Two's Company. Carole Mortimer

friends?’

      She didn’t just feel under attack now, she was under attack! No doubt about it. Liam’s eyes glittered dangerously, his mouth a thin, angry line.

      She gave up any pretence of trying to eat a meal with him; they were both wasting their time even attempting it under these circumstances. ‘I suggest we meet at ten o’clock tomorrow morning in one of the conference-rooms here, Liam,’ she told him evenly, bending down to pick up her evening bag. ‘We can discuss anything you care to talk about then.’

      His eyes were narrowed to ominous blue slits. ‘Anything?’

      ‘Within reason,’ she nodded.

      He shook his head. ‘I don’t think you’re in a position to dictate conditions, Juliet,’ he scorned.

      Neither did she! But she had a feeling that if she showed this man an ounce of weakness he would use it to his advantage. And to have become as successful as he had over the last ten years he must have had to play by his own set of rules, otherwise he would never have survived in business, let alone have owned his world-wide string of hotel and leisure complexes! She was a mere beginner compared to this man.

      ‘Possibly not,’ she conceded, standing up smoothly, her lack of composure not showing by so much as a tremble of her hands as she held on to her evening bag—possibly because she was holding on to that bag so tightly, was gripping the black leather so hard, her hands couldn’t tremble! ‘But nevertheless I do not conduct business discussions over dinner. And this is a business discussion, Liam,’ she added firmly. ‘And tomorrow when we meet I will bring the necessary paperwork with me so that we can talk knowledgeably about Carlyle Properties.’

      He gave her a look that said she could bring the paperwork but whether or not he chose to discuss its contents would be completely up to him!

      Juliet was inwardly shaken by that look, but she managed to give him a cool nod before turning and walking from the dining-room, all the time conscious of that narrowed blue gaze following her progress across the room. She’d known it would.

      She was still stunned by the realisation that he was Edward Carlyle. She could have had no inkling, no idea—God, she had had no idea! And he had been playing with her all day. No doubt he had enjoyed himself at her expense, but she just felt totally stunned by the whole encounter.

      And no wonder meeting Liam had brought back such sharp memories of Simon—the two men had been brothers…!

      Neither man had looked in the least like William, and Juliet realised that was because they had both taken after William’s blonde-haired, blue-eyed wife—the wife who had died after giving birth to Simon.

      Juliet had been nineteen and working in the office of Carlyle Properties as a junior typist when she had met Simon, the twenty-five-year-old son of the owner. And the two of them had been attracted to each other from the start.

      At the time Juliet hadn’t even realised that Simon had a brother; William and Edward had argued a couple of years before she had come to work for the firm, the result of which had been Edward cutting himself off from his family completely. The name Edward had never been mentioned among his family either, and any photographs of him that might once have been in the house had been long since removed when Juliet had arrived on the scene.

      Not that any of that had mattered to Juliet; it was all family history, and, she being an orphan herself, family relationships were a bit of a mystery to her anyway. At the time she had been too much in love with Simon to care about anything else. And to her amazement that love had been returned, their romance being of the whirlwind type, the two of them spending all of their free time together. With the approval of William. He had seemed pleased that his son was settling down, had welcomed Juliet into his home and his warm affection.

      It was the first taste of any real family that Juliet had ever had, and she remembered how she couldn’t help wondering how ‘my dear older brother’, as Simon sardonically called him, could ever have distanced himself from that closeness.

      But it had only been a fleeting thought, drawn as she had been into the lives of the Carlyle men, with William making her his personal secretary as her relationship with his son deepened.

      And then had come the dreadful night that Simon had been killed. It was a night Juliet would never forget, the nightmare having remained with her for the last seven years. William, despite having now irrevocably lost his younger son, had been marvellous with her, the two of them forming a bond that night that was to last until the day William died.

      It still existed as far as Juliet was concerned! But she knew that Liam Carlyle would never understand a bond like that, that he saw it only as black and white—mostly black! She had lived with his father in the family home, so therefore she must have been his father’s mistress. How far from the truth he was! Juliet would never be any man’s mistress. Nor any man’s wife, for that matter. There had been no man in her life after Simon. And there never would be.

      No man in that way anyway. But she seemed to be stuck with Liam in her life at the moment—a business partner for now—although she had a feeling that that might come to an end tomorrow morning.

      She had tried. No one could say that she hadn’t tried. But if she failed now she would still have let William down…

      

      Sleep was even more impossible that night than it usually was. Juliet, finally having given up all pretence of even trying to sleep, got out of bed to go once again through the papers she had brought with her from England for Edward—Liam—Carlyle to look at.

      It was all pretty straightforward really; she needed his signature on vital papers to be able to finance and maintain the company. Surely that wasn’t going to be too much to ask? It wouldn’t cost him anything, just his signature and a little of his time. But it was time which he had been refusing to let her have for the last two months…

      She dressed carefully for her business meeting. Their encounters so far had been far from businesslike, and she had an idea that she was going to need all the confidence she had this morning!

      Her skirt was neat, black, and tailored, finishing only slightly above her knee, the pale green blouse tucked in neatly at the narrow waist, her make-up minimal, her hair secured at her nape with a black slide. With her business file tucked under her arm she looked even more the part.

      At least she hoped she did! The last thing she needed was to feel inadequate with Liam Carlyle.

      The receptionist smiled at her enquiringly as she approached the desk.

      Juliet returned the smile. ‘I’m supposed to be meeting Mr Carlyle in one of the conference-rooms this morning.’ It was more a statement than a query, but she had no idea which room Liam had chosen for their meeting.

      ‘Miss Berkley?’ the receptionist returned lightly.

      Well, at least the young girl realised who she was, which was promising! ‘That’s right.’ Juliet answered with some relief; she had had a terrible feeling, after the way she had left yesterday evening, that Liam might not even turn up.

      ‘Miss Gilbraith is waiting for you in the coffeelounge,’ the receptionist informed her as she pointed in the direction of the elegantly furnished room to their left.

      ‘Miss Gilbraith…?’ Juliet frowned. Who on earth…?

      ‘Mr Carlyle’s assistant,’ the young girl told her with another friendly smile.

      Diana…But why was the other woman and not Liam waiting for her? Surely he hadn’t decided to let his personal assistant deal with this? Did he really care so little for his father, or his father’s business, that he had passed the responsibility for this on to someone else?

      Juliet was barely aware of thanking the young girl behind the desk before she walked over to the lounge. She couldn’t believe Liam had done this! Oh, she realised that there was still rancour inside him towards his father, but really, this was unbelievable!

      Diana