Guarding His Fortune
Autor
Stella Bagwell
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12
HarlequinChapter One
Savannah Fortune struggled to hide her impatience as she gazed toward the opposite end of the study where her father, Miles, was standing in front of a massive cherrywood desk. Tall and tanned, with short graying brown hair, he made an imposing figure in a gray suit and power-red tie. Next to him in a plush armchair, her mother, Sarah, dressed impeccably in a white dress and pearls, waited for her husband to address the family.
“This is ridiculous.” Savannah’s hushed voice was directed at her younger sister, Belle. “Why has Dad called this urgent meeting in the middle of the day? Couldn’t he have waited until dinner this evening?”
Belle slanted her a droll look. “Urgent means he wants his children to focus on him. Not the boudin kolaches and gumbo we’re having for supper.”
Miles rapped his knuckles on the desktop and everyone in the room turned their attention to the patriarch of the New Orleans Fortunes.
“I’m glad to see everyone is here,” he spoke, his strong voice reverberating around the room. “I’ll try to make this as concise as possible.”
A few steps away, Savannah’s older brother, Austin, held up a hand. “Sorry to interrupt, Dad, but Nolan isn’t here. Shouldn’t he be privy to this family meeting, too?”
“Nolan has already been informed of everything I’m about to relay to all of you.” Turning slightly, Miles picked up a large manila envelope from the desktop and held it up for his family to see. “Earlier this morning I received this detailed report and as much as I hate to alarm all of you, the news is jarring.”
Jarring? Now that Savannah was taking closer notice, her father appeared drawn and pale. What was in that envelope? As far as she knew, Fortune Investments, her father’s massive banking business, was as lucrative as ever.
Leaning closer to Belle, Savannah whispered in her sister’s ear. “Has the stock market crashed or something?”
Belle made a hands-up gesture to say she didn’t have a clue as to what might be going on. Across the room, their older sister, Georgia, was arching a questioning brow at their brother Beau. From the lost expressions on the faces of Savannah’s siblings, it appeared all were a bit mystified by this meeting.
Miles cleared his throat and continued, “The news is conclusive. The Fortune family is being targeted.”
This wasn’t exactly breaking news, Savannah thought. Especially the kind that warranted a family meeting.
Apparently, her brother Draper was thinking along those same lines. He said, “I don’t mean to sound like a snob, but being wealthy has always made us targets, Dad.”
Miles nodded. “You couldn’t be more correct, son. However, this situation is different. Someone is deliberately trying to harm members of the Fortune family. As you all know, there’s already been an arson in Austin that came close to being deadly, a cyber-attack at Robinson Tech and a real-estate sabotage in Houston. We have no way of knowing who or what might be next. We do have reason to believe that Charlotte Robinson is behind all these incidents.”
“Do you know this for certain?” Georgia asked. “It seems strange the woman would want to hurt her own children.”
Miles pecked a finger against the manila envelope. “As you all have learned, my half brother Kenneth Fortunado in Houston has a son, Connor, who’s a highly skilled private investigator. Connor has continued to dig up information about Charlotte and he’s recently discovered the divorce between her and Gerald recently became final.”
Austin quickly countered. “Why should we be concerned about this? We’re not a part of the Austin Fortunes or the Houston Fortunes. Undoubtedly, we’re related to them, but we’ve never even met most of them.”
Austin’s remarks matched the ones going through Savannah’s head. The other Fortunes were strangers. In fact, only a few months had passed since Miles had admitted to his children that he was actually an illegitimate son of Julius Fortune, the man who’d also fathered Gerald Robinson aka Jerome Fortune. At that time, Miles had beseeched his children to keep the secret under wraps. However, it wasn’t long afterward that the long-buried truth had somehow gotten back to the Austin Fortunes and from there it had spread.
Miles placed a protective hand on his wife’s shoulder as he answered Austin’s question. “Gerald and Charlotte were married for thirty-some years. Plenty of baggage and money has accrued over that length of time. The woman is furious that she’s losing out. Not to mention that she’s been humiliated in public by Gerald’s endless philandering. Make no mistake, she’s seeking vengeance on the Fortune family. And I’m very concerned the woman has most likely learned I am a half brother to her ex-husband, Gerald Robinson. And regrettably, that makes all of us an enemy in her eyes.”
Everyone began to talk at once, bouncing questions and opinions back and forth until the room sounded like Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras. Savannah was content to stand to one side and wait for the commotion to die down. After all, she was soon going to be off on her own and away from the family. This Charlotte-threat didn’t apply to her.
Eventually, Miles called for silence. “I’m due back at the office in half an hour, so I need to wrap up this meeting,” he announced. “Are there any last questions before I leave?”
Belle asked a basic one. “So what does this mean for all of us, Dad?”
Miles somber gaze encompassed his whole family as he spoke. “It means all of us need to remain on high alert and be vigilant of people, our surroundings and anything out of the ordinary. Meanwhile, if any new information about Charlotte comes to me, it will be passed on to all of you.”
He assisted Sarah from the chair and as their mother made her way out of the study, everyone followed, including Savannah, who was on the tail end of the group.
She was about to step into the hallway when Miles suddenly called to her. “Savannah, please remain in the study. I’d like a private word with you.”
Smiling to herself, she made an abrupt about-face and walked back to the center of the room. Her father was going to congratulate her on being invited to the University of Texas to join an important study group, she thought. No doubt, he was proud to hear his daughter would be studying with one of the most elite professors in the field of epidemiology.
“Yes, Dad?”
He gestured for her to take a seat in the same chair her mother had occupied.
She shook her head. “I don’t need to sit.”
Actually, she was impatient to get back to her bedroom, where suitcases and garments were laid across every inch of the king-sized bed. By the end of the day, she wanted to have everything packed and ready for the move.
“Sit down anyway.” He adjusted the knot of his tie, then placed the report about Charlotte Robinson into the leather briefcase he carried to work.
Biting back a sigh, Savannah eased into the chair nearest to her and smoothed the hem of her mint-green skirt over her knees.
“Okay, I’m sitting,” she said cheerfully, then shot him a smug smile. “I assume Mother told you my good news.”
Easing a hip onto the corner of the desk, he said flatly, “She told me. Unfortunately, that’s why we’re having this talk.”
Instead of sounding like a preening father, his voice was crisp and resolute. It was the same unyielding tone she often heard him use on the phone with a business crony.
Frowning, she asked, “Dad, aren’t you happy about the invitation?”
“I’m always proud of my children’s achievements.”
His response was hardly encouraging. “Being invited to join a study group probably doesn’t sound like much to you. But in my world, it’s quite an honor.”
He shook his head. “Savannah, I realize the invitation from the university is a big coup for you. And normally I’d be the first to give you a proud send-off to Austin. But considering all the troubles that have been plaguing the Fortunes, I have to insist that you cancel your trip to Texas.”
Her jaw dropped. “Cancel? You must be joking! You don’t just cancel an invitation to study with a group of brilliant graduate students and a professor who has an impressive reputation as being one of the best in his field. There are hundreds of students who’d kill to be in my position!”
“And there’s one person out there who might literally want to kill you just because your name is Fortune,” he shot back at her. “No, Savannah, I’m very serious about this. Austin is full of Fortunes. It’s where Gerald’s business, Robinson Tech, is located. Living there would place you in the thick of danger.”
“But Nolan lives there,” she argued. “If he can, then so can I.”
Miles muttered something under his breath and Savannah knew better than to ask him to repeat it. Frankly, she’d never seen her father looking so stressed. Not even when the stock market took a wild plunge, or a huge investment had gone bankrupt.
“Nolan is a grown man with a family,” he reasoned.
And being twenty-five and a single woman made her incapable of taking care of herself? She wanted to fling the question at her father. But she was smart enough to know that sparring with him in that manner would only send his blood pressure to the boiling point. Miles Fortune was old-school. Women of the family were to be pampered and protected. Men were expected to show strength and wisdom.
“I’m fully grown, too, Dad. And my career, my education are very important to me.”
“Your life is more important to me,” he retorted.
Frustration caused her head to swing back and forth. “But, Dad, I’ve already rented an apartment in Austin and purchased a plane ticket! I’m in the process of packing!”
“Sorry. Cancel everything. When this ordeal with Charlotte Robinson is over, then you may reschedule your studies.”
Reschedule? By the time Charlotte Robinson was tracked down and punished for her misdeeds, Savannah wouldn’t be able to fetch herself an invitation to a dogfight, much less to the university study!
She leaned toward him, her expression beseeching him to understand the importance of her trip to Austin. “Dad, you’ve been a businessman for the major part of your life. More than anyone, you understand that to get ahead you have to strike while the iron is hot. I have to jump at this study now! I won’t have another chance like this.”
His expression was unrelenting. “I won’t have a daughter of mine running around on her own in Austin! You’d constantly be in the crosshairs! You might as well pin a sign to your back with the name Fortune written in bold letters.”
“Dad, for heaven’s sake, most of my waking hours will be spent at the university. I’m sure the security there will be more than adequate.”
Before he could shoot a negative reply at her, Savannah rose from the chair and started out of the study.
“Savannah, I’m serious about this. You’re not going.”
Glancing over her shoulder, she smiled at him. “This is my life. My career. I am going, Dad. And I hope it will be with your blessings.”
“That isn’t going to happen, young lady!”
Her chin high, Savannah walked through the door, then carefully closed it behind her.
Living in New Orleans all her life, Savannah was long accustomed to hot, steamy weather, even for the first day of April, so when she stepped through the glass doors of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, the oppressive afternoon heat hardly caught her attention. But a man walking straight in her direction had definitely caught her attention. Somewhere near thirty, he was at least six foot three or four with enough muscles to suggest he spent hours in the gym. His tanned complexion and black close-cropped hair coupled with a neatly trimmed goatee and mustache conjured up an image of dark and deliciously dangerous.
And the danger grew even closer as he stopped a few steps in front of her. “Miss Fortune?”
She instinctively glanced around the busy entrance to make sure the dreamy hunk of a man wasn’t addressing someone else. “That’s right,” she finally answered. “How did you guess?”
A faint, almost cocky grin lifted a corner of his masculine lips and for a brief moment, Savannah couldn’t tear her eyes away from the sexy sight of straight white teeth, an unyielding jaw and chocolate-brown eyes fringed with thick black lashes.
“I’m Chaz Mendoza and it’s my job to be a good guesser.” He gestured to a sleek black car parked at the curbside of the sheltered portico. “I’m here to take you to your destination. Are those your bags?”
The question snapped her out of her survey of his chiseled features, and she glanced over her left shoulder to where a valet was pushing a cart loaded with the luggage she’d just collected from the baggage carousel. “Those are all mine.”
Before she could ask him if the university had sent a car to collect her, the man was already directing the baggage attendant to the trunk of the waiting car.
Standing to one side, Savannah allowed her gaze to wander discreetly over the driver. The navy short-sleeved polo shirt and tight jeans he was wearing showed off every hard muscle of his brawny physique. Everything about him exuded authority and strength.
Chaz Mendoza. The name sounded very familiar, but try as she might, she couldn’t recall exactly where she might have heard it. And she knew for certain she’d never met him before. He was the type of man a woman didn’t forget.
Oh, well, she thought, he was hardly any business of hers and she’d not traveled all the way to Austin to have her focus derailed by a man. Even if he was scrumptious eye candy.
He slammed the trunk shut on her baggage and the sound pushed her out of her musings. She quickly opened her handbag and handed several bills to the valet.
The lanky young man thanked her with an appreciative grin, then hurried off with the empty cart.
Savannah looked at the driver. “I was expecting to catch a taxi to my apartment. This is certainly nice of the university to provide me with a ride. Funny, though. I don’t recall giving anyone the arrival time of my flight.”
“It probably just slipped your mind. I think right now, we’d better be on our way. This parking spot is limited to a few minutes.” He cupped a hand beneath her elbow and escorted her around to the passenger side of the car.
After he’d helped her into the plush bucket seat and joined her in the car, Savannah gave him the address of her new apartment.
“If the address isn’t recognizable to you, I have a navigation map on my phone,” she offered as she snapped the seat belt in place.
He quickly belted himself in and merged the car into the slow moving line of traffic exiting the airport. “Thank you, but my car is equipped with a navigational system. I’m familiar with that particular part of the city anyway.”
“Oh, that’s good,” she told him. “I hope I’ll soon learn my way around. Of course, I need to pick up a car of my own before I start trying to navigate the city streets.”
He glanced in her direction and Savannah found herself looking directly into his brown eyes. The connection rattled her for a brief moment before she purposely turned her attention to the traffic in front of them.
“So you’re not familiar with Austin?” he asked.
His voice was slow, and warm, and just rough enough to cause goose bumps to rise along the back of her arms. Or was that the cold air blowing from the vents on the car dash? Either way, her reaction to the man was making her feel more than foolish.
She took a deep breath and blew it out. “No. I’m from New Orleans.”
From the corner of her eye, she could see a faint smile touch his lips. “So that’s where that lilting drawl of yours comes from.”
“And yours doesn’t exactly sound Texan. Are you a native Austinite?”
“No. My family is originally from Florida, but in the past several years most of them, including me, have migrated here to Texas.”
“I see. So you and your family obviously like it here,” she said.
“Very much.”
Savannah sighed as thoughts of her father once again drifted through her mind. Since the day of the family meeting, she’d expected him to be fighting her tooth and nail over this Austin trip. Instead, he’d avoided her completely. Even this morning, before she left the Fortune mansion to catch her flight, she expected him to give her a few parting words of warning. Instead, her mother had informed her that Miles had skipped breakfast to make an early downtown business meeting. So much for worrying about her safety, she thought glumly, much less wishing her good luck.
“Is anything wrong?” her driver asked.
Was her state of mind so transparent that a stranger could read her troubled thoughts? She darted a glance at him.
“No. Everything is fine,” she said. “I’ll just be glad to get to my apartment. I’ve never really cared for flying. Once I’m back on solid ground, I always feel drained.”
“Have you done much of it? Flying, that is.”
From the corner of her eye, she could see his left hand resting comfortably on the steering wheel. There was no sign of a wedding band and the fact that she was even bothering to look caused a tinge of embarrassment to warm her cheeks.
What are you thinking, Savannah? Take a closer gander at this guy. You think he got those muscles from relaxing in a recliner in front of the TV? This man is as far from married as a man can get.
Clearing her throat, she pulled her straying thoughts back to his question. “I’ve flown across the country many times, and overseas. I see it as a necessary evil to get to where I’m going. What about you? Do you travel much?”
“I used to. But not since I’ve moved to Austin. I guess you could say I’ve already gotten to where I’m going.”
She smiled at him. “Hmm. That must be nice. To know that you’re in the right place and exactly where you belong.”
By now, they were traveling a busy highway that led deeper into the city. If Savannah had taken a taxi as she’d originally planned, she would’ve been taking note of her surroundings and the city skyline ahead of them. But Chaz Mendoza’s huge masculine presence was distracting her from seeing Austin clearly for the first time.
“Is that why you’ve come to Texas? To figure out where you belong?”
It was a rather personal question to be posed by a stranger, she thought. Especially one who’d been hired to simply drive her from the airport to her apartment. But to be fair, she hadn’t exactly been discussing the weather with him.
“Not really. I know my roots are in New Orleans. I’m here because I’ve been invited to partake in a study group at the university for a few weeks.”
“That sounds very impressive.”
At least someone thinks so, Savannah thought. “I feel honored to be included. It’s something I’ve been wanting and working toward for a long time.”
“What are you studying?”
“Epidemiology.”
“Sorry, you’ll have to explain that a bit more. I’m not a science person.”
She wanted to ask what kind of person he was, but quickly decided that would be too obvious. The last thing she wanted this man to think was that she was flirting with him. For heaven’s sake, she didn’t flirt with anyone. It wasn’t her nature. Besides, she didn’t have time for such nonsense.
“Don’t feel badly. Most people aren’t familiar with the word. It’s a study of diseases. Why people get them and what we can do to prevent them—as in finding the biggest risk factors. There are different fields to study in epidemiology. For instance how certain diseases affect society and the workplace and the cost of caring for such illnesses.”
“And what field are you focusing on?”
No doubt, he was asking just to make polite conversation, Savannah decided. Most men around her age were turned off by the subject. He might be truly interested if she were discussing quarterbacks in the NFL, or point guards in the NBA, but not medical science.
“I’m concentrating on the branch that studies why people get diseases and certain illnesses and what we can do to prevent them.”
“An admirable profession, I’d say.”
“I like to think so. My studies—” She broke off as she realized she was about to say her studies consumed her life. For some reason she didn’t want this sexy man to think she was little more than a brain in a white lab coat. “They’re very important to me. So that’s why I’m here in Austin.”
He glanced in her direction and Savannah got the strange impression he was something more than just a driver for the university. The notion shook her, until he smiled and then suddenly everything felt right again.
“Well, welcome to Texas, Miss Fortune. I hope you enjoy your time here.”
“Thanks. I hope I do, too.”
This was going to be much harder than he’d ever anticipated, Chaz decided, as he braked the car to a stop in front of the luxurious gated apartment building where Miss Savannah Fortune would be living until she finished her stint at the university.
Obviously, her father had told her nothing about hiring a bodyguard to protect her while she was here in Austin. And Chaz had yet to find the right moment to tell her exactly why he’d intercepted her at the airport.
If she’d hadn’t looked so damned beautiful when he spotted her emerging through the doors of the terminal, his brain might have remained focused on his job. And if she hadn’t been so open and warm when he’d introduced himself, he might’ve been able to come right out and inform her that he was working for her father.
But the sight of Savannah had thrown him for a loop. She’d scarcely resembled the foggy pic Miles Fortune had texted him earlier this morning. It was a good thing the man had warned Chaz she’d be dressed in a cream-colored pencil skirt and a pale pink blouse; otherwise, he would’ve missed her entirely.
Damn the man! When Miles Fortune had first contacted Chaz about providing security for his daughter, he’d described Savannah as the studious sort, who rarely took her nose out of a book. According to him, she had a very limited social life and made a point of avoiding men entirely. She’d be easy to keep an eye on, Miles had told him.
Hell, the man was either blind or knew very little about his own child, Chaz thought with a heavy dose of frustration. Keeping his eyes on Savannah Fortune was going to be easy. It was keeping his hands off her for the next few weeks that was going to pose the problem.
Chaz had assumed he was going to be guarding a meek young woman, whose idea of an exciting evening was to watch an educational channel on TV. This young beauty looked as though she’d be very much at home on the dance floor and in the arms of a very attentive man.
Trying not to dwell on that image, he peered across the narrow console to see she was leaning slightly forward, peering through the windshield at the entrance of the apartment. The movement caused a long curtain of smooth brown hair to slip forward and partially hide her face. Chaz wanted to reach over and tuck the silky strands behind her ear. Not because he needed to see her lovely features. No, the image of her face was already burned into his brain. He simply wanted to touch her and discover for himself if she felt as soft and womanly as she actually looked.
“That’s the correct number,” she stated happily. “And the outside certainly looks pretty.”
Chaz pulled his gaze away from her long enough to study the entrance to the redbrick apartment. A dark green door with a brass knocker was shaded by the overhang of a square concrete porch. On one corner, a huge planter spilled over with red and pink geraniums.
The apartment was definitely not typical budget-friendly housing, he decided. It was for the elite class and more like a fancy townhouse than an apartment. But then, he’d not expected anything less from a Fortune.
“I’d say it appears to be exceptionally nice. Did you rent it sight unseen?”
She nodded. “Live Oak Lane is supposed to be one of the best gated communities in Austin and I studied photos on their website before I signed the lease. But sometimes pics can be doctored. I’m hoping that’s not the case when I see the inside of the apartment.” She unlatched her seat belt and pulled the strap of an expensive leather handbag over her shoulder. “If you’ll be kind enough to help me get my bags to the door, I’ll let you be on your way.”
“My pleasure,” he murmured.
After pushing a button to release the trunk, he skirted the hood to help her out of the car. When she placed her little hand in his, Chaz was instantly swamped with all sorts of protective feelings. Most of which had nothing to do with his job.
Once she was standing next to him on the concrete drive, she looked up at him and smiled and though he was cursing at himself to step back and wedge a respectable amount of distance between them, all he could do was hold on to her fingers and stare into her hazel eyes. Green, blue or brown, he wasn’t sure which color was dominant, but he was quite certain he’d never seen anything so sparkly or full of life.
“Thank you, Chaz.”
“You’re entirely welcome, Miss Fortune.”
Clearing his throat, he forced himself to drop her hand and turn to the task of lifting her bags from the trunk. As soon as he had them on the ground, she grabbed up a floral tote and a midsized suitcase with wheels.
“I can manage these two,” she said and headed to the entrance of the apartment.
As Chaz followed with two bags stuffed under each arm, he glanced furtively around the apartment complex. There were five tenants to the right of Savannah’s flat, four to the left and no second floors to any of them. At least that was a plus for security, he thought. But the beautiful landscaping separating the lawns of each apartment could create a nightmare if anyone decided to hide behind the giant blooming oleanders or bushes of Texas sage.
When he reached the door, Savannah was already digging through her handbag for the key.
“Just put them anywhere,” she told him. “I’ll get them inside.”
He set the bags down and took a deep breath. His time had run out, he decided. There was no more delaying the inevitable.
“Uh—Miss Fortune, I think—”
Before he could push the remaining words past his lips, she smiled and offered him her hand in a gesture of farewell.
“I know what you’re going to say. It was nice meeting this way.”
“It couldn’t have been nicer,” he agreed, while thinking he could stand here holding on to her hand for hours and never get tired of looking at her plush lips, or short little nose, or those luminous eyes fringed by the longest lashes he’d ever seen.
“Perhaps I’ll see you around campus sometime,” she said. “But then, I suppose you’re always busy carting people to and fro.”
He tried not to wince at the deduction he’d allowed her to make of him. “Actually, Miss Fortune, you’re going to be seeing quite a bit of me.”
Her eyes suddenly wary, she purposely pulled her hand from his. “Oh? I don’t understand.”
“I’m sorry. I should have explained the moment I introduced myself at the airport. But I...thought it might be nicer if the two of us got to know each other a bit before I sprang the situation on you.”
She was shaking her head now and Chaz saw a look of confusion and something close to fear fill her eyes.
“Situation? What are you talking about?”
“My name is Chaz Mendoza, but the university didn’t send me to collect you at the airport. Your father did.”
She took a step backward. “Excuse me?”
“Your father is Miles Fortune of Fortune Investments in New Orleans, right?”
Although her nod was an affirmative, her eyes were glazed with shock. “Yes, he is my father. But why—”
Before she could question him further, he said, “He’s hired me as your bodyguard, Miss Fortune.”
She gasped with disbelief. “Bodyguard! You must be joking!”
“Hardly. I don’t joke about providing security. From what Mr. Fortune tells me, you could be putting yourself in quite a bit of danger. My job is to see that danger doesn’t get anywhere near you.”
So this was why her father hadn’t spoken to her before she’d departed New Orleans, she thought. He’d believed he’d taken control of the situation by hiring her a bodyguard.
“This is incredible! I can’t believe my father would go so far as to—” Her gaze swept over him as though she were seeing him for the first time today and then her head began to swing back and forth. “Hire a man to follow me around! It won’t work. It simply won’t work. As of this moment, you can consider yourself relieved of your duties.”
During the brief ride over from the airport, Chaz had made the mistake of thinking she was different from the wealthy people who often visited his family’s businesses, Mendoza Winery and La Viña restaurant. As they’d made conversation, she’d not come across as a spoiled little rich girl. But she was certainly coming across as one now.
“Sorry. You didn’t hire me, Miss Fortune. So you can hardly terminate my services.”
To underscore the fact that he wasn’t going anywhere, Chaz pulled a key from his jeans pocket and unlocked the door.
Her mouth fell open. “Where did you get that key?” she demanded. “And don’t tell me you’re planning on staying here! In my apartment!”
Smiling smugly, he pushed the door open and gestured for her to precede him into the building.
“Don’t worry about how I got a key. And don’t be thinking you can run to the building manager and complain. Your father has already taken care of everything.”
“That’s what he thinks! There’s no way in hell I’m going to share my living space with a man!”
Her plush lips flattened to an angry line as she brushed past him, but Chaz was paying very little attention to her outrage as she marched ahead of him. No, he was much more focused on the sweet flowery scent of her perfume and the evocative sway of her round little bottom.
“Don’t worry, Miss Fortune. You’ll get used to me.”
Looking over her shoulder, she glared at him. “Never!”
Something about her ruffled feathers made her even more attractive than when she’d been making polite conversation and Chaz couldn’t stop himself from smiling at her.
“Never say never, Miss Fortune. It might come back to haunt you.”
She stomped out of the foyer and as Chaz followed after her, he realized his job as a bodyguard had just taken on a new meaning.
