The Golden Chance (30 page)

“Who knows how she thinks? She likes to control everyone and everything. She might have thought she could control Darren with sex. She certainly had Nick blinded for a while when they were engaged.”

“Vicky, be reasonable. There's no traumatic secret past shared by your husband and Hilary.”

“How do you know?” Victoria's gaze was locked on Phila's face.

“I'd sense it if there were. I'm good at that kind of thing. Darren is a little wary of her and probably with good reason. She's shrewd, and he knows it. He even admires her abilities to some extent. He's willing to deal with her because she's in a position to give him what he wants and she is, after all, family. But that's the extent of his interest in her. Believe me.”

“You weren't here three years ago. You don't know what went on. Darren and I were having problems. We were on the brink of divorce. I suppose it would have been only natural for him to turn to Hilary.”

“If that's what you've been telling yourself for three years, don't bother. That's not what happened. I'd know if something had gone on between those two. It would show when they're together. Hilary hates the man who got her pregnant, whoever he is. She would never be able to deal with him as serenely as she deals with Darren. I can't imagine why you thought the baby might have been your husband's.”

Victoria's hands clenched at her sides. “I was never certain. But I sometimes wondered. Darren's father was, well, I'm sure you've heard.”

“A man who made a career of chasing women. Yes, I've figured that much out.”

“I used to lie awake at night and wonder if that kind of thing was hereditary.” Victoria smiled grimly. “But mostly I managed to put the whole matter out of my mind. Then Crissie arrived on the scene a year ago. She picked up on the situation immediately. She used to go around saying ‘
like father, like son
.’”

“And manage to revive a lot of your secret fears?”

“Yes.” Victoria's face was stark. “I guess she did.”

“Burke must have been a real bastard.”

“Please don't ever say that in front of Eleanor.”

“It's too late. I said it yesterday.”

Victoria's mouth twisted. “So that was what upset her so much. That was cruel of you, Phila.”

“I know. I'm sorry. I was trying to defend Crissie, as usual.”

“What a mess.”

“Yes,” agreed Phila, “it is. I intend to get out of it as soon as the August meeting is over. Unlike Crissie and contrary to popular opinion, I don't see any real advantage to being a Castleton or a Lightfoot. I don't intend to hang around.”

Victoria glanced at her assessingly. “What's going to happen at the annual meeting?”

“I'm scheduled to back Nick in whatever he plans to do. Then I'll give the shares back to Darren.”

“But that will be too late,” Victoria said. “We need Hilary reelected CEO at that meeting.”

“Sorry,” Phila said. “But I trust Nick more than I trust Hilary. Speaking of trust…”

“What about it?”

“You might try telling your husband you trust him.”

“Why should I bother? He doesn't really trust me.”

Phila's eyes widened. “He thinks you're fooling around?”

Victoria waved that aside impatiently. “No. He thinks I accepted a bribe from Burke three years ago to drop divorce proceedings.”

“Did you?”

“No. I stayed because I wanted to try to make the marriage work. I love him.”

“Heck of a situation, isn't it? Each of you suspects the other of having done something unforgivable, and neither of you can ever prove your innocence to the other. An interesting problem.”

“With no solution?” Victoria asked, her eyes shadowed.

“I didn't say that.”

“What are you going to do, Miss Fox? Wave a magic wand and make it all better?”

“No, you and Darren have to do that. But the next time the two of you discuss the matter, consider the sources of your information. You might also consider the fact that in spite of your suspicions, neither of you has gone ahead and broken up the marriage, even though you're both proud people. There must be some love and trust left to work with in your relationship.”

“Darren thinks I've stuck with him because I want to be a politician's wife. He's stuck with me because he wants his son.”

“Maybe.”

“It's the truth, damn you.”

“Only if you want it to be.”

“No,” Phila said, absolutely adamant. “Definitely not. I will not be dragged to that fund-raiser in Seattle.”

Nick was patient. “It won't be that bad. You might even enjoy yourself.”

“No.”

“I have to go, and I want you to come with me. You wouldn't make me go alone, would you?”

“You won't be alone. You'll have all your friends and relatives with you. Everyone wants to get Darren off to a flying start in politics.”

“Except you.”

“I don't care what Darren does with his career. I wish him the best of luck, even if he does have the misfortune to be a Republican. But he certainly doesn't need me at the fancy fund-raiser, and his mother would just as soon I wasn't there, believe me. My presence would probably lower the tone of the whole event.”

“Bigot.”

“You bet.”

Phila shoved her key into the lock of the Gilmarten door. It had been a hard day, what with dealing with Hilary and then Vicky.

Phila and Nick had just walked back from an after-dinner coffee-and-brandy hour arranged by Victoria. The invitation had come as a surprise late that afternoon, and Phila still was not quite certain why it had been issued.

The event had been reasonably civil, although Phila strongly suspected Eleanor of trying to use the opportunity to once more demonstrate the inappropriateness of Phila's presence in the household. Phila had ignored her for the most part, and so had everyone else.

Reed had not been able to avoid baiting Phila, of course, and Nick had appeared to enjoy the fun. But she felt she had held her own and at times had even enjoyed the arguments.

Even Victoria had gotten into the fracas over increasing financial aid and job-training assistance to single women on welfare. She had surprised everyone else by agreeing with Phila that more tax dollars should be spent in that area.

“I'm a mother,” Victoria had said calmly when they'd all looked at her in blank astonishment. “This is basically a children's issue. What side do you expect me to take?”

But the argument over Phila's attendance at the fund-raiser had begun after the small gathering had concluded. It had developed on the way back to the Gilmarten place and had been conducted only between Nick and Phila. Nick had blithely assumed she would go with him to Darren's first major political bash. Nick assumed a lot lately, Phila told herself resentfully.

“Phila, why are you making such a big deal out of this? You're not nervous about meeting that crowd, are you?”

“There's no point in my going.” She tugged off her lightweight jacket and hung it in the closet. “I'm not a member of either family.”

Nick scowled as he sat down to unlace his shoes. “You're a part of the company.”

“Not for long. Not after that August meeting.”

Nick sat up and leaned back into the corner of the sofa, watching her broodingly. “What if I asked you to come with me for my sake?”

“Why should you care if I'm there or not?”

“I want you there.”

“Forget it.”

“You're supposed to be showing support for me, remember? That was our deal. A united front and all that.”

“My going to the fund-raiser won't influence our so-called united front one way or the other. I don't want to go, Nick, and that's final.”

He held up a palm in surrender. “All right. If you feel that strongly about it.”

“I do.” Why was he pushing her on this? she wondered. The fund-raiser did not affect his goal of saving Castleton & Lightfoot, as far as she could tell.

“I accept your decision.”

“You're too damn gracious.” She didn't believe him for a minute. “How did your golf game go with Reed today?” she asked as she sat down in the chair.

“You heard him bragging this evening about how he beat me.”

“Did you let him?”

“Hell, no. He's always been a strong player, and he's had a lot of practice lately since he abdicated the job of running Castleton & Lightfoot. He won fair and square. Cost me ten bucks and a beer.”

“Did you talk to him?”

“Yeah, I talked to him. Hard to play eighteen holes of golf with someone without talking to him at some point.”

“That's not what I meant, and you know it.”

Nick's smile was wry. “I know what you meant. Let's just say I tiptoed around the subject of the baby and let it go at that, okay?”

“Oh.” Phila was disappointed.

“It's a little hard to talk about, Phila.”

“Yes, I guess it would be. After all, if I'm right the two of you are going to have to admit to some massive errors in judgment, aren't you?”

“And if you're wrong, bringing up the subject will just lead to more trouble and hostility and I don't need that right now. I've got bigger problems.”

“Saving Castleton & Lightfoot?”

He gave her an odd look. “That's one of them. I did take a major risk today with Dad. I told him what I had found out about Hilary's plans to sell off a chunk of C&L.”

“You did?” Phila was surprised. “That
was
a risk. What made you take it now?”

“You.”

Phila sat forward in the chair eagerly. “Well? How did your father respond?”

“Said he'd think about it.”

“Is that all? He'll think about it?”

“Yeah.”

“But what if he talks to Hilary?”

“She'll deny everything, and I won't be able to prove a damn thing. But he didn't say he was going to talk to Hilary. He just said he was going to think about what I'd told him.”

Phila examined the problem closely. “One thing in your favor is that he doesn't talk to Hilary very much at all. As far as I can tell, they're living like strangers in that big house.”

“Yeah,” Nick said again. “That was sort of the way it looked to me, too.”

“So you decided to take the risk of telling Reed everything. Interesting.”

“I'm glad you find it so fascinating since you're the one who nagged me into laying my cards on the table with Dad.”

“I did not nag. I never nag.”

“That's a matter of opinion. You ready to sweep me off to bed?”

“Honestly, Nick, sometimes you have a one-track mind.”

“I know. It's really disgusting, isn't it? But, then,” he added, brightening, “you don't love me for my mind, do you?”

She caught her breath and glowered to hide the emotions she was afraid might appear in her eyes. “Don't be crude.”

“You love it; you're the earthy type at heart.”

Phila wished he would stop using the word
love
. It definitely was not a subject she could joke about these days. It made her nervous. She got to her feet. “I'm tired. I don't know about you, but I've had a very wearing day.”

Nick got up off the sofa in a smooth motion, smiling in sensual anticipation. “I'm pretty exhausted myself. Can't wait to get to bed.”

“You're in an awfully good mood for someone who may have just made a major tactical error today.”

“All because of you.” He caught her hand and started swinging it as he walked into the bedroom with her.

“Sure.”

He stopped and pulled her close. “Kiss me, baby,” he growled. “I'm hot, and you're the only one who knows how to put out the flames.”

She leaned against him, her arms stealing around his neck. “You're impossible.”

“No, just hot, as I said.” He kissed the side of her throat. “Make love to me until I go crazy, okay?”

“I thought you said you were exhausted.”

Nick moved away from her, sat down on the bed and flopped back against the pillows, his arms open wide. “I am, but I know my duty. I'm all yours.”

“Stop acting so noble. You're just horny.”

“That, too.”

Phila tried to restrain herself, but, as usual, she could not resist him. She stepped out of her clothes, aware of his attention on her every inch of the way. The look in his eyes was more than enough to get her excited.

“Baby, you are one beautiful, sexy lady,” Nick muttered, his voice roughening as the last of her clothing dropped to the floor.

With a small, enthusiastic exclamation of delight and anticipation, Phila dove on top of him.

Nick was ready and waiting for her, silent laughter in his eyes.

A long time later, when she was feeling pleasantly drowsy, her head resting on Nick's shoulder, her leg sprawled across his heavy thigh, he spoke.

“Tell me,” he said, circling her nipple with one finger, “the real reason why you don't want to go to Darren's fund-raiser?”

“You'll laugh.”

“No, I won't.”

“Promise?”

“I swear I won't even chuckle.”

Phila took a deep breath. “I haven't got anything to wear.”

Nick roared with laughter. Phila punched him in the ribs, but that didn't stop him.

“Shut up,” she ordered. “I'm serious.”

“I know. That's what makes it so damn funny. Philadelphia Fox, President of the Left-Wing-Left-Out-Cause-of-the-Month Club is too proud to go to a political party where she might actually meet a few of the people who finance the Right-Wing Causes of the Month because she hasn't got a fancy dress. I can't believe it. I should think you'd want to go in jeans just to make a statement.”

“I'm not into statements. I'm too practical for that. And I will not humiliate myself deliberately by showing up underdressed for a black-tie affair, and that's that.”

“I understand completely,” Nick said, soothing her with a movement of his big hand. “We'll go back to Seattle a couple of days early and find you a dress.”

“Nick, I cannot afford that sort of dress. In case it has escaped your notice, I am currently unemployed.”
The man is dense
, she thought angrily.

“You happen to own a fortune in C&L stock. I'll float you a loan.”

“The hell you will.”

“Ah, my fine, proud lady. All right, then, I'll buy the dress for you, how's that?”

“Absolutely not.”

“I owe you, Phila,” he said, turning serious without any warning. “I'll buy the dress.”

She looked at him for a moment, wondering how to interpret that statement. The last thing she wanted was to have him feel a sense of obligation toward her. “Never mind the dress,” she finally said. “I don't want to talk about it.”

“You can be a very stubborn, hard-headed little fox at times.” Nick's hand slipped down over her gently curved stomach. His fingers slid between her thighs. “Lucky for you I'm so patient and understanding.”

“I never knew you felt that strongly about child-welfare legislation,” Darren said as he came out of the bathroom.

“You never asked.” Victoria continued to leaf through her magazine, staring unseeingly at an advertisement for fine crystal sculpture.

Darren sat down on the edge of the bed. His bare back gleamed in the lamplight. “You and Phila would make a fine pair if you ever combined forces.” He sounded amused. “You'd have Reed, Nick, Mother and me running for cover.”

“Phila's not a member of either family, so she's not likely to be around once the issue of the shares is settled.”

“I'm not so sure about that. I don't see Nick turning her loose really quickly even after he's got the shares.”

“She may turn him loose.” Victoria closed the magazine slowly. “Darren, Phila told me today she won't do anything to hurt Jordan's inheritance. She says she'll give the shares back after the August meeting. Said she had to back Nick until then.”

“Did she?” Darren looked thoughtful. “So he is planning something, and he needs a little help.”

“You know what he's planning. He hasn't spelled it out, but it's obvious he wants to take control of the company away from Hilary.”

“Why now? Why wait three years and then come storming back like this?”

“Maybe when Eleanor called him about Phila he simply saw his chance and took it.”

“Or maybe Nick knows something the rest of us don't know.”

“What could he possibly know that we don't? He's been out of touch for three years.”

Darren shook his head. “I'm not so sure about that.”. He looked over his shoulder at Victoria, his eyes searching her face.

“Whatever it is, I suppose we don't have any real choice. We'll have to back Hilary for the sake of your career.”

Darren studied her a moment. “Tell me something, Vicky. Why do you hate her so much?”

Victoria flushed. She had known deep down where this conversation might lead. She had practically set herself up. She had been both nervous and determined, and now that the moment was upon her she was frightened. She hedged.

“We don't have a lot in common,” Victoria mumbled.

“Bullshit. You've got a great deal in common. Same kind of family background, same kind of schools and you both married into the same kind of families.”