My Pride, His Prejudice (2 page)

Funny thing is, her mom would never convince her.

And her mother would never forgive her if she knew that he had surprised her with a proposal the other day. There was absolutely no way she’d ever know, either.

“Okay, Mom, I’ve gotta go. Can’t talk on the phone while I’m driving.” It was a lame attempt, she knew it, but she honestly couldn’t talk about her boss another second.

“Where’s your Bluetooth?”

Eliza started up the car. “It broke. Okay. Really, gotta run. I love you, Mom. I’ll call you later tonight. Bye.” She set the phone down and pulled out of the driveway, then shook her head.

What was her mom’s fascination with Will, anyway? Who cared if the guy had wealth—what about common decency? He had to be the most stuck-up man she’d ever met in her life, but for some reason, he found her irresistible. Or apparently, he
did
find her irresistible until she refused him.

It was now Monday morning, nine a.m. It had been two and a half days since Will had unexpectedly shown up on her front porch. She’d had the whole weekend to convince herself that she wasn’t thinking about him—not really. At least, not the way anyone else would’ve been thinking about Will if they’d been in her shoes. But—ugh! Enough.

She pulled the car into her designated parking spot at the downtown Walker building. Eliza quickly made her way into the sleek lobby and up the elevator to the Revolutionary Innovations floor. The company owned buildings in nearly every major city in the U.S., and several overseas. However, there was something magical about the old Walker building, with its Edwardian architecture and lavish marble walls that Will said had always drawn the Darcy family to want a part of it.

They owned the building now, but only used one floor. The rest were rented out to various companies who chose a more sumptuous, old-money type, respected business front. Eliza pushed through the double doors and toward the receptionist sitting behind a large dark wood desk. “Hi, Gracie. Do you have any messages for me?”

The girl smiled. “There’s a schedule change for this afternoon’s meeting. Instead of two, Mr. Darcy bumped it up to eleven. Also, he says he would like to see you in his office right away.”

Did he now?
“Thank you, Gracie. I’ll head there immediately. Anything else?”

“Just the usual email stuff. I’ve already sent it over to you. There’s a lot, but nothing urgent.”

“Thanks.”

Eliza walked toward her office on the east side and snuck past Will’s. His door was open a crack, but she didn’t glance inside. He would have to wait a minute. She was pretty sure she’d need at least two more cups of calming herbal tea before she could face him.

She sighed as she walked into the room—it was going to be a long day. The offices were a bit larger than she was used to, mainly due to the older building’s layout, but they were beautifully decorated, and the views—the views were incredible! After kicking her door shut with her foot, Eliza headed toward her overstuffed chair and sank into it. From her window, she had a front-row seat to Salt Lake City’s gorgeous mountains. Nothing could be more perfect than these views—nothing. In such a challenging work environment, this was definitely a perk. 

Eliza pulled her laptop forward and adjusted her chair sideways so she could continue to soak up the effects of the soothing view while she opened her account. Gracie was right—there were a lot of emails. She shook her head as she skimmed down the list. Thank goodness she had Gracie to tell her the important stuff so she didn’t have to sort through it all. At least eighteen of the emails had come from Will Darcy, or his secretary.

Of
course
he would send over tons of work to prove to her that their relationship was nothing but business. She rubbed the bridge of her nose and groaned. This stress was not helping her relax. She skimmed through the last of her emails and was almost ready to close them out to be looked at later when her eye caught one dated late Friday night.

He emailed her after she turned him down?

Eliza slowly sat back up in her chair. There was absolutely no reason at all why her heart should suddenly be beating as fast as it was. She clicked on it. There was no subject line, but holy cow, it was a long email! If she printed it, it’d no doubt be three pages at least.

Elizabeth,

I’ve given it some thought and I’d like to say—

Knuckles wrapped on her office door. Eliza looked up and into Will’s dark brown eyes. “Can I speak with you for a minute?”

No. I want to see what you had to say Friday.
“I—I was just reading my emails.”

“Okay, but it’s urgent.”

CHAPTER THREE:

Eliza pushed her computer away and sat up, motioning toward a chair across from her desk. “Have a seat, Mr. Darcy.”

It wasn’t until he walked closer that she saw the lines of strain on his much paler than usual face. He didn’t sit—he stood behind the chair and placed one hand on it. Then he glanced around the room, as if he wished he were anywhere else but there with her.

She had never seen him this uncertain before. “What is it? Are you okay?”

He shook his head and then looked blankly at her desk.

After waiting a few seconds, she asked, “Is there something I can do?”

He ran his hands through his hair. “I don’t know. Maybe. I just—I need to discuss something.” Taking a deep breath, Will looked at her and then away. “Could I . . . could we . . . gah. Look, I have to go away for a bit. People are going to be asking some questions, and I—I don’t know what to say or do right now. I just have to go.”

Her stomach dropped. Was this because of her? He was acting very unprofessional. It just wasn’t like him. How badly had she hurt him? “I’m so sorry. I had no idea you needed time away. Honestly, I feel awful about what happened Friday. Please forgive me—I should’ve handled the situation better. I’m sure we could—”

“Friday?” Confusion marred his features for a moment. “Oh! Yes—uh, no.” Attempting a lame chuckle, he continued, “No. Uh—wow. I wish. That would be easy. Was that just this past Friday? Man, so much has happened since then. No.”

Oh, my word, what happened? “Are you okay? The company? Your family?” What was going on? She knew she was probably prying more than she should, but she couldn’t help it.

He held his hands out. “Um, no. Yes . . . er . . . no.”

“Right.” That helped so much.

Will turned toward the door. “Look, I should probably go. I just—I just wanted you to know that I won’t be in for a few days and I need you to sort of cover for me, okay?”

“Wait. Why?”

He gave her a vulnerable look, as if to say
, I’m barely hanging on here. Please don’t ask me anything else.

That was it. Eliza snapped. They might not be the best of friends, but by golly, these last ten months, they’d at least been through enough to help when help was needed. He came to her for a reason, and she wasn’t going to let him chicken out now. She marched to the door and shut it, then turned around with her arms folded. “You’re not leaving this place until you speak actual words that make sense.” She walked toward him and pointed to the chair. “Now sit. Spill. It’ll be good for you to get off your shoulders.”

He shook his head. “I really can’t. I’m not much good at talking anyway, I’m just not, and now, so soon after finding out everything—I just can’t.”

She cleared her throat and leaned her hip against the mahogany desk. “You came into my office to tell me, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I came here instinctively, but you and I aren’t…” He finally sat down and put his elbows on his knees, his hands once again going through his hair. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Just start at the beginning.” Eliza sat in a chair next to his. “What is this about? Is it an emergency?”

“Not what—who.”

“Okay.
Who
is this about?”

“My sister.”

“Your—you have a sister?” How did she not know he had a sister?

“Yes.”

Eliza decided to remain silent, waiting for him to come to terms and share. After a minute or so, Will began to talk.

“She—well, my old business partner…” He trailed off.

“Yes. She was your business partner?”

“No.” He sighed and straightened up. “Have you ever heard me talk about George Wickham? We called him Joe—an old football joke. Anyway, maybe you’ve heard me mention Joe?”

“Um, a little. Sure. So, he was your business partner?”

“Yes.”

Even after being here for months she didn’t know that.

“It was a long time ago—we’re talking like, maybe ten years ago—back when I’d finally broken off from my dad’s company and started bringing this division where it is now.” He crossed his foot over a knee and stared out toward the mountain view. “Anyway, Joe was more interested in the ladies than working. Particularly ladies he could convince to give him money that he’d use on heroin, cocaine—anything he could get his hands on. I didn’t realize he was a total scam artist straight away. I knew he’d get involved with stupid things—he was always excited about some shady investment or another—but I really didn’t think he was bad. Not
that
bad. Even the drugs—I don’t know, maybe there were signs. I just didn’t see them. You know?”

When she didn’t say anything, he went on. “And yeah, it wasn’t good when everything came to light. I paid off somewhere like $185,000 or more in scams involving our female employees. Then, instead of going public, I paid them quietly and sent him to Spain to cool it and stave off any scandal that might get picked up by the news. We were a new company, and I couldn’t handle the investment scandal it would’ve caused. Joe was also given explicit orders never to return to Revolutionary Innovations, or Utah, again.”

“And he came back?”

Will stood up and pushed his chair in. “He didn’t just come back. He somehow found my little sister—we’re talking my eighteen-year-old sister!—and convinced her to elope with him.”

“What?” Eliza stood up too. “Are you kidding me?”

“No. They went to Vegas, apparently, but I know he’s not reckless. I know he didn’t marry her—he’s such a perverted monster. He probably got what he wanted out of her and then left. Or worse, got her involved in drugs and the kind of people I really don’t want her around.”

“How did you find out? Did she text you?”

“I haven’t heard one word from her. I think he took her phone. I tried calling, and it went straight to voicemail.

“When she didn’t show up Friday night, I got a little worried. By Saturday, I notified the police, but because she’s eighteen, there’s nothing they can do. She’s an adult, and unless there’s evidence of foul play, they’re assuming she just took off.” He sighed. “I spent the whole weekend going backwards, scouring for clues, trying to find her. When I went to her work, her boss said she’d given her two weeks’ notice already and had left. So this was something that had obviously been planned and kept hidden from me for weeks!”

“I’m so sorry.”

He shook his head. “Not as sorry as Joe’s going to be.”

“How did you find out she went to Vegas?”

“Oh, I found a tablet at the house this morning, under an armchair, where she was still signed into Facebook. The private messages floored me. I want to kill Joe. She’s so naïve and has no idea about the world or men like him. None.”

“When do you leave?”

“My flight leaves at one. I guess my dad had the jet in Arizona this week, so they’re bringing it up here. Look, just hold down the fort until I get back, okay? I trust you. Despite everything else that went on this weekend, I just trust you. I’m not leaving Vegas until I find her. And I will find her.” He fiddled with the back of the chair. “I worry most about Wickham’s connections. When all the evidence was put against him last time, he had friends who dealt with sex trafficking.”

She gasped. This couldn’t be happening. “No!”

“Yeah, I gotta clear my head. I can’t think of stuff like that. Honestly, he probably just wants in on the company—she’s an heiress. At least, he thinks she is. What he doesn’t know is that she can’t even touch a fraction of it until she’s twenty-one. And then the real stuff doesn’t hit her account until she’s thirty. I’m not positive he’s the type of man to hang around that long—at least credibly.”

“He might force her to stay with him.”

“Not helping.”

“Just don’t go to jail, okay?”

He smirked. “Come on—are you sure you don’t want to rethink that? I’d be out of your hair. Think of the peace and quiet.”

She walked toward him. “It is tempting. But the thought of stopping a man like that is much more appealing. I don’t think I’d be able to hold back. I’d murder him.” Unconsciously, she adjusted his tie and brushed at his shoulder, straightening his suit, then realized what she had done and stopped. Shocked, her gaze met his—there was so much anger, hurt, disbelief, fear etched in him, it nearly broke her. For a few seconds, she wished they were a couple, because then she’d stand up on tiptoe and kiss some of that away and whisper the things he needed to hear. But they weren’t, and she couldn’t. “I’m sorry. I really, really am.”

Will continued to stare right at her. Didn’t he feel the tension mounting? She should totally look away, but she couldn’t.

“Forgive me for this.” He bent down and kissed her instead of walking away like he should, those soft lips claiming what wasn’t his to claim.

When he pulled back, she was a bit breathless. My word! The man could kiss. It took every ounce of self-control she had not to grab him and kiss him again.

“Thank you for your help,” he said a bit tersely as he turned away and headed toward the door. “See you at eleven.”

Her trembling fingers found her mouth, and she stared at the closed door. What in the world had just happened? And why was she seeing him at eleven?

CHAPTER FOUR: