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'What the hell is going on in here?'
As the man nearest her spun round Miriam thought that she was going to faint with relief. She flew across the room to Reece's side and as his arm went automatically round her waist she saw that his hard face was dark with rage.
'I hope for your sake that what I saw when I walked in here can be explained,' he said tightly as his piercing grey eyes cut into the faces of the two men who had drawn together in front of the desk. 'But it had better be good.'
'Says who?' Fergus laughed sneeringly.
'Says me.' Reece thrust his car keys into Miriam's hand without looking at her. 'Go and get into the car while I teach these two gorillas some manners.'
'No, Reece.' She caught hold of his arm, panic-stricken. 'There's two of them.'
'She's right, guv'nor.' The first man smiled ingratiatingly. 'No point in getting hurt over a little misunderstanding. My mate and I are just leaving.'
'Think again.' He moved Miriam behind him, still without taking his eyes off the two figures in front of him. 'Lock yourself in the car, Miriam.'
'I'm not leaving you in here with them,' she said shakily. 'They were sent to collect our vans, Reece; they're strong-arm types—'
'The hell they are.' His laugh was sinister and totally without humour, and it seemed to have the same effect on the men watching him so closely as it did on her. 'You think you can push my lady around? Well, think again.'
'Look, we don't want no trouble.' There was an element of fear in the coarse voices now, and the brutish faces were uncertain as they glanced first at Reece's big, powerful body and then at his dark face, in which the silver-grey of his eyes glittered with unholy fire. 'We're just doing our job, guv'nor, that's all.'
'Which is?'
As the whining voices explained their mission Reece's icy gaze didn't falter.
'Well, now, you can go back to your Mr Gregory and tell him the situation has been resolved to the satisfaction of all parties.' Reece reached into his inside pocket and the two men flinched as his hand withdrew. They clearly wouldn't have been surprised if he had been holding a 44 Magnum in his fist. He threw a card onto the floor. 'Pick it up.'
The two hit heads in their eagerness to obey and for the first time since they had come into the office Miriam felt a glimmer of amusement break through the horrific fear.
'The contract has been terminated as from this moment, and your Mr Gregory will receive the outstanding amount on the vans within twenty-four hours. Not the hire-purchase mark-up.' He fixed them with his icy gaze. 'The residue against the original purchase price. Any queries he can refer directly to me. And only to me—got it?'
'Right, guv'nor.' Their heads were bobbing like demented pigeons.
'And now I think an apology is in order.' He drew Miriam into the fold of his arm. 'And it had better seem like you mean it.'
By the time the two men left, positively slithering past Reece, their faces averted, Miriam had begun to feel as if she were caught up in some kind of gangster movie, with the chief hood as her protector. He said not a word as he watched the two leave in a flashy red American job, and didn't relax his hold on her waist until he drew her back into the office, when he leant against the wall, his eyes closed, and expelled a long, expressive sigh. 'And I only came back to give you your briefcase.'
She stared at him, dumb with the shock of it all, and then as he opened lazy silver-grey eyes saw that his face was alive with a wry kind of amusement. 'I thought we might be in a spot of trouble there for a minute—before I realised they were all wind and water, that is. Still, the bodyguard act impressed you, I hope.' He levered himself off the wall slowly. 'And how did you come to be mixed up with a crook like Gregory anyway?'
'You know him?' she managed faintly.
'I know the type,' he said cynically. 'I've met a few like those two in my time—hired hands, with no brains—'
'Oh, Reece.' As she burst into tears he moved quickly and enfolded her in his arms, his face straight now, and somehow the big, muscled body seemed like a haven of protection after what she'd just passed through. He stroked her hair silently, making soft, comforting sounds in his throat, but when her sobs developed a touch of hysteria he moved her away from him gently with a little shake before staring down quietly into the drowning violet eyes.
'Enough.' There was a note of tenderness in the deep voice that added to her misery, although she couldn't have explained why. 'You can rest assured those goons won't be back when their esteemed boss knows he might be taking on the Vance Corporation. He might be a mean little swindler, and something of a villain, but I doubt if he's got brain damage.'
'That man, he was going to-—'
'Don't think about it.' Reece reached for her coat and picked up the office keys on the desk. 'I doubt if they would have followed through on anything physical; they were trying to frighten you.'
'They succeeded.' She smiled shakily. 'Thank you so much—'
'I'm taking you to lunch so lock up,' he said expressionlessly.
'But you can't— Your appointment—'
'There is no fun in being the boss if I can't cancel when I feel like it.' He was trying to aim for lightness, but as her lip quivered again he pulled her into his arms and spoke into her hair. 'You aren't staying here, Miriam, and for the time being at least I shall want assurance from that brother of yours that there are always a couple of people about. This is not a particularly salubrious district at the best of times.'
