LITMIR.BIZ

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not be denied. They painted a picture of shocking corruption. Laura felt ashamed of her connection to the man who hadn’t cared how many people he hurt in amassing more and more money for himself. She’d known he had a cruel nature. She hadn’t known his contempt for others extended so far.

      It was sickening.

      She understood now how much this mission had meant to Jake, especially given what had happened with his parents. Apart from the personal element, it was right to take her father down, saving others from suffering similar situations. He was doing good, more good than she had ever done in her life, showing up the faults of a system that was a feeding ground for liquidators without any conscience.

      It took a big person to stand up and blow the whistle on it, regardless of any cost to himself. She admired Jake’s drive to get it done. But her father was right about one thing. She was his daughter and her life had been cushioned in the luxury of his greedy profiteering. It wasn’t her fault but she was definitely tainted by it in Jake’s mind.

      I don’t want to want you.

      And there was no sign of him wanting her now.

      He wouldn’t even look at her, though she had been willing him to all day. He probably hated the sight of her—a memory of weakness on his part, not to be revisited.

      Stay strong.

      His whole demeanour, his voice, his laying out of undeniable facts, had been relentlessly strong today. He was not going to reconnect with her. Laura slipped out of the inquiry room as soon as the afternoon session ended, carrying the misery of lost hope with her. There was no point in coming back tomorrow. Jake had obviously shut the door on her and she must now do it on him.

      She forced her legs to walk straight to the elevator, forced her finger to jab the down button. Other people clustered around her, waiting for the elevator to arrive. Minutes crawled by. There was a buzz of voices commenting on the hearing. Laura heard her father called one hell of a shark. No sympathy for him. Nor should there be.

      Her own heart suddenly rebelled against leaving Jake believing that she had been here to support her father. The elevator doors opened. The surge forward carried her into the compartment but she wriggled out again, telling herself there was one last stand she had to make—a matter of self-respect if nothing else.

      Jake emerged from the inquiry room with his barrister, the two men conferring with each other as they walked out. Laura didn’t care if she would be interrupting something important. What she had to say would only take a couple of moments and it was important to her. Her hands clenched in determination. Her chin instinctively lifted. Every nerve in her body was wire-tight as she closed the short distance between them.

      As though sensing her approach, Jake’s head jerked towards her. His gaze locked on hers, hard and uninviting, twin dark bolts boring into her head. The barrister murmured something to him. Jake’s hand sliced a sharp dismissive gesture, his attention not wavering from Laura. She stopped a metre short of him, close enough to be heard, her mind totally focussed on delivering a few last words.

      ‘I found out that my father lied about the photographs. I’m sorry that I let him influence my belief in you, Jake. I wish you well.’

      That was it.

      She turned and walked back to the elevator where another group of people had gathered, waiting for its return. She could go now, having righted the wrong she had done Jake. And she did wish him well. He was a good man.

      She didn’t hate him!

      The steel guard Jake had put around his feelings for Laura Costarella cracked wide open at this stunning realisation. He was in instant tumult over her apology, wanting to know more, but she had already turned away and was heading for the elevator, not waiting for any response from him. What did that mean? She didn’t want one? Didn’t expect one?

      How long had she known about her father’s lie? If it was before this hearing, she wouldn’t have attended it to support him. Was it simply curiosity that had drawn her here, a need to know everything that had limited their relationship and made it so impossible to sustain? But surely she wouldn’t have bothered unless…she still had feelings for him.

      I wish you well…?.

      It was a goodbye line.

      He didn’t want it to be. He wanted…

      The elevator doors opened. Laura was following the group of people into it. She was going and everything within him violently rebelled against letting her go.

      Without any conscious thought at all he lifted two fingers to his lips and whistled the most piercing whistle he’d ever produced in his life.

       CHAPTER FIFTEEN

      THE whistle startled everyone who heard it. Conversations were momentarily cut off. Feet stopped moving. Heads turned. Laura’s heart felt as though it had been kicked. Her mind instantly recalled the kiss-off line she’d written to Jake.

      As for any future meeting between us, you can whistle for me.

      Had he done it?

      Please…let it be him wanting a meeting with her.

      A meeting with a future in mind.

      The other people resumed their movement into the elevator. Laura didn’t. She had to turn around, had to see. If it was Jake who had whistled, he’d be looking at her, perhaps holding out a hand in an appeal for her to stay where she was, wait a minute.

      A chance to nothing, she told herself, her heart hammering as she acted on her need to know, throwing a quick glance over her shoulder. Jake had left his barrister’s side and was striding towards her, determined purpose burning in the eyes that locked onto hers, holding her still until he could reach her.

      The elevator doors closed. Laura was the only person left behind. But Jake was coming to her. They hadn’t talked to each other for almost a year. She had no idea what was on his mind, yet the leap of hope in hers was so strong, it was impossible to put a guard of caution around it. He could probably see it in her eyes, the wanting, the needing. Pride couldn’t hide it. She had none where he was concerned.

      He stopped about a metre away from her, tension emanating from him, making her nerves even tighter.

      ‘It’s been a long time,’ he said.

      ‘Yes,’ she agreed, the word coming out huskily. Her throat was choked up with a mountain of tumultuous emotions.

      ‘There’s a good coffee shop on the corner of the next block. Can I buy you a cappuccino?’

      She swallowed hard to get rid of the lump. He was offering time together, wanting time together. A meeting. ‘I’d like that very much,’ she answered, her voice still furred with feelings that were totally uncontrollable.

      ‘Good!’ he said and stepped around her to press the elevator button, summoning it to this floor again.

      Third time lucky, Laura thought giddily.

      Jake flashed her a smile. ‘I wish you well, too, Laura. I always have.’

      She nodded, yearning for far more than well-wishing from him.

      ‘Are you still living with your father?’ he asked.

      ‘No. I have a full-time job now. Landscape designer for a firm of architects. I can afford my own apartment.’

      ‘What about your mother?’

      ‘She moved out the same time I did. She’s okay. Much happier.’

      ‘Sharing your apartment?’

      ‘No. Nick Jeffries, our former handyman/gardener, carried her off to his home. He’s a widower and they’re very much in love.’

      ‘Wow!’ Jake grinned, surprised and seemingly delighted

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