‘Laugh.’
‘I didn’t realise that being at work was a laugh-a-second experience,’ she said, but there was no sarcasm in her voice which was lazy and relaxed. ‘Do you do anything for yourself at all, Gabriel?’ she mused aloud and he gave her a toe curlingly slow smile.
‘I make money. A lot of it. Beyond that, I pay people to take care of everything else.’
‘But surely that can’t be satisfying all of the time?’
‘Are you going to give me a mini-lecture on all the great things money can’t buy?’ He thought back to his fractured, troubled past. Money would have bought a hell of a lot for him back then, which was probably why he had become so intensely focused on making lots of it. ‘Because, if you are, there’s no way you can sell it to me.’
‘Money can’t buy love.’
This time Gabriel laughed out loud but there was an edge to his laughter that Alice picked up and her brown eyes were curious as they rested on his handsome face.
‘Oh, but I’ve found just the opposite.’
‘That’s not love...’ How had they ended up having this very personal conversation? She sat up and leaned against the car door.
‘No, but it works for me,’ Gabriel told her drily. He hadn’t taken her for a romantic, but was she one at heart? Perhaps all women were. Or at least, they were in love with the idea of being in love: the excited trip to the jewellers; the wedding planning; the meringue of a white dress on the big day; the happy-ever-after, as if such a thing existed. The fact was, the relationships didn’t last. They all collapsed in varying degrees. He was a prime example of that, although in his case the degree of collapse had been severe, if the two people who had stupidly had sex and produced him had ever had a relationship at all. It was doubtful, although that was something he would never know. He had been dumped as a baby, taken into care and his life had been kick-started from that point.
‘What about marriage? Settling down?’ She couldn’t resist giving in to her curiosity and he raised his eyebrows questioningly.
‘What about it?’
‘Aren’t you tempted at all...?’
‘Not that I’ve ever noticed. I long ago came to the conclusion, my dear little secretary, that the one thing I can rely on is money. I know how to make it and I’m fully aware of the uses I can put it to. There are no unpredictable variants when it comes to money. It might be hard and cold but it doesn’t make demands, it doesn’t nag and it doesn’t want what’s not on the cards. It also...as you have experienced...buys me exactly what I want, when I want it.’
Alice had no illusions about love either, but neither was she steeped in cynicism, and she shivered involuntarily at the ice-cold centre she glimpsed inside him.
Not only did he not believe in love, he would never bother trying to find it. As far as he was concerned, it didn’t exist. He made money, he paid people to take care of life’s little inconveniences and he slept with women for physical release.
He was not one of life’s good guys and how fair was it that, despite that, his raw sexuality made him a magnet that few could resist?
She turned away and stared out of the car window. It was a beautiful day with skies as clear and as blue here as they had been in London.
‘Perhaps you could tell me what the plans are for today,’ she suggested, pulling back from the conversation, although it lingered in her head like a song being played on a loop.
‘Hotel. A few hours’ respite. Then we will be taking the client out tonight.’
‘I haven’t booked anywhere.’
‘Francois and Marie are entertaining us,’ Gabriel informed her. ‘At their home. Hence arriving today rather than Monday. The entire family will be there. I thought it might be an opportune moment to hear their various opinions on the company sale so that we can squash any last-minute nerves.’
‘At their house?’
‘Rumour has it that the place is palatial. I’ve been told by Francois that various important dignitaries will be there. They are celebrating their fortieth wedding anniversary; we’re honoured to have been invited.’
Alice looked at him, alarmed. When it came to the client entertainment side of their stay in Paris, she had been thinking more along the lines of one or two stuffy restaurants where she could easily fade into the background—the ever-professional secretary tagging along to make notes.
She hadn’t banked on anything too elaborate. Frantically trying to think what she could wear to somewhere palatial with circulating dignitaries, all thoughts left her head as the limo pulled up outside their hotel.