it his business to find out all that he could about her.
And a failure wouldnât have fought and struggled her way back onto her feet after undergoing numerous operations, in the way that he now knew Miranda had needed to do four years ago.
A failure wouldnât have studied and worked so hard in the years since, in order to earn a teaching certificate in the subject she loved, but could no longer participate in herself.
A failure wouldnât have spent most of her share of the inheritance left to her and her sister by her parents five years ago to open up this dance studio.
The Internet truly was an intrusive thing...
Even if he had made the start of his fortune out of it!
And the ballerina Miranda Jacobs, and the tragic accident during her performance of
Swan Lake
, had once been part of that public domain. Not so much once she had begun her long recovery and disappeared from the newspaper headlines; stories in the tabloids were always fleeting, instant things, with none of those newspapers interested in reporting anything long-term.
Darius had his own method of finding out anything that he wanted to know. And, within days of meeting her, he had wanted to know everything there was to know about Miranda.
âI doubt you have ever failed at anything in your life,â he repeated.
âSo you prefer we think of it as my just having made a career change?â she mocked. âA step sideways, if youâll excuse the pun?â
âI prefer to think of it as you working with what you have left,â Darius dismissed briskly; annoying as Miranda was being, he was determined not to argue with her. âSo, about this dinner on Saturday?â
âYou mentioned I might be interested in the charity?â
Darius masked his inner triumph as Miranda showed a grudging interest. âItâs in aid of disabled and underprivileged children.â
A charity that
did
interest her, Andy admitted irritably, and one she already worked with; she gave over one of her sessions a week to working with disabled and/or underprivileged children.
Had Darius already known that?
Of course he had. He was a man who would make it his business to know anything he wanted to know. And for some reason he had wanted to know about her.
Or maybe it was that he thought of
her
as some sort of charity? Someone who had once been in the public eye, but now lived and worked in obscurity, at her little dance studio in the suburbs of London?
âYou know, Miranda, I was really hoping to do this the nice way.â
Andy looked up at him sharply. âWhat does that mean?â She eyed him warily, not at all comfortable with that feral smile now curving those sculptured lips. It was not the genuine smile she had visualised last week, but nevertheless it still put two attractive grooves into the lean hardness of his cheeks.
âIf you just say yes, to accompanying me to the charity dinner, then youâll never need to know.â He shrugged.
Andyâs unease only increased at his pleasant tone. âCould it possibly have anything to do with the fact that my brother-in-law works for you?â She had been very aware of that fact from the moment Darius had approached and spoken to her in the club last week. She just hadnât believed he would actually stoop to using that connection in order to impose his considerable will.
Until now.
âIntelligent as well as beautiful!â His smile was genuinely appreciative. âYes, my brother and I have been in several meetings this week, listening to our managers as they listed all the reasons why we no longer need such big IT departments in our offices around the world, most especially in London. A drop-in workforce is, Iâm afraid, inevitable. Itâs just a question now of deciding who is or who isnât expendable.â
And they both knew that Colin worked in the IT department of the London offices of Midas Enterprises! âThatâs
And a failure wouldnât have fought and struggled her way back onto her feet after undergoing numerous operations, in the way that he now knew Miranda had needed to do four years ago.
A failure wouldnât have studied and worked so hard in the years since, in order to earn a teaching certificate in the subject she loved, but could no longer participate in herself.
A failure wouldnât have spent most of her share of the inheritance left to her and her sister by her parents five years ago to open up this dance studio.
The Internet truly was an intrusive thing...
Even if he had made the start of his fortune out of it!
And the ballerina Miranda Jacobs, and the tragic accident during her performance of
Swan Lake
, had once been part of that public domain. Not so much once she had begun her long recovery and disappeared from the newspaper headlines; stories in the tabloids were always fleeting, instant things, with none of those newspapers interested in reporting anything long-term.
Darius had his own method of finding out anything that he wanted to know. And, within days of meeting her, he had wanted to know everything there was to know about Miranda.
âI doubt you have ever failed at anything in your life,â he repeated.
âSo you prefer we think of it as my just having made a career change?â she mocked. âA step sideways, if youâll excuse the pun?â
âI prefer to think of it as you working with what you have left,â Darius dismissed briskly; annoying as Miranda was being, he was determined not to argue with her. âSo, about this dinner on Saturday?â
âYou mentioned I might be interested in the charity?â
Darius masked his inner triumph as Miranda showed a grudging interest. âItâs in aid of disabled and underprivileged children.â
A charity that
did
interest her, Andy admitted irritably, and one she already worked with; she gave over one of her sessions a week to working with disabled and/or underprivileged children.
Had Darius already known that?
Of course he had. He was a man who would make it his business to know anything he wanted to know. And for some reason he had wanted to know about her.
Or maybe it was that he thought of
her
as some sort of charity? Someone who had once been in the public eye, but now lived and worked in obscurity, at her little dance studio in the suburbs of London?
âYou know, Miranda, I was really hoping to do this the nice way.â
Andy looked up at him sharply. âWhat does that mean?â She eyed him warily, not at all comfortable with that feral smile now curving those sculptured lips. It was not the genuine smile she had visualised last week, but nevertheless it still put two attractive grooves into the lean hardness of his cheeks.
âIf you just say yes, to accompanying me to the charity dinner, then youâll never need to know.â He shrugged.
Andyâs unease only increased at his pleasant tone. âCould it possibly have anything to do with the fact that my brother-in-law works for you?â She had been very aware of that fact from the moment Darius had approached and spoken to her in the club last week. She just hadnât believed he would actually stoop to using that connection in order to impose his considerable will.
Until now.
âIntelligent as well as beautiful!â His smile was genuinely appreciative. âYes, my brother and I have been in several meetings this week, listening to our managers as they listed all the reasons why we no longer need such big IT departments in our offices around the world, most especially in London. A drop-in workforce is, Iâm afraid, inevitable. Itâs just a question now of deciding who is or who isnât expendable.â
And they both knew that Colin worked in the IT department of the London offices of Midas Enterprises! âThatâs
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