Because We Belong

them.

“No, but I’d hoped you were ready to take comfort.”

Her smile was a mixture of amusement and bewilderment. “Is that what you offered when you came here tonight?”

His expression hardened. Suddenly she saw firsthand the razor-sharp edge that had made him such a formidable businessman.

“Yes. For a start,” he said.

She remained unmoving by the fireplace, her incredulous smile a thing of the past, watching him leave the room.

Chapter Three

The next evening, Gerard and Francesca got on an elevator with Anne and James at Noble Enterprises. All of them were in a good mood, having put some satisfying work in with the mergers and acquisitions team that afternoon. The initial liquidation of assets and talks on the acquisition were going smoother than they’d expected or hoped. Of course, things could always pop up to hinder the deal, but more than likely Noble Enterprises would own Tyake soon after the New Year. Francesca was becoming so interested and self-invested in the deal, she occasionally even forgot she was doing it for Ian.

When several members of the M&A group had hesitantly mentioned going downstairs to the restaurant Fusion for the Noble Enterprises annual Christmas party, Anne had abruptly ended the meeting and shooed all of the employees down to the party.

“I hadn’t realized. Shame on Lucien for not telling us,” Anne said as the elevator sunk down to the lobby, referring to the fact that Lucien had worked with them for most of the day, but left in the early evening saying he had some business to which he needed to attend. Obviously, that “business” had been the preparation for the large corporate party at Fusion. The elevator stopped at the lobby of Noble Towers, and they got off together. A bright light went off in Francesca’s eyes.

“Get out of here, damn it,” Gerard bellowed. The man who’d snapped the photo scurried through the lobby and out the revolving door onto the street. Gerard looked furious. “Stupid photographers. Word about the Tyake acquisition has got out somehow.”

“You don’t think the press knows that Ian isn’t at the helm, do you?” Francesca asked nervously. The fact that Ian hadn’t been actively running Noble Enterprises had been a well-kept secret since he’d left. Ian was known for being the genius behind the company, after all. Public sentiment about Noble products could dip if it were known he was absent.

Gerard shook his head. “No, it’s not that. It’s just good for selling papers. Everyone was always curious about Ian’s beautiful fiancee,” he said, giving her a small smile. “But Ian always kept you under tight wraps. I suppose they feel it’s their chance to splash your face across the papers.”

“Lovely,” Francesca muttered under her breath, wishing the conversation would end. She wasn’t Ian’s fiancee. She started to cross the lobby and the others followed.

“And look—the security desk is empty so the photographer had free rein. I suppose he’s at the party. I can’t believe it’s December twentieth already,” Anne murmured thoughtfully, casting a glance at Fusion’s glass doors. “Ian always holds the party the Friday before Christmas. And here we were keeping those poor people late working.”

“I’m sure they don’t mind,” Francesca said as they crossed the granite floor, her heels clicking briskly. She’d hesitantly accessed the vast wardrobe that Ian had bought her while they’d been together, not wanting to show up for a business meeting wearing her typical artist’s costume of jeans and paint-spattered T-shirts. “It’s a relief for them to get the bulk of this under their belt before the holiday, I’ll bet.” She peered toward the glass doors of Fusion. The large bar area of Lucien’s restaurant appeared to be hopping with partiers. Something occurred to her and she paused.

“Do you mind if I meet you three at Everest?” Francesca asked, referring to the restaurant where they’d made reservations. The Nobles had insisted upon taking her to dinner to commemorate her last night in the penthouse. Now that most of the intensive work on the Tyake deal was under their belt, Francesca had announced she was returning home. Her wounds had festered far too much as it was, sleeping in Ian’s bed. “I asked Lin to send some documents we might need as references before she left for the holiday, but I forgot to tell her to send them to Belford Hall.”

Anne stopped dead in her tracks, an ecstatic expression overcoming her face. “So you are coming to us at Belford Hall for Christmas? You’ll do the painting?”

She couldn’t help but laugh at the break in Anne’s utter confidence of her plans coming to fruition. Francesca had just made her final decision about Belford Hall that very morning. Davie had decided to visit a cousin’s family in Michigan for Christmas. Although he’d tried to talk her into accompanying him, she knew she’d feel like a fifth wheel. Francesca had told him she’d decided to take Anne up on her offer. She’d once primarily considered the earl and countess as Ian’s grandparents, but she’d begun to think of them as friends. Her parents were taking a cruise for the holiday, so she had no obligation in that direction. Besides, a change of scenery would do her good, not to mention the fact that she felt about a hundred times more comfortable and at ease with Anne and James than she did her own parents. Even Gerard had gone out of his way to make her feel like she belonged. All of them had done this despite her broken link with Ian, and she appreciated their efforts so much. True, she was having a niggling of doubt about Gerard being at Belford. But hadn’t he been the one to suggest she not go to Ian’s childhood home to begin with? He couldn’t have any clear-cut designs on an English countryside seduction, given the fact that he’d warned her about going, could he? And besides, she was sure she could handle his unexpected, likely fleeting interest in her. Ian had definitely suggested he wasn’t a man to be unduly shot down by one woman’s disinterest. There were plenty of other willing fish in Gerard’s pond.

“I booked a flight for Christmas Eve. Why do you act so surprised?” Francesca teased Anne. “You’ve behaved like it’s all a done deal since you first mentioned it.”

“Yes, but it’s always nice to have even the most certain plans confirmed,” Gerard said dryly. Anne gave an impish grin and they laughed.

“Eleanor will be so thrilled that she has someone else to spoil,” Anne told James.

“Mrs. Hanson is coming?” Francesca asked.

“Oh yes. As I’ve told you, we haven’t had a do like this Anniversary Ball in ages. When we did have them more regularly, however, Eleanor was indispensable. We’ve been running on a skeleton staff at Belford, so we’ve had to hire in temporary help for the holidays to pull everything off, and we’ll need Eleanor to organize everyone. Lucien and Elise are coming as well. They arrive early on Boxing Day and have agreed to stay at Belford.”

“It sounds exciting,” Francesca said, Anne’s enthusiasm spreading to her. “There is one thing: If my goal is to do preliminary sketches while I’m there, I’ll need all my materials available when I arrive.”

“Not a problem at all,” James said, and Francesca was confident in the Nobles’ ability to acquire what she needed for the project. Both were patrons of art museums and avid collectors.

“But I’d still like you to relax a little before you begin working,” Anne said with a cautionary glance. “The New Year is soon enough to get started.”

“And there is celebrating to be done,” Gerard said, smiling. He casually placed his hand on Francesca’s shoulder. “I’ll go with you to speak to Lin. We’ll meet you two at Everest in ten minutes or so,” he said to Anne and James.

Francesca was glad her smile didn’t waver at Gerard’s suggestion. He’d been so kind to her today, so officious, and yet militantly polite and appropriate in their interactions. He was Ian’s family—a part of a unit where she’d so wanted to belong. She’d almost forgotten her discomfort over the fact that he’d tried to seduce her last night.

Or maybe I just want to forget, she told herself as he led her to Fusion, his hand still casually resting on her back.

A sinking feeling dampened her short-lived good mood when Gerard opened the glass door to Fusion. Even though she’d been the one to bring up talking to Lin, she hesitated. She hadn’t returned to Fusion since Ian had