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Realizing he'd moved out from the crowd to observe, he shifted position. As he did so, he saw a familiar face standing a few feet away in the crowd. The man was smartly dressed, probably in his fifties, and he was watching the unfolding event just as avidly as he himself was. Zac tried to place him.
At the front of the hall, Fitzsimmons began to push the agent for another bid. Zac glanced back. The agent looked annoyed as he spoke into his phone. He nodded, gave another bid. Fitzsimmons pointed his hammer at Abby for her reaction. The crowd was riveted, their heads moving as if they were at Wimbledon, the bidding being the ball knocked back between Abby and the agent.
Zac glanced back at the man watching from the crowd. He was staring at Abby, a smug, possessive smile on his face. That's when he remembered, he recalled him from the dossier photographs. This was Tom Robertson, Abby's boss. And something about the way he
was looking at Abby grated on Zac's nerves. He must have accompanied her. If that was the case, why wasn't he sitting with her?
He heard Fitzsimmons prompting the bid, glanced back. Abby moved, taking the bidding up to the limit that they had agreed. This was it. If the agent put in another bid, she'd lose the property. Fitzsimmons looked back at the agent, who held up his hands and shook his head. She'd won.
Zac gave himself one more second to absorb the pleasure he saw on her face before he turned away to make a hasty exit. As he did, he discovered that Tom Robertson was just ahead of him, making his own quick departure.
Zac's emotional response to the situation was both primal and territorial. He wanted to stop the guy, ask him what he was up to and warn him off, and yet he knew it was he himself who was acting dodgy as hell here. Her boss had a right to be there. He was shocked at his own raw, troubled reaction.
I'm in love with her, that's why. The truth hit him hard and fast. There was no denying it. And the cage of circumstance was closing tight around his heart.
* * * *
Fitzsimmons slammed down the hammer and pointed at her. Abby was delighted. She had won the castle for her client. She smiled to herself, thrilled to bits.
The guy who had been bidding against her glared across at her. She tucked her identification card under the clip on her clipboard to distract herself from his expression. Despite her pleasure at winning, something was niggling at her. She felt uneasy. He was sending daggers, that's what it was. She took another glance and when she did she saw him storming off, his phone slammed shut in his hand. Her clipboard fell off her lap and she had to bend to retrieve it. The person seated behind her rescued it and passed it through the chairs.
Turning to say thank you, she caught sight of her opponent moving fast through the crowd at the back of the hall—and there too, she thought she saw a glimpse of another much more familiar face. Zac?
She froze, blinked, and looked again. The flash of black hair disappeared into the crowd. What was he doing here? He was supposed to be in Paris. Her blood ran cold. Was he following her? She turned back into her seat, clutching her clipboard to her chest, her heart running an erratic race. It can't have been him. I'm mistaken. It was someone else.
It looked like him though. It didn't make any sense. He said he'd be in Paris today. He hadn't said what time, but what would he be doing here? How would he know? Unless...unless he's following me.
Her hands were shaking by the time she gathered herself enough to leave her seat and approach the auctioneer's assistant at the side of the hall, to go through the payment details for the property. She could barely think straight. Zac was a mystery man, yes, but she'd never felt as if there was a reason to be afraid of him, not until now.
When she left the building her mind was in chaos with questions. She recalled that feeling of being watched before, a sense of awareness that someone was taking an interest in what she was doing. She darted to the edge of the pavement and hailed a taxi.
By the time she got back into the office, she'd got herself well and truly spooked. Stay calm. She was adding things up wrong, had to be. She'd know if there was something dodgy about Zac, surely? She'd felt so close to him. She would know. It was just someone who looked like him. Yes, she'd felt odd recently, like she was being watched, but there had to be an explanation.
In the reception, Suzanne was talking to two clients seated in the waiting area. She nodded discreetly when she saw Abby waiting for her at the desk, winding up her chat.
"What can I do for you?"
"This is going to sound odd, but did that guy you're seeing mention the name of the courier company they work for?"
"Not that I remember, why?"
"Neither did Zac. I just..." She looked at Suzanne's face, her happy expression. She couldn't bring herself to cast a shadow on her happiness. That would just be cruel. She didn't even know for sure it had been Zac. She shook herself. "Oh, I just wondered."
Suzanne gave her a concerned look. "Are you okay?"
"Well, kind of." She really needed a friend, but maybe Suzanne wasn't the right person, not if she was getting involved with this courier guy. She'd give Marcy a call.
"Excuse me, Abigail?"
Hearing her name, Abby turned to see Tom's PA sauntering toward her.
"Tom says can you drop in to his office as soon as possible."
Abby nodded. "Will do."
"Ew, that doesn't sound good," Suz commented when the PA had gone.
Abby shrugged. "No." Usually he visited the staff on their own territory, unless it was something important or confidential. This was the last thing she needed right now. "He's been a bit...protective, since I've taken over Ed's work," she explained, with a decidedly charitable view of Tom's interest in her. "I suppose I better get it over with."
