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.”Her lips tightened.“We need to talk.”Grimacing, he checked after the others to make sure they wouldn’t be overheard.“About the engagement, yes.You don’t have to worry.I’ll explain to her as soon as I get the opportunity.”A lump formed in her throat.“You should do it quickly,” she said, “before she starts sending out wedding invitations.”“We can’t have that happening.But first, let’s get this meeting over with.” He held out his hand to her and sighed impatiently when she hung back.“We’re supposed to be a newly engaged couple, remember?”He curled his fingers around hers, and the pressure from his hand seemed to tighten around her heart as well.She was just another item on his To Do list.Family meeting.Find mole.Break off fake engagement.…As Lex led Jacinta into the library, he struggled to focus on the agenda of the upcoming meeting.How could he even remember his own name when his head felt like an overloaded, overheated dryer? He had to get this engagement misunderstanding sorted out, pronto.After the meeting was over he’d have a quiet word with Nana.The library was cleared and tidy for the meeting.Nancy Bird was already there, a pile of documents in her arms.She shot Jacinta a surprised squint over her steel-rimmed glasses but said nothing.Jacinta moved away from Lex and chose a chair in a corner as if to emphasize she was just an observer.He watched as she sat down and crossed her legs, the giant ring winking at him as her nervous fingers played with the ends of her ponytail.His fiancée.A burning sensation swelled up in his chest.Christ, how was he going to get through this meeting with that thought prancing through his mind?A faint disturbance behind him caught his attention.He turned to catch his uncle confronting Nancy Bird.Ralph had planted himself in front of the assistant, his chest puffed out.“Ten thousand dollars,” Ralph muttered.“That’s my final offer.”The assistant clenched her jaw.“I’ve told you before, Mr.Rochester.I’m not selling.”“Oh, come on.Ten thousand is twice what it’s worth.Why are you being so stubborn?”The sheaf of documents quivered in Nancy’s grip.“The clock is mine.I’ll never sell it.”“You’re being ridiculous.”Lex stepped between them and eyed them both.“What’s going on here?”“This is a private matter.” His uncle scowled at him.“Nothing that concerns you.”“It is my concern if you’re harassing my assistant,” Lex retorted, his voice deceptively smooth.“Are you hassling Nancy to sell you the clock my dad left her?”A thick vein pulsed in Ralph’s forehead.“That clock was meant for me.Philip always promised me he’d eventually let me have it, and then he leaves it to his—his—” He jabbed a bony finger in Nancy’s direction.“Her!”Lex shook his head.“I don’t understand.It’s just a clock.You can afford to buy any other clock in the world.”“It’s not just a clock.” Ralph glowered at him, his face an unhealthy puce.“Trust a Philistine like you to think it’s just a clock.”Lex folded his arms.In spite of his uncle’s rudeness, he was determined to keep his patience.“So tell me what makes it so special.”“It’s French, antique.Frederic Berthoud, not that you’d know who he was.It’s part of a three-piece set together with a pair of candelabra.I managed to buy the candelabra years ago, but Philip refused to sell me the clock.”“I remember that clock.He used to keep it in his office.” Lex shrugged.“I can see why you’d want to complete your set, Ralph, but the fact is, the clock belongs to Nancy.”“She doesn’t know anything about clocks.She doesn’t deserve it.”Nancy inhaled a sharp breath.Her hair trembled as she glared at Ralph.“I deserve much more than just a gaudy clock.After everything I’ve done, after all the years and all the sacrifices.” Her lips shook.“After all that, to be left just a silly, useless clock that has to be wound up all the time.It’s an insult.”Lex shifted his feet.“Nancy, I didn’t realize—”“What more did you expect?” Ralph burst out.“You’re just a frigging assistant, for God’s sakes!”Someone in the room gasped.“You think I was just Philip’s assistant?” Nancy wheeled about, sweeping her gaze across the others.“You all think I was just his assistant, but I was more, much more.For over twenty years I took care of him behind the scenes.I was the only one he could truly talk to, the only one who really understood him.Philip and I were lovers, for many, many years, right up until the end.”Everyone in the library froze.Lex heard the air going in and out of his nostrils as he stared at Nancy.He knew he should say something, but the awful thing was he didn’t know what to believe.Ralph cackled.“You? He would never have looked at you twice, and you know it.You’re lying.”Nancy flung down the documents.They splashed across the carpet.She shook her head so violently, several bobby pins came flying out.Her hair sprung out in bunches around her blotched face.“I’m not lying! Philip and I were lovers.Yes, he had affairs with worthless tarts, but in the end he always came back to me.To me.” She stabbed her forefinger at her breast.“Yet he kept you a secret.” Ralph’s upper lip curled into a sneer.“And after so many years of devotion, all he left you was a clock.”Lex turned on his uncle
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