Chapter Twenty-Nine
Nick had left the apartment in a hurry but now she slowed down. The last thing she wanted to do was arrive at the offices of Harrington Holdings hot and sweaty. The afternoon heat was banking up and any hope of a breeze had slumped under the humidity. Whilst she had been in Ireland battling storms and waves, this heatwave had been building and she wondered if a storm was gathering here as well. This was typical of a London summer – it was always all-or-nothing, heatwaves and flash floods, or plain old drizzle. What was wrong with a nice steady run of warm sunny days with a refreshing breeze? She slowed down again. She could feel herself itching to get to Harrington’s. There wasn’t much she could do, but she just wanted to look them in the eye and let them know that she knew, and that she would take them to arbitration.
After one draining tube ride and a ten-minute walk amongst the taxi and bus fumes of central London, Nick walked into the main reception. Quickly taking a photo of all the businesses shown on the reception board, she headed to the lifts and rode up to the third floor of Harrington Holdings, owner of Meridian Properties and Golden Homes. Nick walked up to the reception desk with a polite smile and a confident demeanour and the woman behind the desk issued an appropriately reciprocal smile. Polite, professional, and in charge.
‘Good afternoon. I’d like to have a quick word with Giles Harrington. ’
Some of the energy that had driven Nick to these offices began to fizzle out. What on earth was she doing? He might not even be here. Storming over here like some wound-up petitioner was not smart.
‘Do you have an appointment?’
Nick was torn, should she announce who she was and have her say. She knew the minute that she revealed she was Lady Nicoletta de Foix the receptionist would see if he was in the building. Even if she didn’t know who Nick was, the title alone would pull strings. It always did and she regularly used it around the City when she needed an advantage. But was this smart? The better course of action was to go home and cool down. Don’t get personal, don’t get involved. Christ, she was acting like Clem. Deciding to be smart she smiled again at the receptionist.
‘No, I’m sorry I don’t. Let me go back to my offices and I’ll ring up to arrange one.’
Both women smiled at each other again, happy that neither was going to have to start any sort of conflict. A door to a large glass-fronted meeting space opened and the receptionist’s eyes flicked quickly from the door to Nick.
‘That’s a good idea. Thank you.’ Her response was a little too hurried – Nick realised that she didn’t want her to see who was behind the door. Suddenly, neither did Nick. Having decided to leave quietly she was concerned that it might be too late as the door opened fully and two men walked out. The older man was well known to her from his photo; here in front of her was Giles Harrington. His hair was thick and wavy and swept back off a patrician brow. It was more grey than black but nothing about him made you think of a retired pensioner. This man was like a raptor, ready to tear flesh.
Standing beside him was clearly his son. The man was taller than his father and impeccably dressed. His dark hair was swept back off his face and he radiated power and arrogance. He had taken one look at Nick – standing in an outfit that cost less than ￡100 from head to toe, wearing no jewellery – and had dismissed her. His father was not so lazy in his assumptions, though. You didn’t get to be the head of a bank as once powerful as Harrington’s by making lazy assumptions. Nick wondered idly if the over-extension of the bank was the son’s fault. Either way it wasn’t her problem. The way that Giles Harrington was looking at her, though, was. Just as she prepared to head out of the building his face lit up in surprise, as he finally worked out where he recognised her from.
‘Lady Nicoletta. What a pleasant surprise.’ He even sounded sincere. Damn , thought Nick, do they learn this stuff in school, this easy sense of charm and entitlement?
‘What can we do for you? Are you having a spot of trouble with your leases?’
Well, that confirmed it. He did know she was renting his properties and he was playing with her. Now she was here she was just going to have to try to brazen it out, but she realised that the energy that had brought her here had fizzled out. Nick wasn’t one for showdowns and dramatic revelations. She just liked to sit quietly in the background and get on with her job. It was losing her offices and her home, whilst waiting on an FCA investigation, that had pushed her over the edge into recklessness .
She was about to speak when the man standing beside her interrupted. He had already done a double take when his father had announced her. Now he was staring at her malevolently. Maybe he hadn’t gone to the same charm school his father had after all, or maybe it was just a thing that you were born with.
‘This,’ he said looking at her derisively, ‘is Nick de Foix?’ Nick wondered idly if a man that sneered that much had to shave the insides of his nostrils.
Harrington senior tutted.
‘Where are my manners? Lady Nicoletta, allow me to present my son. Adam Harrington. Adam, this is Lady Nicoletta de Foix, and quite the little thorn in our side, eh?’ He looked at her with a warm smile. His raised eyebrow suggested that she had done nothing more harmful than serve champagne at room temperature. Nick inclined her head slightly; if they were going for pretend civility, she could play along and then get the hell out of there.
‘Lady Nicoletta has a bit of a problem at the moment,’ he said to his son. ‘Something about having a pet and bringing disrepute to the freeholders.’ He looked back at Nick questioningly. As though he wasn’t already 100 per cent certain of the facts and he wanted her to confirm. As a courtesy. Of course. ‘Quite the infringements of your leases, aren’t they? And we know how important it is to you to uphold the letter of the law. I mean, I know how much it means to you, so we are just trying to help you maintain your admirably high standards.’
Adam smirked at her. Giles didn’t need to smirk, his words said enough .
‘Have you come here to plead your case? Or threaten us? I must admit I’m surprised you’re here at all. Still, desperation is an uncomfortable bedfellow. Maybe we can find some way to help out an old friend such as yourself.’
Giles turned away from her and leant back into the meeting room muttering a few words.
‘My other son is in charge of the properties portfolio. Maybe you can have a word with him. Plead your case. Don’t worry, I’ll put in a good word for you.’
Just before Nick could tell him where he could shove his good word the door opened, and Gabe joined the other two men. Nick stared at him in horror. She could feel her hands shaking and she quickly shoved them in her pocket as she tried to regroup. He looked different in a suit but standing there next to his brother and father the family resemblance was unmistakable. They were an exceptionally good-looking bunch of unscrupulous bastards.
‘Lady Nicoletta, allow me to introduce another of my sons,’ he chuckled indulgently, the paternalistic bonhomie in full flow.
Before he continued, his son stepped forward and stared at Nick in surprise.
‘Letta?’
Nick turned on her heel and headed towards the stairs as fast as she could. The lift doors opened just as she got there and was about to step in when Gabe grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
‘Letta, I—’
‘Fuck off! How could you? How could you spy on me like that? Was it all a joke to you? I thought—’ She broke off determined not to reveal the depth of her feelings. Yanking her arm out of his grasp she jumped into the lift as the doors slid closed and leant against the wall of the empty lift.
If she could just get out of this building, she would find somewhere to catch her breath – there were bound to be security cameras in the lobby, and no one was going to see her cry. Realising there may well be a camera in the lift as well she took a deep breath then forced herself to laugh a bit and study her fingernails. It was all she could do to hold it together, this betrayal hurt more than anything. The evictions, the investigation, none of that wounded like this searing pain in her heart. What had been building between her and Gabe had felt wonderful and genuine, now it made her want to throw up.
As the lift came to a rest at the ground floor she smoothed her hair, tucking it behind her ears. She pulled out her phone, casually swiping through the apps. If her fingers shook a little she hoped the camera wouldn’t pick it up.
The lift doors slid open, and Nick walked into the lobby, straight into Gabe coming in through the main doors.