Chapter Fifty-Two
The following morning Gabe walked into his father’s study. He knew this conversation would be the hardest of his life but there was nothing else he could do. He and Rafe had spoken last night and were in agreement. Gabe shouldn’t speak to their father until it was too late for him to interfere.
‘Hello, Gabriel. This is a pleasant surprise. What can I do for you?’
Always with the easy charm , thought Gabe. Old-school civility ran through his father’s DNA. He wanted to believe that his father wasn’t involved in Adam’s scheme, but he had little hope. His father may have stepped down in public, but behind the scenes, Giles was still very much in charge.
‘Oh dear, you do look serious. Sit down and get it off your chest. Drink?’ He lifted a decanter and poured himself a whisky. Gabe shook his head. He didn’t want a drink but thought it was probably just as well that his father had something to steady his nerves. The next few minutes were going to be brutal.
‘I’ve been to visit Daisy Hall.’
His father looked at him blankly from behind his desk and raised an eyebrow.
‘She used to be engaged to Luke Rees.’ That caused a reaction in his father, but it was just a small nod to continue.
‘She has confessed to planting evidence at De Foix Investments to make it look as though Nick Byrne was using client funds improperly. ’
‘Well, there’s a turn-up for the books, eh?’ His father chuckled to himself. ‘And she’s prepared to confess this, is she? What a silly girl.’
Gabe watched his father; he was certainly playing things coolly.
‘There’s more. She said she did it under the encouragement and insistence of Adam.’
‘Adam who?’
‘Harrington. Your son.’
Now Giles looked startled and offended. ‘What sort of bloody rubbish is this? She had better not go round saying that sort of guff in public.’
‘The thing is, she taped their conversations. I’ve heard them. He clearly instructed her in what to do and how to do it. She also attempted to come clean to de Foix and Adam then proceeded to blackmail and intimidate her.’
‘We have to stop her.’
Gabe looked at his father in weary disappointment. There was no sense of denial, just an immediate rush to cover it up. Was he protecting his son or was he already aware of his actions?
‘That’s not going to happen, Father. She’s going to make a full confession to the FCA.’
‘For God’s sake, why didn’t you call me? What did you offer her not to do it?’
‘I didn’t offer her anything. I encouraged her.’
Giles shot up, his tumbler spilling over as papers fell to the ground. ‘You did what!’
‘It’s the right thing to do. De Foix Investments need to have their name cleared. ’
‘It is being cleared, the FCA have evidence of tampered files, that will be enough to drop all charges. Her name will already be cleared. There’s no need to drag Harrington’s into this.’
‘Sorry, Father, that won’t cut it. You know how it is. If no one comes clean, there will always be suspicion that it was a cover-up. You know how the City likes to gossip. Besides which, you can’t keep on behaving like this. Either Adam did this without your knowledge and you’re protecting him, or he did it with your approval in which case the buck stops with you. Either way you are condoning what he has done.’
Gabe winced at the disgust with which his father was looking at him.
‘You’re forcing me to choose between my children.’
‘No, I’m not. You can do what you want but I’m going to do the right thing.’
A sly look passed over Giles’s face as he tried to think of a new line of persuasion.
‘Have you even met her, Nick Byrne? Adam says she wasn’t in Ireland. She’s a dreadful person. Just a jumped-up shrew. No real talent, just traded on her family name and hires and fires people all the time. The City doesn’t need her sort. She won’t even thank you.’
So his father knew that Adam had sent him to Ireland to spy on her. Was it Adam’s idea or was he following his father’s orders?
‘Hopefully, she won’t even know I had anything to do with it. She despises us and rightly so. All I can do is make amends and hope that she is able to set her life back on track and that none of this crap you’ve thrown at her sticks. And for what it’s worth, I have met her, and I think she’s incredible.’
‘You’re a fool,’ snapped Giles.
‘I can live with that.’
Giles paused again. Badmouthing her clearly wasn’t going to work – maybe he could trade on some family loyalty. He sat back down and shook his head sadly. Slowly he leant down and picked up the tumbler from the floor. Making sure Gabe could see his hand, he added a small tremor as he poured himself a fresh glass.
‘But you are my sons, my family – how can I choose between you? I don’t understand how easily you can choose an outsider over family?’
‘Because I love her.’
Giles frowned and knocked back his drink, the tremor gone. When the hell had Gabe met Nick? Why hadn’t he known about this? ‘Then you’re an even bigger fool. She won’t want you after this.’
‘Yes, I know, but it’s not the point. I’m doing this because it’s the right thing to do. Not to gain brownie points.’
This was getting him nowhere and Giles needed to act.
‘Right then, give me forty-eight hours to get things in motion. Then tell this Daisy tramp to go blabbing to the FCA if she wants.’
Gabe stood up. ‘I’m sorry, Father, the wheels are already in motion. I just came here as a courtesy to let you know what’s about to happen. The judge already has Daisy’s confession and is meeting with De Foix Investments and the FCA right now. The only thing you can do is call your lawyers and decide whether you accept responsibility for Adam’s actions or not.’
As he went to leave the glass tumbler smashed on the wall by his head and he slammed the door behind him.