The Millionaire's Convenient Bride (14 page)

“
How?” she asked as he guided her to a chair.

“
I had it set up as soon as we left this morning. I hope you don’t mind?”

Louisa couldn’t do anything but shake her head. She could get used to this. She had never imagined that life with Dominic could be such bliss. The last time they were together it had all been about him and what he wanted.
She had been an idiot to leave, and an idiot for believing that she could not lead her own life with him at her side. Yes, he had been headstrong, but she had never given him the chance to prove he could be anything else. Perhaps this had all been because of her own childish beliefs, not his.

“
Passion pop,” he asked holding the bottle out to her.

She laughed
, and it was several moments before she could stop. Maybe some things hadn’t changed. Dominic had always had a taste for the cheap sweet wine.

“
I need to make a confession.” Dominic’s eyes were fixed on hers as she finished her mousse. “I don’t want to divorce you.”

Louisa nearly dropped her spoon. She breathed in and prayed that she had heard him
correctly. Could it be that he had feelings for her?

“
I don’t understand,” she said watching his face for some sign that this was a joke. He had never given her a reason to suspect he would be cruel, but others had tried in the past to play with her feelings, and it made her wary.

He stood and crossed to her side helping her from her seat. He held her hand in his as his other hand traced her cheek.

“I never stopped loving you. It has just taken me this long to get my act together.”

Louisa searched his face, his full mouth, his trusting eyes. Then there was that hint, a sparkle in his eye and a quirk on his lips that made her believe what he was saying. He did love her
?

“
Do you love me?” she asked. She needed to know if he cared for her.

“
Yes.”

“
Say it,” she said. She needed to hear it from his own lips.

“
Louisa, I love you more than the stars above my life, my love.” He pulled her mouth to his and kissed her. The passion that radiated through her was more than she had ever felt.  He carried her to the desk, which had been pushed to one side of the room. He set her on it and nudged her legs open. Her body was alive with his touch, and she leant into him with her whole self.

There was a knock on the door
, which they both ignored. Another louder knock rang through the room.

“
What?” Dominic snapped at the closed door. Louisa was surprised by his tone and more than a little flattered at his apparent hunger for her.

“
It’s Cole. Stop whatever you are doing and open up. It’s important.”

Dominic groaned and kissed the sensitive spot just under her ear. She rolled her head back delighting in the sensation. Cole knocked again, shaking the door on its hinges.

“Now, Dominic!” he boomed through the wood.

With a casual flick of his hand Dominic
re-buttoned the dress he had opened to her navel before arranging his own clothes again. His hand lingered on her hand as he brushed his fingers over the gold band she wore around her finger. The symbol that she was his, she thought as he pulled her forwards and brushed his lips over hers before helping her off the table as he opened the door. Cole stepped over the threshold and made for Louisa. She didn’t scare easily, but she was set back by the fire in his eyes as he stopped just inches from her, his whole body tense.

“
Louisa, if I asked you something will you swear to tell me the truth?” he asked through a tense jaw.

“
Of, of course.” She could hear the hesitation in her own voice as she wondered what on earth could have happened to make Cole madder than she had ever seen him. Dominic came forward and placed himself just in front of Louisa’s body. His warmth gave her a little courage, and she stood straighter as she faced her new brother and whatever accusation he had. Had he found out their secret, that the wedding was a fake?

“
You had better have an explanation for this behaviour, brother, before I throw you out of this office.”

“
I do, and it involves you, too, little brother,” Cole said, not flinching in the slightest at the venom in Dominic’s words. “Louisa, I have just been forwarded an email conversation you had several months ago with your assistant. Would you care to explain why my company name came up several times along with the phrase ‘I will just marry one of them and not even have to worry about trying to buy them out’?”

Louisa was stunned into silence. She couldn’t even think
. She had been so sure he had found them out in the fake marriage. But this, she had no idea what was happening. Why would she want the McKillips’ companies? She was a lawyer not a business woman, and worse, she realised, Dominic hadn’t made to defend her since Cole’s announcement. He was silent.

“
Louisa?” Cole said, his normally happy face contorted in anger.

“
I didn’t. I—why would I want your companies?” she stammered. She couldn’t understand how he got the emails, or where they had come from. They were fakes. That was clear, but what was clear to her was obviously not clear to Cole, who stood with a crease between his normally kind eyes in a combination of hurt and anger at her apparent betrayal.

“
I don’t know, but it was convenient timing to your accident,” he said gesturing to the scar just visible beneath her hairline.

“
I was there because I was trying to help you get your inheritance.” She paused hearing what she was saying. Of course she could see it now, see what Cole must be seeing. She hadn’t visited the McKillips in over a year, and suddenly there is a hidden clause that they must marry for the money and there she is. Desperate, a damsel in distress on the doorstep of the man she nearly wooed so long ago.

“
Why would I want your businesses, Dominic?” She touched his arm, but he didn’t turn. She couldn’t breathe. He believed that she had used him. After all that they had been through in the past week, she had thought he trusted her as much as she did him. Sure, she had never given him reason to trust her in the past. But couldn’t he see that she had changed? She was older, and hadn’t this whole deal had been his idea? The idea that he actually believed this rubbish stung her pride. She had nowhere else to go now, she realised with a groan. If he believed Cole and not her, she would have nothing.

She could see in their faces that they did not want to believe it
, but they had the evidence, and it looked clear and simple. Her life was being torn to pieces, and she had trusted Dominic to help her put it back together again.

“Dominic
, you can’t—”

He stopped her with a wave of his hand. Could he really not let her explain
? This was obviously another hoax, yet he was clearly falling for it. She couldn’t stand there any more with Cole glaring at her and Dominic not even waiting to hear her out. She steeled herself and turned and left the room and didn’t stop until she was in a cab and being taken far away from everything, the McKillips, her firm, and from all those who tried to bring her down. She had been a fool. She could see that now. She was stronger than that. She would pull the pieces back together herself. She had known it had been a mistake to let a man have so much control of her life, even if it had been Dominic, even if she had believed that he loved her. She had been a fool not to cover her back. She should have signed a pre-nuptial before she consented to this game. She was a lawyer for God’s sake. How could she have been so dumb as to let this kind of thing slip from work into her love life? She had believed this deal would save her, so she had not made a backup plan, and now she was out of the game all because of a stupid email. But she was stronger than that, and she was smarter for the lesson. She had been on her own before and had risen to meet the challenge, and she would do it again. She felt tears wet her cheeks and steeled herself against the emotional hurt those stupid brothers had cost her. She would prove them wrong and show them how valuable she could be without their money.

Chapter
Nine

Dominic paced his apartment. He had sent Sophie and Cole away as soon as he had arrived back. How could he have done that to Louisa? When he had just gotten her trust, when it mattered most, he had said nothing and let Cole accuse her of betraying them. He knew the emails had been fake. He knew Louisa better than maybe anyone else on the planet. The emails had been where Cassandra had slipped up and shown her weakness. This wasn’t about getting back at Louisa; it was about him. And now he had let her go, the one woman who had always seen him for him, not for his money or his family. Louisa practically already was family. He trusted her and had always looked out for her from a distance, even if she didn’t realise it. This was his mess, and he would clean it up.

An hour later he boarded the chopper on the top of the neighbouring building. He needed to get to Washington. He had arranged for his accountant to meet him there. He had his employees all over the state searching out information for him and another two people hired to follow Louisa and keep her safe. They also had strict instructions not to let her see them. She was a proud creature
. It was one of the things he admired most about her. She wouldn’t like to think that she was being protected. But he had a duty to her, his wife. He rolled the word around his mind and felt the familiar fierce pull the word had on him. She was his now, so she had to let him help her. She knew nothing of the pleasures he would bestow on her if she would only open up to him. He had tried to tame her once, but now he knew that doing so would break her. He was wiser now. Her spirit and drive were the very things that made her who she was, and he relished her fierce nature.  She was a woman who could meet him on his own level, one who drove heat through his veins with every word, every gesture.  One that could hold her own in an argument and strike him down when he was being arrogant. Yes, Louisa was one in a million, and better yet, she had no idea the effect she had on men, a natural beauty with no clue.

The chopper took flight over the city. He would bring her back, when they were both ready to face the truth that they needed each other. He wouldn’t let her get away again.

‘Mr. McKillip, would you like me to continue?’

The man sitting opposite him in the chopper looked every inch the successful businessman, the kind of man you wouldn’t look twice at. That was why Dominic used him
. Private investigators he had hired in the past just stuck out too much. This man used to work as Dominic’s driver, but he had convinced him to change professions after he had proven his skills a few years ago in another matter.

“
No, that will be all. Are you sure this information is up to date?” he asked.

“
Yes, I verified it myself.”

Another of his skills was the ability to hack any firewall he came across
, which made him a very handy man to have around. Dominic thanked him and reviewed the envelope he had received. They had met in the hotel bar. Dominic may have trusted this man, but he never let him know where he currently lived or worked. Some things were best not left to chance. They landed, and Dominic went straight to his hotel lounge area.

He studied the documents that he had been given. They confirmed what he already knew
. It was the lack of this hard evidence that had held him back until now. He drank the last of his scotch and considered his next move. He hadn’t been to see Louisa yet. His man had been watching her to ensure she was safe, but Dominic knew that he needed to sort things out with her firm before she would let him back into her life. Such a stubborn creature, he mused and smiled at the thought. A woman walked past in a low slung dress that drew the eyes of the men sitting around him. She paused next to him and jutted her hip out a little to show off her curves. She gave a slight wink in his direction before she made her way to a table at the edge of the room. Dominic pushed the papers back into their envelope, and, after a neat tip to the bar tender he left to make some calls in his room.

*
***

“
Louisa, there is a man here to see you. He is refusing to give his name and refusing to leave.”

Louisa wondered why Margaret was even bothering telling her this
. She knew to just call security for people like this. “Call security then.”

Margaret hovered half in the doorway.
“Well, he is saying that Dominic McKillip sent him.”

Louisa felt herself flush at the mention of Dominic. She fingered the ring on her finger, ashamed to still have it on, yet it offered comfort to her for some reason. Its cool metal against her skin gave her strength to feel it there over the past few days since she had left him
. Again.

“
Alert security and have them wait in the hall. Once they arrive send him in.” Margaret left to do as she had asked. Louisa wondered who this man was and why Dominic had sent him knowing well that she wouldn’t permit a man who wouldn’t give his name into her office. Wasn’t that what she was about to do though? Even the mention of his name had made her behave like a fool. She considered calling Margaret back to tell her to have the man removed. Her curiosity got the better of her, though, and she wanted to at least find out who this man was.

“
Louisa Callum, I hope you don’t mind my imposing on you.” The man walked as if had every reason to be there. He instantly put her on guard. When a criminal walked into a court room as this man did, he always walked back out without handcuffs.

“
What can I do for you, Mr.—?”

“
I have some information for you. Mr. McKillip said that I was to deliver it to you in person. I will leave you now. It was a pleasure meeting you.” The man dropped a thick yellow envelope on the table by the window before leaving. It wasn’t lost on her that he had failed to give her his name. She waited until he had left and she had checked with security that he was out of the building before she opened the envelope. She frowned as she read the information it contained. A disk slid out of the envelope after the documents. She checked her computers security was active before she inserted it into the drive.  What she saw made her furious with anger. Her fists clenched against the table, and she could feel her face flushing with heat.

*
***

Dominic opened the door
. Louisa didn’t wait for him to speak before she pushed past him and into his apartment.

“
How did you find that information?” she asked him as she paced to the lounge room and threw her coat over the back of the lounge. She had called Sophie to find out where Dominic was. The other woman had been so pleased the hear from her that she had kept her on the phone for more than two hours before Louisa could convince her she and Dominic were fine.

“
Does it matter? It’s good if that is what you are wondering.” He moved to the wall at the end of the hall and leant against it, not coming into the room with her.

Louisa had run through this conversation in her mind a hundred times since she had seen that information. Nothing had prepared her for the effect being around him again would have. She kept her gaze down as she continued pacing.  It had all fallen into place once she had seen what was on that disk. A few calls had confirmed that the information was true. Believing it was another matter.

“Louisa, talk to me,” Dominic said still not coming any closer to her.

She could feel his gaze on her as she crossed the room. She wasn’t ready for this yet
. She had to concentrate on fixing the company first. Her marriage would come later. She fingered the ring again as she arranged her thoughts.

“
You are still wearing your ring.”

Louisa looked up and quickly down again. She couldn’t think about this yet. She had the information,
and now she needed answers.

“
So that’s it?” she asked coming to sit on the edge of the lounge. “This is all because she was in love with you.” She shook her head. All of these years, she had left Dominic because she wanted to be independent. She wanted to build her own life, with her own friends and her own money. When all along, every step of the way she was just shielding herself from the truth, that she was scared to love anyone again, scared that they would be taken away from her, and now, it had nearly cost her everything she had achieved. “Ok, I get that she wanted you. You knew her long before I knew you, I mean before you and I were together.”

“
Look.” Dominic came and sat on the edge of the wooden coffee table so that he could sit facing her. “You had no way of knowing what she was doing. She’s been doing it for years, forging documents to feed to your firm for cases. All in the aim of destroying you in the hope that I wouldn’t want a penniless woman.”

“
Her father though,” she said, looking out of the window over his shoulder to avoid looking at him.  

“
I contacted Margaret, and once she understood that he was acting under the impression that she was trying to bring his company down and explained what Cassandra was doing she agreed to drop the charges as long as he was investigated for his original mistake, which started this whole mess.”

“
I still can’t believe this, and I work with criminals for a living.” Louisa gave a short laugh at the irony behind the whole situation. “I have seen the evidence, and yet I don’t want to believe it.”

“
I’m glad,” Dominic said.

She looked up, surprised at the tenderness in his voice. There was no trace of a smile on his lips. He leant forwards and grasped her hands in his. She tried to pull away
, but he held her firmly. “No, you need to listen to me. If you had taken this in when you first found out, you wouldn’t have been the woman I know that you are. You have so much love for people that you won’t even consider that Cassandra may just be a nasty person. Louisa, you have so much compassion, and that’s what makes you such a good lawyer. You see the person and the crime, and you decide which is more important.  She has broken everything you have, yet you still give pause before exposing her. But you don’t have to. What she did is bigger than you and me. It may have affected hundreds of cases, of lives over the years.”

Louisa listened as he spoke, not taking in what he was saying. Cassandra had been there for her, through her
break-up with Dominic when she had first arrived at the University, when she had almost dropped out of school after she failed her first exam. She knew her, had trusted her.

“
Louisa.” Dominic grasped her chin and turned her face up so that he could watch her face. “You need to do this.”

She pushed him away and stood.
“No, I need to talk to her first. I need to hear it from her myself.” She left the room not pausing to see if he was following.

Seeing Cassandra was easier than she had expected. Not only that but the other woman had confessed to everything except the forged documents, knowing that they would get her in more trouble than she could get out of. But that didn’t matter
. Louisa had enough information to prove that part without a confession. The information that Dominic had given her was surprising. Sure, Cassandra’s father had stuffed up, but had he confessed straight up he would have received a warning for malpractice and been allowed to continue. He had forged evidence for a case where the man was clearly guilty. Had he been re-tried they would reach the same verdict she was sure. After this, though, she was not sure either Cassandra or her father would be allowed to continue practicing law. To stoop to corporate espionage and physical harm was beyond anything Louisa would have imagined they were capable of.  But to target Dominic just to hurt her was low and childish. A college crush and a broken heart on Cassandra’s part had been carried all her life. In a way Louisa felt bad for the woman. 

She needed to clear her head of all of this nastiness. She was used to lies and betrayal of the human spirit
. She was a lawyer after all. It was different being on the other side of it. She felt a hole where she had once had trust. With Cassandra’s betrayal she felt as if the world she had built was all fake. She wandered the streets before she found herself seated beside the fire at the café Dominic had first taken her to, below her new office that she had continued to lease from Dominic. She watched the other people in the room and wondered if Dominic would come in whilst she was there. She couldn’t decide if she wanted to see him. Staring at her phone on the table in front of her which displayed his contact details on the screen, she absorbed the warming glow of the fire lit in the giant old fireplace. She wouldn’t call him. She wasn’t ready, yet she wanted to see him. She knew that he could calm her, tell her it would all be all right. She wouldn’t call him yet. She needed to get her own life back in order before she could think of getting involved in someone else’s life again.

“
No, he won’t. I heard from his assistant that he hasn’t been seen out of his apartment in days. He’s refused all invitations, too.”

Louisa picked up her drink to give her hands something to do. The waitress served a group at the table next to hers. They spoke freely
, so she guessed they hadn’t recognised her from the small wedding announcement that had appeared in the paper last week, she guessed curtsey of Cole.