HAVING seen Lara to the guest suite Patrick had designated—there were four of them in the huge homestead which had been built to house the Maguire family and provide hospitality to any visitors—Ric left her to settle in and refresh herself before dinner.
Patrick had told her she was welcome to borrow any clothes from his daughters’ rooms, if she found herself short of anything. They wouldn’t mind. All three of them were pursuing careers elsewhere but they came home from time to time to check on Dad. Their mother had died from cancer a few years ago.
This information had been affably offered as they drove up from the airstrip, along with a quick, potted history of Gundamurra. Its obvious purpose had been to allay any fears Lara had about accepting a virtual stranger’s hospitality. But there were other fears to be dealt with and Ric drove straight to the point when he joined Patrick in the sitting room.
‘You were testing her.’
It was a flat statement, not open to question, and Ric searched the old man’s eyes for the reasons why he had revealed what he had at the airstrip instead of waiting for a private man-to-man talk.
‘It’s been eighteen years. A youthful fixation might have impaired your judgment. I wanted to know if she was worth what bringing her here will cost you.’
‘It’s not a matter of price to me.’
‘I know that, Ric. But you’re not the only one involved in this now and I had to feel right about it.’
‘Do you?’
‘Yes. There was a chance she was just using you for her own ends. I remember your letters were never answered.’
‘She never got them. Her parents…’ He waved a dismissal of that issue. It was far in the past. It was the present and future that concerned him. ‘Give me the details of what Mitch told you.’
‘Apparently Gary Chappel stormed into your office during the lunch hour, demanding to know where you were. No one could tell him. He waited for Kathryn to return from her meeting. She told him you had a lunch date with an old friend and didn’t know when or if you’d return to the office. He said your car was in the basement parking area. She said you had probably walked to the restaurant. He insisted on being given the name of the restaurant and she saw no harm in telling him. It got rid of him so she could contact Mitch for instructions.’
Ric nodded. ‘That was my advice to her if Gary Chappel came to the office.’
‘Mitch got the message during a court recess. He called her, got a rundown on what had happened, and immediately sent two of his people to escort Kathryn to the courtroom where he was arguing a case. When I last called, he was in his chambers and Kathryn was still with him.’
‘Best I talk to him now then.’
Patrick nodded. ‘Use my office.’
It worried Ric that Mitch had decided on protective measures for Kathryn. To his mind, the better course was for her to be innocently going about her work, as though nothing untoward had happened. Ric was not based in Sydney. He came. He went. He spent most of his time in London. To take Kathryn out of the office actually pinpointed her as knowing more than she had admitted. It put her under a constant threat which was not what Ric had intended.
The moment he heard Mitch’s voice on the other end of the line, he spilled out his concern. ‘Mitch, have you still got Kathryn with you?’
‘Yes. She’s right here.’
‘Why? I thought I’d left her covered. Won’t this excessive caution make her a target?’
A pause.
Ric’s nerves screwed up to piano-wire tightness.
‘My gut feeling is that Gary Chappel will make her one,’ came the measured reply. ‘We’re not dealing with a reasonable guy, Ric. I’ve seen the photograph. You did right to take Lara out. I’m behind this action one hundred percent.’
‘I’m glad you agree. But Kathryn shouldn’t be in danger. This isn’t her fight.’
‘Any way you look at it she’s a link to you.’
His stomach churned. ‘Can you keep her safe?’
‘That’s what I’m doing. But I need your cooperation, Ric. And Lara’s. Especially Lara’s. I take it she wants a divorce.’
‘Yes.’
‘I need to speak to her. Get the legal paperwork going as fast as possible. But first, it’s best you get out of the area, Ric.’
‘Patrick has already passed on that advice.’
‘Good! Fly to Brisbane or Cairns tomorrow. Don’t come back to Sydney.’
He’d have to arrange for Johnny’s plane to be flown back to Bankstown Airport since he couldn’t do it himself. Shouldn’t be a problem.
‘Catch the first available flight out,’ Mitch went on. ‘At the last minute, notify your office where you’re going so it can be passed on to anyone who asks. It will distract attention from Kathryn who’ll be taking a sick day tomorrow.’
‘But when it’s discovered I travelled alone…’
‘It gives me time to put wheels in motion, Ric. Trust me. I’ll handle this end of it.’
Ric took a deep breath to ease the tightness in his chest. ‘I doubt legal paperwork will stop him, Mitch.’
‘It stops an accusation of abduction. He can’t get the law onside with him.’
‘But it doesn’t remove the threat he poses.’
‘As soon as I’ve spoken to Lara, I intend to courier a copy of the photograph to Gary Chappel’s father with a message to contact me.’
The tactic momentarily blew Ric’s mind. ‘Blackmail?’
‘A manoeuvre,’ Mitch corrected him. ‘He’ll come with his lawyer. We’ll talk. Victor Chappel holds the reins of power in that family. If anyone can restrain his son, he’s the man.’
‘Counterthreats.’ It might restore some balance to the situation, Ric thought hopefully.
‘My reading is Victor Chappel will want to put a lid on this.’
‘Will it work?’
‘To a degree. My guess is it will move Gary into a covert operation. He’ll be furious and his kind don’t give up, Ric. You’re going to have to watch your back. You took his wife from him.’
Ric frowned. Surely there would be an end to it one day. How long did fury last? He accepted having to go into exile, away from Lara, accepted he might be in danger for a while and he’d take steps to safeguard against it, but a lifelong vendetta? Only time would tell, he thought grimly. Meanwhile…
‘What about Kathryn?’
‘I think she’ll be safe. I’ll state the case very strongly to Victor Chappel that any further harassment of your office staff will have very public consequences.’
Ric breathed a huge sigh of relief.
‘By this time tomorrow I should have things settled down at this end,’ Mitch assured him.
‘Thank you. I appreciate your help…more than I can say.’
Another pause. Mitch cleared his throat but his voice was uncharacteristically gruff when he spoke again. ‘Patrick said…this is your Lara…from the old days.’
Ric closed his eyes, remembering how he’d talked about her in the bunkhouse at night. A boy’s idyllic fantasy. Until the hard reality of getting no reply to his letters had straightened him up and forced him to face the truth that he could never be acceptable to her as he was.
Was he acceptable to her now? As more than just a white knight who had come to her rescue?
He shook his head. This wasn’t the time to think about that.
‘Yes. But that was a long time ago, Mitch,’ he answered.
A heavy sigh. ‘I would have told you about Gary Chappel if I’d known about her marrying him.’
‘Told me what?’
‘A guy like that doesn’t change his attitude to women. It’s not generally known but he has a history of abuse.’
Covered up, no doubt.
Ric felt his jaw clench. The power of wealth could hide a multitude of sins. But no power on earth was going to put Lara back in Gary Chappel’s clutches. Over my dead body, Ric thought with a ferocity that tightened every muscle in his body to battle readiness.
‘I’ll do everything I can to contain him through legal means,’ Mitch went on. ‘You can count on that. I’m only sorry your Lara’s caught in the middle of it.’
Ric managed to loosen his mouth enough to say, ‘At least she’s safe here.’
‘Yes. And I’ll keep Kathryn with me tonight.’
‘What about her fiancé?
‘He’s in Melbourne on business.’
‘Put Kathryn on for a moment, please Mitch.’
A pause while the receiver was handed over.
‘I’m okay with all this, Ric,’ she instantly assured him. ‘And let me tell you I don’t blame Lara Chappel for running. Her husband is one scary guy.’
‘Promise me you’ll do everything Mitch tells you, Kathryn. Take nothing for granted.’
‘I will.’
‘Good. And thank you again for your help. I’ll be in contact once I reach L.A.’
‘Take care.’
‘You, too.’
She handed back to Mitch who immediately asked, ‘Will Lara talk to me now?’
‘Give me fifteen minutes. I’ll call you back and put her on.’
Was Lara calm enough to give Mitch the information he needed? Time was clearly of the essence. Hoping she’d have the presence of mind to cooperate fully in telling Mitch all he needed to know, Ric strode around the veranda to the guest wing, hating the necessity to put her through this.
She’d already been through too much with her husband. Her fear of Chappel and what he could do was obviously based on experience that Ric could only guess at. A history of abuse… God only knew what that encompassed. Her white-faced panic over what Patrick had told them at the airstrip was sickening in itself. Was it even possible for her to think straight at this juncture?
He knocked on her door, knowing he had to persuade her to talk, yet inwardly recoiling from pressing her into it. He savagely wished he could have achieved her release from torment by himself, not involving others—just her and him—but that was as futile a dream as wishing for everything to be different. It wasn’t. Never would be.
She opened the door and he just stood there, looking at her, unable to say a word, rendered speechless by a chaotic torrent of powerful emotions. His Lara…
She wore blue jeans and a blue and white checked shirt that still had the creases from its packaging. Despite the swollen and bruised eye and the years that had gone by, she looked fifteen—young, terribly vulnerable, and he desperately wanted to take her in his arms and promise that life would be good to her. She was safe with him. He would love her as she should be loved. Nothing to fear.
But she wasn’t fifteen, and the years that separated them carried a weight he couldn’t shift. Not yet. Perhaps not ever. One step at a time, he told himself.
‘Mitch needs to talk to you now, Lara,’ he stated bluntly, incapable of bringing any finesse to this step. Concentrating on action was the only way to hold his feelings at bay.
Her carriage stiffened, shoulders going back, chin up. ‘I’m ready,’ she said, clearly determined on doing whatever was asked of her to redress a situation that now endangered others.
He gestured for her to accompany him, intensely relieved that she had at least accepted they had moved beyond her going back to her husband. She stepped out of her room, closed the door and fell into step beside him.
‘You’ve spoken to Mitch, Ric?’ Tension in her voice.
‘Yes.’
‘Is Kathryn…safe?’
‘Yes. She’s with him.’
Her throat moved convulsively. She managed a ghost of a smile. ‘I liked her. Is she…special to you?’
‘As a business associate and a person, I value Kathryn very much but we’ve never had a private relationship. She’s engaged to be married.’ It suddenly seemed important to add, ‘While I, on the other hand, have no romantic commitment to anyone.’
‘Oh! I just…’ She ducked her head, her long hair veiling the rush of heat into her cheeks. ‘You seemed to have a good rapport with her.’
‘I trained her to take the position she has in my business. It’s given her a keen understanding of what I’m about.’
A nod. ‘You’re sure she’s safe?’
The threat Gary posed was weighing heavily on her mind. Ric gave her a quick rundown of what Mitch had already done and intended to do.
‘Victor doesn’t want to know,’ she said in bitter comment. ‘Gary is his only son.’
‘Believe me, Lara. Mitch is not going to allow Victor to turn a blind eye to what his son is.’
‘I begged him for help. He wouldn’t listen. He brushed off everything, saying it was between me and Gary to work out our…our differences.’ There was a world of painful disillusionment in that last word. Helpless frustration, too.
‘Tell Mitch,’ Ric gently advised. ‘It will be far more effective put in a legal context.’
Her hands started fretting at each other. ‘I’ll tell him, but…’ An anguished glance at him. ‘I’d rather speak to him alone.’
‘I’ll wait outside the office door. You can call me in if Mitch needs to speak to me again.’
Her breath shuddered out on a sigh of deep relief. ‘Thank you.’
Shame. He knew it was an integral part of what she’d been through and nothing he said would take it away. Right now she couldn’t bear him to hear the worst. Ric knew it would make no difference to what he felt about her but she wouldn’t believe that yet. Nevertheless, she had to understand and appreciate the need for honesty.
They reached Patrick’s office and he ushered her inside, saw her seated in the chair by the telephone. Before he picked up the receiver, he paused to emphasise the gravity of the situation. ‘Lara, I know you’re going to hate this, but you must give Mitch all the ammunition you can for him to go into battle. The photograph is good but if you can give him more…’
She nodded, her gaze evading his, the heat of humiliation still staining her cheeks. ‘I won’t hold back anything, Ric. I owe it…to all of you.’
‘No.’ He frowned at the responsibility she was loading onto herself. ‘You owe it to yourself,’ he said emphatically. ‘The truth is what will set you free, Lara. And it’s the best weapon you can give to Mitch to use on your behalf.’
She flashed him a look of flinty courage. ‘I won’t spare myself when so much is being done—being risked—for me. Call him, Ric. I’m ready.’
He got through to Mitch again and left Lara to it.
Outside the office, he paced up and down the veranda, needing to expend some of the violent energy stirred by thoughts of what she might have suffered at Gary Chappel’s hands. His own hands kept clenching. It was just as well that Mitch was handling the Sydney end because Ric wasn’t sure he could trust himself to act rationally if he was anywhere near the Chappels.
Best that he get himself right out of the way, and not just to separate himself from Lara and draw attention away from where she was.
She needed space from him, too.
Patrick would be better company for her. A father figure. Someone who didn’t want any more from her than her own well-being. She’d grow confident again with Patrick, not feel ashamed. Able to be herself. No sense of having to measure up to a memory of what she was before Gary Chappel.
Yes. He could see he had to go. Yet it felt like hell, having to leave her. She didn’t need him, he told himself. In fact, he might be harmful to the process of healing. No choice, anyway. No choice. He had to go.
The office door opened. He had no idea how much time had passed. Lara beckoned him. ‘Mitch wants a further word with you, Ric.’
She looked pale, sick to her soul, but there was no trace of tears. He strode back into the office, picked up the receiver. ‘Have you got what you need?’ he rapped out, wanting this torment to be at an end for Lara.
‘All except a fax with Lara’s signature, appointing me her legal representative.’
‘We’ll do that now. Thanks for everything, Mitch.’
‘Just leave it with me, Ric. Take care of yourself.’
‘You, too.’
He switched on the office computer, then flicked an apologetic look at Lara. ‘Almost done. I’ll just type out what Mitch needs—authority to act on your behalf—you sign it and I’ll fax it to him. Okay?’
She nodded.
It only took him a couple of minutes. Her hand was surprisingly steady as she wrote her name on the printed sheet. She stood with him, watching it go through the fax machine. Before Ric was aware of what he was doing, his arm was around her shoulders in a comforting hug. She didn’t flinch from his touch. She actually leaned into him, much to Ric’s relief…and a burst of private pleasure.
‘It’s over for you now,’ he assured her.
She released a shuddering sign and rested her head wearily on his shoulder. ‘It’s the start of something else, Ric,’ she said sadly. ‘I’m worried for you, and everyone else this is touching.’
He rubbed his cheek over her hair, unable to resist the close contact, a surge of tenderness tempering the desire to feel a much more intimate bond with her. ‘Don’t worry on my account. I’m a survivor from way back.’ Before temptation could get the better of him, he quickly added, ‘We’d better join Patrick. No doubt he’s kept dinner waiting for us.’
‘Yes,’ she agreed, lifting her head and giving him a wobbly smile. ‘You’re one of a kind, Ric Donato. Did you know that?’
He wanted to read more into her comment than there probably was. He’d rescued her. That made him special in her eyes. He disciplined himself into returning a reassuring smile. ‘You’ll find that Patrick is one of a kind, too. He’ll be good for you, Lara. Be at ease with him.’
Her mouth tilted wryly. ‘A pity I wasn’t sent here with you all those years ago. A different life…’
‘Don’t look back. Look forward. Okay?’
‘I’ll try,’ she promised.
He walked her to the door, casually dropping his arm from her shoulders as he opened it to usher her out. Giving comfort was one thing. Pressing it too far was something else. Yet as they walked around the veranda to the main body of the homestead, he reached out and took her hand, holding it as he had held it when they’d walked together a lifetime ago.
Her fingers fluttered for a moment, then settled, content to accept the feeling of friendly companionship. She’d been alone too long, Ric told himself. She needed to be connected to someone who cared about her.
He cared.