The long hours I’d dedicated to ensuring the legacy I’d been left continued to thrive was always my goal. Nothing got in the way of that, nothing. Who are you reminding of that fact?
Why had the guy from earlier knocked me off balance? More to the point, why was he still playing on my mind?
Having no answer, I swallowed a sigh as May shut the door behind us. I glanced back at her and found her leaning against the doorframe, staring at me.
The well-cut, mint-green suit fitted her sturdy body well. The cream blouse under the jacket matched the shoes and also the handbag she carried. Her bob softened her usually stern expression. She went the hairdressers every six weeks, like clockwork, to have her hair dyed, ensuring that no grey ever made an appearance. It was her one vanity, as I’d found out when I’d mentioned seeing a stray grey hair. She’d been on the phone within seconds, demanding her hairdresser fit her in immediately, leaving me to fend for myself for two hours. After that, I’d never mentioned it again.
I’d overheard comments about how stern she was and how she resembled a dragon, but to me she was my saviour. If her brusque behaviour kept everyone away, then all the better.
She’d started as a secretary in Alexander’s firm at nineteen and had risen up the ranks to his personal secretary. There was nothing she didn’t know about the business and I trusted her implicitly. She got away with murder because she knew how much I depended upon her. I’d only once been stupid enough to threaten her with the sack. Her desk had been cleared quicker than I could blink. I’d had to eat crow for a week before she’d agreed to return and I’d learned a valuable lesson. Don’t ever threaten to fire your right-hand woman.
“What? Are you coming down with something? You’re acting all weird. You’re not going through the menopause or something are you?” Years of working together allowed me to get away with many things when it came to May, but as her eyes narrowed, I realised I’d overstepped the mark. I held up my hands in surrender before her pinched mouth could open. “I’m sorry, that was discourteous and uncalled for.” I hoped the sincerity in my voice would stop the tirade that was coming.
Her brows rose and a glint that I knew meant trouble sparked in her dark brown eyes. “Yes, it was uncalled for, but it’s why you felt it necessary to say it that is more concerning. Ever since you bumped into that young man you’ve been acting strange. Is there something I’m missing? Did he bring back memories of your past?”
She was so close to the mark that I inhaled sharply. I realised I’d made a mistake when her eyes misted over. “No, don’t you dare. I’ve told you before that I don’t want your sympathy. I only let Alex tell you about my past so you’d stop being offended by my behaviour every five minutes.” I hated the pleading note in my voice as she approached me with more than a little motherly concern on her face.
Alexander had been on business in Glasgow when the men he’d been meeting had assumed he’d enjoy watching a backstreet fight as evening entertainment. The men… hell, I couldn’t even remember their names… had found themselves facing an outraged Alexander as they’d watched me participate in a bare-knuckle fight.
Barely fifteen at the time, I’d been in and out of borstals for fighting, as well as other illegal activities forced on me by my father. I’d been belligerent, unruly and loathed everyone and anyone, but there had been something different about Alexander as he’d thrown his weight around and stopped the fight. I could still recall his anger as he’d stood in front of me and asked how old I was.
For some reason, I’d instantly known that Alexander would change my life. I’d just never suspected quite how much.
“Where did you go?” May asked hesitantly, her small manicured hand touching the sleeve of my suit jacket and pulling me back to the present.
“A place that is not fit for a lady,” I ground out.
Her eyes widened, causing me to exhale loudly. I shut my eyes and worked on finding an element of the usual calm I’d nurtured over the years. The angry teenager had long since been dispensed with. Is that so?
Then why do you feel like that lost, angry fifteen-year-old boy again?
I shook off the idea and opened my eyes. willing my thundering heart to slow as I took several deep breaths.
“Maybe… maybe you should go back to the psychologist to talk about what’s troubling you?” The tentative way May suggested a return to someone who’d only forced me to open up old wounds, went down like a lead balloon. “No, I don’t need a shrink in my head again,” I explained with a voice that sounded as if I’d swallowed sand.
The hand on my arm tightened for a second before she released it. Her expression was one of distress, but she let it go. I knew her too well, though. I knew this wouldn’t be the last I’d hear of it. Once May decided I needed to do something, she was like a dog with a bone and wouldn’t let it go.
A disheartened sigh escaped me before I forced myself to straighten my hunched shoulders and walk over to the chair behind the desk.
My humour returned as I took in how well organised the desk was. May needed order, whereas me, I liked to work in chaos. I moved the keypad for the computer off to the side, waiting a beat for the “tut” to come. I wasn’t disappointed as she not only tutted, but moved the keyboard back to where it had been, while also picking up the mouse to place it on the other side of the desk, rolling her eyes at my antics.
“One of these days, I’m going to buy a ruler and use it to slap your knuckles…” Her lips clamped together and her gaze dropped to my odd-looking knuckles. Her eyes filled with regret, even as I chuckled at the silly threat.
“You’ll have to catch me first. And if I remember rightly, you’re not as fast on your feet as you used to be.” My chuckle turned to full-blown laughter as her cheeks turned pink, I was sure she was recalling the numerous times she’d chased me in Alexander’s home when I’d pissed her off.
“Yes, well, you may be fast, but I’m older and wiser. And you’ll find I can be just as cagey as you,” she threatened, but in good humour.
When her smile turned genuine, I focused my attention on work, not wanting either of us to be thinking about the past. My father had fucked up my life enough without him interfering with the present. I’d had more than enough trips down memory lane today and I needed to get my head back in the game.
“While I’m in town, can you schedule a meeting with Luke? I need to see how far he’s got with the contractors you found for the renovations on the Worthington. He was a little distracted the last time I visited.”
“That’s because you’ve been on his case constantly about the work. He’s sent me all the costings through from the builders who have given us a quote. It’s on the agenda to discuss at the board meeting today.”
I refused to give in and release a sigh, so I swallowed it back and bit my lower lip instead, stopping myself from expressing just how much I wasn’t looking forward to the meeting.
The conglomerate Alexander had created for the fifteen hotels he owned had been something he’d felt was needed. I, on the other hand, couldn’t see the benefit when all they did was squabble over every little detail, but never agreed to take anything forward because of the cost involved.