The Missing Heir Read online

  Beneath the table, Destiny grasped her hand.

  “What about business decisions?” Roth barked. “That woman is in no position to run the company. She’s an assistant.”

  “Assistant director,” Destiny corrected.

  Amber was in a management position, not a clerical one.

  Roth sneered at them both. “Samuel clearly wanted someone qualified in charge of business decisions on behalf of his son.”

  “It’s a valid question,” said Max. “For the moment, Amber Welsley has guardianship over Zachary, including all rights and responsibilities to manage and safeguard his ownership position in Coast Eagle.”

  “But—” Roth began.

  Max held up a hand to forestall him. “For any changes to that, you’ll need a decision from a judge.”

  “You can bet we’re going to a judge,” spat Roth.

  Amber whispered to Destiny, “What does this all mean?”

  “It means we’re going to court to duke it out with Roth. And it means he just became your mortal enemy. But right now, it also means you get Zachary.”

  Amber’s chest swelled tight. Zachary would stay with her. For now, nothing else mattered.

  * * *

  Walking through the entrance of the Atlanta hotel ballroom, Cole gazed at the crowds of people attending the Georgia Pilots Association annual fund-raiser. Tonight was the formal recognition of the new Samuel Henderson Memorial Scholarship, so he knew the who’s who of Coast Eagle Airlines would be in the room.

  Luca was beside him, dressed in a formal suit. “You’ll be glad you came.”

  “I’ll mostly be glad if it shuts you up.”

  Cole had told himself a thousand times that the Hendersons of Atlanta were none of his business, and he still believed it. But Luca had kept after him for three long weeks. Finally, Cole had given in and checked out a picture of Zachary on a news site.

  The baby was cuter than he’d expected, and his face had seemed strangely familiar. But Cole chalked it up to the power of suggestion. When you started looking for a family resemblance, everything took on new meaning. Sometimes gray eyes were simply gray eyes.

  But once he’d scratched the surface, he’d ended up reading the rest of the article, learning there was a court challenge for guardianship. He didn’t necessarily agree with Luca that everyone involved was a jackal out to get the kid’s money. But he did find himself analyzing the players.

  In the end, his curiosity won out, and he agreed to make the trip to Atlanta. He had no intention of marching up to the front door and introducing himself as a long-lost relative. He was staying under the radar, checking things out and returning to Alaska just as soon as he confirmed Zachary was safe.

  “Right there,” said Luca. “In the black dress, lace sleeves, brown hair, kind of swooped up. She’s at the table below the podium. She’s moving right now.”

  As Cole zeroed in on Amber Welsley, she turned, presenting him with a surprisingly pretty profile.

  Her diamond jewelry flashed beneath the bright lights, accenting her feminine face. Her dress was classic, a scooped neckline, three-quarter-length lace sleeves that blended to a form-fitting bodice and a narrow skirt that emphasized her trim figure.

  From this distance, she surprised him. She wasn’t at all what he’d expected. She was younger, softer, insidiously captivating. While he stared at her, the wholly inappropriate thought that she was kissable welled up in his mind.

  “You want to go over and say hi?” asked Luca.

  The true answer was no. Cole wanted to get on an airplane and fly back to Alaska.

  He might as well get this over with. Checking out Amber and all the other characters in this family drama was his purpose in being here. There wasn’t any point waiting.

  “Let’s do it,” he said.

  “Roth Calvin’s at the next table,” said Luca as they walked. “He’s facing us, talking to the guy with red hair, in the steel-gray jacket.”

  “I think you missed your calling as a spy.”

  Luca grinned. “I’m calling dibs on the one named Destiny.”

  “Who’s Destiny?”

  “She was in a couple of the photos with Amber Welsley. She’s hot. And with a name like that, I’m definitely giving her a shot.”

  Cole shook his head. “She’s all yours, buddy. I just want to make sure the kid’s okay.” Then any duty he might have as a blood relative would be done.

  “By kid, you mean your baby brother?”

  “Yeah, that’s not a phrase we’ll be using.”

  “Boggles the mind, doesn’t it?”

  “You’re going to have to be boggled all by yourself. I won’t be here long enough.”

  “You want a wingman for the intro?”

  “Sure. But don’t use the name Henderson.”

  “Undercover. I like it.”

  “I’ll use Cole Parker. My middle name.”

  “Right behind you, Cole Parker.”

  The closer they drew to the Coast Eagle tables, the more beautiful Amber became. Her hair wasn’t brown, but a rich chestnut with highlights that shimmered under the bright stage lights. It was half up, half down in a tousled bundle with wisps flowing over her temples and down her back. The scalloped neckline of her dress showed off an expanse of creamy skin, while the lace across her shoulders played peekaboo with his imagination.

  Her eyes were deep blue, fringed with dark lashes. Her full lips were dark red, her cheeks enticingly flushed. He had a sudden vision of her clambering naked into his bed.

  She turned as he approached, caught his stare and gave him an obviously practiced smile. He realized hundreds if not thousands of people must have introduced themselves and offered their condolences in the past weeks.

  “Amber Welsley?” he asked her, offering his hand.

  “I am.”

  “I’m Cole Parker from Aviation 58. My condolences on your loss.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Parker.” She shook his hand.

  The soft warmth of her palm seemed to whisper through his skin. He felt a ripple of awareness move up his arm and along the length of his body. Her expression flinched, and for a second he thought she’d felt it, too. But then her formal smile was back in place, and she was moving on.

  Cole quickly spoke again to keep her attention. “This is my business partner, Luca Dodd.”

  “Please call me Luca.”

  “And I’m Cole,” Cole put in, feeling like an idiot for not having said it right away.

  “Aviation 58 was looking to contribute to the Samuel Henderson fund,” said Luca.

  Cole’s stomach twisted, and he shot Luca a glare of annoyance.

  Where had that come from? There was no way on earth Cole was contributing to something with Samuel’s name on it.

  “It’s a very worthy cause,” said Amber. But then she caught Cole’s expression. “Is something wrong?”

  “No,” he quickly answered.

  “You look upset.”

  “I’m fine.”

  She canted her head to one side, considering him. “You don’t agree that the pilot scholarship is a worthy cause?”

  “I believe what Luca meant is that we’re thinking of setting something up in parallel. With Georgia Pilots, but not necessarily...” How exactly was he going to phrase this?

  “Not necessarily in honor of Samuel Henderson?” Amber finished for him.

  Cole didn’t know how to respond to the direct challenge. He didn’t want to lie, but he didn’t want to insult her, either.

  “You have a spare ten million hanging around to match Coast Eagle?” she asked.

  “Ten million is a little out of our league,” Cole admitted.

  Her blue eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “Did you know Samuel?”

  “I never met him.”

  The suspicious expression didn’t detract at all from her beauty, and Cole experienced an urge to sweep back her hair and kiss the delicate curve of her neck.

  “So you disliked him from a
far?” she asked.

  “I didn’t...” This was getting worse by the second. Cole gave himself a mental shake. “I knew people who knew him.”

  “Amber?” prompted a man at her elbow.

  Cole clenched his jaw at the interruption.

  “Five minutes to introductions,” said the man.

  “Thanks, Julius.” She glanced at Luca for a moment before settling her attention back on Cole. “It looks like I need to take my seat. It was a pleasure to meet you, Cole Parker.”

  “Are you always this polite?”

  “Do you want me to be rude?”

  Cole was the one who’d been rude. “This conversation didn’t go the way I expected.”

  “Maybe you could try again some other time.”

  “What are you doing later?” He hadn’t intended the question to sound intimate, but it did.

  She didn’t miss a beat. “I believe I’m eating crab cocktail and chicken Kiev, giving a short, heartfelt speech on behalf of the Henderson family, then relieving the nanny and going to sleep.”

  “Zachary?” Cole took advantage of the opening.

  “He’ll be having his bath about now. He likes splashing with the blue duck and chewing on the washcloth.”

  “Are you staying for the dance?”

  “I doubt it.”

  “Will you stay for the dance?”

  She hesitated. “You think you’ll do better if we’re dancing?”

  “I’ll try not to insult the evening’s deceased honoree.”

  “You set a high bar.”

  “Underpromise and overdeliver.”

  The man named Julius returned, touching Amber’s arm. “Amber?”

  “Goodbye for now,” she told Cole with a smile.

  Though her expression was more polite than warm, he decided to take the words as encouraging.

  “What the hell was that?” Luca muttered as she walked away.

  “Contributing to his scholarship?” asked Cole. “Where did you expect me to go from there?”

  “You choked.”

  “We are not contributing to his scholarship.”

  “You made that much clear.”

  They turned to wind their way between tables.

  “She’s not what I expected,” said Cole as they returned to the back half of the big ballroom.

  “She has two arms, two legs, speaks English. What did you expect?”

  “I don’t know.” Cole struggled to organize his thoughts. “Snobbish, maybe, polished and conniving.”

  “She looked pretty polished to me.”

  “She’s beautiful, but that’s not the same thing.”

  “She’s a knockout. Do you actually think she’ll dance with you?”

  “Why not?”

  “Because you choked, and I’m sure she has other offers.”

  “I’m staying optimistic.”

  As the lights went dim and the applause came up, Cole made up his mind to approach her as soon as the dinner was over. This was by far his best chance to mingle with the Hendersons and Coast Eagle without revealing his identity, and he wanted to get it done and over with.

  Two

  Amber couldn’t wait to get out of the ballroom. Her first choice on a Saturday night was to stay home with Zachary, tucked in her jammies with a cup of hot chocolate and an old movie. But she was the closest thing there was to a member of the Henderson family, and somebody had to graciously accept the pilots association’s thanks.

  Unlike her sister, Coco, Amber never attended highbrow events. Consequently, everything she wore tonight was new. Her feet were killing her in the ridiculous high heels. Her push-up bra was digging into her ribs, the lace scratching her skin. And the tight dress, chosen by Destiny, who insisted it was perfect, was restricting her movements so that she couldn’t even cross her legs under the table.

  The MC ended a string of thank-yous with a request for applause to compliment the catering staff. As the clapping died down, the music came up, signaling the start of the dance.

  Amber breathed a sigh of relief. All that was left was to politely make her way toward the exit, find a cab and get home. She stood, tucking her tiny purse under her arm.

  A fiftysomething woman she vaguely recognized grasped her hand to shake it. “Lovely speech, Ms. Welsley. Lovely speech.”

  “Thank you.”

  The woman’s expression turned serious. “Even in such tragic circumstances, the Henderson family is having a positive impact on the community.”

  “Samuel was a very generous man,” Amber responded by rote, though she had her own private thoughts on Samuel’s character, most particularly his decision to marry her beautiful, impetuous, nineteen-year-old stepsister.

  Amber had initially kept her distance from the couple, regretting many times the decision to bring Coco to the company party where the two had met. But then Coco had become pregnant, and Amber had been drawn back into the drama of Coco’s life.

  “Excuse me, Ms. Welsley,” came a male voice.

  The woman seemed reluctant to step back to give way.

  “Good evening.” Amber smiled at the new man, taking his offered hand, mentally calculating how long it would take her to run the gauntlet to the exit. It would be an hour or more at this pace. She truly didn’t think she could stand that long in these shoes. For a nonsensical moment, she pictured herself toppling over onto the ballroom floor.

  “I’m Kevin Mathews from Highbush Unlimited. I wonder if I might give you my card.”

  Amber kept her smile in place. “Certainly, Mr. Mathews.”

  He dug into his inside pocket for a business card. “We’re a charitable organization, focused on environmental rehabilitation, primarily in the northwest. I know a lot about Mr. Henderson and Coast Eagle, and I can’t help imagining that he would have been a supporter of the environmental rehabilitation.”

  Amber doubted that Samuel had given much thought to the environment, since he flew around in a private jet, air-conditioned the heck out of his mansion and owned several gas-guzzling luxury cars.

  But she took the card the man offered. “I’d be happy to pass this along to Coast Eagle’s Community Outreach Unit.”

  His expression faltered. “If you have some time now, I could outline for you our—”

  “There you are,” came a deeper male voice. “I believe it’s time for our dance.”

  Cole Parker appeared by her side, his arm held out, a broad smile on his face.

  Amber couldn’t tell if he was rescuing her or about to pitch something himself. But she quickly estimated that the dance floor was more than halfway to the exit. That was progress. She returned his smile and took his arm.

  “Please excuse me,” she said to Kevin.

  Kevin’s expression faltered, but he had little choice but to let her go.

  Cole guided her through the crowd, keeping their pace brisk enough to discourage the people who looked as though they might approach. It was hard on her feet, particularly her baby toes, but there was no option but to keep walking. Gradually, the crowd thinned near the dance floor.

  “Am I out of the frying pan and into the fire?” she asked him.

  “I’m not hitting you up for a donation, if that’s what you mean.”

  “Good to hear.” She wasn’t sure what he wanted, but he was persistent enough that he had to be after something.

  “I brought you a gift,” he told her.

  “Bribery? That’s a bit blatant, don’t you think?”

  “I believe in getting straight to the point.” He lifted his palm.

  She glanced down, squinting. “You bought me a pair of...socks?”

  “Dancing slippers. I got them from a vending machine in the lobby.” He glanced down at her black-and-gold four-inch heels. “Unless I miss my guess, those are two-hour shoes.”

  She grimaced. “Is that what they call them?” It was an apt name.

  She knew she should be suspicious of his motives, but she couldn’t help but feel grateful.
>
  “Over here.” He pointed to a couple of empty chairs at the edge of the dance floor. “Have a seat.”

  She eased down, deciding to accept the gift and remove the torture chambers from her feet. How much could she possibly be indebted to him for a pair of vending-machine dancing slippers?

  She unbuckled the straps and slipped her feet free.

  “I went with medium.” He handed her the black-satin, ballet-style slippers.

  Slipping them onto her feet, she nearly groaned out loud. “They’re so soft.”

  He bent to pick up her shiny heels, dangling them from his fingertips for a moment before setting them down. “These are ridiculous.”

  She rose with him. “This is an important event for Coast Eagle. And Destiny says they make my calves look longer.”

  “Your calves are already the perfect length.” He set the shoes on the chair.

  “You’re not even looking at them.”

  “I can tell by your height.” He offered his arm again. “Shall we?”

  “I suppose it’s the least I can do, since you saved my feet. But you have to make me a promise.”

  “Sure.”

  She took his arm. “After the dance, walk me to the exit.” She glanced discreetly around. “For some reason, nobody’s bothering me when I’m with you.”

  “Were they bothering you before?”

  “All evening long.” She’d never experienced anything like it. “Donations, jobs and pictures. Why on earth would anybody want their picture taken with me?”

  “Because you’re beautiful?” He drew her into his arms.

  “Ha, ha.” Coco had been beautiful. Amber was, well, sensible. She was very sensible.

  Not that sensible was a bad thing. And she truly didn’t mind her looks. Her eyes were a pleasant shade of blue. Her nose wasn’t too big. Her hair was slightly curly and had its good days and bad days. Today it had been tamed by a team of professionals, so it looked pretty good. She had to say, though, she wasn’t crazy about the sticky feeling from all the products they’d used at Chez Philippe.

  “I wasn’t joking,” said Cole.

  “We both know you’ve got a lot of ground to make up for from earlier,” she said, settling into the rhythm of the music.