Carole Mortimer Romance Collection. Carole Mortimer

he supplied. ‘I was your father’s—’

      ‘Junior assistant.’ Liam nodded tersely. ‘The one thing that did seem to have been left in my father’s office was a file on personnel,’ he said coldly, reminding Juliet that little else had been left.

      Her mouth tightened at the unspoken rebuke. ‘Your father and I both had copies of that file so there was no need for the duplication in my office,’ she returned defiantly.

      ‘Hmm.’ Liam nodded slowly, steadily meeting the cool grey of her gaze with one equally cold. ‘I thought it must be something like that,’ he dismissed scathingly. ‘Nice to meet you, John,’ he said more warmly to the younger man. ‘I’m sure you and my father worked well together. I hope we can do the same.’

      Juliet gave him a sharp look. What did he mean by that remark? Surely, if Liam agreed to keep the company running, he intended being a silent partner? Although, somehow, she doubted Liam had ever been silent about anything in his life!

      ‘To continue our conversation,’ Liam interrupted her musings hardly, the warmth gone from his voice as he spoke to her, ‘later this morning isn’t good enough,’ he repeated firmly.

      She had already guessed that from his earlier reaction. ‘Look, Liam…’ she deliberately used his name, if only to show that she did call him that too ‘…I’ve been out of the office for almost two weeks. I have a lot of catching up to do.’ She indicated the pile of paperwork on her desk.

      ‘There are two of us here now, Juliet,’ he bit out coldly. ‘And the sooner I’m familiar with the workings and dealings of the company, the better I’ll be able to help you deal with the backlog.’

      Grey eyes clashed with deep blue ones as the two of them visually duelled. Juliet was very aware of John in the room with them, and knew it put her at a disadvantage; without his presence she might have been better able to deal with this situation. Might. But somehow she doubted it! It was not her intention that Liam should help her deal with anything, let alone the workings of Carlyle Properties.

      Finally it was her gaze that dropped, and she turned to John instead. ‘Do you have time to help me with this, John?’ She sounded clam, but inside she was seething.

      Liam had spoken to her as if she were half-witted! Of course she knew he would have to know about the company—he couldn’t make a judgement without that knowledge—but it had never been her intention that he should actually help her run it, even on a temporary basis. And he could have been more diplomatic in his approach…That was rather stupid of her, she thought; the words ‘diplomatic’ and ‘Liam’ could never be used together!

      ‘Of course.’ John was still frowning, obviously sensing the hostility between Juliet and Liam and not feeling quite sure of his own place in the midst of it.

      She turned back to Liam. ‘We’ll see to your request as quickly as possible,’ she informed him distantly. ‘As soon as I’ve dealt with anything on my desk that needs my immediate attention,’ she added stubbornly; she was not about to drop everything else in order to jump to this man’s bidding.

      His mouth thinned with displeasure, his deep blue eyes narrowing coldly at what he knew to be her deliberate evasion. ‘Very well,’ he finally nodded abruptly, and strode over to the door.

      Juliet breathed a sigh of relief at his imminent departure.

      ‘One more thing, Juliet.’ Liam paused at the open doorway, his gaze unblinking as he looked across the distance of the room at her.

      She knew from the determination of his expression that she had breathed that sigh of relief too soon. ‘Yes?’ she prompted warily.

      ‘I realise that it will take you some time to organise the bulk of the files back across the corridor,’ he acknowledged. ‘But there’s one account I would like you to send over immediately.’

      Juliet frowned. As far as she was aware, Liam hadn’t been involved with the company for at least ten years, so how could he now be asking for a specific account?

      ‘It’s ten years old, so you may have to get it from the store-room in the basement.’ He shrugged. ‘I take it you still store dead accounts down there?’

      ‘Yes,’ Juliet confirmed dazedly. She was totally thrown by his request; what possible interest could he have in a project that was ten years old?

      He nodded tersely. ‘I’d like the Walters account from December of that year,’ he instructed abruptly before leaving as suddenly as he had entered a few minutes ago.

      Had it been only a few minutes ago? Juliet had the feeling of having been swept along in a whirlwind for timeless minutes. She…

      ‘Wow.’ John dazedly echoed her sentiments. ‘So that’s the long-lost son.’ He shook his head as he sat down in the chair opposite Juliet. ‘Not quite what I expected,’ he said speculatively.

      He wasn’t quite what Juliet had expected either, which was why she hadn’t initially made any connection between Edward Carlyle and the Liam she had met in Majorca. She wished she still hadn’t!

      And there was still the puzzle of why he wanted the Walters file. Of course he had still been here himself then, and might have been involved in the project, but even so it still seemed a very strange request to her.

      She was curious to see that file now herself, and fully intended looking through it thoroughly before passing it on to Liam. She had quickly learnt that Liam Carlyle didn’t do anything without purpose. There had to be a reason why he wanted that specific file. And she doubted very much that he intended telling her what it was!

CHAPTER SEVEN

      NOTHING. Absolutely nothing. The store-room downstairs had been checked, double-checked, and then checked again. By John Morgan. There was no Walters file.

      But Liam had sounded so definite. And, as Juliet was learning, he was rarely wrong. So finally, out of desperation, she had gone down to the storeroom herself. After half an hour’s fruitless search she had to concede that John was right—there was no Walters file.

      But if there had been a client called Walters then there had to be a file, and if, as Liam had said, the account was ten years old, then the file would be down in the store-room; any file over five years old was automatically put downstairs at the end of the financial year. It was what William had always done.

      But there was no Walters file downstairs!

      A search of the filing cabinets in her own office had revealed no such file either, and quite frankly Juliet was at a loss to know what to do now. The first thing Liam asked her to supply him with concerning the company and she couldn’t even find it. Wonderful!

      Over an hour had passed since he had made the request, and, being Liam, he surely wouldn’t wait much longer for the file to materialise in his office. Should she attack, by going to him and telling him that he must have made a mistake, or should she sit in her office and wait for him to come to her? The latter choice put her at a definite disadvantage where a man like him was concerned. And there was always the possibility that he might have made a mistake. A remote one, she inwardly acknowledged heavily, but it was a possibility.

      Two golden heads were bent over William’s green leather-topped desk when Juliet entered the room after a brief knock, but not on opposite sides of the desk, as one might have expected; Diana and Liam were sitting close together behind it. Diana looked up and smiled as Juliet entered. Liam just scowled at the intrusion.

      And that was exactly how Juliet felt—like an intruder! These two were obviously very close—and not just by locality. Juliet couldn’t help wondering how Liam viewed ‘that sort of thing’ out of the office!

      He sat back in the high-backed leather chair, looking across at Juliet with narrowed eyes. ‘Yes?’ He looked pointedly at her empty hands.

      She