Crazy About The Boss Page 11

  She shouldn’t, but she couldn’t help it. “Who said I care?”

  “I was just asking why you’re involving yourself in Jack’s past.”

  Jack had asked her that once and she’d told him it was his fault for insisting she come with him for Christmas. Now she knew it was deeper than that, but she wasn’t going there with his father.

  “Jack is my boss.”

  “Forgive me, but this seems above and beyond an assistant’s duties.”

  She wasn’t going to let him make this about her. This was about Jack and his family. She’d seen for herself that Max cared about him. Emma did, too. Talking to her mother had reminded Maddie how lucky she was to have a loving family. Jack had one and he was throwing it away. Not if she could help it.

  “Mr Valentine, you have no idea what my duties entail and I’m not about to discuss it with you. Unlike Jack, I don’t really care what you think of me. I’m not after your respect.”

  “That’s quite clear.” His tone was clipped.

  “I simply felt that it was past time you knew the truth.” She stood and gathered up her things.

  “No offense, my dear, but I barely know you. Why in the world should I believe this preposterous story?”

  She shrugged. “No reason except that it’s the truth. The problem is that if you do believe, you’d have to admit you were wrong. And it cost you a lot of years with Jack. It’s past time for you to stop being an idiot and be a father to your son.”

  Maddie walked out of the office in a haze and that didn’t clear until she passed the table where she and Jack had had lunch on Boxing Day. The spot where she’d called him an idiot, too.

  The very place she’d begun to fall in love.

  Another couple sat there now and smiled into each other’s eyes. They didn’t notice anything around them, not even her standing and staring.

  Or the tears trickling down her cheeks.

  Maddie pushed the button for the elevator to take her up to the Durley House suite. She’d just called Jack’s father an idiot and she wasn’t sorry. Although she didn’t think that mattered one way or the other since the man had shown very little emotion to her tirade on Jack’s behalf.

  She’d thought she would feel some sense of relief, but she simply felt drained. On top of that, she dreaded facing Jack after throwing herself at him the night before. He’d saved her the humiliation of “going all the way” but that was little comfort. In her frame of reference, humiliation was a campus full of college guys pointing and laughing because your virginity was the stakes in a fraternity bet. What she felt now was so much deeper. It was as if all the light in her world had just gone dark. It was as if the carrot of happiness always dangling just out of reach had suddenly disappeared forever.

  She’d offered herself to Jack without considering marriage or long term. It was a principle she’d held dear, then compromised without a second thought because it was the simple, logical next step when one was hopelessly in love. In a weird way, she would almost feel better if she’d slept with Jack before he’d told her there couldn’t be anything between them. Then she could hate him with all the force of this awful pain. But he’d stolen that from her too.

  What a lousy time he’d picked to be noble.

  The elevator doors whispered open and she stepped inside. For the first time ever, she wished it would get stuck. Put off the inevitable.

  But it smoothly and efficiently carried her to the correct floor as expected of an elevator in a five-star hotel. She walked to the suite and opened the door. Jack was sitting at the coffee table with his open laptop in front of him.

  He looked up. “I’m glad you’re back.”

  Had he missed her? Hope sprang eternal… “Oh?” she asked as casually as possible.

  “I’ve got a proposal that I’d like you to take a look at.” He glanced down at the screen. “I know you’ve made up your mind, but this is a new and promising laser communications technology. The guy’s been working on it a number of years but can’t make significant progress without financial backing. I’ll print out—”

  “Don’t bother.”

  Without taking off her coat, she walked into her bedroom and pulled her suitcase from the closet and started packing.

  “What are you doing, Maddie?” Jack stood in the doorway.

  She only sensed it, because she couldn’t look at him. She’d cry and he wasn’t worth it. How many hundreds of years would have to pass before that lie became the truth?

  “Come on, Jack. You’re brighter than the average bear. Surely you can see I’m packing.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m going home.” She threw several sweaters and a pair of jeans into the jumble of clothes.

  “Why?”

  Because she missed home. She missed her family. He was no longer the boss who teased and harmlessly flirted with her. That relationship was gone and she’d never get it back. Because he was the man she loved.

  As soon as she’d walked in and looked at him the stab of pain had told her she couldn’t go back to New York and pretend nothing had happened. She couldn’t go into the office day after day and see him and know he would never return her feelings. The prospect of that was too grim to contemplate.

  Now she did look at him. She pulled herself together and looked into his bad-boy blue eyes and said, “I can’t work for you any more.”

  “I see.” The tone was cool, but his gaze turned hot and angry. He was looking at her the way he’d looked at his mother when she’d admitted asking the unthinkable of him had been wrong. “I suppose there’s nothing I can say to change your mind?”

  Not unless he could say he loved her and mean it. “No. Nothing.”

  He nodded, then turned away without another word. The second he disappeared, Maddie knew with a terrible certainty that her heart would never be whole again.

  Chapter Ten

  CHAPTER TEN

  JACK prowled the suite at Durley House and brooded over the fact that not only hadn’t Maddie thanked him in the morning, she’d quit.

  Frustration twisted inside him, and not for the first time. A vision of the few moments she’d been in his bed slammed through him. She was so lovely in every way, inside and out. He’d wanted her then. The wanting was worse now, but nothing changed the fact that he didn’t deserve her. Closing his eyes, he tried to shut out the hurt and humiliation on her face when she’d run from him. Yet he’d been stupid enough to believe she would thank him in the morning.

  But she’d left.

  Good riddance, he thought, deliberately fueling his anger. It was all he had.

  There was a knock on the door and he was grateful for the welcome distraction, until he opened up and saw who it was.

  “Dad.”

  “Jack.” The old man smiled. “May I come in?”

  “I don’t think we have anything left to say.” Jack really didn’t need this. The way he’d treated Maddie, he’d lived up to his father’s low expectations. Another round with the man who believed he could do nothing right wasn’t high on his list.

  But he heard Maddie’s voice in his head saying his father loved him, preaching forgiveness. “Come in.”

  Robert walked past him and looked around the suite, nodding with satisfaction. “This is nice, Jack.”

  “I’ve been comfortable here.” Maddie had liked it, he remembered. All their comforts had been taken care of with competent efficiency. The room service options—quiet delivery by private lift, or the personal touch of a proper, polite butler. He remembered her pleasure during Christmas dinner.

  Speaking of polite, he should invite his father to sit, but he couldn’t get the words out. “What do you want, Dad?”

  Robert turned and met his gaze. “Maddie came to see me yesterday.”

  That stunned him, but it also explained where she’d been before coming back to give her notice. When he finally responded, all he could say was, “I can’t imagine what she would have to say to you.”

&n
bsp; “Maddie decided it was time for me to know that I held you accountable for something you didn’t do.”

  Jack had never told another soul. Not ever. He’d trusted Maddie as he’d never trusted another woman and shared his most personal emotions. And she took the information straight to the one man on earth who wasn’t to know.

  “Maddie had no right to tell you that,” he ground out.

  Robert slid his hands into the pockets of his slacks, lifting the bottom of the matching jacket. “Ease off, Jack. She was trying to help.”

  Help? Or punish him? “That was my mother’s secret. She begged me to keep it from you.”

  His father looked thoughtful. “How is your mother?”

  The question came from out of the blue and surprised Jack. “Not that you’d care, but she’s fine. She and Aidan.”

  “Aidan? So she’s not alone.” Robert nodded thoughtfully. “I’m glad. Despite what you think, I do care. I was no good for her. Never made her happy.”

  In a vulnerable moment, Jack had told Maddie something private, something no one else knew. “Maddie’s never betrayed me before.”

  “She didn’t now, son. She’s right. It’s time I knew. Time to put it in the past where it belongs and forget.”

  Twelve years of being alone, cut off from the people he loved. Jack shook his head. “That’s not possible.”

  “I probably deserve that.”

  “You were destroying my mother,” Jack shot back.

  Robert sighed. “I’d like to say you’re wrong about that, but I can’t. I was selfish. I hurt your mother.”

  “And I am my mother’s son,” he said bitterly.

  “You’re a good son, certainly not because of me. Obviously your mother is responsible for the man you turned out to be. But you’re a grown man now, a gifted businessman in your own right. What would you do if an employee shirked an important responsibility and all the evidence you had said they didn’t lift a finger to do the job?”

  The dark memory of being caught between his parents twisted inside Jack. Having to choose his mother but desperately hoping his father would somehow know he’d tried his best. “It was as if you expected me to screw up.”

  “You gave me no facts to the contrary, never offered a word of explanation. What else was I to think?”

  His father had a point, although under the same circumstances Jack knew he would make the same choice. “I had to protect her from you. And that’s your fault.”

  “I wish I could say you’re wrong.” Robert nodded grimly. “Your mother did get her revenge. The failure was very public and cost the business a great deal of money. It was a long time before we regained the reputation that was lost.” He met Jack’s gaze. “But the worst was that it cost me you.”

  Jack struggled through years of bitterness and blame as he thought. “I did what I had to do.”

  Robert’s smile was sad. “I would give anything to undo what happened and take back the things I said to you that night. If I’d been a better parent, if we’d been able to talk, you might have trusted me with the truth. I’d like the opportunity to try again, Jack. It’s time I stopped acting like an idiot and started being a father.”

  Jack stared. “I’ve never heard you talk like that before.”

  “Your assistant is quite straightforward, isn’t she?”

  Maddie had said that to him? Good for her. “She says what’s on her mind, yes.”

  “We could both take a lesson from her. And I hope it’s not too late for us to work on our communication.” Robert’s gaze was direct and unwavering. “It’s time I told you how proud I am of you, son.”

  Again Jack was stunned. The words tapped into a place that was dark and empty. Sarcasm, the verbal weapon he’d learned from Maddie, made him want to say, Who are you and what have you done with Robert Valentine? But all he managed was, “Oh?”

  Robert nodded. “In my world, business came before family. I suppose because it came easily to me. But I’m a failure as a father. And relationships with women?” Robert shrugged. “I’m not good at those either.”

  “What tipped you off? Four marriages?” Jack said.

  Robert’s mouth twisted in a smile. Then he was serious. “It’s cost me more than you’ll ever know. Business is important. But love should come first.”

  “That’s rich coming from you.”

  “Isn’t it, though?” The man seemed unperturbed by the criticism. “If I’d put love first, I wouldn’t have made so many mistakes. With Max. Emma.” He met Jack’s gaze directly. “With you especially.”

  Jack didn’t know what to say. He’d held his anger and bitterness up as a shield for so long, he felt as if he had nowhere to hide. And Maddie was responsible for this mess.

  “While this is all very interesting, Dad, none of it excuses the fact that Maddie went to you with information that wasn’t hers to share.”

  “Don’t be angry with her, Jack.” Something in his father’s eyes pleaded for understanding. “She did what she thought was for your own good, my boy. You know she’s in love with you.”

  “You wouldn’t know love if it came up and shook your hand.”

  “She defended you like a mother cat protecting her young.”

  “She did?”

  “Quite. I have a feeling you love her, too.” His look was thoughtful, as if he was remembering. “I loved a woman once, and only when she died did I realize how much I’d lost. Then it was too late. Don’t make the same mistake, son. Tell Maddie how you feel before it’s too late.”

  It’s already too late, Jack thought. The fading glow of anger highlighted the awful truth. He’d ruined his chance with her.

  Then he glanced at his father and the look on the man’s face was something he’d never seen before. Pride. Love. Respect. Sadness. All the things Maddie had told him she’d seen in his father just from that short first meeting.

  Jack had run from a lousy situation, but he would never know what might have happened if he’d stayed. The loneliness of twelve years lashed him and he admitted something he’d been trying to ignore. He’d missed his family—all of them, including his father. If he didn’t make it up now, there might never be another opportunity and he couldn’t live with that regret.

  Maddie had brought this about. Maddie was the voice in his head. She told him what she thought whether he wanted to hear it or not. She did what she thought was right and let the chips fall where they might. He respected her. He admired her. He needed her. He…

  Damn his father for being right. He was in love with her.

  “All right, Dad. I won’t be angry with Maddie.”

  Robert nodded. “Good. Now then. Can we discuss you staying in London?”

  “I’m not here permanently.”

  “In spite of your threat to dismantle it, I was rather hoping you’d come back to stay and run the business.”

  Jack shook his head. “No. About the business…From what I’ve been able to gather, you and Uncle John are pulling it apart. Each trying to take control.”

  “I’m the logical choice. It’s John’s son who put us in this financial bind.”

  “Does it really matter now? The most important thing is to save Bella Lucia.” Until this moment, Jack hadn’t even realized he felt that way. Once the words were out, the feeling gained momentum. “The thing is, neither one of you is getting any younger. You need to think about retiring.”

  “If we do and you’re not staying, who would run the restaurants?”

  “Max is the logical choice. He’s been there every step of the way. I’m waiting to see the business plan he’s pre paring for me.” Jack didn’t want to say anything yet, but with the capital he planned to invest the cash crisis wouldn’t be an issue.

  “You’re sure you won’t stay on?”

  Jack shook his head. “My life isn’t here any more, Dad.”

  The man actually looked disappointed and the fact that Jack could recognize the emotion was an amazing thing in itself. All thanks to Ma
ddie.

  “Of course.” Robert’s smile was sad. “But you can’t blame a father for hoping.”

  The man was reaching out. Could he do any less than meet him halfway? Jack stuck out his hand. “I promise it won’t be another twelve years. From now on I won’t be a stranger here in London.”

  Robert took the hand, then pulled him close for a bear hug. It wasn’t easy; it wasn’t familiar. But the ice was broken.

  Robert pulled back. “I’ll look forward to seeing you again soon, then.”

  “Me, too.” Jack smiled at his father, something he’d never believed he could do.

  His mother had urged him to forgive, but Jack knew he wasn’t quite there. Forgetting would be a disservice to both himself and his father and the progress they’d made today, but he was ready to leave the door open. He was ready to start the process of building a relationship with his dad.

  The miracle of it could be laid directly at Maddie’s feet.

  Jack paced back and forth in the reception area at the solicitor’s office. A lawyer’s per-hour fee was stiff enough and he hoped there wouldn’t be a charge for wearing out the thick green carpet. The walls were oak paneled and an information desk sat in the center of the large space. Glancing at his watch, for the umpteenth time, he hoped Max and Louise were on time. He’d ordered the plane to be ready for the flight back to New York. To Maddie. She wouldn’t return his phone calls, so he would show up on her doorstep and camp there until he could make her listen.

  The door opened and Louise Valentine walked in. A tall, athletic blonde with gray/blue eyes, she looked exceedingly professional in her power suit with the black skirt and red jacket. She glanced around and smiled when she saw him. “Hello, Jack.”

  “Lou. Thanks for coming.”

  She looked nervous. “What’s going on?”

  “I’ll tell you when Max gets here.”

  “He’s coming?” Her look said she’d rather be exposed to influenza.

  “I called him and he agreed to be here.”

  Just then Max opened the door. He smiled at Jack, but when he saw Louise his expression became hooded. “Lou.”