His anger carried him through the board meeting and was barely held in check during the entire twenty minutes. He went straight to his father's office and waited impatiently while he finished up a phone call.
"You wanted to see me?"
Robert's brows lifted at the impersonal tone but decided not to comment.
"Sit."
"I prefer to stand. I'm assuming this is about the progress on the airline."
"And also the fact that you're going to Scotland at the end of the week. When were you going to tell me?"
"I sent an internal memo."
"I'm your goddamned father and CEO of this company. I deserve more than an internal memo."
Leon felt his temper boiling to the top. "I am well aware of your position in the company. I sent the memo because that's a normal operating procedure. I went by the book."
"What the hell is up with you?"
Deciding to do away with diplomacy, Leon went straight to the heart of things. "I want to know what went on between you and Luke Donaldson all those years ago."
Stunned, Robert stared at him for a minute. Pushing back his chair, he steepled his fingers and considered not answering. "That was a long time ago and none of your business."
Eyes blazing, Leon faced his desk. "I'm making it mine and you might as well know, I'm not leaving here until I get to the bottom of it."
"What the hell do you care?"
Because my future depends on it!
"I want to know." He said instead. The determined glint in his eyes was undeniable. "You were best friends with the guy and rumor has it that you not only cheated him out of a business deal, but you also slept with his wife. I want your side of the story."
Muttering oaths under his breath, Robert pushed away from his desk and strode towards the liquor cabinet.
"Drink?"
"No."
"I need one." Choosing a bottle of blended scotch, he poured a finger into the glass and went to stand by the floor-to-ceiling window. His office was more functional and streamlined than luxurious. It was a working man's office with solid oak furnishings, an enormous fireplace and a Jackson Colby painting over the mantle. Robert Whitlock was not into creature comfort and had spent most of his life gathering wealth. Sometimes he wondered if losing his wife had been because ofhis obsession with his work. But it was too late for regrets now. Besides, they tend to be counterproductive.
"He wasn't my best friend." He began tonelessly. He had tried to put it all behind him. Raking it up now was going to cause him pain. "His wife was." A slight smile touched his stern lips. "Kathy was my best friend. We knew each other since we were children. Our parents were associates, but we became friends, best friends who told each other everything."
Leon stared at him in surprise. "You were lovers?"
"No." He did not turn around, but continued to stare out the window, his expression far away. "We thought about it for a moment but decided that being friends was a hell of a lot better. She met Luke when she was in her twenties." He turned then and walked back to his desk, but did not sit. "The attraction was immediate. She was dazzled by him. He was unlike anyone she had ever met. Rough and driven. He appealed to her. She had been sheltered, you see. Her parents were middle-class and educated. Father was a lawyer, and mother was big on charities. She was not your usual society snob. She actually worked hard for the causes she was responsible for. They had big dreams for their daughter and wanted her to marry well of course. Luke was never going to be someone they approved of."
Leon lowered himself into the chair facing the desk.
"She was dazzled by him as I said and I think she admired the fact that he was poor, but very ambitious. I was just starting out on my own ventures, and she introduced the two of us. He always knew she was too good for him, and it made him paranoid."
"Did you believe that as well?"
Robert slid him an absent look as he took a sip of his drink. "I did. The man was a wild card. Yes, he had ambition, but he was going about it the wrong way. He would have done anything to get rich."
"Including using her?"
"Yes." He shrugged. "But she was too in love to see it. To see who he really was. Her parents forbade the romance and that made it more appealing. I tried to talk her out of being with him, but she would not listen. They eloped." He sat then, leaning his head back and closing his eyes briefly. "She was determined to have her way, and he was determined to have her."
"Her parents?"
