Heat in the Kitchen (20 page)

Zander sighed. 'Before you go and catch up with Ella….' Matt's head whipped up.

'How do you…? Azzam. Are there no secrets in this family? What rumours has he been spreading?'

'No rumours, he just voiced a couple of observations, that's all. Anyway, as I was saying - before you go I need to talk to you.'

Matt narrowed his eyes as he studied Zander. He sounded serious and now he looked at him properly, he also looked worried.

'What's up bro?'

Zander looked round the kitchen. 'Not here, in case the girls come down. My apartment?'

'Sure. I made some bread this morning. Want to take some up?' Zander nodded.

Whilst Matt busied himself getting together what they needed for breakfast, his mind worked overtime. Zander was the more serious between the two of them but he'd never been like this. Matt was worried.

*

Zander shoved his hand through his hair wondering how things had gone pear-shaped so quickly. Last week everything had been under control. As CEO of Two's Company he was beyond pleased with how it was holding up through the recession. In his own investment business he was successfully juggling a variety of stock options and selling at the right time. His social life was just how he liked it and his only bug had been fending calls for Matt.

He took a bite of fresh bread loaded up with homemade jam and looked across at Matt while he chewed.

He swallowed and took a deep breath. 'We're under investigation for money laundering and fraud.'

Matt spewed the coffee he'd just taken a mouthful of.

'What!' He thundered, as he reached for a cloth to mop up the spill. 'Just put it out there why don't you Zander. Geez! Is there no back story you could have fed me in the lead up to that news? Is this some kind of late 'April Fool's' joke?'

Without letting Zander reply, Matt continued. 'At least you're okay. Christ Zander I thought you were going to tell me you were terminally ill, you looked so serious. This is some kind of mistake right? What does Michael say about it all?'

Michael was the company's Finance and Investment Director who had overall responsibility for what happened to the income.

'Michael had an accident on holiday. He's in a coma in Italy.'

Matt swore. 'Poor bloke. What happened?'

Zander filled Matt in with as much as he knew. He'd spoken to Michael's wife who'd told him that Mike was lucky to be alive. The hire car was a complete write off. A hit and run driver had forced him off the road.

Matt couldn't get his head round all this. One minute he's planning to catch up with Ella and the next he's in the middle of a double-whammy crisis that Zander had been shouldering on his own. He felt guilty for not being there.

'How long has this been going on? You could have left a message, I would have dropped everything in an instant. You know that!'

Zander smiled at him. Yeah, he did know. They were always there for each other.

'Mike's accident happened on Wednesday and word came through yesterday about the investigation.'

Matt's guilt lessened slightly. 'Who? How?'

'Some sleazebag newspaper editor phoned to,' Zander used his fingers to quote the air, ''warn me' about what they were going to do.'

'And that would be?'

'Hand their evidence over to the police.'

'Oh come on Zander. It's all a scam - if he has any information, why warn us first? Where's the big splashy article exposing us? This could all be a bluff, there is no investigation yet. He's wanting something - what is it?'

Zander shook his head. He summarised the nasty accusations that had been made about their success, the company's success, how there had to be something going on when they were as well off as they were etc. etc.

'This could wrap us up in red tape and bureaucracy for months. There's no substance to it but an investigation could damage us financially. If he goes public, this sort of media coverage will damage the brand name.'

They talked it over until they'd hashed it to death. Mike's accident was tragic bad timing if there was a major investigation. He was the one with the in-depth knowledge of investment movements for Two's Company. Zander was very careful to keep his own investment activity completely separate. Matt didn't have Zander pegged as a dramatist, but he'd spoken as if the investigation had started when in fact it was just a threat. Mike's accident must have unnerved him to overreact in that way.

'If this does go belly up and you get swamped with an investigation, are you going to miss the family trip to Long Island?'

Zander pulled a face. 'Possibly. I don't know what to expect on Monday never mind the following week.'

'What are you going to do about Mike's work? Can you get an interim finance director? Could they take some of the load off if there is an investigation?'

Zander thought about it. 'They'd have to be good and good ones are in short supply. We'll see. I won't rule it out.'

Satisfied, Matt turned his attention to their yearly Duval-Adams Foundation charity ball. They'd held this event for the last five years, raising nearly two million pounds to help orphaned kids and kids who were carers. Their closest friends were invited to enjoy a four-course meal created by Two's Company before outbidding each other at the auction and then dancing the night away. It was also the one time a year that the Duval-Adams family indulged their shared talent for music and performed together in public. They all played different instruments and usually played a short concert that got people in the mood for putting their hands in their pockets for the auction.

'Come on, let's go and turf these girls out of their beds and sort out what we're going to play this year.'

As they left the apartment Matt slung his arm round Zander's shoulders. 'Don't shoulder everything yourself bro,' he said, referring to their earlier conversation. 'We'll get through this the same way we've got through everything - together.'

Before Zander could acknowledge the comment, Tess and Ronnie barrelled into them.

'We've been looking for you.'

'Let's sort out the concert.'

The girls spoke together.

Matt and Zander exchanged a look and grinned. The business may be taking a hit but the telepathy in the family was as strong as ever!

Chapter 12

Ella hummed to herself while she finished getting ready for tonight's performance. She was feeling really good about life just now, and knowing she was going to see Matt later on played no small part in her mood. Flutters of excitement swirled around in her tummy as she thought about spending the night with him once the concert was over.

They'd exchanged texts and managed a few late night phone calls but when Matt had tried to see her last weekend she'd been stuck in the studio re-recording a couple of tracks that hadn't been recorded properly the first time round.

He'd then been in Europe for a couple of days and out of contact but she knew from her conversation with Tess earlier on that he was now safely home. All four of them were going to be there tonight. Tess had made no mention of her relationship with Matt so she presumed he'd still not said anything. She really didn't want to be his secret but if it wasn't going to last then maybe it was better that his sisters, and her friends, were none the wiser.

Daniel and Mr & Mrs Brown were also going to be there tonight. She'd seen Daniel a couple of times since she'd returned from Quinaard and she really felt that they were growing close. She smiled as she remembered their meal together earlier in the week. She didn't think she'd ever call him 'Dad', but she was beginning to think of him as her father rather than just the man who had sired her. Even the couple of speculative articles about them meeting for lunch hadn't spoilt how she felt about having him around.

Her sister, Kelly, who had asked her to participate this evening, seemed to appreciate her contribution to the college's charity concert. She'd been quite civil to her for a change. Maybe there was hope with one sister.

As she applied a light lipstick she couldn't keep the big grin from her face. Yep, one of her sister's was being pleasant, she had a family member in Daniel who genuinely loved her and she was going to spend time with Matt. Life was sweet!

Just as she reached for her wrap the doorbell rang.

'Flowers for Miss Cannon.' A voice shouted through the door.

Ella flew to the door to answer it, so excited at the thought that Matt had sent them she never wondered at how the delivery had made it to her front door when it was a gated property. As she opened the door, she was roughly pushed backwards and a man hiding behind the flowers slammed the door shut behind him.

Ella's heart began thumping in her chest.

'Wh… Who are you? What do you want? H… How did you get in the building?'

'Bit late to wonder that isn't it after you've opened the door.' The man continued to push her backwards until she was in the lounge with her legs up against the sofa. He shoved her down onto it. He chucked the flowers onto one of her chairs and stood in front of her. A baseball cap pulled down low on his forehead kept his face in shadow. She looked down into his hand and realised he had a gun.

Before she could stop it a gasp escaped her lips. Her breathing hitched in fear.

The man smiled. It seemed he liked the affect he was having on her.

'What do you…?' Ella took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. She didn't want to show her fear. 'What do you want?'

'Well, I just thought I'd sit here a while, but she never said you were a bit tasty. Might just change the rules.' He played around with the gun in his hand and continued to do so as he walked round the room.

Ella pulled her legs up underneath her, terrified at what he might do. She was no big fish. She didn't understand what he was doing here.

'Seems you've got some good stuff in 'ere. Might just help m'self when I leave. After I've 'ad some fun.' He leered at her.

She shrank into the sofa. His phone rang and he turned his back on her to answer it. While he argued with whoever was on the phone she frantically searched her room with her eyes to see if there was something she could use as a weapon. Short of trying to smother him with cushions, everything else was either too small to have any impact or too heavy to lift.

'You never said she 'ad money.' He listened to the reply. 'Yeah, mebbe. But the rules 'ave just changed.' With that he snapped his phone shut and turned back to Ella.

*

Matt was knackered, even by his standards. He was getting too old to undertake the ridiculous number of catering engagements he'd taken on this week. Well maybe it wasn't the number of them but the fact they'd been in three different cities, in three different countries!

A vision of Ella popped into his head as he finished dressing for the concert. The thought of holding her in his arms later on and making love to her energised him. He'd never looked forward to seeing a woman as much as he did Ella. Sex, yes, but not a woman. He shook his head. He wasn't going to waste energy analysing it, he would just enjoy it while it lasted.

He whistled to himself as he reached for his phone. He would just send her a quick text.

'Glad someone's happy!' Zander interrupted him so he popped his phone into his pocket. He'd text her later.

'Hey bro!' He gave him a hard stare. 'What does a guy have to do to get privacy in this house? I thought we were meeting at the front door?'

'If you want some privacy, you need to remember to shut your apartment door. What are you so damned happy about anyway? I thought you were knackered.'

Matt grinned at his twin.

'You're obviously getting some tonight.'

Matt punched him on the shoulder.

'Don't be so crass,' he said as the smile slid from his face. 'It's none of your business. And don't say anything in front of the girls.'

As he walked past, Zander rubbed his arm. Matt had never responded like that before. More evidence that this relationship was different.

'Sorry.'

Matt turned sharply. That one word had a heap of emotion in it.

'Me too.' He relaxed. 'I've never asked - how were things in the office this week?'

Zander tried to shake his mood. If Matt and Ella were going to become an item, he'd have to accept it. It wasn't that he had anything against Ella, it was the strength of his jealousy that Matt had found someone that unexpectedly made him edgy and moody.

'The news on Mike is just the same - he's still in a coma. It doesn't sound promising. When - if - he comes round, he's got so many injuries it would be weeks before he'd be strong enough to fly home and months before he could think about work. I've offered his wife whatever support she needs to be able to stay out there with him.'

Matt hadn't expected to hear any different. He and Zander had been unanimous that their business practices would be people focussed. They were lucky that they could afford to be generous in times like this.

'And how about the threat? Any more word from anyone?'

'Just a reporter from the same paper phoning every day trying to catch me out. He's becoming an irritating little bug. I'm having my secretary screen my calls.'

At that moment, the girls came down the stairs, looking far too evocatively dressed for a concert at a local college.

Matt and Zander both raised their eyebrows.

'You boys are so funny stood there with identical expressions of disapproval on your faces.' Tess turned to Ronnie. They both grinned at each other. They'd just finished betting that their big brothers wouldn't approve of the shortness of their skirts or the evidence of their cleavage.

'You are so predictable!' Ronnie laced her arm through Zander's and tugged him out the door. 'We're big girls now remember.'

Tess took hold of Matt's arm and laughed at them both. 'It's just as well you can't see the affect my outfits have when I'm doing the jazz clubs in France, you'd beat up every man in the room.'

Matt opened his mouth ready to utter a string of expletives at the thought of what she wore.

'Gotcha!' Tess pointed at him. 'Quit being our father. Now big brother, take me to this concert. Ronnie and I are hitting the clubs afterwards.'