The Billionaire's Secrets (17 page)

Chloe could see that it upset him to talk about this
.
“If this is too hard for you...” Chloe began
reluctantly
.

“No,” he said firmly. “It was a long time ago. It’s good therapy for me. And you’re a good listener.” He sipped his coffee. “Everything was fine until I introduced her to the family.
Gaelan
seemed jealous. He’s the older twin, which is why he has Widow’s Cliff. Ours is an old-fashioned family, everything to the oldest child, and I guess
Gaelan
figured that also meant my girlfriend. Anyway,
Gaelan
managed to win her away from me. He poured on the charm and, with all his money, he could promise her the world.
And I’m afraid she fell for it.

“But after she married him, she discovered what he was really like
– cold and jealous
. And t
he isolation of Widow’s Cliff really got to her. She was a model and an actress, and she went
near
crazy wandering around that creepy castle all by herself.
She already felt she was a prisoner there and t
hen she had
Sophia
.”

He paused, and ran his fingers through his hair. It was a gesture that she had seen
Gaelan
make
,
and she was struck again by their similarities - at least in looks and gestures. When it came to personalities, they were miles apart.

“Windy said Colleen didn’t love
Sophia
,” Chloe said. “Is that true?”

Bowen looked at her with a puzzled expression on
his face. “
Windy’s
a good soul
but pretty traditional, and
I think she’
s the only person in the world who believes that
Gaelan
can do no wrong. I don't think she approved of Colleen wanting another life beyond that of mother and lady of the manor.”

Chloe
silently
agreed with Bowen’s description of Windy. “
So
Colleen
didn’t
keep up her career?”

“
How could she? Every
time she tried to get to New York for an audition, he’d have an excuse that kept her from going. The weather was to
o
bad to go to the airport… he had something more important… you name it, he came up with it.
I think he liked to keep her where he could keep an eye on her.”

“Why?”

“Because she was miserable
,
and he didn’t want her to get away from him. She was like everything else to him, a possession,” he said bitterly. “To make a long story short, she
emailed
me. She was terribly depressed. We arranged to meet in St. John’s the next week. I was going to ask her to come back with me to New York
,
but she never arrived.”

Chloe felt a cold chill. “What happened?”
             
             

“She went for a walk along the cliff and never came back.” He swallowed hard. “Her body was never found. The official explanation was that she fell from the cliff and the tide carried out her body.”

“But the fence...”

“I said that was the official explanation. There are gates along the fence. They think she used one of the gates to get closer to the edge and then...”

Chloe paused to let Bowen recover his voice. “You don’t sound convinced,” she said softly. “Do you think she might have committed suicide?”

“Colleen was
deathly
afraid of heights. She was incapable of going anywhere near the edge of that cliff.”

Chloe absorbed the full meaning of what he was trying to tell her. “You don’t think
Gaelan
...?” Chloe asked in horror. She knew that
Gaelan
was cold and arrogant, but a murderer? Bowen must be mistaken!

Bowen shrugged. “Forget it,” he said resignedly.
“Maybe it was just an accident
,” he said without conviction. “I just think my brother was a little too quick to agree with the accident verdict. He even denied that she was afraid of heights.”

Chloe didn’t know what to say. He seemed reluctant to accuse his brother, but she could tell the doubts were there, eating away at him.
             

He suddenly straightened and smiled at her. “Don’t li
sten to me. I’m just a man who
had his heart broken. Now let’s talk about something else - I feel bad that our first meeting had to be so heavy.”

Chloe agreed. “But I don’t know that it could have been any different.
Given the circumstances.”

“I
suppose so,” he said, then brightened. “
Do you think I could see you again? I promise to be fun and entertaining.”

Chloe thought for a moment. “I don’t know. What would
Gaelan
say?”

Bowen laughed bitterly. “
Gaelan
doesn’t have to know. Don’t forget that you only work for him.”

Chloe felt suddenly defiant. After all that Bowen had told her, she didn’t think she owed
G
aelan
any loyalty at all. “How’
s Sunday? It’s my day off.”

“Of course.
Shall we meet here? I bet you haven’t seen many of the sights since you’ve arrived.”

Chloe shook her head
,
and they arranged a time to meet. Bowen insisted on paying the bill
,
and she let him. With her thoughts in t
urmoil, she walked back to the J
eep. While Bowen had no proof that
Gaelan
was involved in his wife’s death, what he'd revealed to her was damning enough that Chloe should probably leave Widow's Cliff. But then she remembered
Sophia
. Surely she couldn’t leave her with such a man.
No
, she told herself firmly,
it’s my
responsibility now to look after
Sophia
.

She didn’t doubt Bowen’s story. It fit with all she knew about
Gaelan
, although she had to admit it wasn’t much. But it was good she had met Bowen
when she did. She had to admit
that
,
despite her misgivings earlier about
Gaelan
, she had allowed herself to
fantasiz
e. More than once she had thought with a woman’s love he might
change,
might start to feel something for
Sophia
, for herself. Really, she had been behaving like a lovesick schoolgirl
who
’
d read too many romances
. From now on she would think of him as her boss, nothing more.

She climbed into the Jeep and turned the key in the ignition. It made a few grinding noises, then nothing. She swore under her breath and leaned her head against the steering wheel. Now what?
Sophia
’s class would be over in fifteen minutes. How would they get home? Knowing it was useless, she turned the key again. The result was the same.

Suddenly there was a sharp knock on the window. Startl
ed, she looked up. It was Bowen.

“Problems?” he said.

Chloe rolled down the window. “It won’t start.”

“
Oh, no!
It’s going to be tough to find someone to fix it on a Friday afternoon.”

“Great,” she said in exasperation. “I’ve got to pick up
Sophia
.”

“Come on, I’ll drive you home. You can call a garage tomorrow.”

She thought for a moment. Maybe
Windy’s
nephew could take care of it. She could ask Windy to call him later. “Okay, thanks a lot.”

It wasn’t until they were parked in front of the church where
Sophia
’s class was being held that Chloe suddenly saw the flaw in her plan. “
Sophia
,” she said suddenly. “Isn’t she going to recognise you?”

“I doubt it. I haven’t seen her for four years.”

“But you look like her father.”

He shrugged. “Don’t worry. They say everyone has a twin somewhere. Just go get her - everything will be fine.”

And it was.
Sophia
did a slight double-ta
ke at seeing Bowen
but on deciding that he wasn’t her father didn’t remark on the likeness. She had more important things to talk about. One of the students had brought in his puppy, and Chloe was regaled with a moment
-by-
moment description of the puppy’s antics.