Millionaire's Women Part 54

He yanked at his tie, then pulled it off completely. He rose to his feet and paced around the room, rubbing his unshaven jaw. He'd left a note at her apartment. "You don't have to sign anything," he'd scrawled hastily. "Call me." Her landlord had promised to give it to her when she came back for her suitcases.

Garek had gone home after that, but he hadn't been able to sleep, so he'd come to the office. He had plenty of work to do.

Only, he hadn't done any of it.

He paced back to his desk, picked up the phone and dialed a number.

"h.e.l.lo?" a slightly accented voice said.

"Mrs. Hernandez, this is Garek Wisnewski," he said. "Have you heard from Ellie?"

There was a slight pause. "In the fifteen minutes since you last called? No," she said.

"Will you please call me if she contacts you?"

"Yes, I will," she said, her voice a mixture of sympathy and impatience. "Goodbye, Mr. Wisnewski."

He sat back down, resting his head on his hands. The same fear he'd felt last night standing in her apartment was twisting his gut again, only more tightly, more viciously than before.

Had he lost her?

An image floated in his head, a vision of how she'd looked the day before, her face pale, her eyes wide and dark with hurt.

He squeezed his tired, burning eyes shut, trying to banish the picture. He hadn't meant to hurt her. He never should have given her that prenuptial agreement. He was an idiot. If she would just come back, he would apologize, tell her what a fool he'd been. He would make it up to her...

If he ever got the chance.

Why didn't she call?

Maybe something had happened to her. What if she'd been in an accident? What if she'd been mugged and her purse s.n.a.t.c.hed? She was a fool for going around the city in that d.a.m.n train at all hours of the day and night. What if she was in the hospital right now, critically injured, with no identification, unable to speak- He jumped to his feet, picked up the phone and buzzed Mrs. Grist.

"Mr. Wisnewski!" her voice came on the line. "I was just about to ring you-"

"Has she called?" Hope flared in his chest.

"No, but Mr. Larson wants to talk to you-"

Hope turned to ashes. "Tell Larry to go to h.e.l.l," he growled. "I want you to call the local hospitals. See if anyone answering to Ellie's description has been admitted in the last twenty-four hours-"

"Yes, Mr. Wisnewski, but-"

"No buts. Call the police, too. See if there've been any accidents-"

"But Mr. Larson said it was about Ellie-"

"And have security see what they...Ellie? What about Ellie?"

"I don't know exactly. He just said you need to come down to the conference room. He said it's important."

Garek frowned. Had Larry found out something? Was Ellie here? here?

He hurried down to the second floor, but when he entered the conference room, there was no sign of Ellie-just a phalanx of gray-suited, black-briefcased businessmen. They looked like robots-except for the short, red-faced man in a green plaid suit at one end of the table.

The man looked familiar, although it took Garek a moment to place him-Calvin G. Hibbert, financier and wealthy scion of the blue-blooded Hibbert family. One of his companies had been competing with Wisnewski Industries for the Lachland Company. What the h.e.l.l was he doing here?

"Ah, Garek, there you are!" Larry's usually neatly combed hair was disheveled, the bald spot in plain view. In an undertone, he added, "You are not going to believe believe what's happening-" what's happening-"

"Mr. Garek Wisnewski?" One of the robotic clones spoke when he heard Garek's name. "I am Rex Rath-skeller, senior partner of the firm Rathskeller, Broad and Campbell. These gentlemen are Mr. Broad, Mr. Campbell and our a.s.sociates, Mr. Pesner, Mr. White and Mr. Kiphuth."

Garek frowned. He'd heard of the firm. Headquartered in Philadelphia, it was considered one of the best in the nation. "If this has something to do with Lachland-"

"Lachland?" The lawyer appeared confused until one of his colleagues whispered in his ear. His forehead cleared. "Ah, I see. No, Mr. Wisnewski, this has nothing to do with your company's business. No, we've been hired by our client to discuss a prenuptial agreement-"

A ringing sounded in Garek's ears, obscuring the rest of the man's sentence. He'd spent the last twenty-four hours rus.h.i.+ng all over the city looking for Ellie, half out of his mind with fear and worry-and she'd been off hiring a pack of lawyers? And not just any lawyers. She'd hired the most experienced, most cutthroat, most expensive expensive lawyers in the business. She'd certainly changed her tune- lawyers in the business. She'd certainly changed her tune- Larry's frantic voice penetrated the haze. "Mr. Rath-skeller claims that Ellie isn't penniless. He claims that she has money of her own. He claims that-"

"He doesn't claim anything," the old man in green announced coldly. "He states facts. I am Calvin G. Hibbert, and Eleanor Graciela Hibbert Hernandez is my granddaughter. And she possesses a trust fund in excess of two hundred million dollars-"

Larry's eyes bugged out. "Two...hundred...million...!" he gasped, sinking into a chair.

For a moment, no one spoke, the silence broken only by Larry's choking noises.

Then, suddenly, the door to the conference room swung open.

A small woman with tousled black curls and large blue eyes peered in. For a moment, she appeared startled by all the men in the room. Then she saw Hibbert.

"Grandpa?" she gasped. And then, "Grandpa!"

Suddenly, she ran to the head of the table and threw herself into his arms, laughing and hugging and kissing him. "Grandpa, what on earth are you doing here?"

Chapter Seventeen.

Garek's immediate reaction upon seeing her had been relief that she was all right. But before the relief could even sink in, she'd flown into the old man's arms, hugging and kissing him. Garek clenched his teeth. Not only had she lied lied to him...she hadn't even to him...she hadn't even noticed noticed he was in the room. he was in the room.

All her attention was wrapped up in the old man. Calvin G. Hibbert. One of the wealthiest men in the country. Her grandfather. grandfather.

"Your cousin Robert called me," Hibbert was explaining. "The first time in his life that young man ever showed any common sense, I'm sure. He He told me that my only granddaughter was getting married." told me that my only granddaughter was getting married."

Ellie blushed guiltily. "I'm sorry, Grandpa. I wasn't sure-"

"I came straightaway," he said, waving away her faltering explanation and casting a disparaging glance at Garek. "I wanted to meet this fiance of yours. I must say, Eleanor, I don't think much of your choice-"

"Grandpa-"

"But Robert says he's better than the last one. At least he appears to have a little bit of his own money. I don't like the sound of this prenuptial agreement, though. I don't want you to get cheated out of your inheritance."

"What inheritance?" Her smile faded and her tone grew cool. "You disowned me, remember?"

It was Hibbert's turn to blush, the hue of his skin changing from red to scarlet. "Nonsense," he bl.u.s.tered. "You know I didn't mean it. I was just angry."

"You meant it when you disowned my father."

"Well, harrumph, I learn from my mistakes." His voice turned gruff. "You're all I have, Eleanor."

Her eyes grew misty. "Oh, Grandpa..."

"Ms. Hibbert, Hibbert, I hate to interrupt this touching reunion," a sarcastic voice intruded. "But may I speak to you a moment? Alone." I hate to interrupt this touching reunion," a sarcastic voice intruded. "But may I speak to you a moment? Alone."

Ellie glanced up to see Garek holding the door open to a small adjoining office. Black bristles stood out on his tightly clenched jaw. His eyes were narrow red slits.

Uh-oh.

She walked the length of the room, conscious of the roomful of lawyers watching her, and into the office. Garek closed the door and leaned back against it, his arms folded across his chest.

"Well?" he demanded.

She glanced at him uncertainly. "What happened to you? You look awful-"

"Don't try to change the subject...Eleanor."

She looked down to where her fingers weret wisting the strap of her purse. "I suppose I should have told you-"

"You suppose? suppose? Exactly when were you going to tell me that you had Exactly when were you going to tell me that you had two hundred million dollars two hundred million dollars sitting in the bank?" sitting in the bank?"

"It wasn't like that. My grandfather and I had a fight when I moved out. I haven't even seen or talked to him in over a year. I didn't want to be controlled by him and his money anymore. He disowned me, and that was fine with me."

"He doesn't appear to consider you disowned."

"Apparently he changed his mind."

"You must have known that was likely."

"Actually, it seemed highly un unlikely. He did the same thing to my father. My parents lived in poverty because Grandpa disapproved of his son's marriage to a Mexican house cleaner. It wasn't until my mother and father died that he took me in. And he soon let me know who was in control. He picked my school, my friends, even the men I dated. When I couldn't stand it anymore, I moved out."

"That really doesn't explain why you didn't tell me about all this."

She darted a quick glance at him. "Sometimes people act...differently toward me when they know how much my grandfather is worth."

"I see. So I had to believe that you loved me for myself and not my money, but you weren't willing to extend the same trust to me?"

"It wasn't like that! It didn't seemimportant. Especially since Grandfather had disowned me. I would have been perfectly happy if it were true. Money spoils everything."

"That's bull." Garek took a step forward. "Everyone has to have money to survive. You just want to live in a fairytale world where you can pretend money doesn't exist, where you don't have to accept responsibility for your own survival. Money makes everything better."

"Not everything," she said quietly.

"Get over it," he said curtly. "So maybe your grandfather tried to control you-there's lots worse problems-like not having enough food to eat, not having a home."

She nodded slowly, remembering her father's futile efforts to hold on to a job and how tired her mother had been coming home after cleaning houses all day. "I know I shouldn't complain...but it's not just the control. When I moved in with my grandfather, everyone treated me differently. People who never would have given me the time of day suddenly sought me out. Everyone laughed at every stupid joke I told. Men told me I was the most beautiful, exciting, wonderful woman ever to walk the earth. I never knew for sure who really meant what they said."

Garek opened his mouth to dismiss her excuse, then paused. Actually, what she said had some truth in it. He'd experienced it himself.

"Rafe told me he loved me, but he couldn't dump me fast enough when my grandfather disinherited me," she continued, not noticing his distraction. "People think think about me differently, knowing I have all that money. about me differently, knowing I have all that money. You You probably think of me differently." probably think of me differently."

Again, he started to deny it, then paused, realizing that it was true. In a few, fundamental ways, their relations.h.i.+p had completely changed. No longer was he the wealthy businessman rescuing the poor working girl from a life of poverty. In some way that he hadn't even recognized until now, his money had given him an advantage over her. A sense of superiority, perhaps, a sense that she should be grateful grateful to him. to him.

His financial status no longer gave him that edge over her-in fact, the exact opposite was true. She She had more money than had more money than he he did. The thought wasn't pleasant. did. The thought wasn't pleasant.

Frowning, he looked at her. "I suppose it does change things-"

She stepped back, a stricken look coming over her face. "I understand-"

He reached out and grabbed her arm. "No, you don't, Ellie. I can't deny that it changes how people will look at us. But it doesn't doesn't change how I feel about you." change how I feel about you."

She looked at him. "And exactly how do you feel about me, Garek?"

He let go of her arm. He stood silently, not speaking. Ellie felt as though her heart was cracking in two. She turned again to leave, but then he spoke, his voice quiet.

"That painting," he said. "Woman in Blue." "Woman in Blue."

She stopped in her tracks.

"I didn't like it at first. It made no sense, the colors and shapes seemed haphazard and inexplicable. But when I looked harder, I noticed a balance in the picture, an equilibrium that somehow connected all the elements together. And then I noticed how intense the blue was. How bright. How true."

She felt him standing behind her. "It's you, isn't it, Ellie? Woman in Blue Woman in Blue is you. It took me a long time to figure it out, but I finally did. And that's when everything became clear." is you. It took me a long time to figure it out, but I finally did. And that's when everything became clear."

He took her shoulders and turned her to face him. "I've made a lot of stupid mistakes, Ellie, like asking you to sign that prenuptial agreement. You gave me a second chance once, and now I'm having to ask you for a third one. This relations.h.i.+p business is a lot harder than I realized. But I'm willing to learn. I'm a hard worker and I'll do whatever it takes to make our relations.h.i.+p work because I love you, Ellie. I love you, and if you'll marry me, I'll spend the rest of my life proving it to you."

"Oh, Garek." She smiled shakily. "I love you so much."

And then, suddenly, she was in his arms and he was kissing her as if she was more valuable, more beautiful, more precious than a museum full of the finest art in the world.

"Oh, Garek," she sighed again when they finally had to come up for oxygen. Her cheeks stung from the sc.r.a.pe of his whiskers, but she was too happy to care. "Let's give the lawyers the prenuptial agreement and go."

He brushed a curl back from her forehead, his fingers lingering on her skin. "What prenuptial agreement?"

"The one Larry prepared. When I really thought about it, I realized that I've let money control me. I believed money was causing all my problems. But it was me and my own fear causing the problems, not the money. I knew I loved you too much to let anything spoil what we had. I have the contract right here, all signed." She pulled the sheaf of papers out of her purse.

He looked at the doc.u.ments, then at her. "You signed it even after I told you not to?"

She stared at him. "You told me not to sign it?"

"In the note I left with your landlord this morning." His forehead creased. "Didn't you read it?"