“You want me to sign all my inheritance over to him?”
“Oh, keep some of it, certainly, but the bulk should go to Father. Don’t you agree? He was next in line, after all. Moreover, you will still have your mother’s money. What is that? About five million or so?”
“Am I to keep a million dollars of Grandmother’s money?”
“Why not? It’s not really an insult to you, just to Father.”
“Won’t Father believe I’m a selfish slut if I do?”
“I’ll speak to him. I’ll make him understand.”
“Do you really think I could buy his love by giving him all Grandmother’s money?”
“Don’t be a fool, Lindsay. He loves you. It’s just that he came to despise your mother, and unfortunately, that spilled over onto you. But now, why, yes, I think he would certainly come to look at you differently were you to do what is right now.”
“It seems strange to think of him behaving any differently toward me now.”
“He would. I promise you that. Will you sign the papers? I brought them with me.”
“Shouldn’t Grandmother’s wishes count in this? Don’t you believe she should have the right to do whatever she pleased with her money? It wasn’t Father’s, it was hers.”
“He is—was—her only son. Her money is his, by right, by blood, by what is ethical and just. Now, here are the papers. They’re very straightforward. I worked with the lawyer myself so that you could understand them. Will you sign the papers now, Lindsay?”
Taylor wanted to rush in, but again he stopped himself. This was Lindsay’s problem, her decision. She sounded perfectly calm, so calm in fact that it worried him a bit. He waited, nearly holding his breath.
And she said then, in that same very calm voice, “I don’t think so, Sydney.”
“Now, you listen to me, Lindsay, I won’t put up with any of your—” But Sydney didn’t finish. She turned as she spoke, to see a gorgeous man standing in the living-room doorway. A man she’d never seen before. She saw that he was fresh from the shower. He looked tough and lean and hard, just the sort of man she enjoyed. Dark and rugged. She realized with a shock that he lived here, lived with her sister, and it astounded her, made her feel like she was in the wrong apartment. Sydney couldn’t accept it. There had to be a mistake, the man had to be the electrician or something. Lindsay wouldn’t let a man within six feet of her, particularly not a man like this one. This man was dangerous. He’d take what he wanted. Jesus, this man would make mincemeat out of Lindsay. It was then that Sydney noticed for the first time the brilliant diamond on Lindsay’s finger. An engagement ring. An incredibly beautiful engagement ring. She couldn’t take it in. There had to be some mistake. There had to be another explanation.
“My God! Who is this, Lindsay?”
Lindsay whipped about to see Taylor, smiling at her, looking questioningly toward Sydney. She tried to smile. She tried to make the muscles move, and they did a bit, making the smile a travesty. She’d wanted to keep Taylor away from Sydney, and when her half-sister had come in, she’d known, deep down, that it wouldn’t be possible. Very well, then. She said mildly, “This is my fiancé, S. C. Taylor. Taylor, this is my half-sister, Princess Sydney di Contini.”
“Taylor,” Sydney repeated, staring at the man. She was shaking her head as she said, “Are you really engaged to Lindsay? No, come on now, it’s a joke, right? What are you doing here? Are you here to fix the heating? Are you gay? Is that why Lindsay let you stay here?”
Lindsay heard the absolute incredulity in Sydney’s voice. She’d even called Taylor gay to try to justify his presence to herself. It was too much. What would he do? What would he say? She looked from Taylor to her sister, who was regarding him in helpless wonder, looking so beautiful that no man could resist her. She felt jealousy, ugly and deep, knife through her. Was it really so absurd a notion that a man could be engaged to her? Yes, it was.
Now Sydney was staring at Taylor, her hand held out to him, her body leaning forward, that soft invitation in her expression. Taylor, to Lindsay’s relieved astonishment, looked at the vision who was Sydney and merely nodded. “Lindsay’s half-sister? A pleasure, ma’am.”
“Ma’am? What a horrid thing to call me. Like I’m an old bag or something equally distasteful.”
Taylor merely continued his slow perusal, and Sydney, unnerved, looked toward Lindsay, who was looking for the world as if someone had slapped her silly. She looked confused and vague and stupid. “Wherever did you two meet each other? And why didn’t you say anything about him, Lindsay? I was with you yesterday, for goodness’ sake.”
Taylor said easily, “Why don’t you sit down? Since you’re her half-sister, I guess it’s okay to tell you that I met Lindsay on a job a couple of months ago. I was hired to protect her. Now I protect her for free.”
“You’re a kind of bodyguard? Well, I should have guessed that. Just look at you, after all. Did you become engaged after you found out she was so very rich, Taylor? This all came about last night?”
“No, Sydney, it didn’t just come about,” Taylor said and smiled at her.
Sydney knew with sudden insight that she’d made a very big mistake. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Sydney,” he said in that mild voice, as if she wasn’t worth yelling at. “I can see that you’re excellent at what you are. You man all your gun ports, firing at random. An interesting approach. I wouldn’t employ it myself, but perhaps you’ve found over the years that it tends to work. Those occasional hits must be pretty destructive to the enemy.”
“You’re being quite silly,” Sydney said, but Lindsay saw that she was looking a bit wary now. How could Taylor know about Sydney? She’d never said a word about her. Yet he knew, he recognized what she was.
Sydney continued quickly, “Lindsay wasn’t wearing an engagement ring in San Francisco. If you were indeed already engaged to her, then why wasn’t she wearing the ring?”
Lindsay said, “I took it off because I didn’t want any questions. We were all there for the funerals, not celebrations and congratulations.”
Taylor wished she’d worn the damned ring. She’d been too afraid to own up. She’d been too afraid of the attacks, the questions, the mocking. He wondered how long it would take to change that.
“But there was so much more, wasn’t there, Lindsay? Have you told Taylor exactly how wealthy you really are?”
“Look, Sydney, I’m sweaty and tired and I imagine that you have lots to do. When are you going back to Milan? When is Father expecting to hear from you?”
Sydney didn’t immediately answer. She was staring at Taylor, frowning. “Did you say you were protecting Lindsay?”
“That’s right.”
“Are you a private investigator?”
“That’s right, among other things.”