Solace in Scandal (33 page)

‘Thank you for inviting me.’ The pretty blonde’s face was animated as she looked around the room. ‘I’ve never been to a fancy shindig like this.’

Elena laughed. ‘Hockey players are on your left. Movie stars are to your right.’

The woman wiggled her eyebrows. ‘Decisions, decisions.’

Like a phantom, Leonard appeared to take the framed photograph. ‘How wonderful. Where would you like me to put it?’

The butler was attending as a guest, but he couldn’t seem to help pitching in where he saw a need.

‘Above the fireplace,’ Alex decided.

‘Excellent choice, sir. I’ll make sure it’s hung tonight.’

The partying and dancing continued late into the wee hours. Elena spent time with her mother, who was leaving in the morning. She danced with Alex and opened gifts. Most of all, she just celebrated the big turning points in her life.

There were so many of them.

Finally, she had to catch her breath. Alex found her some time later alone on the balcony.

‘What am I going to do about you?’ The nip in the air was biting, but the night was crystal clear. He took off his tuxedo and wrapped it around her shoulders. ‘What does it take for you to put on a wrap?’

She tugged the jacket closer. It was still warm from his body heat. ‘I could go find the hoodie.’

He chuckled and stood behind her. He settled his chin on her shoulder and braced his hands against the balcony railing. ‘Don’t give me ideas.’

She was wearing the daring little black dress he’d bought for her. It was a bold choice, but she knew she looked good in it. With the secret black lace lingerie she wore underneath, she felt good, too.

‘What are you looking at?’ he asked.

The view from up on high was spectacular. The fourth-floor balcony looked right down into the lake. With no wind, the water was like glass, reflecting the stars overhead. They were shining like a million bright pinpoints of light.

‘It reminds me of the evening you came home, only then it was the sun reflecting off the water.’

He rubbed his chin against her shoulder. ‘I remember, but I was too busy checking out the sexy little brunette gyrating on my dock.’

She smiled. She’d taken to doing her yoga in the gym. It was too cold to do it outside any more.

‘What else is going on inside that head of yours?’ he asked.

She shook her head. She didn’t want to spoil the night. It had been close to perfect. ‘Nothing.’

He pressed his face into her hair. ‘I know you better than that, Siren.’

She sighed. ‘Seeing all these wealthy people partying and enjoying themselves … It makes me wonder …’

‘Wonder what?’

‘Don’t be angry.’

He leaned over further to look into her face. ‘What’s bothering you, Elena?’

She tilted her head back against his shoulder and looked at the sky. ‘Is your grandfather out there somewhere, going to parties and throwing money around? Is he in a chalet on a mountaintop with a sherry in his hand?’

Alex blew out a long breath. ‘Don’t get yourself worked up over what-ifs.’

‘I can’t help it. After all you went through, after all
we
went through, it’s just not fair.’

‘Life’s not fair, baby.’

‘I just want to see justice served.’ For the Ponzi scheme … but maybe more for what Alex had gone through as a child …

‘It has been.’

Three words. Soft and clear.

Her heart dipped right into her stomach, and she went very still. ‘Alex?’

He tensed. ‘Damn it.’

He hadn’t meant to let that slip.

Questions started flying through Elena’s head at dizzying speed. There’d been so many harsh rumours. So many suppositions and lies. Most of them had been refuted.

Most …

Except for the one Caroline Woodward had thrown at her that had hurt the most.

Her arms tightened around her waist. ‘What are you saying?’ she whispered.

A rough sound left his throat. Time passed, stretching out until the chill went through the jacket all the way to her bones. When he pressed his mouth against her ear, she felt like she was about to shatter.

‘He’s not enjoying any riches. He’s dead.’

Her mind just stopped. ‘You?’

‘No. Not me.’

Her blood started moving again. The weight lifted off her chest, but her legs felt even more wobbly. She leaned back against him. Secure once again, her brain began clicking.

‘Suicide?’

‘No.’

‘Then who?’

His hand left the marble railing and his arm wrapped around her waist.

It was then that she knew. There had been three people purportedly involved in the Ponzi scheme: Bartholomew Wolfe, Alex and … her father.

The truth was like a punch in the gut, and she folded in half. Alex kept her on her feet, his body warm around hers and his face pressed into her hair.

‘It wasn’t intentional,’ he said, loud enough for her ears only. ‘It was an accident. My grandfather and your dad argued. It was when their scheme was starting to fall apart. You have to understand. My grandfather was an odious man. Rotten to his core. He’d already begun covering his trail so all evidence pointed at your father. Randolph felt trapped.’

‘What did he do?’ She could barely get the question out, but she had to know. ‘Where did this happen?’

‘Here, out front of the house. They fought and Randolph pushed the old man. My grandfather fell and hit his head on a rock. He didn’t get back up.’

Off in the distance, a howl cut through the air. The sound was eerie and prophetic.

Alex held her tighter. ‘It’s a coyote.’

Others joined in, and the calls were long and mournful.

Elena couldn’t bear to hear them. ‘You were there? You saw it happen?’

‘No.’

‘Then how do you know? Who told you this?’

‘Leonard.’

Her air choked off in her throat. She remembered her tense discussion with the butler in Bartholomew’s room.

‘He was there. He saw the whole thing.’

‘But why didn’t they call an ambulance or the authorities?’

‘I wish they had,’ Alex sighed. ‘But apparently Leonard’s loyalty to your father outweighed that to my grandfather. Randolph convinced him he couldn’t stand up to murder charges, that my grandfather had already framed him.’

Elena rubbed her hand over her face. It was all so terrible. ‘Where’s the body?’ she whispered.

He nodded off in the distance. ‘The family plot is at the northern end of the property. They buried him there.’

She shook her head, aghast. She’d known her father was selfish, but she hadn’t known how deep it went. ‘And my father just walked away?’

‘No, baby.’

Again, it took a moment for it all to sink in.

‘He went home and hanged himself,’ she breathed.

Alex wrapped himself around her. ‘In one day, everything turned sideways and the only person who was left to tell the story was Leonard. I couldn’t say anything. That sweet old man is the reason I’m here. He’s always protected me.’

Elena swallowed hard and a tear fell from her eyes. ‘I know what your grandfather did to you,’ she choked out. ‘I … I saw the closet doors.’

Alex went stiff behind her.

‘You had to protect Leonard,’ she whispered.

‘Technically, it made me complicit,’ Alex admitted. ‘That’s why I didn’t put up a bigger fight against the insider-trading charges. But I’ve done my time.’

Off in the distance, the coyote howled again, making her tremble.

She folded her hand on top of his on her stomach. ‘But the cost?’

‘I prefer to look at the reward.’

She turned around and buried her face against his chest.

He wrapped his arms around her and rubbed his cheek against her hair. ‘You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Elena. We might have started out in disgrace, but we’re going to make this Bardot–Wolfe partnership work.’

‘It makes me hurt to think of what you went through.’

‘With the way it all turned out, I wouldn’t change a thing.’ He took a shuddering breath, and his voice went rough. ‘I didn’t want you to know. I tried to spare you this.’

Her hands bit into his back. ‘Nobody can ever find out. We mustn’t tell a soul, but the questions are going to continue.’

‘I figure, in time, I’ll have Bartholomew declared legally dead. The courts will have to sort it all out.’

She brushed the tears from her cheeks. ‘How many skeletons can two families have?’

‘Shhh, that’s a question better left unasked.’

Another lonely howl cut through the night air. The sound made a shiver go down Elena’s spine. It wasn’t a wolf – she knew this wasn’t their territory – but the timing was sinister.

‘What if it’s in our genes?’ she whispered. ‘What if it’s just the way things are?’

‘Then we’ll have to start scandals of a different kind.’

She was shocked when he pressed a hard erection against her belly, and she looked quickly towards the ballroom.

He took the opportunity to nuzzle against her neck. ‘In fact, with you in that dress, I’ve got ideas already.’

‘Alex!’

His lips covered hers in a hot kiss. ‘Forget the rest. Just remember I love you.’

She gave in and kissed him back. ‘I love you, too.’

That was all that mattered, scandalous or not.

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This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.