Page 97 of Dangerous Temptation
All the news stories, though, had focused on why a pretty young brunette was no longer at his side. Fortunately, she’d turned into the sympathetic figure Caroline Woodward had predicted. Nobody blamed her for leaving The Ax behind.
He was the only one who felt split in two.
She’d told him that she loved him. She just couldn’t live with him.
Not many people could. He was finding it difficult these days to be around himself. She’d been gone two weeks. An eternity. He should just let it be.
He couldn’t.
Turning away from the view of the New York City skyline, he swept up his jacket. He put it on and smoothed it. He tugged at the cuffs and lifted his chin. ‘Let’s go.’
Vasquez was waiting just inside the door. When Alex moved out into the elevator lobby, the bodyguard nodded at the briefcase on the bar. ‘Will you be needing that?’
‘Not today.’
The ride in the elevator was silent, and James was waiting with the car on the street. Vasquez swept the area before letting Alex slide into the back seat. The Bentley pulled away from the kerb, its well-tuned engine nearly silent. Traffic was already busy. James put on his blinker, but was having trouble getting over into the next lane.
‘We’re not going to the office today,’ Alex instructed. ‘Head to NYU. The economics building is on West 4th.’
‘Sir?’ Vasquez said sharply.
Alex looked out the window. ‘I’m not going to make a scene. I just want to support her. It’s her big day.’
The stern man nodded.
Alex looked at his watch when James reached the edge of campus. They were early, but she would be, too. Knowing her, time would feel as if it were dragging by. She was ready for this. She’d been diligent in her work, and she’d sacrificed so much. He knew she was going to knock it out of the park.
He slid on his sunglasses as he and his bodyguard walked across the campus’s white sidewalk. In a world where students cruised around in jeans and sweatshirts, they stood out. He took no interest in the hive-like activity around him, and the realisation made him take a deep breath.
It wasn’t really the world he’d been avoiding.
He knew what building she was in and the front office gave directions to the room where she would be defending her research. He headed to the third floor, but his steps slowed when he heard the growing chatter. His jaw clenched. Vasquez sent him a questioning look, but he shook his head. They weren’t turning around now.
Vasquez pulled out his cell.
The bodyguard took the lead. His sharp eyes took in the situation. Reporters were gathered everywhere with their cameramen.
The balding newspaperman was the first to see them. ‘Mr Wolfe.’
A collective gasp went up. People fumbled with their equipment, and Vasquez made the most of the opportunity. Acting like the tip of the spear, he made his way towards the conference room.
Alex summoned his control and looked straight ahead.
‘Are you here to wish Ms Bardot luck?’ a reporter called.
‘Are you two back together?’ another asked.
Questions flew left and right, but the crowd parted to let him through the doorway. They followed him inside and the small passageway soon bottlenecked. They didn’t just want a shot of him on campus. The money shot would be of him and Elena together.
At the ruckus, the university representatives turned. Disapproving looks settled on their faces. It was a public oral examination, but they would not put up with a disruption.
Reporters quickly began claiming seats. Alex looked around the space. It was one of those large, stately academic rooms with tall windows that climbed high up the twelve-foot walls. The moulding was ornate, and the smell of books hung in the air. A projector screen had been set up at the front of the room. His gaze settled upon a familiar laptop on the podium. It was already hooked up and ready to go.
He spotted Elena immediately. Like a magnet, he felt her pull. She was heads-down, going through her printout one last time. She was studiously avoiding looking at the audience, but from the stiff set of her shoulders she knew what she was about to face.
It wasn’t fair. Most PhD candidates went through this alone or with a few fellow students in the room. Speaking before the evaluation committee was stressful enough, but she had to face a crowd of media. Everything she said, every move she made, would be broadcast by lunchtime. He scowled at the row of distinguished-looking professors from the Economics Department. They’d better not give her a hard time or NYU would see his charitable donations drop next semester.
He noticed Dr Walters, but the professor was headed over to the large audience that had formed. Behind him, Alex heard the man start laying ground rules.
