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  ‘Ethan’s been at the hospital with Merida since last night. Apparently, she’s in labour.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  Abe didn’t ask for details.

  He already knew more than enough.

  Ethan had married Merida a few months ago, though only because she was pregnant. Abe had, along with his father, signed off on the contract that would ensure that the new Mrs Devereux and her infant would be well provided for when they eventually divorced.

  But as clinical as a contract sounded, it had its merits—Abe hoped to God it ensured that the baby would be treated better than he and Ethan had been.

  He could not think of that now.

  Abe closed his eyes on the glorious December view.

  It wasn’t even nine a.m. and it was already proving to be a long day.

  He had Sheikh Khalid testing his limits and the Middle East contract on the brink of collapse.

  As well as that, in the hospital a few streets away from this very building he had his brother’s wife giving birth in one wing...

  And his father dying in the other.

  No.

  He corrected himself—his father was fighting for his life in the other.

  His mother, Elizabeth Devereux, had died when Abe was nine. She hadn’t been in the least bit maternal and Jobe had been far from a hands-on father. In fact, a fleet of nannies had raised the Devereux boys—but Abe greatly admired his father and was not ready to let him go.

  Not that he showed it, of course.

  For a second so brief it was barely there Abe considered discussing the Middle East issue with him. Jobe Devereux was the founder and the cleverest man Abe knew. Yet Abe quickly decided he could not stress his father while he was fighting just to survive.

  Only that wasn’t the real reason that Abe didn’t head to the hospital now—Jobe had never shied from giving his view after all.

  It was more that Abe had never asked for help in his life.

  And he wasn’t about to start now.

  But before he could tackle the work waiting, his private phone rang and Abe saw that it was his brother.

  ‘A little girl,’ Ethan said, sounding both tired and elated at the same time.

  ‘Congratulations.’

  ‘Merida was amazing!’

  Abe made no comment to that. The fact that Merida had just had a baby did not suddenly make him a fan of hers. ‘Have you told Dad?’

  ‘I’m heading over to tell him now,’ Ethan said.

  Usually they called their father Jobe, as it helped with the business side of things, but this, Abe was fast realising, wasn’t business.

  Oh, there might be a watertight contract in place and the marriage might all be a charade, but a little girl had been born this morning. And that moved him. He thought of his father, about to hear the news that he was a grandfather.

  ‘Will you be coming in to meet your niece?’ Ethan asked.

  ‘Of course.’ Abe glanced at the time. ‘Though not until later in the afternoon.’

  ‘Merida’s friend, Naomi, is getting in at midday. We were supposed to be there to meet her.’

  ‘Do you want me to organise a driver to pick her up?’

  There was a brief stretch of silence before Ethan responded. Neither of the brothers liked asking for help, even from the other. ‘Abe, is there any chance of you going? She’s Merida’s best friend.’

  ‘I thought she was the nanny?’ Abe frowned. He only knew that because a full-time live-in nanny had been a part of the terms agreed to.

  ‘Naomi’s both.’

  ‘Give me her details,’ Abe sighed, and pulled out a pen.

  ‘Naomi Hamilton.’ Ethan gave her flight details. ‘If she can come to the hospital before being taken to the house, that would be good.’

  ‘All sorted,’ Abe said, and glanced again at the time. ‘I really do have to go. Congratulations.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  Luckily Ethan was too muddled to ask how this morning’s meeting with Khalid had gone and certainly Abe did not volunteer the information.

  Cool heads were needed for dealing with this situation and currently the only Devereux who had one was Abe.

  He buzzed through to his own PA. ‘Jessica, could you organise a gift for me to take to the hospital this afternoon?’

  ‘For your father?’ she checked.

  ‘No, the baby’s here.’

  There was a little squeal that had Abe pulling the phone back from his ear; then came the inevitable questions. ‘What did Merida have?’

  ‘A girl.’

  ‘Does she have a name yet? Do you know how much she weighs?’

  ‘I don’t know any more than that,’ Abe responded. He really hadn’t thought to ask. ‘I also need you to sort out a driver to do an airport run from JFK to the hospital.’ He gave the flight details. ‘She gets in at midday. The name’s Naomi Hamilton.’

  Despite his brother’s request, Abe would not be playing chauffeur.

  As well as Khalid to contend with, he had the first-of-the-month board meeting to attend. Before that he was meeting with Maurice, the head of PR, to discuss the annual Devereux Christmas Eve Charity Ball.

  It was a highlight on the social calendar, but, for the first time since its inception, Jobe Devereux would not be attending.

  Tabled on this morning’s agenda was discussion of contingency plans should Jobe die close to, or on, that date.

  Not pleasant.

  But a necessary task, given that people travelled from far and wide and paid an awful lot of money to attend.

  Emotion had to be put aside and unpalatable scenarios played out and usually Abe was very good at that.

  Abe wasn’t just cool...he was considered cold.

  And not just in the boardroom. His reputation with women was devastating, though that had calmed in recent years. But his aloofness extended also to family.

  He had stopped trusting others by the age of four, looking out for his brother and doing his best to ensure that he came to no harm.

  Abe kept his emotions in check.

  Yet, unusually, this morning he was struggling to do that.

  His schedule was always daunting but he thrived on the pressure and handled it with ease. Yet the autopilot he usually ran on felt, this morning, as if it had disengaged.

  The news of the baby had punched a hole in the wall he carefully erected between himself and others.

  He put a finger and thumb to the bridge of his nose and squeezed hard, then took a long cleansing breath. Pushing all the drama out of his mind, he’d get on with holding down the Devereux fort.

  Someone had to.

  Copyright © 2018 by Carol Marinelli

  ISBN-13: 9781488083921

  An Innocent, A Seduction, A Secret

  First North American publication 2018

  Copyright © 2018 by Abby Green

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