniffed.  “He—he checks in on me quite regularly, my dear, I just never said anything to you about him because he specifically asked us not to bother you with it.”

“Is that so, Mum?  Are you taking me for a walk later?  Down a plank?  Set out over the shark infested ocean?”

I was in shock at what they had done.

“Oh, don’t be so melodramatic, Elaina.”

“MUM.”  My mother really needed to take her own advice about the melodrama but she ignored me and kept right on singing Neil’s praises.

“He took care of the service on my car and helped me when that horrible storm knocked down the elm tree in the front.  Why, I just don’t know how we’d manage around here if it wasn’t for Neil.  You know I think of him as a son and I always have.”  She sipped again and then peeked up at me with the raise of her elegant brow over the rim of her glass.