“You owe him nothing.” Katherine pursed her lips together in disgust. “I can’t believe it, Tom.”

He stood firm. “I am determined to be reconciled with my mother. I will meet Montfort and ask him these things myself.”

“So.” Katherine glared at him; he saw fury in her eyes. And something else.

Dislike.

Tom was shocked. But a veil had slipped, and he knew what that look meant.

“You join your mother in betraying Pierre,” Katherine snapped. “I always knew in the end that was how it would be.”

“You forget yourself,” Tom said coldly. “I understand that Papa is your son, Grandmother. But he is also my father. And there is nobody in the world that loves him more than I do. Nobody is betraying him.”

Katherine turned her head away.

“Please leave my house,” she said.

“I will.” Tom bowed stiffly to her. “And I shall expect you for dinner shortly, when Maman comes back to visit. I can’t allow my family to break up like this. You must see Maman, Grandmother, if you are to continue to live on the estate. This is my mother’s home too.”

Katherine’s pale blue eyes narrowed. “This is Pierre’s, not yours. What I do and where I go are up to him.”

“There’s something I think you’d better get used to, Grandmother,” Tom replied coolly. “My father is not here. I’m in charge now. If you doubt that, I suggest you ask your attorneys.”

He turned and walked to the door. “I wish you a pleasant afternoon, Grandmother,” he said, and walked out.

Chapter 47

Chapter 47

“Excuse me, sir.”

“Yes, Mrs. Percy,” Hugh said, not without a touch of weariness. It was one of the distinct pleasures of starting his own company to be able to hire Elizabeth Percy again. Hugh was paying her salary anyway, as he remarked, it would be better if she did some work for it.

But some days hers was the last voice he wanted to hear. Montfort Jewels was a success, and that success came at a cost.

Hugh was working so hard that he occasionally lost track of the date. Meeting suppliers, flying across the globe, interviewing staff, obtaining distribution, and talking to analysts; his days started at six and ended at seven, and there was usually no time for lunch.

Sophie’s calendar was almost as severe. They had no showrooms yet, but she was designing the look of the shops; Sophie handled marketing, from the Web sites to the press campaign. She also hired the frontline staff and talked to the designers. When they met for dinner, there was mutual exhaustion.

But there was also excitement—and more importantly, there was love.

They were to be married in three days. And right now, Hugh simply wanted to leave the office.