The Secretary's Scandalous Secret by Cathy Williams Read Free Book Online
Authors: Cathy Williams
the soft, elastic fabric of her dress. She resolved to shelve the outfit first thing in the morning.
‘But I don’t understand why it was so important for you to race over to the restaurant to tell me this.’
‘When you mentioned the name of the guy you were meeting, it rang a bell, but I didn’t think anything of it,’ Luc said carefully. ‘I have a finger in a lot of pies and so I meet people from a range of industries. And Dexter is a commonenough surname. But then I saw the guy at the restaurant and the alarm bells started ringing.’
‘Alarm bells? I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘You’re not going to like what I have to say.’ Never one to waste time beating about the bush, Luc now paused and considered his words carefully. Staring across the table at him, her eyes wide and perplexed, Agatha looked very, very young, and strangely enough the revealing nature of her dress only accentuated that impression.
‘How old are you?’ he asked roughly, finding himself momentarily sidetracked.
‘Sorry?’
‘Forget that. It’s not important. There’s no easy way to say this, but Dexter might not be the guy you think he is.’
‘I really don’t know what you’re talking about. You mean Stewart Dexter
isn’t
Stewart Dexter? Who is he, then?’
‘He’s someone who used to work for one my companies. When I thought I recognised him, I went back to the office and did a little research.’
‘You ran a background check on my date?’ Agatha trembled. ‘How could you
do
that?’ Her huge blue eyes, staring up at him, were full of reproach.
‘I’d advise any woman to run a background check on a man they’d picked up in a bar before they went out with him on a date, Agatha. This isn’t a small village in Yorkshire.’
‘I’m not ashamed that I trust people, Luc. I know
you
don’t, and I can understand why. Your father trusted George Satz and in return he had all his money stolen from him.’
The story had run in the local newspaper for weeks, with each new revelation of embezzlement producing a fresh torrent of speculation. With Elliot Laughton no longer around to defend himself, details went uncontested. Members of staff were interviewed and their bafflement at the scale of the financial losses only added to the scandal. At the time,Agatha had felt deeply sorry for Luc, although that was something she would never have shared with him. He had returned from university with a protective barrier around him that repelled words of sympathy. The whole business would surely have accounted for the man he was later to become—a man who would never know how to give anyone else the benefit of the doubt.
Her meandering mind returned to the present and she cleared her throat. ‘Well, almost all his money. So I can see why you’re so suspicious of other people—but I’m not. It would never occur to me to do a background check on anyone! Anyway, we were meeting in a public place, and there was no way that I was going to go anywhere afterwards with him.’ Her angry eyes locked with his and she leaned forward, her hands balled into fists.
‘Like I told you,’ Luc’s voice was cool and even and controlled, ‘You’re not savvy about the kind of guy a girl can get mixed up with in London. Dexter was sacked from the company a year and a half ago. He was a minor cog in one of the IT companies I took over. He was caught trying to hack into confidential programs to do with software. He was kicked out the second the breach was discovered by one of my people.’
‘I don’t believe you.’
‘You don’t
want
to believe me. And I don’t
want
to be sitting here telling you this. But some good Samaritan’s got to fill you in on the man. Naturally, in the case of a dismissal of that nature, no references were forthcoming. He disappeared and, as far as I know, he isn’t working for any of the major players in the country. Did he mention the name of his employer?’
‘No.’ Agatha was
‘But I don’t understand why it was so important for you to race over to the restaurant to tell me this.’
‘When you mentioned the name of the guy you were meeting, it rang a bell, but I didn’t think anything of it,’ Luc said carefully. ‘I have a finger in a lot of pies and so I meet people from a range of industries. And Dexter is a commonenough surname. But then I saw the guy at the restaurant and the alarm bells started ringing.’
‘Alarm bells? I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘You’re not going to like what I have to say.’ Never one to waste time beating about the bush, Luc now paused and considered his words carefully. Staring across the table at him, her eyes wide and perplexed, Agatha looked very, very young, and strangely enough the revealing nature of her dress only accentuated that impression.
‘How old are you?’ he asked roughly, finding himself momentarily sidetracked.
‘Sorry?’
‘Forget that. It’s not important. There’s no easy way to say this, but Dexter might not be the guy you think he is.’
‘I really don’t know what you’re talking about. You mean Stewart Dexter
isn’t
Stewart Dexter? Who is he, then?’
‘He’s someone who used to work for one my companies. When I thought I recognised him, I went back to the office and did a little research.’
‘You ran a background check on my date?’ Agatha trembled. ‘How could you
do
that?’ Her huge blue eyes, staring up at him, were full of reproach.
‘I’d advise any woman to run a background check on a man they’d picked up in a bar before they went out with him on a date, Agatha. This isn’t a small village in Yorkshire.’
‘I’m not ashamed that I trust people, Luc. I know
you
don’t, and I can understand why. Your father trusted George Satz and in return he had all his money stolen from him.’
The story had run in the local newspaper for weeks, with each new revelation of embezzlement producing a fresh torrent of speculation. With Elliot Laughton no longer around to defend himself, details went uncontested. Members of staff were interviewed and their bafflement at the scale of the financial losses only added to the scandal. At the time,Agatha had felt deeply sorry for Luc, although that was something she would never have shared with him. He had returned from university with a protective barrier around him that repelled words of sympathy. The whole business would surely have accounted for the man he was later to become—a man who would never know how to give anyone else the benefit of the doubt.
Her meandering mind returned to the present and she cleared her throat. ‘Well, almost all his money. So I can see why you’re so suspicious of other people—but I’m not. It would never occur to me to do a background check on anyone! Anyway, we were meeting in a public place, and there was no way that I was going to go anywhere afterwards with him.’ Her angry eyes locked with his and she leaned forward, her hands balled into fists.
‘Like I told you,’ Luc’s voice was cool and even and controlled, ‘You’re not savvy about the kind of guy a girl can get mixed up with in London. Dexter was sacked from the company a year and a half ago. He was a minor cog in one of the IT companies I took over. He was caught trying to hack into confidential programs to do with software. He was kicked out the second the breach was discovered by one of my people.’
‘I don’t believe you.’
‘You don’t
want
to believe me. And I don’t
want
to be sitting here telling you this. But some good Samaritan’s got to fill you in on the man. Naturally, in the case of a dismissal of that nature, no references were forthcoming. He disappeared and, as far as I know, he isn’t working for any of the major players in the country. Did he mention the name of his employer?’
‘No.’ Agatha was