She turned to the man who had opened another door for her. 'No way will Alex miss that meeting, Nick. As soon as he's left the house I'll call you.'

'And I'll be here,' he a.s.sured her.

It was really heart-touching seeing the caring for her mother written on Nick's face, seeing her open trust in him. Laura had to clear a lump in her throat before she could speak.

'Now we've got that settled, I'm off to my room to start selecting what I want to take with me. You two can start planning a happy future together.'

She kissed them both on their cheeks and skipped away feeling even more light-hearted at the prospect of her mother's escape to a new life. No more oppressive abuse, no more fear, no more misery. Nick Jeffries was not an impressively handsome, wealthy man, but the kindness running through his veins was obviously more attractive to her mother than anything else.

And maybe that was what she should look for in a man.

Forget Jake Freedman's strong s.e.x appeal.

Forget everything she had loved about him.

There had been no real kindness in him.

A kind man would never have used her as Jake had.

Next week she would be starting a new phase of her life, leaving everything and everyone connected to her father behind, and that would surely make forgetting Jake easier. She would be busy working her way into her career, forging a path of her own without having to worry about her mother's well-being, and looking forward to a really happy, tension-free Christmas for once!

Joy to the world!

Smiling over the words that had sung through her mind, Laura raced upstairs to her room to start organising the big move. Having perused the contents of her wardrobe, she decided large plastic garbage bags were needed for easy transportation. A lot of old stuff need not be taken. She stared down at the turquoise shoes Jake had called erotic on her first date with him at Neil Perry's Spice Temple. Gorgeous shoes. A gift from her mother. But could she ever wear them again without remembering him, remembering how it had been in the hotel after he'd taken them off?

A knock on her door interrupted the miserable train of thought.

'It's just me,' her mother called.

'Come in,' Laura quickly invited, wanting some private time with her mother, mostly to feel totally a.s.sured that going with Nick Jeffries was the right move for her, not an act of desperation or some kind of sacrifice to her children's peace of mind.

'Nick has stacked some boxes in the laundry for us to use,' she said, her blue eyes sparkling with happy antic.i.p.ation.

'Mum, you are sure about this?' Laura asked earnestly. 'You're not just taking some...some easy way out?'

'No, dear. I'm very sure.' She walked over to the bed and sat on the end of it, looking at Laura with a soft, dreamy expression on her face. 'I lost myself with your father. I want to find the person I could have been and Nick will let me do that. I know I'm different with him and I like the difference. He touches my heart and makes me feel good, Laura, good in a way I've never felt before.'

She'd felt good with Jake until... But this wasn't the time to be thinking of him. She had to stop thinking of him. 'That's great, Mum,' she said warmly, giving her an ironic smile. 'I guess I'm still a bit surprised. When did you two open up to each other?'

'It was just after my birthday...'

Tenth of October 'Your father had been particularly nasty to me and I was sitting out on the garden bench near the pool, weeping over my miserable existence, wishing I were dead. Nick had come to work and he found me there. There was no hiding my wretched state and he was so kind, so comforting. We talked and talked...?.'

She sighed, shook her head as though it was too difficult-or too private-to explain, but the reminiscent smile on her face spoke of unexpected pleasure found and treasured. 'Anyhow, the more we talked, the more I realised I wanted to be with him, and he wanted me to be with him, too. We both believe we can make a beautiful little world together. You can't imagine, Laura. Everything feels so different with Nick. So very different...'

Yes, she could imagine. No problem at all in imagining how it was or how it could be. She pulled her mother up from the bed for a hug. 'I'm so glad for you, Mum. Make sure you tell Eddie all that so he won't worry about you.'

'I will, dear. And you must both come to Nick's house for Christmas. We'll have a lovely celebration of it this year.'

'Mmmh...' Laura grinned. 'We'll be able to have fun together.'

'Yes, fun!' Her mother seized the concept with delight and sailed out of the room, no doubt eager to share it with Nick.

Over the next few days Laura and her mother secretly packed what they wanted to take, storing the boxes in Laura's room, where her father never ventured. Eddie was c.o.c.k-a-hoop about the plan and in total agreement that it be carried out without their father's knowledge, not risking any explosive confrontation.

Friday morning came. Alex Costarella duly left for his meeting. Nick arrived in his van within minutes of the all-clear call. He and Laura packed the boxes and bags into it while her mother removed her personal papers-birth and marriage certificates from her father's safe-and made a last-minute check that nothing important had been missed.

There were absolutely no regrets on driving away from the Mosman mansion. It was like having a huge weight lifted off their hearts. The sense of freedom was so heady they couldn't help laughing at everything said between them. Laura called Eddie on her mobile phone to inform him of their successful escape and he was out on the street waiting for them when they arrived at his apartment block.

They all moved her belongings into his second bedroom and once that task was complete, she and Eddie accompanied their mother and Nick back to the van to say goodbye and wish them well. Oddly enough her mother looked strained as she nervously fingered a large envelope she'd left on the pa.s.senger seat, finally thrusting it at Laura.

'I don't know if it's right or wrong to give you this,' she said anxiously. 'It was in your father's safe and I looked into it while I was searching for my papers. It holds more photos of Jake Freedman-ones he didn't show you, Laura. I think he lied about those he did. Lied to drive a wedge between you and Jake, wanting to hurt. He always wanted to hurt when he didn't get his own way. Maybe seeing these will lessen the hurt a bit. I hope so, dear.'

It felt like a knife was twisting in her heart as she took the envelope, but she managed a smile, quickly saying, 'Don't worry, Mum. What's done is done and it's all in the past anyway. Go with Nick now. Be happy.'

They drove off and she stood so long staring blankly after the van, Eddie picked up the vibes of her distress and hugged her shoulders. 'It might be in the past but it's not done with, is it, Laura?' he said sympathetically. 'I know you haven't got over the guy. So let's go inside and look at what Dad's Machiavellian streak came up with to destroy what you had together.'

They were before-and-after photographs-before and after the d.a.m.ning shots that had driven her to reject any future with the man she had loved. Jake hadn't followed the pretty blonde into the house. She'd gone inside alone. Even the shots of them walking down the street together had no hint of any intimacy between them-just a man accompanying a woman.

As for the kiss at the gym, it was clear that the woman had thrown herself at Jake. There were snaps of his face showing surprise, annoyance, impatience, rejection, none of which had been visible in the photo her father had shown her.

'It was a set-up,' Eddie muttered, tapping a clear shot of the blonde. 'I've seen this woman around the traps. She's a fairly high-cla.s.s working girl. This would have been an easy gig for her and no doubt Dad paid her well for it.'

A set-up...and she'd fallen for it; hook, line and sinker.

'I didn't give Jake a chance to explain,' she said miserably. 'I posted him the incriminating photos with a message that wrote him out of my life.'

'Don't fret it, Laura. I'm sure Jake was smart enough to realise Dad wasn't going to tolerate a connection between the two of you. He probably thought he was saving you grief by letting it go.'

Yes, he would think that. But he wouldn't contact her when the business with her father was all over. Not now.

'I didn't believe in him enough. I didn't stay strong,' she cried, gutted by her failure of faith in his caring for her.

Eddie frowned. 'You think there was genuine feeling for you on his side?'

'Yes! It was just the situation making everything too hard. He promised me we'd meet again but I've messed it up, Eddie, taking Dad's word instead of his. I've completely messed it up!'

'Not necessarily. You must have his home address if you posted the photos to him,' he said thoughtfully. 'You're free of Dad now, Laura, and so is Mum. Why not pay Jake a visit, find out where you stand with him? Better to know than not know.'

'Yes!' She jumped up from her seat at Eddie's table where they had laid out the photographs, gripped by a determination to set everything right, if she could. 'I'll go. It's a chance to nothing, isn't it?'

He nodded. 'If you have to go there, go there.'

She did.

A wild hope zinged through her heart every step of the way, right until the front door of Jake's house was opened and she was faced with a young woman holding a baby on her hip.

'h.e.l.lo. Are you one of our new neighbours?' the woman asked with bright-eyed interest.

'No, I...I was looking for Jake Freedman,' Laura blurted out.

'Oh, I'm sorry. He's gone, I'm afraid, and I don't have a forwarding address. We bought the house from him two months ago and moved in last week. I have no idea where you can find him.'

'It's okay. Thank you. Have a nice life here.'

A nice life in the house Jake had worked on and sold...and he had now moved on.

And Laura had no idea where to, either.

But it wasn't the absolute end, she told herself on the long trudge back to Paddington. The case against her father was set down to be heard in March next year-three more months away. Jake was the prime witness against him. He had to attend the court hearing, give evidence-fulfil the mission that had driven them apart.

A court of law was a public place.

She could go there.

She would go there.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

LAURA dressed carefully for the first day of the hearing, choosing to wear the professional black suit she donned for business meetings. She wanted Jake to see her as a fully adult woman, established in her career and capable of standing on her own. However, the suit was figure-hugging, accentuating her feminine curves, and she left her hair loose, wanting him to see her as s.e.xy, too, reminding him of the pleasures they had shared.

She had all week to make contact with him, having arranged for the time off work, but her heart was set on sooner rather than later. Arriving early at the court house, she tensely searched the waiting rooms and corridors, hoping to cross paths with Jake. Having no luck at even catching a glimpse of him, she entered the inquiry room, settling on one of the back seats, sure that she would see him here sometime today.

Her father was seated beside his barrister. He saw her, giving her a bulletlike stare before turning away. She didn't care what he thought of her presence. Only what Jake thought mattered.

The hearing started. Jake had not entered the room. Laura set aside her frustration and listened to the accusations her father had to answer. This was what Jake had been secretly working on-more important to him than their relationship.

Sixteen companies were named-JQE amongst them. Struggling companies that could have been saved by arranging bridging loans but which her father had chosen to bury, gouging millions out of selling off their a.s.sets by charging outrageous fees for his services as liquidator.

The judge described it as 'Churning and burning.'

The day dragged on with no sight of Jake, not in the morning session, not in the lunch-break, not in the afternoon session.

Her father was the only witness called. He admitted to earning between four and six million dollars a year from failing companies but belligerently insisted it was by carrying out due process and he was innocent of any wrongdoing. His air of contempt for the court did not endear him to the judge. Laura hated listening to him. She kept darting glances around the room, hoping to see Jake, willing him to appear.

Why wasn't he here?

Surely this was the culmination of his mission for justice.

Shouldn't he be listening to what her father said so he could rebut it?

Jake was sitting in the consultation room, waiting for the prosecuting barrister to report on the afternoon session, feeling buoyantly confident that Alex Costarella would finally be nailed for the fraudulent b.a.s.t.a.r.d he was. The gla.s.s panels of the door gave him a view of the area directly outside the enquiry room. A rush of people into it signalled that the session was over.

Jake recognised the reporters who had tried to interview him. The case was drawing quite a bit of interest from the business sector of the media. Which was good. Too much skulduggery was hidden from the public. The more people were aware of what went on, the more they could guard against it, or at least question what was happening.

Laura!

Jake bolted to his feet, shocked at seeing her amongst the departing spectators, his mind instantly torn by uncertainty over what she was doing here and the wild urge to stride out and sweep her into a fiercely possessive embrace. It had been so long-almost a year-but just the sight of her had his body buzzing with the need to have her again.

She looked stunning, the black suit barely confining her voluptuous curves, her glorious hair bouncing around her shoulders. His fingers itched to rake through its silky ma.s.s. His groin was tingling hotly from a swift rush of blood. He'd never wanted a woman so much. If he reached out to her now, would she happily respond, or...?

More likely she would spurn him, he realised, the surge of excitement draining slowly away. Given that she had believed whatever story her father had spun around the photographs she'd sent him, no doubt believing she'd been used as a malicious thrill on the side, as well, the probability was she was here to support her father against him.

Love...hate-they could colour anyone's judgement.

He watched her join the group of people waiting for the elevator, watched her until steel doors closed behind her, and ached inside for what had been lost. He'd let the past rule his decisions, the long-burning need for justice. It was a crusade for good over evil, yet he knew he would feel no joy in the victory. Satisfaction, perhaps, but no joy.

He had to take the witness stand tomorrow. If Laura attended the hearing again... A violent determination rampaged through him. He would make her believe every word he said, every revelation of the kind of man her father was. It might not win him anything from her on a personal level, but at least she wouldn't be able to sustain any support for her rotten father, who had ruined any chance they might have had for a future together.

The second day...

Laura had no sooner settled on a back-row seat in the inquiry room than her father was on his feet, pushing back the chair he had occupied at his barrister's table so violently it tumbled over. He ignored it, glaring furiously at her as he strode down the aisle, obviously intent on confrontation.

She sat tight, steeling herself to ride out his wrath. Since she and her mother had left the Mosman mansion before Christmas, none of the family had had any personal contact with him. No doubt he contemptuously considered them rats that had deserted the sinking ship, but he had no power over them anymore. He couldn't actually do anything to her, not here in public, but if looks could kill, she'd certainly be dead.

'What the h.e.l.l are you doing here?' he demanded, the thunderous tone of voice promising punishment for her sins against him.

'Listening,' she answered curtly, refusing to be cowed.

Burning hatred in his eyes. 'Are you on with Jake Freedman again?'

'No.'

His lips curled in a sneer. 'Chasing after him.'

She met his vicious mockery with absolute self-determination. 'You lied to me about him, Dad. I've come to hear the truth.'

'Truth!' he scoffed. 'You benefited from his stepfather's fall. That's the truth. And Freedman isn't about to forget it, not when he's been brooding over it for years.'

The judge's entrance demanded her father's return to his barrister's side. Laura was shaken by the encounter. She'd been all keyed up, hoping that a meeting with Jake might lead to a resumption of their relationship. Fixated on the photographs, she hadn't given any thought to other factors. When all was said and done, she was still her father's daughter, and Jake may well have killed any feeling he'd had for her and moved on, especially after she'd used false evidence to blow him away.

A chance to nothing, she'd said to Eddie, and the truth was she was probably fooling herself about having any chance at all. She sat in a slump of silent despair, not hearing anything until Jake's name was called.

Tension instantly stiffened her spine and pressed her legs tightly together. Her eyes automatically drank in everything about him as he entered the room and was led to the witness box. He wore a sober grey suit and the air of a man all primed to carry out deadly business. James Bond-sleek, sophisticated, s.e.xy, making her heart kick at how handsome he was, making her stomach flutter at how devastating this day could be to her. Even the sound of his voice as he was sworn in evoked memories of intimate moments, making her ache for more.

He shot his gaze around the room before sitting down. For one electric moment it stopped on her. There was no smile, not the slightest change of expression on his face at seeing her. She didn't smile at him, either. The feelings inside her were too intense. She fiercely willed him to know she was here for him. The moment pa.s.sed all too quickly, his gaze flicking to the prosecuting barrister as he settled on his chair.

He didn't look at her again.

Not once.

Laura listened to his testimony, hearing a biting edge in every word. It became perfectly clear that her father's intent as a liquidator was exploitation, without any regard to the interests of any company or its creditors. Billable hours extended to clerical staff, even to the tea and coffee lady-each at three hundred dollars an hour. At one meeting with creditors, the coffee served to them came to eighty dollars a cup.