The Millionaire's Redemption Read online

  “He’s dead,” she whispered.

  He reached out and squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry. Was he in an accident?” How soft her skin felt. How small and fine boned her hand was. Reluctantly, he let it go, cursing himself for being such a sentimental fool.

  She blinked back tears. “No. He was killed in Afghanistan.”

  Edging past him, she slumped in her seat, and he could not recall ever seeing anyone so sad and distraught.

  Chapter Two

  Holly woke up. For a split second, a warm fuzziness enveloped her. Someone had covered her legs with the airline blanket, and her head rested against Justin Devereux’s arm. It felt strong, somehow comforting. What was wrong with her? Cuddling up to a virtual stranger? She jerked herself away.

  “Sorry,” she mumbled.

  “It’s all right. You must be exhausted.”

  She nodded wearily. “I haven’t had a proper night’s sleep since the funeral.”

  “When was that?” he asked, his eyes dark with concern.

  “Seven months ago.”

  “Seven months!”

  “I wanted to go home. There was nothing left for us in England.” She didn’t dare tell him she had escaped from the Kirwans’ clutches with little more than the clothes on her back. Suppose Justin reported her to the authorities when they arrived in Bangkok. They might extradite her back to England or whatever they did to fugitives.

  The Kirwans only wanted Lily. To hell with Holly. She could be left to rot in some Asian prison. How could parents plot the downfall of their son’s widow, and use their money and influence to blacken her name with innuendo and blatant, outright lies? The pain of betrayal wrought havoc with her heart, but the treachery tore her apart.

  Overcome with the grief of her loss she didn’t realize that these people, desperate to steal Lilly, would stop at nothing. Within a few months, they had isolated her financially, emotionally and physically, leaving her with no one to turn to for help.

  She still would have stayed and fought them with every breath in her body if necessary had she only herself to consider, but she couldn’t risk losing Lilly. The only option as she saw it was to take Lilly and flee to Australia. She took a long shuddering breath, trying to stop herself from having a panic attack.

  Lilly woke up and started crying.

  “It’s all right.” She picked up the baby and hugged her close. It was worth it. Everything was worthwhile because of Lilly. She should never forget it. Robbie had died because of his bravery. No sacrifice would be too great for his daughter.

  If Lilly could have found happiness with the Kirwans, she would have left her with them, even though it would have devastated her to do so.

  The Kirwans had virtually disowned Robbie while he lived because he defied them by making a life for himself with the army and her. Now he was gone, they were obsessed with having Lilly, the only child of their dead war hero son. Bob Kirwan would be able to dine out on Robbie’s exploits for years, and April would wear it as a badge of martyrdom.

  Lilly started pulling at Holly’s windcheater. “Do you want a drink, darling?”

  She turned in her seat and unclipped her front opening bra. Lilly’s little rosebud mouth clamped on her mother’s breast, and she started sucking strongly. The armrest dug into Holly’s back, so she straightened up in her seat a little.

  She heard Justin suck in his breath, but he couldn’t really see anything with her windcheater pulled well down and Lilly’s head blocking off his view. How sweet it was, the most beautiful experience in the whole world to feel your baby suckling your breast. She wanted to prolong it and feed Lilly for another couple of months at least, longer if possible.

  Lilly’s hand opened and closed, her little feet in their pale pink socks, kicked the side of Justin’s seat, hitting his arm every so often.

  “Lilly, don’t kick the nice man.” She didn’t really know whether he was nice or not, but could hardly say don’t kick the rich man.

  “It’s all right.” Justin couldn’t believe Holly still breastfed Lilly. He had never thought about it, but if he had, he would have believed only tiny babies were breastfed. He tried not to stare at them.

  It made a touching picture though. Holly’s eyes were serene now, the terrible sadness and despair gone and replaced by a soft glow as she gazed down at her baby. It reminded him of a religious picture of the Madonna and Child he once saw in some museum or church. He didn’t know why he recalled it just then. He hadn’t thought about such things in years.

  The drumming of baby feet escalated in force and frequency until they were moving like a threshing machine.

  Lilly let go of the nipple and sat up. Holly made a frantic grab for her top.

  She heard the breath hiss from between Justin’s teeth. He turned his head away, but unless he was blind, he must have seen her bare breast. Heat surged into her cheeks. She probably looked as red as a beetroot. Lilly pulled herself upright and made a grab for Justin’s papers.

  “Hey, steady on.” He moved them out of reach and she tried to climb on to his lap to get them.

  “No, Lilly.” Holly picked her daughter up and held her tight. “Leave the man alone.”

  “I think I’ll stretch my legs.” He stuffed the papers into his briefcase and stood. He was tall, about six feet in height, slim but well toned. Tungsten tough, a man in the peak of physical condition. Not movie star handsome, but dynamite just the same.

  As soon as he left, Holly changed Lilly’s wet nappy and tried her on the other breast, but she didn’t want to take it. She started to become fractious. Holly clipped up her bra and smoothed her top back into place.

  “Hey, Lilly Pilly, go to sleep,” she crooned as she gently rocked her. “Mummy loves you.”

  Lilly squirmed and wriggled so much Holly finally sat her in the cot. When Justin returned, Lilly immediately pulled herself up and holding on to the edge for support, toddled around to the side nearest him. She put her hand out to touch his knee.

  He wriggled his fingers at her, and Lilly chortled. For some strange reason, she had taken a liking to him. In her baby innocence, perhaps seeing a softer being beneath the ruthless exterior?

  “Sorry.” She lifted Lilly’s hand away from Justin’s knee. “If you wouldn’t mind getting the pink bag down for me, I’ll get some toys out for her to play with so she’ll leave you in peace.”

  He shrugged. “She’s not bothering me. It must be difficult traveling such a long way on your own with a baby.”

  “Yes.” But the alternatives were much worse, she thought bitterly. How different things could have been if the Kirwans had been reasonable, normal people. What was normal though? A mother who dumped her baby on the steps of a convent at Christmas, and the nuns calling the child Holly? A young soldier who goes off to fight for his country and returns home in a coffin? She didn’t really know what normal meant.

  “Thank you.” She took the bag from Justin, who remained standing.

  “Get out what you need and I’ll put it back up for you.” He beckoned over a flight attendant. “I’d like some water, please. And you?” He glanced at Holly.

  “Yes, water too, thanks.” She flashed him a grateful smile. His thoughtfulness touched her. He might be rich and powerful, but Justin Devereux possessed a kind heart.

  She took out a couple of small soft toys and a set of colored plastic keys, another disposable nappy, a bib and a jar of baby apples. She didn’t want to impose on his goodwill too much right now in case she needed to ask for his help later on. A seven-hour stopover in Bangkok could prove to be a nightmare.

  Distracted by the toys, Lilly sat down and started playing. Holly zipped up the bag and handed it back to Justin, who stowed it in the overhead locker. Was he annoyed that she kept asking him for favors? He hadn’t complained, but his lips were pursed, his eyes hard.

  He sat down, crossing one leg over his knee. He must have given up trying to work. The attendant returned with two bottles of water. She gave both of them to
Justin who took them with a nod of thanks. The attendant hovered, but he was obviously not in the mood for small talk. She soon got the message and moved away with a slight pout of her lush red mouth.

  Devoid of all makeup, her hair dragged back and held in place with a large clip, wearing faded jeans and a pale blue windcheater, Holly felt scruffy and unattractive, but inconspicuous.

  Robbie always told her how beautiful she was. She gave a soft sigh of remembrance. They had met in Melbourne when he was on exchange with the army; their attraction had been instantaneous. Within two months of meeting, they had started living together. Three months later, she found herself pregnant. A few weeks after that, they were married. When Lilly was two months old, his posting in Australia ended and they traveled to England so Robbie could rejoin his regiment.

  Right from the start, his parents didn’t think an orphan with no family background was good enough for their only son. They kept telling him to leave her, and they would raise Lilly. He continually told her not to worry, that his parents were possessive, but they would soon come around once they got to know her.

  “How could anyone not love you, Hol?” he used to say. “You’re so sweet and caring, so beautiful.” He was the caring one. A few weeks after their arrival in England, the brave, handsome young soldier, who had been so eager to fight for his country lay dead.

  “Are you all right?” Justin asked.

  “Yes.” She swallowed the water in a few desperate gulps.

  “Your face suddenly lost all color.”

  “Ghosts from the past,” she whispered.

  “Your loss will get easier to bear as time passes.”

  “I feel as if I’ll never climb out of this black pit,” she went on sadly. She carried a load so heavy she wondered why her back didn’t break.

  “Once you get back to Melbourne and your family…”

  “I don’t have any family,” she cut him off. “I don’t have anyone, only Lilly.”

  “I know how you feel.”

  “How could you?” she shot back. “You’re wealthy and…”

  “Listen, lady.” His veneer of concern evaporated. “I’ve just been swindled out of millions of dollars by my girlfriend and a trusted business partner. They blackened my reputation and left me to clean up the mess. I don’t have any family, either.”

  She saw the shadow flit across his face, heard the raw pain and felt instantly contrite. “I’m sorry.” She touched his hand, and he snatched it away.

  “Keep your sympathy,” he snarled. “I don’t need it.”

  She didn’t know why his rejection hurt, but it did.

  He lapsed into an angry silence. He must have loved his girlfriend very much to be so upset by her betrayal. A few million dollars would be a drop in the ocean for a man as wealthy as him.

  Lilly’s whimpering drew her attention away from Justin.

  “Are you hungry, darling?” She was glad to have her thoughts diverted from him. “I’ve got some nice stewed apples for you.” She picked up the baby and put on her bib and proceeded to feed her.

  “Ooh, yum yum,” Holly said, spooning the apples into the hungry little mouth. When the jar was three quarters empty, Lilly turned her head away.

  “Come on, be a good girl for mummy. You’ve nearly finished all of it.” With the spoon about an inch away from her mouth, Lilly grabbed it out of Holly’s hand and stared at it for a moment. She squelched her fingers in it and leaned towards Justin.

  “No.” Holly caught her hand in mid air. The jar dropped to the floor, splattering the contents on to Justin’s highly polished shoes.

  He growled his annoyance.

  “I’m sorry.” She leaned down to wipe off the mess.

  “Leave it,” he snapped. “I’ll do it. A man’s not safe around either of you.”

  “She didn’t mean it. She’s only a baby.”

  “I know that.”

  “I’m really sorry, Justin.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I overreacted. I’m not used to kids.”

  “They can be messy.” She handed him a tissue and he leaned over to wipe his shoe. When he straightened up, he had the offending, now empty jar in his hand.

  “This belongs to you.” He gave a sudden grin. “I hate stewed apples. I was just about force fed them as a kid.”

  She wiped Lilly’s face and hands with a moist tissue. “Porridge is the thing I hate most,” she confessed with a grimace. At the orphanage, we had it without fail every day.” She hadn’t meant to blurt that out. She wasn’t fishing for sympathy.

  “You were brought up in an orphanage?”

  “Yes.” She tried to keep the bitterness out of her voice. “They called me Holly, because someone dumped me on the doorstep of a convent one Christmas Eve.”

  He nodded his understanding. “My parents died just after my fifth birthday, but I spent my time in a string of foster homes.”

  Would foster homes have been as bad as the orphanage? “Were they awful?”

  “Some were good, others…” He gave a shrug.

  “Do you remember your parents?” Holly asked.

  “Vaguely. I heard they were good people, but I didn’t have any relations prepared to take me in.”

  She understood all too well. She didn’t have any blood relations, absolutely none that she knew about. “That’s what terrifies me.”

  He watched a shudder pass right through her body and saw her eyes darken to navy. Pity surged through him, something he couldn’t remember feeling since Brad died. His friend and mentor had helped him make his first million, but he had to sit by, helpless, while Brad fell apart because his greedy, cheating wife had crippled him financially and emotionally.

  “If something happens to me, what will become of Lilly?” Her grip tightened around the baby.

  “What about her father’s people?” He reached into the cot and picked up the colorful ring of keys. With a dribbling smile, Lilly snatched them out of his hand and started banging them against the armrest.

  “Never. She’d be better off in a foster home,” Holly retorted bitterly. “They kept telling Robbie I was a worthless trollop, and he was a fool to have let me trap him into marriage.”

  “Did he defend for you?” He didn’t know why he asked that particular question, but held his breath waiting for her answer, hoping it would be yes.

  “All the time.” Her expression softened.

  She looked exquisite, so fragile and ethereal. He felt a strange inexplicable pain in the region of his heart, because for once, someone had loved her. Even if it was only a young soldier doomed to die before he reached his full potential.

  “After he got killed, I thought it might make a difference, but it didn’t. They hated me even more and became obsessed with getting rid of me and taking Lilly. They tried to make out I was an unfit mother. I got scared the authorities would take Lilly away so I...”

  “You ran?”

  “Yes, I couldn’t let them have her. They weren’t nice people. I got out of England because I knew they’d track me down. They’d be relentless, like a pack of bloodhounds.”

  “You could have fought them in the courts.”

  “How? I didn’t have any money. I was a no-body. They were part of the establishment. Mr. Kirwan used to work in the civil service. What chance would somebody like me have against them, after all the lies they told about me? I couldn’t take the risk.”

  He cursed under his breath, berating himself for getting mixed up with this sad, gutsy young widow and her baby. Nevertheless, he pulled a business card out of his wallet and thrust it into her hand. “Here, take this. If you ever need help or legal advice, call me.”

  “Thank you, but why would you want to help me?”

  “God knows.” He watched her lips tremble. “Put it down to our common backgrounds.”

  “I won’t abuse this. I’d only contact you in an absolute emergency.”

  “I wouldn’t have given it to you if I thought otherwise.” Was he mad? He al
ready regretted his impulsive action. What if she made demands on him, intruded on his life? He almost asked for the card back, but it was too late. She had slipped it into her handbag.

  Leaning back in his seat, he closed his eyes. He couldn’t remember when he last did someone a good turn. Couldn’t remember having purposely done anyone a bad turn, either. He always gave to charities as long as they didn’t badger him.

  He ignored Lilly’s incessant banging of the keys on his arm. If he could grab a couple of hours sleep, it would stand him in good stead for getting stuck into work the moment he arrived in Melbourne. A six-week absence was way too long.

  The banging on his arm stopped. He could feel himself relaxing, drifting away.

  Holly watched Justin as he slept. The man was an enigma. When he relaxed, the frown lines grooving his mouth and running across his forehead smoothed themselves out.

  He had surprised her by offering his business card. Not that she would ever contact him, but it was somehow comforting to know that someone cared about their welfare, even if it was a wealthy stranger. She was tempted to get the card out to have a look at it but didn’t in case he woke up.

  Lilly started whimpering again. She was overtired, having not slept properly yesterday because of their desperate flight from the Kirwans. She had crammed as much as she could in Lilly’s pink carry bag, pretending to go shopping. Moments before boarding the plane, she rang the Kirwans to let them know of her whereabouts, so they wouldn’t contact the police and list her as a missing person.

  The flight attendants turned the lights down and drew the shades over the windows, which made it easier to give Lilly the breast.

  “Go to sleep, my darling,” she whispered. “Mummy will be here when you wake up. Mummy will always be here for you no matter what. They’d have to kill me before I ever let them take you away.”

  ***

  Justin woke up. He flexed the cramped muscles in his shoulders and stretched out his legs. What time was it? He switched on his overhead light to check. Midnight. At least he’d got in a couple of hours sleep. He yawned behind his hand.