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Bess clasped her hands together. ‘I’m sorry, Janusz. I thought I’d managed to shake them off. I didn’t see anyone following me on the way to work.’
‘It’s not your fault. You’re the victim. It’s just that a lot of our clients have been victims too and still carry the scars. Being jostled and shouted at by predatory photographers when they try to come in the door is disastrous. A lot of people haven’t even shown up today.’
Bess slumped in her seat. No matter what he said, she’d brought this on.
The charity did a fantastic job with limited funds, supporting migrants and especially refugees, many of whom had been through severe trauma, even torture. She’d been so pleased to get a job here teaching English. But now innocent people, with problems far greater than hers, were running scared because of the press pack camped outside.
She pressed a hand to her stomach as nausea stirred. Morning sickness or distress?
‘Maybe if this all dies down,’ he read her expression and amended, ‘whenit dies down, you could come back.’
Bess nodded but she didn’t believe that would happen. Not completely.
Maybe if she and Jack were still the picture-perfect husband and wife, raising their child together, the attention would wear off. But if they were together she couldn’t imagine Jack curtailing his plans for commercial world domination long enough to let her pursue a meaningful career. In other circumstances the idea would almost be funny.
She had an awful feeling that the press intended to hound her indefinitely. People were fascinated by Jack, who made lists of the world’s rich and sexy on a regular basis. In the last year the pair of them had become notorious as the glamour couple who’d split under mysterious circumstances. She was the woman who’d said no to Jack Reilly’s potent brand of looks, power, charisma and wealth when so many others found him irresistible. Now the media clamoured for a story.
She winced, imagining regular press updates on her pregnancy. No doubt things would become even more difficult when the baby was born.
She sank back in the hard seat and wondered if there was any way out of this.
‘Thanks, Janusz. Maybe one day. Meanwhile, the sooner I leave the sooner you can all get back to normal.’ She got to her feet, feeling weary beyond her years.
‘I’ll come with you. You’ll need help getting out of the building.’ He ushered her from the room and down the stairs. ‘I think we’d better order a taxi.’
He was right. As they headed towards the lobby the noise outside grew and Bess faltered back against his guiding hand. She wasn’t afraid of crowds but these people were ravening wolves.
‘Elisabeth.’
She jumped and turned towards the back of the lobby where the centre’s new counsellor, Zoe, stood talking with a tall, familiar figure.
Bess blinked, trying to reconcile what her eyes told her with what she knew to be impossible. That powerful, rangy figure couldn’t be Jack Reilly. Jack was in Europe attending to his all-important business. He couldn’t be here in a slightly ramshackle building in a run-down part of London.
Then he stepped forward into the light and the air rushed from her lungs. No other man melded urbane sophistication, raw masculinity and an aura of power in such a high-octane mix.
Her stomach tightened as her breath seized.
‘Jack Reilly. Elisabeth’s husband.’ He held his hand out to Janusz. ‘You must be the centre’s director.’
Janusz said something, Bess wasn’t sure what because shock and the rush of blood in her ears made the scene take on an unreal quality.
She read the men’s grave expressions, saw them speak and nod as if an agreement then heard Jack say, ‘I’ll take care of things from here. Elisabeth will be safe with me. The sooner we leave the better.’
That jolted her brain into gear. Her blood pressure skyrocketed. He’d only been here a minute and already he was issuing orders.
She was sick of him taking over her life, making decisions that should be hers.
‘No-one asked you to take care of things, Jack. I’ll make my own way out.’ His appearance had just set the seal on this hellish day.
From her peripheral vision she saw Janusz frown. He even opened his mouth as if to protest but Jack beat him to it. Naturally.
‘Of course, Elisabeth. If you really want to.’ Her husband stepped to one side and in the silence she heard anew the awful hubbub outside. Then the front door opened and one of the administrative staff hurried in, looking harried, and slammed it shut. She slumped back against the door, grimacing.
‘Or,’ Jack said softly, ‘I could get you away from here so they don’t follow.’
Bess looked from Janusz to Zoe then across to the young admin assistant and her chest cramped. What had she been thinking, putting her pride first when everyone else here was bearing the brunt of this disastrous situation because of her?
She breathed deep and made herself face her nemesis. To his credit he didn’t look in the least smug. In fact, if she had to try deciphering his bland expression she’d be tempted to say he looked on edge. But she knew that wasn’t true. Jack Reilly was full of confidence and by the sound of it he already had an escape plan.
