Five Dates with the Billionaire - Alyssa J. Montgomery Page 0,13
dangerous it was. Unfortunately, he wasn’t due home until the end of the following week.
Even though he’d been retired for years, Stanley had been asked to chair meetings to facilitate the sharing of information between MI5 and the French equivalent, DGSE. He’d said the meetings would be intense so Mia didn’t want to call him and burden him with what was unfolding at home.
There was another soft knock on the sitting room door.
‘Come in,’ Violet called.
‘Hello, Mrs Stewart.’ A petite red-headed young lady entered. ‘I’m sorry to interrupt you, but it’s time to take your blood pressure and give you your medication.’
‘Thank you, Giselle. I’d like you to meet my very good friend, Mia.’ As greetings were exchanged Violet sent Mia a pointed look and told the nurse, ‘You might find my blood pressure’s a little higher than it should be. Mia has been disagreeing with me. Please tell her she shouldn’t disagree with me, Giselle—it’s bad for my health.’
‘Violet!’ Mia admonished as the young nurse looked quite uncomfortable.
‘It is important you keep calm and don’t get too worked up about anything,’ Giselle said dutifully.
Hm. Violet was being a thoroughly unrepentant manipulator.
When Giselle finished her duties and left them, Mia said, ‘At least let us stay in London and go to places that aren’t going to attract media attention.’
Connor’s grandmother pursed her lips thoughtfully before she finally said, ‘Alright. I’ll compromise. You can dine at an obscure restaurant in London but you still have to go to Venice and Paris. Connor doesn’t have a high profile in either of those countries, so the paparazzi there aren’t likely to be bothered with him.’
Mia let out a pent-up breath of exasperation. ‘Why Venice and—?’
‘Uh. I haven’t finished.’ It was like being taken to task by a principal. ‘I’ll only give quarter on the restaurant in London, not the weekends away—and only on one condition.’
‘Really?’ Violet had never been so exasperating! ‘Another condition?’
‘You must have a makeover.’
‘No. That’s out.’
‘It’s my condition for not dining at Raphael’s.’
Picking up a cushion, Mia raised it in front of her face and used it to smother a growl of frustration. ‘Connor’s going to think I’m trying to attract him.’
‘Nonsense. I’ll take responsibility and tell him it was my condition.’
Mia’s shoulders sagged in defeat. ‘You’re impossible.’
‘I know.’ The sparkle of mischief was back in Violet’s eyes. She was obviously enjoying herself immensely.
Trying to spell out a few terms of her own, Mia insisted, ‘Only these five dates and then we’ll never speak of this again and you promise there’ll be no more plots to try to get Connor and me together.’
‘Agreed.’
‘But I’m not happy.’
‘You might be cursing me now, but before too long you and Connor will both be thanking me.’ Violet smiled. ‘Now I’m going to get busy on the phone and organise your makeover. You sit and finish your tea. I’ll have a team of stylists here within the hour.’ She stood up and hummed all the way to the door. When she was there she turned back and gave Mia a broad smile. ‘I do believe you’ve given me a new lease on life.’
Mia raised her eyes heavenwards and shook her head.
When she was alone, her gaze traced the intricate pattern on the Royal Doulton tea set.
She sat quietly drinking her tea until she no longer felt agitated. Now, she simply felt numb.
Chapter Five
Connor’s grip tightened around the steering wheel of his Maserati Grancabrio sports car while the security gates opened at his grandmother’s home in St James Park.
Dinner hadn’t been cancelled, so he’d use the evening to make his apology to his employee and gain more insight into her character.
Gates open, he drove down the cobblestone driveway towards the double-storey Edwardian house he’d grown up in.
It was a massive home had a pretty, protruding porch extending around the main entrance. Instead of down-sizing when Archibald died, Gran had all her household staff live in. She could afford the upkeep and liked the central London location, but most of all she liked the memories of having lived here with her husband and making it a happy home for her son and then Connor.
When he turned off the engine, Connor got out of the car, made his way up the entry stairs two at a time and rang the bell. It didn’t matter that this had been his home, Gran’s butler considered it an affront if Connor walked in unannounced.
Surprisingly, it was Violet, and not Dawson, who answered the door.