Her Three Liberators [The Hot Millionaires #6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (2 page)

“I do
not
control them!”

Daniel’s eyes softened. “Don’t you?”

“I haven’t met anyone who excites me, that’s all.”

“You’re a stranger in America. You’re young and lovely and don’t lack for invitations. I just want to see you have some fun instead of being stuck out here with an old fogy like me. No one deserves that fate.” Daniel’s chortle turned into another coughing fit. “Ask any one of my ex-wives if you don’t believe me,” he said when he recovered from it.

“All of your ex-wives still adore you.”

Daniel elevated his brows and shot her a knowing look. “Now that they don’t have to live with me and my philandering ways, perhaps they do.”

“I don’t believe we’re having this conversation,” Steffi said, the affection she felt for Daniel tempered by the urge to tell him to butt out of her personal life. “I have everything I could possibly want here on Porlock. Why would I want to go gadding about town with people who don’t interest me, fending off wandering hands, hot breath, and goodness knows what else?”

“Why fend them off?” Daniel asked, a sparkle in his eye.

“Daniel!”

“Just asking.”

“Unlike some people I could name, I don’t happen to be sexually liberated.”

“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”

“What makes you think I haven’t?”

“Trust me, darling, I’m an expert on the subject. There’s something inside you that hasn’t been released yet. I should hate you not to experience it.”

Steffi rolled her eyes. “That’s certainly true, about you being an expert on relationships, I mean.”

“To return to your personal life.” Daniel’s expression sobered. “What you have here on Porlock is a barn full of horses that you seem to prefer to people.”

“You blame me for that?”

“Not at all, but they’re perfectly well looked after without your being here every second of the day.”

“Yes, but—”

“I need to put my affairs in order, Steffi, while I still have my cognitive powers. Most people don’t get advance notice that they’re about to fall off this mortal coil. I ought to be grateful for that. It’s why I’ve asked the boys to stay for a while.”

“Yes.” Steffi closed her eyes, fighting back the pain. “I realize that. I just wish it wasn’t necessary.”

“You and me both, my dear. They don’t know about this yet,” he added, pointing to the chair. “I’ve played the illness down. If their mothers knew how bad it is, all three of them would probably descend upon me and stay for the duration. I love them all, but that’s the last thing I want.”

“I understand.”

“I expect you’re worried about your own future.”

“Daniel, how could I be? I’m not quite that shallow.”
I’m not!

“I’ll admit I only asked you to accompany Marius because I thought he’d travel better with you. After all, he appears to adore you almost as much as I do.”

“Daniel!”

“As soon as you got here, I knew I wasn’t going to send you home again, and that had nothing to do with Marius. You just seemed to fit right in. Then I got ill, and before I knew it, I had an unpaid PA who knew what needed doing without being told.” He took her hand again. “I’ll make sure the boys look after you after I’m gone.”

“Don’t you dare!” She snatched her hand from his, belatedly realizing that her reaction had upset him. “I’m sorry, Daniel,” she said in a more even tone, “but I don’t need charity. I know I have to leave Marius sooner or later.” She couldn’t look at him. “I’ll survive.”

“I’m sorry if you think I was patronizing—”

“Time for your medication, Mr. Malone,” Trevor said, walking into the room on soft-soled shoes.

“When isn’t it?” Daniel responded, weary resignation in his tone.

Steffi used the opportunity to escape. The medication sometimes made Daniel nauseous and he wouldn’t want her to see him that way. She wandered back outside, wondering if a poultice had been applied to the Arab mare’s swollen fetlock.

“Stop fretting so,” she muttered to herself. “The guys know what they’re doing.”

Steffi’s mental perambulations were a defence mechanism to avoid confronting the subject that was bothering her the most—the arrival of Daniel’s three sons. Had she only been here on Porlock for just two years? It seemed like so much longer than that. The moment she’d set foot on the extensive estate it had felt like coming home, and the thought of leaving it upset her almost as much as losing Daniel.

She wasn’t needed here—not really. The horse stud had run perfectly adequately before her arrival and would continue to do so once she was gone. She and Marius had a special bond, it was true, but he’d be fine without her. Her concern was that she didn’t know which of Daniel’s sons would inherit the stud and if he’d feel inclined to keep it going. They were supposedly all good horsemen. Steffi wouldn’t know because she hadn’t met any of them. Daniel preferred to invade their respective territories, just to keep them on their toes, and they seemed too busy to come here.

She knew all about them, by reputation and the things Daniel said about them. They were all highfliers, often pictured in the gossip columns attending some event or other, always with stunning women in tow. That was hardly surprising. Daniel was a handsome and charming man, even now when he was literally withering before her eyes. All three of the guys’ mothers had been gorgeous, so it followed that the kids would inherit their physical attributes.

Sighing, Steffi rebraided her rebellious curly hair and headed for the barns, suspecting that she wouldn’t even register on such sophisticated men’s radars.

* * * *

Jonny Malone touched his Piper Aztec down on the runway at Charlottesville Albermarle Airport with barely a bump. He taxied to his allotted parking space and cut the engines. Ground crew rushed up to put chocks beneath the tires while Jonny grabbed his luggage and headed for the door, curious to know why his father was so adamant that all three of them report to Porlock. It wasn’t like him to play the heavy parent.

His half brothers, Harry and Brad, were illegally parked outside the terminal building in a flashy Mercedes with its roof down.

“Hey, big brother,” Harry called, sharing a high five with Jonny as soon as he was within range. “Long time no see. How goes it?”

Brad punched the air with delight. “Jonny. Good to see you.”

Jonny threw his bag into the back of the car. With one athletic bound, he vaulted over the side and joined it on the rear seat. Harry gunned the engine and moved off before the car got ticketed.

“What’s this all about, then?” Harry asked. “The paternal summons, I mean.”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Jonny said. “When did you guys get into town?”

“I flew in from California this morning,” Brad said. “Harry picked me up and we drove straight down from Richmond to get you.”

Jonny’s long hair blew across his face as Harry took a corner at his usual breakneck speed. “You must have seen the old man recently,” he said to Harry. “You’re practically in his backyard, being based in Richmond.”

“Nah, actually, I haven’t. He’s cancelled on me a couple of times.” Harry shrugged. “You know how he is, always overstretching himself.”

“Takes one to know one,” Brad said, flashing a grin over his shoulder at Jonny. “That model you date seems to take up a load of your time.”

“Dated,” Harry replied. “Past tense. She was too up herself for my liking.”

Jonny barely heard the banter flying between his brothers. He had a strange feeling about this summons. Daniel had been ill recently, but he’d gotten over that and the iron control he maintained over the family business had been firmly reapplied.

Jonny didn’t delude himself into thinking he had autonomy over Malone Enterprises’ head office in New York City. He ran the day-to-day business that oversaw their investment portfolio, but Daniel was the driving force behind its success and always knew precisely what was going on, sometimes before Jonny himself did. The same could be said of Daniel’s baby, the ICT wing of the corporation in Richmond. Harry, family geek, shared their father’s genius for all things technological but would never exceed it. Their winery in California was Brad’s area of expertise, but again, Daniel had forgotten more about a good vintage than Brad would ever learn. As with anything their gifted father involved himself with, he learned everything from the ground up, wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty in the pursuit of excellence, and few people ever got one over on him.

Daniel ran it all from Porlock, where he was now breeding Hanoverian horses—successfully naturally—and had recently introduced an English stallion. Jonny loved horses and looked forward to seeing the wonder beast he’d heard so much about for himself. He only wished he had more time available to spend in the saddle, but since he planned to stay at Porlock for a few days, he’d definitely remedy that situation.

His brothers were still swapping stories about their latest squeezes when Harry stopped the Merc at the imposing entrance to Porlock. The gatekeeper emerged from his hut, recognized Harry, and the gates swung slowly open without making a sound. The brothers waved at old Barney, who’d policed the gates for as long as they could remember, as Harry drove through them. Jonny filled his lungs with the crisp spring Virginian air and glanced about him at the place he’d called home his entire life.

Unlike his brothers, he’d been brought up on Porlock by his father. When Daniel’s marriage to his mother broke down, she’d asked Daniel to keep Jonny with him and he hadn’t hesitated. From that day onward, he’d groomed Jonny to one day take over the empire he spent every waking moment creating. Well, not every waking moment, Jonny amended, thinking of those three ex-wives and the bevy of beautiful women who’d passed through his father’s hands over the years.

“Here we are.” Harry pulled the car to a screeching halt in front of the steps, sending a shower of gravel flying into the air. “Home sweet home.”

“Be it ever so humble,” Brad added, looking up at the massive mansion and grinning.

The guys piled out of the car, but before they could approach the front door it opened and Daniel’s long-serving butler was there to greet them.

“Hey, Coombes, how’s it going?” Jonny asked.

“As well as can be expected, sir.”

“Where’s the old man?” Harry asked, peering into the vacant study.

“Er, in his room. He asked that you go up as soon as you arrived.”

“What’s this all about?” Brad asked, frowning.

Jonny didn’t answer. His earlier bad feeling intensified as he took the stairs three at a time and burst into his father’s sumptuous suite without knocking. As soon as he crossed the threshold he stopped dead in his tracks, causing Harry and Brad to cannon into his back.

“Oh shit!” he said.

Daniel opened his eyes and flashed a weary smile. “Hello, Jonny,” he said. “Good journey?”

“The hell with my journey.” Jonny strode across the room and towered over his father’s chair. “What the hell’s all this?”

Jonny pointed to Daniel’s emaciated body and frowned. His father must have lost thirty pounds since he saw him less than two months previously. His cheeks were sunken, his complexion sallow, and he looked drawn and tired. The room, always elegant, now bore the depressing, antiseptic smell of illness. Jonny’s heart lurched. This couldn’t be happening. Daniel was invincible—the mainstay of their lives.

“What’s this about, Daniel?” Harry asked.

“Yeah.” Brad scowled. “You’ve been holding out on us.”

“Sit down, boys, and stop behaving like such drama queens.” Daniel was obviously striving to lighten the atmosphere, but Jonny noticed that his deep, authoritative voice had lost its edge. “It gives me a neck ache looking up at you all.”

The brothers shared a worried glance and arranged themselves round Daniel’s chair. “Ring the bell, Brad, and get Coombes to bring you up some iced tea. I expect you could use it.”

“The hell with tea,” Brad answered. “We need to know about you.”

Jonny’s gut churned as desolation swamped him. He absolutely didn’t want to hear his father’s next words. He didn’t need to. The truth was written clearly enough in those pain-riddled eyes. The treatment for his brain tumour hadn’t been successful. He’d lied to them about that. What else hadn’t he told them?

“Why didn’t you say something before now?” he asked when Daniel calmly explained that he had a year to live.

Daniel shrugged. “What would be the point?”

“Now I understand why you didn’t want me to come over,” Harry said angrily. “I should have insisted.”

“I wanted to be sure there was nothing more that could be done before I burdened you with my problems.”

“Burdened us?” Brad stood up and glowered at no one in particular. Jonny could relate to his impotent rage. He felt the same way but was better at hiding his feelings. “Daniel, in case it’s slipped your memory, you’re our father. Nothing that happens to you is a burden to us.”

“I don’t think Daniel asked us to come over so we could chew him out,” Jonny said. “Nor does he want our sympathy. Sit down, Brad, and let’s hear what it is that he really wants from us.”