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Jess remained discreetly silent in the taxi. Though, they weren’t called taxis here, were they? They were called cabs. When they finally pulled up outside a swish looking apartment building, she did her best not to do or say anything gauche which would embarrass Ben. But she was seriously impressed, both by the uniformed porter who took care of their luggage, and the doorman who said hello to Ben in a very deferential manner. Inside, the lobby was just as impressive, with marble floors and a huge, fresh flower arrangement sitting on a circular table underneath a massive chandelier. The security guard behind the desk in the corner nodded to Ben as he steered Jess over to the bank of lifts against a side wall.
‘Everything’s arranged,’ Ben said briskly once the lifts doors closed and they were alone. ‘The funeral will be at two tomorrow afternoon with the wake afterwards at Dad’s apartment. My apartment’s not large enough to cater for so many people.’
Not large enough? Jess thought in amazement when she walked into his apartment. The main living room was ginormous with ten-foot ceilings and tall French doors which opened out onto a very large balcony. All the walls were white, which only added to the feeling of space. On them hung some of the loveliest paintings Jess had ever seen. She hardly knew which one to look at first. Or where to look at all. The furniture was obviously very expensive, an eclectic mix of modern and antique.
‘Goodness, Ben,’ she said. ‘How many people are you expecting at the wake if this place isn’t big enough to house them?’
‘Two hundred, at least,’ he replied. ‘Dad had a lot of business colleagues.’
‘What about friends and relatives?’
‘Not too many of those. Dad was an only child and his parents are long gone. So are his aunts and uncles. He possibly has a few cousins somewhere but he never kept in touch with them.’ Ben gave a crooked smile. ‘There might be the odd mistress or two attending, wondering if he’s left them anything. But I fear they’ll be disappointed. Dad told me not long ago that he left everything to me.’
Ben watched Jess’s eyes when he said this, wondering if his being a billionaire would make any difference to her. Quite frankly, he didn’t care if it did. He loved her and he had every intention of marrying her. He understood now how his father had felt when he’d proposed to his mother. Love did have a blinding effect on one.
But Jess was nothing like his mother. Ben felt sure of that.
‘Amber might be there,’ he said, feeling that he should warn Jess in advance. ‘Her father was a close business associate.’
‘That’s okay,’ she said. Though it wasn’t. Not really. Jess supposed there was a small part of her which was curious to meet this Amber. But she could have managed well without the experience.
The doorbell rang. It was the porter delivering their luggage.
‘Leave it just inside,’ Ben directed, getting out his wallet and handing the man a note.
‘I’d forgotten you have to tip everyone here,’ Jess said after the porter had left. What a different country America was from Australia.
‘You’d better believe it,’ Ben said. ‘No tip, no service.’
She didn’t much like that, but didn’t say anything.
‘Will you be staying with me in the master bedroom?’ he asked her. ‘Or do you want one of the guest rooms?’
‘Where do you want me to stay?’ she returned, suddenly feeling nervous. Realising that she loved him seemed temporarily to have banished any desire for the exciting love-making they’d shared. Now, she just wanted him to hold her in his arms and make love to her like they were normal people.
‘With me, of course.’
‘Okay. As long as you don’t…you know…’
His eyes clouded over. ‘You needn’t worry. I’m not in the mood for fun and games at the moment, Jess.’
‘No, no, of course not. I just…’ She stopped, then let out a long sigh. ‘I’m sorry. That was insensitive of me. Of course you don’t want to do things like that at the moment. I know exactly how you must be feeling. When my grandmother died last year, it felt like someone had taken a huge jagged spoon and scraped a great big hole out of my heart. I’m sure that’s how you’re feeling at this moment. Maybe even worse. He was your father.’
He looked at her with such sad eyes. ‘I think he knew something was wrong with him. They say sometimes people have a premonition of their death from a heart attack, even when there are no actual symptoms.’
