Diamonds are Forever

CHAPTER SIX




HE HADN’T followed her!

Annie hadn’t stopped walking until she’d reached her bedroom, but with each step she had expected to feel Rufus’s hand roughly on her arm as he turned her to face him and told her she no longer had a job looking after his daughter!

But it hadn’t happened.

She had sat on her bed for the next ten minutes, waiting for him to burst into the room.

That hadn’t happened either.

Why hadn’t it?

She didn’t know now. She had smacked Rufus for no other reason than he’d happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, had vented on him the anger she actually felt towards Anthony. And towards herself, if she was honest, for being so stupid, so young and impressionable!

Perhaps that last was partly the reason why she had hit out at Rufus—because he had been right!

Which was no excuse at all. Rufus couldn’t be blamed for knowing his brother better than she did. But he had certainly paid the price for that knowledge. The evidence of it—livid red marks on his cheeks—still showed two hours later!

If Annie turned her head slightly from where she sat next to him in the front of his Mercedes, Jessica comfortably ensconced on the back seat, then she could actually see the imprint her hand had made on the hardness of his cheek.

But she tried hard not to turn her head any more, not even fractionally. In fact, she hadn’t been able to do more than mutter a few words as Rufus had put her small overnight bag in the boot of the car at the beginning of their journey. She didn’t want to be here at all, didn’t want to draw any more attention to herself than was strictly necessary. It was bad enough that—


‘I’m sorry, Annie.’

She turned sharply to face Rufus as he drove, swallowing hard as she instantly saw those marks on his cheek. Marks she had made. She had always believed herself incapable of physically hurting another human being, and yet looking at Rufus she could see what she had done to him. And he was apologising to her! What on earth for?

He reached out with one hand and lightly squeezed both her hands as they lay tightly clenched together in her lap. ‘Anthony is a bastard,’ he said tightly, his eyes focused on the road ahead.

Annie glanced quickly round at Jessica, relieved to see the girl was fast asleep.

‘She hates long journeys,’ Rufus said, looking at his daughter in the driver’s mirror, as Annie faced back to the front once again. He released his hold on her hands. ‘Sleep is her way of avoiding them,’ he explained indulgently.

Annie wished she could fall asleep too, wished today had never happened! ‘I’m sorry I hit you—’

‘Hey,’ he chided softly. ‘I’ve just been trying to tell you that I deserved it—’

‘Not you.’ She shook her head firmly.

‘Believe me—’ he grimaced ruefully ‘—that isn’t the first punch I’ve taken for Anthony.’

‘It will be the last from me.’ She shivered with reaction at what she had done.

Rufus ran a hand over his bruised cheek, while his other gripped the steering wheel. ‘That’s quite a powerful right you have there, Miss Fletcher—’

‘Please don’t,’ she groaned, tears of contrition flooding her eyes now. ‘I’m so ashamed. Can’t believe I really did that.’ She shook her head, the tears wet on her cheeks. ‘You must—’

‘I mustn’t anything, Annie,’ he cut in gently. ‘You were hurting, and the best way to get rid of some of that hurt was to—’

‘Hit you!’ She groaned again, burying her face in her hands, crying in earnest now. Which was all she seemed to have done just recently!

‘Aw, Annie, don’t cry!’ Rufus moaned protestingly. ‘I can’t stand it when you cry. Especially over someone like Anthony.’ His voice had hardened. ‘Annie, stop it!’ he instructed harshly as he gathered her up into his arms.

It was the first indication she had that he had stopped the car, and she raised her head to look around them dazedly, realising as she did so that Rufus had pulled the car over onto the hard shoulder and parked there. Something that was completely illegal, unless it was an emergency—

‘This is an emergency, Annie,’ he stated, and Annie realised she must have spoken the words out loud.

Then, as his mouth came forcefully down on hers, she wasn’t thinking at all, only feeling.

And was she feeling! She had never known anything like this searing pleasure she found in his arms, never felt this heat in her body, a need for more, for—

‘Are we there, Daddy?’

It was as if Rufus and Annie had received an electric shock as they simultaneously registered the sleepy sound of Jessica’s voice from the back of the car. They moved quickly apart, Annie more flustered now than she had been a few minutes ago. Every time this man kissed her she responded unrestrainedly. She hardly knew herself!

‘Annie—’

‘Daddy, are we there?’ Jessica’s voice rose querulously as she received no response to her first question.

Rufus gave Annie a look before turning in his seat to look at his daughter. ‘No, Jess, we aren’t there yet—’

‘Then why have we stopped?’ Jessica persisted, totally disorientated as she looked around her.

Annie returned Rufus’s gaze helplessly as he looked back at her for assistance; they could hardly tell the little girl the truth!

‘Er—well—Annie had something in her eye!’ Rufus finally burst out awkwardly, giving Annie a censorious glare as she tried to hold back her laughter.

Something in her eye, indeed. Mud, probably!

She had allowed Rufus to kiss her again. Last night he had kissed her because he was angry. And she was upset. Today he had kissed her because he felt sorry for her. Because she was upset. The common factor to both incidents seemed to have been her tears. Then she would just have to make sure she didn’t cry again! In his presence, anyway …

‘Is it better now?’ Jessica, thankfully, was still sleepy.

Rufus gave Annie a mocking glance. ‘Is it better now?’ he teased softly. ‘Did I kiss it better?’

She gave him a frowning look before turning to Jessica. ‘I’m much better now, thank you. So much better, in fact—’

‘Oh, hell!’ Rufus muttered with feeling, watching the driving mirror in front of him.

Annie looked at him in alarm. ‘What is it?’ she prompted in a puzzled voice. ‘Rufus?’

He shook his head. ‘The trouble you’ve caused me, woman!’ Even as he spoke he was thrusting open the car door next to him. ‘I find it difficult to believe I’ve only known you forty-eight hours!’ He swung easily out of the car.

Annie turned just in time to see a policeman approaching the Mercedes, a brightly marked police car parked a short distance behind them. Their having stopped here was, as she had already surmised, illegal. And she very much doubted that the policeman would accept the story of there having been something in the eye of the lady passenger in Rufus’s car. Rufus was right: she was nothing but trouble!

Jessica scrambled up into a sitting position, looking out of the back window. ‘Has Daddy done something wrong?’ Her voice sounded slightly awed. ‘Is he going to get told off?’

She hoped not—or she would never hear the end of it!

The two men continued to talk on the roadside for several minutes, and Annie’s heart sank with dismay as the young policeman took his notebook out of his pocket and began to take notes. He was booking Rufus! And it was all her fault. Rufus was going to be furious with her this time, no doubt about it.

She inwardly prepared herself for his blistering attack as he parted from the policeman, a folded piece of paper in his hand as he walked briskly back to the car, his expression grim. There wasn’t going to be any kissing better this time—even if she was upset!

She wasn’t sure whether she was relieved or sad about that …

And she really didn’t have the time to dwell on the subject as Rufus got back into the car beside her.

‘Daddy—’

‘Not yet, pumpkin,’ Rufus told his daughter tautly, glancing in his driving mirror. ‘I need to get us back onto the road as soon as possible.’ He switched on the engine, put the car into gear, and very neatly manoeuvred the vehicle back into the swift flow of traffic.

Annie didn’t know what to say, wasn’t sure she should say anything; it might just make matters worse. If that were possible!

‘A bit of luck, that.’ Rufus was finally the one to break the silence, sitting back more comfortably in his seat now that they were well away from the police car.

‘Luck?’ Annie echoed incredulously; it was the last description she would have applied to the encounter!

‘Mmm.’ Rufus gave her a brief grin. ‘The policeman recognised my name, and it seems he’s a fan of mine. He particularly liked a piece I wrote last year about suburban crime; his brother, another policeman—it seems to run in the family!—was mentioned in it quite favourably. Apparently he meant to keep the article, but his wife unwittingly used that newspaper to light the fire; he asked if I could send him a copy. I’ve got it on disk somewhere in the flat, so I’ll look it out for him when we get there.’


The piece of paper Rufus had been given wasn’t a ticket at all, but the policeman’s address. And she had been imagining all sorts of horrors—charges, court appearances …!

‘So there are some benefits to being famous,’ she said tartly.

Rufus glanced at her again briefly. ‘I’m not famous, Annie,’ he finally said slowly.

‘But your work is,’ she challenged, not really sure why she was so angry, only that she was!

‘Perhaps.’ He shrugged dismissively. ‘What the hell? It saved us from a severe reprimand. He just laughed when I told him I’d stopped because you had something in your eye!’ Rufus reached out and squeezed her hand again, conspiratorially this time, before replacing his own hand on the wheel.

‘Shall I go back to sleep for a while, Daddy?’ Jessica spoke again from behind them.

Reminding Annie of exactly what she was doing here! She was here as Jessica’s nanny, was here on sufferance, had no right to be angry—about anything.

‘If you like, pumpkin.’ Rufus answered his daughter absently. ‘We’ll be a while yet.’

Jessica gave a weary sigh as she settled down again on the back seat, and Annie could have sighed along with her; they hadn’t even reached London yet, and she was already wishing she weren’t here! How on earth was she supposed to share an apartment with this man for the next few days, even with Jessica present …?

‘You’ve gone very quiet,’ Rufus remarked a few minutes later.

She looked across at him. ‘Have I?’ she said guardedly—because on her guard was how she was going to have to be with this man in the future!

‘You know you have,’ he bit out impatiently.

Annie let out a breath. ‘I don’t believe I’ve ever been a chatterbox.’

‘I didn’t say that’s what you are, you just—Damn it woman,’ he snapped irritably. ‘I never know whether to kiss you or shake you when you annoy me like this!’

She swallowed hard. ‘In future I suggest you stick to shaking me—it’s probably safer for everyone!’

Rufus threw her a stunned glance, and then he threw back his head with that now familiar shout of laughter. ‘You, young lady, are not good for my ego,’ he explained once his amusement had abated.

Her own mouth quirked with laughter in spite of herself, her bad humour of a few minutes ago totally dispelled. ‘It wasn’t your ego I was thinking of,’ she taunted lightly. ‘The next policeman may not be a fan of yours!’

‘True,’ he agreed dryly. ‘But the onus is on you not to do anything that will make me want to kiss or shake you!’

She wasn’t quite sure, at the moment, how she was supposed to do that; if she spoke she seemed to say the wrong thing, and if she didn’t speak that seemed to be wrong too!

The safest thing to do seemed to be to join Jessica—and go to sleep!

She closed her eyes, feigning tiredness, and very soon she wasn’t pretending at all, but genuinely asleep …

It was dark by the time they entered London, and, having just woken up, it was a minute or two before Annie realised in which part of the city they were. It wasn’t one she was too familiar with, Mayfair being an area she had only passed through in the past. But she wasn’t at all surprised when Rufus turned the black Mercedes down into an underground car park situated beneath a prestigious apartment building; he effectively owned Clifftop House and all the land around it, so it stood to reason that his London home would be just as prestigious.

She wasn’t surprised by the security of the building, either, a guard situated in the car park itself, another one in the lobby upstairs. Not that the men challenged their progress at all, obviously recognising Rufus as one of the wealthy tenants. The apartment itself didn’t actually seem like part of a block, being on the ground floor, with its own high-walled garden at the rear.

It was beautifully furnished, too, with obviously genuine antique furniture, the carpets in muted golds and greens. Elegance was the word that came to mind as Annie looked around. It was a far cry from the minute flat she had shared with three other girls until a short time ago; the huge sitting-room was almost as big as their whole accommodation had been!

‘I only rent it, Annie.’ Rufus was watching her reaction to her surroundings. ‘I don’t own it.’

The monthly rent on a place like this would probably amount to almost a year’s wages for her!

‘God damn it!’ Rufus suddenly ground out. ‘I’ve never had to apologise for my choice of home before!’

It wasn’t his home that bothered her—given the choice she would probably have gone for somewhere like this herself! No, it was the location and obvious cost of it that overwhelmed her, and emphasised the gulf between her own lifestyle and that of the Diamond family. But she certainly wasn’t asking him to apologise for it!

‘It’s very nice,’ she told him stiltedly, swallowing hard as he just looked even more annoyed. And they both knew what happened when he became annoyed!

‘It’s very tidy,’ Jessica put in. ‘You obviously haven’t been home for a while, Daddy,’ she added mischievously.

‘Not at all in the last three months,’ he acknowledged wearily. ‘I submitted my last story when I arrived in England on Wednesday, and came straight down to Clifftop House.’

Annie frowned across at him; he had been in a hurry to get there …

To see Jessica? Or had it been something else that had brought him so quickly to the family home?

He returned her questioning gaze enigmatically, and Annie knew she would find no answers there, not unless Rufus was prepared to give her them. He didn’t look as if he was!

‘I did, however, have some supplies brought in earlier today,’ Rufus continued briskly. ‘So it’s a cup of tea for Annie and myself, and a juice for you, young lady.’ He ruffled Jessica’s hair affectionately. ‘You show Annie to the bedroom next to yours, Jess, and I’ll go and make the drinks.’

Annie was glad of these few minutes’ respite, if only to accustom herself to her new surroundings. She should have realised that Rufus’s apartment wouldn’t be anything like the rooms in the old Victorian house that had been her own home until two months ago. He was a Diamond, came from a very wealthy family. She should have expected this.

It was proof of just how lacking in professionalism their relationship had become that she hadn’t expected this. She made Rufus laugh, made him angry, annoyed him, and in the last twenty-four hours he had kissed her, twice. She had almost forgotten they were employer and employee. She mustn’t forget again.

‘It’s a lovely room,’ she told Jessica once the young girl had shown her to the bedroom she had been allocated. And it was a lovely room, the gold and cream decor making it appear warm and welcoming. But it didn’t really matter whether it was a lovely room or not; she would only be occupying it for a short time!

‘It’s ages since Daddy brought me here,’ Jessica told her wistfully.

So the trip to London wasn’t a regular occurrence; Annie couldn’t help wondering what had prompted it this time …

She smiled at Jessica. ‘Perhaps twisting your ankle wasn’t such a bad thing, after all,’ she teased.

Jessica grinned back at her, a grin that was so like her father’s. For the first time Annie found herself wondering what Joanne had looked like. There were no pictures of Jessica’s mother at Clifftop House, and she had only noticed a large framed photograph of Jessica in the sitting-room here. One thing Annie was pretty sure of: Joanne wouldn’t have been a short redhead!


Now that was a strange thought to have come into her head …

‘Let’s go and have our drinks,’ Jessica prompted. ‘Daddy isn’t very domesticated,’ she confided. ‘So the tea will probably be awful!’

They were still laughing together over this as they entered the kitchen a few seconds later.

‘Care to share the joke?’ Rufus invited indulgently as he stood across the room pouring the tea.

Annie looked at Jessica, Jessica looked at Annie, and they both shook their heads at the same time, causing them to burst into laughter once again. In fact, it felt good to Annie to be able to laugh; there had been so little to laugh at just recently.

‘Oh, I see.’ Rufus nodded knowingly. ‘I’m the brunt of it!’ he accepted as he handed Annie her cup of tea.

The sight of the tea set the two of them off into peals of laughter once again, so much so that Annie couldn’t take the cup from Rufus for fear of dropping it.

‘Oh, I understand—it’s the tea that caused the laughter in the first place!’ He put the cup down, peering down into it. ‘I must admit, it does look pretty awful.’ He grimaced.

‘That’s exactly how I said it would look!’ Jessica still giggled. ‘Why do you think I always prefer to drink juice when I’m here?’

‘You little monkey!’ Her father gave her an imaginary cuff about the ear. ‘I suppose you think Annie can do better?’ he challenged.

Annie’s eyes widened. ‘I wasn’t the one disparaging your tea-making skills!’

‘No—but you were laughing at them,’ he instantly returned.

Annie took a tentative look into the cup he had been about to give her, her distaste instinctive as she saw the mud-coloured fluid. ‘How many teabags did you put in the pot?’ she asked incredulously.

‘I like strong tea,’ he defended dryly.

‘So do I,’ she replied. ‘But—I was always told “one for each person, and one for the pot”.’ She looked at him questioningly.

‘It’s a big pot,’ he muttered grudgingly.

Annie looked at him knowingly. ‘How many teabags did you use?’ she persisted.

‘Enough,’ he muttered again.

‘Daddy!’ Jessica scolded him lightly. ‘You’re pre-prevar—’

‘Prevaricating,’ he finished irritably. ‘Okay, six. I put six teabags in the pot!’ He glared at them both.

Annie bit her lip to stop herself from laughing again, saying nothing more, and went to empty the teapot and start again. At least he had managed to warm the pot for her! ‘Would you care for tea, too, Jessica?’ She held a fourth teabag over the pot.

‘Don’t you dare say yes, just because I haven’t made it,’ her father warned. ‘I’ll be in the lounge when you’ve made the tea.’

Annie watched him leave the room, her mouth still twitching with laughter. ‘Do you think we’ve hurt his feelings?’ she murmured to Jessica.

‘No.’ The little girl made herself comfortable on one of the stools that stood in front of the breakfast-bar. ‘He’ll probably be glad to have a decent cup of tea himself for a change!’

Annie didn’t know whether he was or not when they joined him in the lounge, Rufus taking the cup of tea from her without saying a word. But it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, and on reflection Annie had to admit she had enjoyed the exchange in the kitchen. They might have been a real family—

She pulled her thoughts up sharply. Families were for other people, not her. One day she might have a family of her own, but until then she must guard against becoming too attached to Jessica. And her father …!

Rufus made her laugh. She had never really been able to do that with a man before. And that laughter was even more heady than his kisses had been. Dangerous territory, she realised that. Because Rufus wasn’t the marrying kind. He loved his daughter, that much was obvious, and no doubt there had been women in his life since his wife died, but his choice of career didn’t allow for any permanent relationships. And he already knew, from the conversation he had overheard between herself and Anthony, her views on mistresses—

She brought her thoughts up sharp once again. What on earth was she thinking of? The man had kissed her twice, not declared undying love for her. Or anything else, for that matter!

‘Very nice.’ Rufus put his empty cup down.

‘Daddy!’ Jessica reproved him once again.

‘I said it was nice, didn’t I?’ he retorted irritably. ‘Can you cook too?’ He turned to Annie, his expression hopeful.

‘Please say you can!’ Jessica looked at her imploringly.

She hadn’t thought about it before, had become used, over the last couple of months, she realised, to the fact that there was a cook in residence at Clifftop House to prepare the meals for everyone. But this was a bachelor apartment, had none of those niceties …

She nodded. ‘Just basic stuff, you understand,’ she explained hastily; cordon bleu she was not!

‘Daddy can’t even boil an egg,’ Jessica confided candidly.

‘I can so,’ he instantly protested, but there was laughter dancing in his eyes.

‘No, you can’t,’ his daughter contradicted him. ‘Remember that time you—?’

‘Okay, okay.’ Rufus held up his hands defensively. ‘I can’t cook,’ he conceded wearily.

‘He forgot to put any water in the saucepan,’ Jessica told Annie in a whisper deliberately loud enough for her father to hear. ‘I don’t know if you’ve ever seen an egg explode, but—’

‘No, Jessica, I haven’t, although I’m sure it’s very—interesting,’ Annie cut in swiftly as she could see Rufus was going to be the one to explode if this maligning of his culinary skills went on much longer. ‘Now I know the real reason the two of you wanted me along on this trip!’ she added with mock indignation. ‘You just didn’t want to risk your father’s cooking—or to starve!’

‘She’s sussed us out, Jess.’ Rufus winked at his daughter conspiratorially.

‘It wasn’t too difficult,’ Annie returned witheringly. ‘So what are we having to eat this evening?’ She arched questioning brows, sure he had had the food for their evening meal delivered today too.

‘Steak and salad,’ Rufus answered instantly. ‘But Jess and I can do the salad—’

‘I’ll do it, Daddy,’ Jessica cut in firmly, turning to Annie. ‘The last time Daddy made the salad I found a slug in my—’

‘Okay, I’ll leave you two girls to get dinner.’ Rufus stood up decisively. ‘I have some calls to catch up on, anyway. I’ll be in my study—first door on the right out of here—when it’s ready.’ He strode purposefully out of the room.

Annie turned to Jessica, a smile curving her lips. ‘I think we drove him away with our teasing!’

‘Don’t you believe it; he was glad to escape.’ Jessica shrugged dismissively, starting to help with the preparations for dinner.

It was a happy half-hour, Annie concentrating on seasoning and grilling the steaks she had found so conveniently in the refrigerator, while Jessica hobbled about preparing the salad. They laid the table between the two of them once the steaks were sizzling away, Annie having found a French loaf to accompany the meal too. It all looked very appetising once it was put on the kitchen table, Annie having opted for this casual comfort rather than the formal dining-room she had seen earlier, anxious that Jessica did not put too much strain on her slowly healing ankle.


‘Not bad.’ Annie nodded her satisfaction with the meal they had put out on the table. ‘Even if I do say so myself.’

‘I’ll go and get Daddy.’ Jessica was eager to show him their handiwork.

‘I’ll go,’ Annie told her firmly. ‘You’ve done enough walking on that ankle for one evening.’

‘Can I light the candles, then?” Jessica prompted eagerly.

Annie turned at the door. ‘Not until I come back with your father. And if he says yes, then you can.’

The candles had been Jessica’s idea, as had the two wineglasses for herself and Rufus; Jessica had assured her that her father would want wine with his meal. Annie wasn’t sure whether he would or not, but she was happy to go along with it, although one glass of wine was her own personal limit; any more than that and she was apt to get silly.

She could hear Rufus talking on the telephone as she approached his study, hesitating outside the door as she wondered if she should interrupt him. But she didn’t want their meal to ruin either, and—

She became suddenly still, actually about to knock on the door, when she unwittingly heard part of his conversation.

‘Please ask Margaret to call me when she gets in.’ Rufus spoke firmly. ‘I really need to talk to her.’

Margaret …? There was only one Margaret that Annie knew of who had come into the conversation recently, and that was her predecessor.

Rufus was in contact with Margaret. And he really needed to talk to her …

Why? Oh, Annie accepted that the other woman had left without notice, but even so—

‘Yes, I received her letter.’ Rufus was still talking to the other person on the end of the telephone line. ‘But I still need to talk to Margaret herself.’

The other woman had written to him! They were on close terms …?

Was Anthony not the only member of the Diamond family who had a penchant for the servants …?