Substitute Seduction. Cat Schield
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dancing in his eyes, his uncle gazed in the direction Harrison indicated. “Maribelle Gates? She recently became engaged to Beau Shelton. Good family. Managed to hold on to their wealth despite some shockingly bad advice from Roland Barnes.”
Harrison silently cursed at the word engaged. Why was she so interested in Tristan if she was unavailable? Maybe she was cheating on her fiancé. Wary of letting his uncle think he’d shown an interest in someone who was engaged, he asked, “And the brunette?”
“Maribelle Gates is the brunette.” Bennett saw where his nephew was going and shook his head. “Oh, you were interested in the blonde. That’s London McCaffrey.”
“London.” He experimented with the taste of her name and liked it. “Why does her name ring a bell?”
“She was engaged to Linc Thurston for two years.”
“I just met his sister.” Harrison returned to studying London.
Meanwhile his uncle kept talking. “He recently broke off the engagement. No one knows why, but it’s rumored he’s been sleeping with...” Bennett’s lips curved into a wicked grin. “His housekeeper.”
An image of the heavyset fifty-year-old woman who maintained his parents’ house popped into Harrison’s mind and he grimaced. He pondered the willowy blonde and wondered what madness had gripped Linc to let her go.
“He doesn’t seem the type to go after his housekeeper.”
“You never know about some people.”
“So why is everyone convinced that he’s sleeping with her?”
“Convinced is a strong word,” his uncle said. “Let’s just say that there’s speculation along those lines. Linc hasn’t been out with anyone since he and London broke up. There’s been not a whisper of another romance on anyone’s radar. And, from what I hear, she’s a young widow with a toddler.”
Harrison shoved aside the gossip and refocused on the object of his interest. The more Bennett speculated about the reason Linc Thurston had for ending the engagement, the less he liked London’s interest in his brother. She deserved better. Tristan had always treated women poorly, as his recent behavior during his divorce from his wife of eight years demonstrated. Not only had Tristan cheated on her the entire time they were married, he’d hired a merciless divorce attorney, and Zoe had ended up with almost nothing.
“Now, if you’re looking for someone to date, I’d like to suggest...”
Harrison tuned out the rest of his uncle’s remarks as he continued to puzzle over London McCaffrey. “Is she seeing anyone at the moment?” Harrison asked, breaking into whatever it was his uncle was going on about.
“Ivy? I don’t believe so.”
“No,” Harrison said, realizing he hadn’t been paying attention to whatever pearls of wisdom his uncle had been shelling out. “London McCaffrey.”
“Stay away from that one,” Bennett warned. “That mother of hers is the worst. She’s a former New York socialite who thinks a lot of money—and I do mean a lot—can buy her way into Charleston inner circles. Honestly, the woman is a menace.”
“I’m not interested in dating the mother.”
“London is just as much a social climber,” Bennett said as if Harrison was an utter idiot not to make the connection. “Why else do you think she pursued Linc?”
“Obviously you don’t think she was in love with him,” Harrison retorted dryly.
He wasn’t a stranger to the elitist outlook held by the old guard of Charleston society. His own mother had disappointed her family by marrying a man from North Carolina with nothing but big dreams and ambition. Harrison hadn’t understood the complexities of his mother’s relationship with her family and, frankly, he’d never really cared. Ever since he could remember, all Harrison had ever wanted to do was to tinker with cars and drive fast.
His father and uncle had started out as mechanics before investing in their first auto parts store. Within five years the two men had parlayed their experience and drive into a nationwide chain. While Harrison’s dad, Robert “Bertie” Crosby, was happy to man the helm and expand the business, his brother, Jack, pursued his dream of running race cars.
By the time Harrison was old enough to drive, his uncle had built Crosby Motorsports into a winning team. And like the brothers before them, Tristan had gone into the family business, preferring to keep his hands clean, while Harrison loved every bit of oil and dirt that marked his skin.
“She pursued him,” Bennett pronounced, “because her children would be Thurstons.”
Harrison considered this. It was possible that she’d judged the guy by his social standing. On the other hand, maybe she’d been in love with Linc. Either way, Harrison wasn’t going to know for sure until he had a chance to get to know her.
“Why are you so interested in her?” Bennett asked, interrupting Harrison’s train of thought.
“I don’t know.”
He couldn’t explain to his uncle that London’s preoccupation with Tristan intrigued and worried him. For the last couple of years Harrison had increasing concerns about his brother’s systematically deteriorating marriage to Zoe. Still, he’d ignored the rumors of Tristan’s affairs even as Harrison recognized his brother had a dark side and a ruthless streak.
The fact that Zoe had vanished off his radar since she’d first separated from Tristan nagged at Harrison. In the beginning he hadn’t wanted to get involved in what had looked to become a nasty divorce. Lately he was wishing he’d been a better brother-in-law.
“Do you know what London does?” Harrison asked, returning his thoughts to the beautiful blonde.
Bennett sighed. “She owns an event planning service.”
“Did she plan this event?” An idea began to form in Harrison’s mind.
“No. Most of the work was done by Zoe before...” Not even Bennett was comfortable talking about his former niece-in-law.
“I think I’m going to introduce myself to London McCaffrey,” Harrison said.
“Just don’t be too surprised when she’s not interested in you.”
“I have a halfway-decent pedigree,” Harrison said with a wink.
“Halfway decent isn’t going to be enough for her.”
“You’re so cynical.” Harrison softened his statement with a half smile. “And I’m more than enough for her to handle.”
His uncle began to laugh. “No doubt you’re right. Just don’t be surprised when she turns you down flat.”
* * *
London McCaffrey stood beside her best friend, Maribelle Gates, her attention fixed on the tall, imposing man she’d promised to take down in the next few months. Zoe Crosby’s ex-husband was handsome enough, but his chilly gaze and the sardonic twist to his lips made London shiver. From the research London had done on him these last couple of weeks, she knew he’d ruthlessly gone after his wife, leaving her with nothing to show for her eight-year marriage.
In addition to cheating on Zoe through most of their marriage, Tristan Crosby had manufactured evidence that she was the one who’d been unfaithful and violated their prenuptial agreement. Zoe had been forced to spend tens of thousands of dollars disproving this, which had eaten into her divorce settlement. A settlement based on financial information about her husband’s wealth that indicated he was heavily mortgaged and deeply in debt.
Zoe’s lawyer suspected that Tristan had created offshore shell companies that allowed him to hide money and avoid paying taxes. It wasn’t unusual or illegal, but it was a hard paper trail to find.
“Heavens, that man cleans