“What did he do?” Regan asked.

“He saved me,” she said. “When I saw him, I started crying and ran to him. He put his arm around me and told me everything was going to be all right. He brought a couple of attorneys with him, and he threatened the detectives with all sorts of things. He swore if they ever came near me again, he’d have their badges, and from the way the attorneys were backing him up, I think he could have done it.”

“Why didn’t you want us to know?” Regan asked.

“Back then it was because I cried, and I thought you two would think I was a baby. Time passed, and I just never got around to it.”

“Do you realize how young Aiden was? He couldn’t have been twenty yet,” Cordie said.

“I wish you had told me when it happened,” Regan said. “Talking about it would have been therapeutic.”

“I knew,” Cordie said.

“How?” Sophie asked, surprised. “Aiden promised me he wouldn’t tell anyone, so I know you didn’t find out from him.”

“We were having a sleepover at Regan’s house, and back then I had such a crush on Aiden. Remember?”

Both Sophie and Regan laughed. “We didn’t know,” Regan said. “Not then. Not until you told us.”

“I heard the housekeeper tell Aiden he had a phone call from his family’s law firm. I was such a worrier, like you two were, and I thought Aiden might be in trouble, so I listened to the conversation. That’s how I found out.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Sophie asked.

“I don’t know. I guess I figured that if you wanted me to know, you’d tell me.”

“The driver will be here in a minute. Why don’t we help you get ready for bed before we go,” Regan suggested.

Cordie appreciated the help, and while they were in her bedroom, they continued to chat.

“What’s the deal with Liam?” Sophie asked as she turned down the comforter.

“He and Alec have been friends a long time,” Regan said. She opened a drawer and brought out a pair of pajamas. “I think Alec arrested him once. That might be how they met. I still haven’t gotten the whole story.”

“Cordie, don’t you think he’s gorgeous?” Sophie asked. “Did you notice how he smiled at you and how his voice softened when he was talking to you?”

“No, I didn’t notice, and yes, he is good-looking.”

“I love his accent,” Sophie said.

“He lives in Australia. Would you like me to move there so I can go out with him?”

“Of course not. Make him move here. You’re worth it.”

There was a knock on the door.

“There’s our driver,” Regan said. “Let’s go, Sophie.”

The friends gave Cordie a hug and left.

Cordie was exhausted. She settled into the soft bed and turned on the television. She scanned a few channels and found Fishing with Larry on one of the cable stations. Cordie thought the show would put her to sleep, but she actually became interested. An hour later, she decided Larry was turning her into a fisherman.

She heard the outer door open and the men laughing as they came in. Curious to find out what was going on, she got out of bed. It took her a few minutes to put on her robe and sling, but by the time she padded barefoot into the living room, they were opening beers and toasting one another. Aiden dropped a stack of papers on the table in front of them.

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

All three looked at her and smiled.

“Do you want to tell her?” Jack asked Alec.

Alec pulled out a chair for her to sit. “As it turns out, there’s more than just a scandal driving Simone to get rid of you.”

They started laughing again. “Aiden, you explain,” Alec suggested.

He pushed the papers toward her. “When we’re done with the Taylors and the Rayburns, you’re going to own their company.”

TWENTY-SIX

You’re the firstborn,” Aiden explained.

“What does that mean?” Cordie asked.

“When you turned twenty-one, you inherited twenty percent of the Merrick company stock. It was in Merrick’s will.” He shook his head and continued. “I’ve never seen anything like it. I can’t imagine why Merrick set up his inheritance this way. I guess we’ll never know.”

“Twenty percent doesn’t sound like much,” Jack said, “but in fact it’s huge. It’s worth millions. Simone inherited her shares of Merrick Enterprises from her mother, Alice. Simone wanted the perks, but she didn’t want the responsibility, so she handed over the management to her father. According to the will, you now own twenty percent of her share, which is just enough for her to lose majority control.”

“And that’s why Simone or someone else in the Rayburn family wants you out of the way,” Alec reasoned.

“Someone else in the family? No,” Cordie said. “Simone wouldn’t have told anyone about me. She used a fake name when she married my father. She was Natalie Smith back then.”

“She was pregnant with you when she married your father, wasn’t she?” Jack asked.

“Yes.”

“You’re lucky she didn’t try to abort you,” Alec said.

Cordie sat on the edge of the chair, her back ramrod straight, with her right hand fisted in her lap. Thinking about Simone made her sick to her stomach.

“She told me she wanted to get an abortion, but she was too far along. She was past five months.”

No one said anything for a long minute; then Alec commented, “It’s a good thing she didn’t stay around while you were growing up. I can’t imagine what your life would have been like.”

“I don’t understand why your father couldn’t see what she was,” Jack said.

“He wore blinders, I guess,” Cordie replied. “He loved her almost to the day he died.”

“Sounds more like an obsession,” Jack remarked.

“Simone’s sons seem to adore her,” Cordie said. “And she doted on them when they were at the ball.” She smiled when she added, “Until I ruined her night.”

Aiden laughed. “You did do that.”

“The sons are still in their teens, but they’re already being groomed by the patriarch, Julian Taylor,” Alec said. “Obviously he thinks the older one is the firstborn.”

Jack tapped on the printed pages lying on the table. “The way I’m reading this convoluted document—which, by the way, reads like it was written in the Middle Ages—when you turned twenty-one, you not only rightfully owned part of the company, you completely changed the power structure.”

“But am I a legitimate heir, since she was using a false identity when she married my father?” Cordie wondered.

“There’s no stipulation for it in Merrick’s will,” Aiden told her. “Firstborn simply means the first child born to Simone.”

“Her sons don’t inherit it?” she asked.

“Nope,” Jack answered. “I’m sure they’ll get property and a lot of cash, maybe other assets, but no Merrick stock.”

“You can’t sell it or give it away,” Alec told her. “You’re stuck with it.”

“What if I don’t claim it?”

Aiden answered her question. “There have already been two attempts on your life. Do you think they’ll stop? You could run and hide, or you could walk into Julian Taylor’s office, drop the DNA results on his desk, and tell him you’re going to destroy him and his entire family. I’ll be real happy to help you do that.”

“And Simone gets away with hiring someone to kill me?”

Alec shook his head. “Let us worry about her.”

Jack stood and stretched. “Liam did have a suggestion to speed things up,” he said. “He’s waiting for the right time. We’ll talk about it then.”

She wanted to talk about it now, but Alec and Jack were ready to go home. Aiden walked them to the door, made sure the dead bolt was in place, and then followed her into her bedroom. She was removing her sling so she could take off her robe when he turned her toward him and said, “Let me help you get ready for bed.”

“I am ready for bed,” she told him.

“No, you’re not.”

He removed her robe and began to unbutton her pajama top. In seconds it was on the floor with her pajama bottoms. She was stark naked, and he was fully clothed. She wasn’t at all self-conscious, though, because the way Aiden was looking at her made her feel beautiful. His hands caressed her heavy br**sts until the ni**les were hard. He kissed her, slowly, leisurely, acting as though he had all the time in the world. He felt her tremble and whispered, “Now you’re ready. Get into bed, Cordelia.”

She lay down and tried to pull the sheet up around her, but he wouldn’t let her. She watched as he removed his clothes and then covered her with his body. His skin was so hot.

Aiden groaned with the contact of his body pressing into hers. “I’ve thought about this all day. You make me crazed.” His arms slid under her knees, and he lifted her. “I’m going to make you as hungry for me as I am for you.”

He kissed every inch of her stomach before moving lower. His day’s growth of whiskers rubbed her sensitive inner thighs. He made good on his promise and proceeded to drive her out of her mind. She begged for him to let her cl**ax, and only when she threatened to hit him over the head with her cast did he give her what she wanted.

Aiden was just as greedy. Cordie lost count of the number of times during the night that he reached for her.

“You’re going to miss me when I’m gone,” she whispered.

A long while passed before he answered her. “Yes.”

         • • •

Aiden didn’t go out of town the next day. She assumed there was a business reason for the cancellation. She didn’t see him or anyone else except the hotel staff for the next four days and nights. She knew Aiden was still around because she heard him leave in the morning, and late at night, she heard him come in. He slept in his own bed. Maybe he had decided to distance himself from her. She should mentally do the same in preparation for Boston, shouldn’t she?

Sophie and Regan were both swamped at work, and she didn’t want to bother them. It wasn’t their job to entertain her. She did talk to Alec a couple of times. Still no news from Australia. He’d told her Liam had a suggestion for speeding things up, but he still hadn’t told her what it was. She decided if she didn’t hear something today, she would call Liam and ask him.

She was beginning to feel like a caged animal. The walls of the suite were closing in on her, and she was fantasizing about all the ways she could sneak outside for a few minutes.

There were a few diversions. The swelling had gone down in her fingers, and she was now able to type with both hands. She received an e-mail from one of the doctors at the Garvan Institute, telling her he had read her dissertation and was quite impressed. He asked her several questions about her research, and a spirited debate resulted, which was fun and challenging. In the end she’d more than proven her thesis, and when he conceded, he offered her a job.

Jayden Martin was another diversion. He called her in a panic. After several weeks in a summer school class, he was certain he was going to fail chemistry again. How did he know? she asked. His reply was direct: The teacher told him so. Cordie, knowing that Jayden was a very smart young man but lazy, was about to ask him if he had even bothered to open his chemistry book when his mother got on the phone to plead on her son’s behalf. Cordie couldn’t say no to her, and the first tutoring session was scheduled for the following afternoon at five. In preparation Cordie called the concierge and requested a few items she would need, including an Introduction to Chemistry textbook.

Jayden, like a lot of other teenage boys, never went anywhere alone. He and three other young men showed up at her door fifteen minutes early for the session. Each of them had a book in hand, and each of them needed help.

Aiden had been in meetings the entire day, and all he could think about was getting home to Cordelia. He had barely had a minute to himself the last few days, and he wanted to spend some time with her. Just knowing she was there made him breathe easier. He told himself it was concern for her safety that made him want to be close to her, but lately even he couldn’t buy that one.

He got back to the suite a little after six. He walked through the door and came to a quick stop. There were four teenage boys sitting at the dining table with papers and pens and books strewn in front of them. Cordelia was standing at a portable chalkboard. She introduced Jayden’s friends to him, and after saying hello, he went into his bedroom to change. He was smiling as he walked away. The boys were hanging on Cordelia’s every word, and it sure as certain wasn’t because they loved chemistry. They looked so enamored he wondered if anything she said was sinking in.

By the time he returned to the living room, the boys had left. The chalkboard had been tucked in a corner, and Cordelia was organizing all the supplies and neatly stacking them inside the credenza.

Alec arrived a minute later. “I just talked to Liam,” he reported. “Here’s what he suggested. Julian is taking Simone and Craig to dinner Friday night at the Shade House. Liam is going to be there with gun and badge, and when they get up to leave, he’s going to make sure Simone sees him take a clean cloth and very carefully pick up her water glass. He wants her to see him put it in a plastic bag. He said to tell you he’s going for dramatic CSI stuff. If Simone watches any television at all, she’ll know why he’s taking it.”

“It will send her into a tailspin,” Aiden predicted.

“Let’s see what she does,” Alec said.

“What about Jenkins? Is he talking yet?” Aiden asked. The picture of the bastard’s hands around Cordelia’s neck flashed through his mind, and his entire body tensed in reaction.

“He wants to make a deal.”

“What kind of deal?”

“All charges dropped, and he’ll tell us everything he knows.”

“And?” Aiden prodded. He knew Alec would never go for such a deal.

“We laughed.”

“I was thinking . . . ,” Cordie began.

“Yes?”

“I have to get out of here for a little while.”

Aiden shook his head at her. It wasn’t the thing to do at the moment. She turned to him and grabbed hold of his shirt. “I’m losing it,” she said. She let go of him and took a step back. “Stop smiling. I mean it. I’m really losing it.” She raised her hand in front of his face and put her finger and thumb close together until they were almost touching. “I’m this close to writing Larry a fan letter, for God’s sake. This close, Aiden.”