Page 41 of The Baby Behind Their Marriage Merger

But here in Cape Town, where everyone had a mobile phone and could snap a photo, they had to be extremely careful.

Understanding that, how were they going to carry on seeing each other? They had maybe another two weeks of using the guise of working together to hide behind but, after that, once he put in an offer to buy Cole’s properties, that excuse would disappear, along with her job. Once she moved across to Fisher International, it would be even harder. Along with coffee, gossip was the lifeblood of his company.

And gossiping about him was his employees’ favourite sport. Jude made a mental note to contact his Human Resources director about Addi’s appointment, something he had yet to take care of.

He shook his head at his lack of efficiency, shocked that, like paying the lawyers, it had slipped his mind. He rarely forgot to complete items on his to-do list, and the few things he did forget were ridiculously unimportant. Nothing had dropped through the cracks before Addi had entered his life—he hadn’t evenhadcracks. But, since she’d fallen into his life the second time, he’d felt consistently off-balance and discombobulated. She turned him inside out and upside down in a way he’d never experienced before.

His mind was a mess, he thought, as he gestured for Addi to precede him into the airport terminal. They followed an airport staff member to a passport control desk with no queue, and an officer who stamped their passports, barely taking the time to check their photos against their faces. Normally, the customs official would come to the plane but, judging by the fact that every security officer he could see looked to be on high alert, their heads swivelling back and forth, the security breach had been bigger than expected.

The customs official touched his hat and gave Jude a sympathetic smile.

What was that for?

Jude started to weave his way between the other passengers, making sure Addi stayed by his side. They bypassed the conveyor belts spitting out luggage and headed toward International Arrivals. It was then that Jude realised that he’d lost his escort. Shrugging it off, because he knew the way, he kept walking, wondering why the hair on the back of his head was lifting.

What was he missing here?

The automatic doors opened and as they stepped over the threshold into the terminal what seemed a million cameras exploded simultaneously. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Addi raise her hand, and he moved to stand closer to her, his body half-shielding her from the crowd gathered behind the cordon.

‘Why did you get married, Jude?’

‘Why her?’

‘Who is she?’

‘Any thoughts on what your grandfather would think about who you married?’

‘Would he approve this time?’

How? What? How had they found out?

Knowing that he had to keep his head, Jude sent the crowd a blistering glare and placed his hand low on Addi’s back, edging her towards the exit. In six feet, maybe a little more, they would be surrounded, and he’d have to push his way through the crowd, somehow keeping his grip on Addi.

How had this happened? How had they found out? And how was he going to get them out of here? At that moment, Jude felt as he had ten years ago, intensely betrayed and awash with humiliation. He didn’t feel like the man who owned and operated a highly successful company, didn’t see himself as the powerful hotel whizz-kid everyone regarded him to be. No, he was ten years younger again, withering as his grandfather had ridiculed his actions.

He could hear Bart’s voice mocking him, his voice more derisive than ever before.

You thought you had it together, didn’t you? Not so smart, are you? Another scandal, another embarrassment. Yet another misjudgement. Are you ever going to learn, son?

Knowing he couldn’t keep looking like a deer caught in the headlights—not a look he wanted to be splashed across papers and on news websites—he gripped Addi’s hand tightly and steered her left. He could beat himself up later for failing to anticipate this, for making the mistake of trusting Addi. Right now, they had no choice. They had to go forward.

And suddenly, without fuss, six men dressed in black suits, and looking as though they shouldn’t be messed with, stepped in front of the journalists and flanked them, creating a barrier between them and the screeching journalists.

Grateful for their presence, Jude caught the eye of the guy to his left as they forged a path to the airport. ‘Who sent you?’ he asked. He had his suspicions, but he wanted to have them confirmed.

‘Cole Thorpe.’

As he thought. Thado was overseas and Cole was the only person who knew what time they were landing and had been around when the stories about him being conned by Marina had made headlines. He needed to send him a case of his shockingly expensive favourite whiskey for sending in the cavalry.

‘Am I right in presuming that this story broke within the last couple of hours?’

The bodyguard nodded. ‘There’s a car in the pick-up zone, waiting to take you wherever you want to go.’

A reporter managed to jump between one of the bodyguards to take an up-close photograph of Addi, with her wide eyes and panicked face. He was tossed back into the crowd by one of their bodyguards and Addi looked at him, her face pale with apprehension. ‘What’s happening, Jude?’

‘We’ve been ambushed by the press, Addison,’ he quietly replied in his coldest voice. ‘That’s what happens when you can’t keep a secret. Did you do it as pay-back because I forgot to pay the lawyers?’

She braked and, oblivious to the interest from everyone around them, placed a hand on his arm to halt his fast progress across the terminal. ‘What?Do you thinkIdid this? That I broke my promise to you?’

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