Possessive: At Her Masters Side (Kingswood Saga Book 5) Completed

9. Henry

I smile at the woman in front of me and watch as she melts under my gaze. "I am so sorry, I had hoped to see Geneva and sign the project contract before I flew out to the states" I say and grin as the woman does the expected.

"Oh, Geneva is out of the office for the rest of the day, but I can help you, Which project is it?" she asks hopefully and I lean back comfortably in the chair.

"Affinity, our club here in Oxford" I reply and watch as she looks shocked, getting up to look through the filing cabinet for our file.

"Oh I thought Geneva said that wasn't happening, but she must still have the file in her office" she said and I smiled politely.

"Ah yes, its been a tough decision but we feel Geneva is perfect for what we need, but I really need to get this settled and underway before I leave" I tell her and she nods.

"Well that's excellent news, we can get a standard contract with our usual terms and conditions for you to complete and we will need to take a retainer from you and then its just a case of getting to work, as long as you are happy then Geneva can sort out the other details on her return" she explains and I smile, knowing as soon as the contract is signed she is bound to the job.

"Good, good" I say, reaching for the paperwork and scanning it before pulling out my pen and signing where I needed too.

"I will transfer the agreed retainer to you before the close of business today and I look forward very much to what happens next" I tell her, shaking her hand and grinning as I leave the room, my copy of the contract tucked inside my jacket.

"Its done" I say into the phone as Alex picks up.
"Good, I'll get the retainer sent across now" he tells me ringing off. I shake my head, he's been worse than ever since Geneva left the club last week, hopefully this will pull him out of his funk.

I headed back home, knowing Alex would be there and we needed to make plans, we were also curious as to what had driven her to London without notice, but the protection we had shadowing her since last weekend, should be able to tell us, when he checked in later.

I found Alex in the gym, MMA sparring with James who was beginning to tire. Using my entry as an opportunity to take a break. James came over as Alex headed for the punch bag.

"What is eating at him, I came over to train and he's damn near taken my head off." James groans.
"Ah yes, he is wound a bit tight at the moment' I grin but James shakes his head.

"No, this is more than that, I've never seen your brother so internally focussed, I just hope to hell whatever he's focussed on gets sorted quickly, for all our sakes" he mutters.
"I'm working on it" I tell him, slapping him on the shoulder and heading for Alex.

"You done?" I ask him, and he pauses, turning fiery eyes my way, and I sigh, it's going to be a long afternoon.
"I'll get changed and meet you on the mat" I tell him, knowing he needed to work out his demons.

"Henry, is there anything I can do?" James asks as I head into the changing room.
"Thanks James but i've got it. you are probably best steering clear for a while" I warn him
"Done boss" he chuckles as I head out to face Alex.

We are both panting and laying flat on the mat an hour later and I know for now Alex will be okay.
"Thank you" he mutters and I turn my head to look at him.
"Thats what brothers are for" I laughs and he grins back at me as his phone rings.

"Well" he barks answering it and I shake my head at his brusque tone, one day he will learn you catch more bees with honey.

"Is she at home?" he asks, and I roll into a sitting position watching him.
"Find out what you can then let me know" he growls, ringing off.

"Well?" I ask.
"She drove to London, went to The Savoy, where she confronted Elizabeth Townsend before leaving with Lucy Blackbourne for an early supper, then came home" he recites and I tilt my head.

"Why would she confront her, at the hotel Lizzy was sharing her approval?"
"Why indeed" Alex mumbles. "Grant is going to find out what he can and report back, Geneva is safe at home for now, do you think her colleague has told her the news yet" I see a brief spark of humour in Alex's eyes as he anticipates Geneva finding out about my visit today and the implications.

"I doubt it or we would have heard from her" I reply.
"I cannot wait" he grins at me.

Grant calls again soon after we had finished supper, and Alex put the call on speaker so we could both hear what he had to say.

"Sir, I have the information you requested, it seems a rumour was in circulation about Ms Loxley that has had an adverse effect on her business, she tracked the rumour back to Elizabeth Townsend and on locating Ms Townsend whereabouts she proceeded to confront her"

"And the rumour?"
"Well sir, umm. It seems Ms Townsend was aware of Ms Loxley attending the club last week and was not pleased at her proximity to you and started the rumour saying Ms Loxley was using her connections to snag eligible men, and breaking up relationships in doing so"

I laughed "What the hell, how did she find out Geneva was at the club?"
"Her cousin is a member and informed her" Grant replied.

"Who?" Alex growled.
"Ms Grace Johnson" Grant supplied and I nodded to Alex, knowing that before the end of the evening her contract would have been cancelled.

"Anything else?" Alex asks.
"Well sir, Ms Townsend is now aware of Ms Loxley's real name and is making a bit of a mess of trying to fix the rumour she started. It seems Ms Loxley made a threat that if she didn't get it sorted then the family lawyers would deal with it" Grant informs us.

"Good, who is on duty now?"
"Paul is observing at present and I will be back on duty at 8am"

"Good, get some sleep and keep us up to date if anything changes but expect a busy day tomorrow, I have a feeling she will be leaving the office in a hurry at some point in the day" Alex instructs, hanging up the phone.

"Now what do you want to do about Lizzy?" I ask him and he shakes his head.
"Nothing at present, but we will keep an eye on her, if she causes any more trouble we will need to talk to Grainger, as the head of the family he can deal with her" Alex replies and I grin, Lizzy hates Grainger with a passion but has to be nice to him as he controls the family finances.

"Can we not tell him anyway" I ask with a smirk.
"Well if it slipped out in conversation, I cannot see a problem with it" Alex agreed.
"Good, I'll give him a call tomorrow" I say, finishing my glass of wine and rising from the chair.
"Get some sleep, you'll need it before tomorrow" I tell him with a chuckle as I leave the room.