A Year With the Millionaire Next Door Read online

  “Of course we won’t. You’re not that foolish,” Teddy said.

  Thanks for the credit. Apparently, she was only slightly foolish—enough to post the items in the first place. “You won’t find photos on my computer or phone, either.”

  “Photos can be deleted,” Armstrong said. “I’m sure if we had an expert check, we would find—”

  “Nothing,” Stella snapped. “You would find nothing.” If they thought she was taking this lying down, they were sorely mistaken. This was her reputation they were defaming. She would fight them tooth and nail.

  Her phone lay on dining room table where she’d been working. “Here,” she said, practically throwing it at Teddy’s attorney. “Let your experts have at it. They only thing they’ll find are photos of London and Etonia Toffee Pudding.” And a few photos of Linus. If they deleted any of those, there would be hell to pay.

  “Do you think us so naive that we don’t realize you could have used a second phone?”

  Stella let out a frustrated scream.

  “Is everything all right?” Mrs. Churchill came running down the hall from the kitchen. “It sounded like someone stepped on the cat.”

  “Everything is fine,” Stella replied.

  “Speaking of Etonia Toffee Pudding, where is she?” Armstrong asked.

  “Sleeping in the guest bedroom, like she has the past two days,” Stella replied. “Why? Are you afraid I tried to sell her, too?”

  “No, but Mr. Moreland has also voiced concerns about her level of care.”

  “What? Her care is fine.”

  The doorbell rang. Probably the police, arriving at Teddy’s helpful suggestion, since he seemed determined to have her carted away.

  “I’ve got it,” Mrs. Churchill told her.

  Meanwhile, Stella attempted to stare down Teddy’s attorney despite the man’s unimpressed demeanor. “I treat that cat as if she were my own pet. No, better than my own pet. I treat her like a bloody masterpiece.”

  “Exactly the way Dame Agnes would have wanted,” a familiar voice added. Stella’s insides swooped at the sound. What was he doing here?

  Linus stood next to Mrs. Churchill, looking gorgeous in a navy blue suit. In a gathering of four men, his vitality dominated the room. Stella’s insides ached with the desire to disappear into the safety of his embrace.

  “I heard you scream and was concerned,” he said. “What’s this about Toffee’s care?”

  “Who are you?” Armstrong asked.

  “Linus Collier. I own the apartment next door. Dame Agnes was a very good friend of mine, and I can vouch that Miss Russo here has taken extraordinary care of Toffee.” Stella gave him a grateful smile.

  “Is that so?” Tilting his head, Teddy’s lawyer fixed his attention on Linus. There was a hint of satisfaction to his expression. Her brother used to make the same face when they were younger, at awards ceremonies. It was the look of a person who believed they had a win in their pocket. What had Teddy told him?

  “My client has mentioned a pair of incidents that has left him concerned,” the man said as he pulled a notebook from his briefcase. “He believes Miss Russo isn’t paying close enough attention to Etonia Toffee Pudding. There was an incident in Berkshire where the cat nearly escaped into the woods.”

  “Because he didn’t latch the terrace door properly! I wasn’t even there.”

  “Exactly my point,” Teddy replied. “I watched her the entire day. You were clearly too busy looking for objects you could steal.”

  “I did not...”

  “Stealing? What are you talking about?” Linus looked back and forth among Armstrong, Teddy and her. “And I was with Toffee as well that afternoon. We spent time with her together, at least when you were awake and not sleeping off the gin and tonics. Miss Russo is correct,” he told Armstrong. “The cat escaped because after the backdraft, the terrace door failed to latch. If anyone failed to keep a close eye on Toffee, it was Teddy here. I asked him to watch the cat while Miss Russo and I took a dinner break.”

  “Proving my point,” Teddy said. “You were neglecting her.”

  “Oh, come on. If I wanted to neglect the cat, would I have brought her with me to Berkshire? She was with me precisely because I didn’t want to leave her alone.” What next? Stella wondered. Suggesting she left the terrace door open on purpose?

  Meanwhile, confusion continued to mark Linus’s features. “What was all this about stealing?” he asked.

  “Teddy thinks I’m selling Dame Agnes’s belongings online,” Stella told him.

  His face went from confused to appalled before she could blink. “That’s ridiculous. Those items were missing before you even arrived.”

  Stella very nearly cried. Even after she rejected him, he still believed in her. What had she done to deserve him in her life? “I’ve been trying to tell them, but apparently the online account is in my name.”

  “Accounts can be falsified. May I see?” She handed him the tablet.

  “We’ve had experts verify the account,” Armstrong said. Peter nodded in confirmation.

  While Linus looked at the tablet, Stella returned to the more recent questions. “You said there were a pair of incidents.”

  “Mr. Moreland found the cat playing with a valuable heirloom.”

  “You did no such thing, you big blowhard.” At Mrs. Churchill’s retort, the group leaned back in surprise. Apparently, after years of waiting on him, the housekeeper had decided not to hold back any punches.

  “I’m the one who found the ‘heirloom’ on the floor in the kitchen. I also found a pen cap, a pencil and a pair of ear swabs from the jar in the guest bathroom. Quite the little devil at night, that one is. We were always finding things in strange places. Once Miss Moreland and I caught her batting around a diamond drop earring after Miss Moreland left them on the dresser.”

  “Come to think of it, she was fond of my son’s bouncy balls when we had her at our house,” Peter said.

  “Proving my point that the cat should be secured at night, so that she doesn’t hurt herself or break something of great value.”

  “You mean stick Toffee in a crate,” Stella said. “She owns the freaking house!”

  Teddy looked down his nose. “For the time being. The courts may decide differently, and if that’s the case, I don’t want to risk losing something of import because the cat is running amok.”

  “As far as I’m concerned,” Armstrong added, “Mr. Moreland has raised a number of adequate concerns, not the least of which is the evidence of criminal activity. Therefore, we request that Miss Russo be removed as manager of this estate.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  STELLA SANK INTO a seat. She wished she could say she was surprised, but she’d been expecting the request since they sat down. She’d failed. At a job simple enough to do in her sleep. When the numbness wore off, she was going to be sick to her stomach. What did she do now?

  Armstrong wasn’t finished. “It’s clear the cat should be watched by someone with a vested interest in her health and welfare as well as the future of the estate. We’re going to petition that Mr. Moreland be named temporary guardian until a ruling on his lawsuit is issued.”

  There it was. Stella had been wondering about Teddy’s endgame. It was control over the estate. If she was named unfit, and he got temporary guardianship, he could then try to maneuver his way into a permanent guardianship if he lost his case. Either way, he had control over Agnes’s money. The bastard.

  Poor Toffee. She would be locked in a crate at bedtime and/or ignored for the remainder of her life. This would be as good a time as any to muster up the ability to cry.

  “I have a couple questions,” Linus said. His face was still focused on the tablet. “Did you track the IP location for the user?”

  “We did. It led to the coffee shop around the corner,” Armstrong told hi
m.

  “Did you check the security tapes?”

  The lawyer smiled. “This isn’t CSI, Mr. Collier. Not every business in London has security cameras.”

  “Too bad. The time stamp says the photos were unloaded around forty-eight hours ago. Stella wasn’t home.”

  “No kidding,” Teddy said. “She was—”

  Linus cut him off. Seemed everyone was done with Teddy. “No, I meant she was out for the evening on a...date. Look.” He showed Stella the first auction item. “Unless I’m mistaken, you were out for dinner at that time.”

  Sure enough; the auction was listed as starting at 7:00 p.m. “Teddy must have heard me talking about meeting Niles for coffee.” Clearly missing the section of the conversation where they’d switched to dinner.

  “I’m sure he’ll be able to vouch for you, and you know I will.” His smile was tinged with sadness.

  “No one said she did the posting on her own. She could have easily hired someone.” Being as close as he was to his payday, Teddy wasn’t giving up.

  “Who would I hire?” Stella asked. She knew, maybe, a half dozen people in the city.

  Teddy pointed to Linus. “Him. The two of you are sleeping together, aren’t you?”

  Stella watched as Linus drew himself up to his full height. With slow, even strides he crossed the room to the mantel where Teddy stood. The older man’s body shrank in on itself in the face of Linus’s towering presence.

  “Did you just accuse a member of one of London’s wealthiest and most established families of selling stolen items over the internet? My family was doing business with the royal family before your first ancestor wielded his first coal shovel. We have never, ever been associated with illegal activity. If you’re going to toss out those kinds of accusations, you better be ready to back them up in court.”

  “Men have done worse for the woman they’re sleeping with.”

  If looks could kill, Teddy would be dead on the spot. Linus’s voice, however, remained calm and controlled. “Hate to break it to you, old boy, but Stella and I are nothing more than friends.”

  One at a time, his words landed hard in her stomach. How she wished she could cry.

  Since she couldn’t, she channeled her energy into one last question. One she wanted to hear Teddy try to answer. “Why would I sell Agnes’s belongings so blatantly anyway and risk being fired? Over what amounts to a few trinkets. I need this job and Peter’s good reference for when I return to New York. Getting fired would ruin my life.”

  “She’s right,” Linus said. “If anyone has anything to gain from all this it’s you, Moreland. Have you searched his property?” he asked Armstrong. “Checked his computer?”

  “How dare you!” Teddy said, glaring. “I would never steal Aunt Agnes’s belongings. She was precious to me.”

  “Little defensive, aren’t we, Teddy? And let’s be honest. Agnes disliked you intensely.”

  If it weren’t such a dire situation, Stella would have laughed out loud. The sparkle in Linus’s eyes reminded her of the day they met. Seeing it eased the tightness in her chest. He made even bad situations tolerable. “Mr. Collier makes a good point.”

  For the first time in a while, Peter Singh made himself known. He stood up and smoothed the front of his suit coat. “I think, in the spirit of due diligence, we should investigate Mr. Moreland’s computer and phone along with Miss Russo’s. After all, we don’t want to make any false assumptions.”

  “Feel free to investigate mine as well.”

  “We appreciate the cooperation, Mr. Collier.”

  Teddy looked about to have a spasm of some kind. His eyes were huge and his spine rigid with tension. When Peter made his request, he’d blanched and clenched his fists.

  “This is an outrage,” he said. “I refuse to be a victim of a witch hunt.”

  “You started the witch hunt,” Stella said. “If they’re going to search my belongings, then they are damn well going to search yours as well.”

  “What’s the matter Teddy? You don’t have something to hide, do you?” Linus asked.

  “My client will be happy to cooperate,” Armstrong said. “He has nothing to hide.”

  Based on the rattled look in Teddy’s eyes, Stella wasn’t so sure. It was clear he’d counted on her being so shaken by the evidence that she wouldn’t put up a fight.

  The meeting ended with her agreeing they could take her laptop and phone for examination. Linus insisted on having his company lawyer present for when they examined both his and her electronics. To protect their interests, he explained.

  “Thank you,” she said once the trio had left. Armstrong had made a point of saying she would be closely monitored until the issue was resolved. Mrs. Churchill had gone as well.

  “Silly to have separate lawyers when one will suffice, and he’s on retainer,” Linus replied.

  “I meant for defending me.” That he believed in her innocence unconditionally meant a lot. “Especially after the other day.”

  He shrugged. “Our personal issues don’t change the truth. You’re an honest, good person. What shocks me is that I had no idea the lengths Teddy would go to, to get control of the money. He must have been planning this for a while. Since before Agnes died.”

  “Money makes people do crazy things. Agnes must have told him the terms of the will and he figured he needed a backup plan. Or two. Makes you wonder what he’ll try to do next.”

  “With luck, nothing. They’ll trace this little scheme back to him and that’ll be the end.”

  “What if they don’t? What if he’s covered his ass?” Granted, he looked terrified at having his electronics searched, but Stella had already made the mistake of underestimating the man once. She didn’t want to make the mistake again.

  “They’ll find something. His witch-hunt bluster was the last stand of a man who knew he was in trouble.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “I am, and if I’m not, my lawyer will make his life such a living hell that Teddy will wish he’d never thought of the idea.” His smile came and went in a flash. “Don’t worry. You’ll head back to New York with your glowing reference as planned.”

  “You needn’t sound sarcastic.”

  “My apologies. I’ll keep the bitterness at bay next time.”

  “Linus...”

  “I’m sorry,” he said, gaze dropping to the floor. “I’m being childish. You’re right. There’s no need for sarcasm, especially when your livelihood is at stake.”

  “Thank you.” She dropped onto the sofa next to him. Now that the immediate threat was gone, exhaustion replaced the adrenaline in her system, and all the feelings she’d been keeping at bay washed over her. Once more she longed to fall into his arms.

  “I’ve missed you,” she said.

  “I’ve missed you, too.”

  What she really wanted to say was that she’d had a giant hole inside her since he walked out, that without him she’d been empty and alone, but she was too afraid to say the words. She let her body do the talking instead, her fingers shaking as they touched the back of his hand.

  A soft sigh escaped Linus’s lips. “Stella.” Longing laced his whisper. “Don’t.”

  “Why not?” she asked. Why ignore the need they felt for one another? Their bodies were made to be together. She kissed the corner of his mouth, then kissed the other corner. Over and over, butterfly kisses that moved to the middle until his lips parted. “Why should we be lonely when we work so well together?” she whispered against his lips.

  As much as it killed him, Linus pulled away from her. “Because I want more,” he said. “I want more than sex and passion in the moment. I want you.”

  “You have me,” Stella said.

  “Do I?” He had her body, yes, but he wanted all of her. Her heart and soul. “I want your love.”

  �
��I already told you, I can’t love you.”

  “You keep saying that word. I can’t love you. You can’t love me. Like we would be breaking some kind of rule by having feelings for one another.” He wasn’t asking if she could love him; he wanted to know if she did.

  “Oh, Linus.” She flung herself backward, her head falling back against the sofa, and covered her eyes with her hands. “What good would saying I love you do? It wouldn’t change anything. I would still have to go to New York.”

  Slowly, she let her palms slide down her face. When she lifted her head, he saw pleading in her eyes. “Can’t we just leave things the way they are rather than invite a whole lot of pain?”

  But he was already in pain. Payback for Victoria and every other heart he ever broke. That he was getting what he deserved didn’t make the pain easier to swallow. Neither did the desperation in Stella’s eyes. “What good would it do?” he replied. “How about the fact that we could be happy? We could build a life together. One that you actually want instead of a career to appease your father’s ego.”

  “My father’s ego has nothing to do this.” Even as she argued, Linus could see she didn’t believe what she was saying. “This is about me going back and proving I’m not a delicate, anxiety-ridden flower who can’t handle the pressure.”

  “Bull.” The word came out harshly, but Linus didn’t care. He was angry now. Two minutes earlier, Stella had all but admitted she loved him, only to run away. “At least be honest with yourself. You want your father’s approval. You want him to tell you that you’re as good your brother and sister.”

  “Is that so wrong?”

  “It is if it’s never going to happen.” Her father’s approval might as well be a cat toy on a string. “There will always be another goal, another sibling accomplishment to best. You’re going to be spending your entire life running a race you can’t win.”

  Stella stared at him, eyes shining. “Are you saying I’m not good enough, too?”

  “Of course not!” He kicked himself. “I think you’re bloody marvelous. I’m saying no matter what you do, it won’t be good enough for your father.”