'Gifford?' she seemed to be repeating.
'G. K. Gifford,' Liza stressed. 'Remember the face, Maddie. If he ever comes here again warn me before he can get anywhere near the door.'
Maddie nodded violently, backing, staring at Keir, her mouth still wide open in amazement. He stood back to let her leave the office, ostentatiously holding the door open for her in a mimicry of gallantry, his smile dry and sardonic.
i should close your mouth soon or you may get stuck like that,' he drawled pleasantly, and Maddie's eyes rolled furiously, but he shut the door on her before she could burst out with whatever she had been trying to say.
Bruno had retreated as far away from his uncle as he could. He was not merely behind Liza, he was trying to hide behind the long velvet curtains at her window.
Keir swivelled slowly and surveyed them both with a frozen stare. The fact that he was smiling, too, made his icy rage the more alarming.
'I thought I told you not to see her before you left?' he asked Bruno.
'What are you doing here?' Liza demanded without giving Bruno time to think up a reply to that.
Keir's eyes flicked back to her face and she had a hard time not flinching.
T was told Bruno had entered the building,' he began and she snapped back.
'Who told you?'
'Security,' he admitted irritably.
'You'd asked them to let you know if he arrived?'
'Yes.'
'Spying on him? My God, how low can you stoop?'
Keir didn't like that, i didn't trust him to keep his word,' he said harshly. 'And I was quite right not to, wasn't I? The minute he got the chance he was sneaking up here to see you.'
Bruno made unhappy noises and that attracted Keir's attention to him again. Bruno fell silent, shrinking, as the deadly blue eyes flashed towards him, and Liza felt very sorry for him.
'He just wanted to say goodbye!' she said hurriedly and Keir looked back at her.
'Well, he's had plenty of time to say it, so he can get out.' He swung back to Bruno and his voice cracked like a whip. 'Did you hear what I said? Get out, and in future stay away from her!'
Bruno threw Liza a flustered, uncertain look, shrugged, said, 'See you, Liza, I mean, goodbye, Liza, thanks for . . .' then almost tripped up in his haste to get out of the room.
Liza looked at Keir with bitter dislike as the door closed again. 'Does that make you feel big? Scaring him half to death like that? You bully!'
'Are you in love with him?' Keir asked and she looked up to find those violent blue eyes fixed on her face, searching, probing.
'That has nothing to do with you!' she retorted, dragging her eyes away.
' Was he with you last night?' The question was like a steel needle under her skin; she winced at the sharpness of it.
'I'm not going to tell you!' She couldn't betray Bruno's confidence and, anyway, now that she had seen for herself how Keir treated Bruno she could understand exactly why Bruno was afraid to tell his uncle about his little escapade in Soho. Could one blame him? No wonder Bruno was in a state of arrested adolescence! He had never been given a chance to grow up.
'Why don't you let Bruno run his own life for a change?' she asked Keir bitingly. 'Nobody learns anything from being told about other people's misÂtakes—they only learn from their own, and if Bruno can't be trusted it may be because you've never trusted him. Had you thought of that? You're like a gardener who keeps digging up the bulbs to see how they're growing and then complains because they aren't growing at all!'
Keir stared, his face blank. He obviously wasn't going to listen to her and she gave an angry shrug.
'Oh, what's the point? I'm sorry for Bruno, but it really isn't my business. Now, will you go, Mr Gifford? I have work to do.'
He walked slowly to the door and Liza sat down behind her desk and opened one of the leather-bound files, glancing down at the typed pages although she wasn't able to read a word because all her attention was fixed on Keir Gifford, waiting tensely for him to leave.
He opened the door, then paused and looked back at her. 'You really think Bruno might respond to a little less supervision? Or are you just making excuses for him?'