Absolutely, Positively

me.”

    “Power?”

    “Precisely.” Molly smiled into the phone. “As his wife I shall be in a unique position to limit access to Harry.”

    “Is this some sort of stupid joke?”

    “I promise you, I am very, very serious,” Molly assured her. “Today I merely made it difficult to reach Harry by phone. But if my demands are not met, there will be worse to come. I can and will make it virtually impossible to gain access to Harry.”

    “Are you out of your mind?”

    “What an odd question from someone in your line of work. No, I am not out of my mind, but I am determined to get what I want. Be warned, if the Strattons and Trevelyans fail to comply with my demands, I shall find ways to make it extremely difficult for anyone on either side of his family to get to Harry.”

    “I don't understand.” Olivia was clearly nonplussed now. “This makes no sense at all.”

    “I shall present my demands to representatives of the Stratton and Trevelyan clans tomorrow at noon. I guarantee that everything will make perfect sense then.”

    “Harry is going to hear about this,” Olivia threatened.

    “Not if you and the others want to continue to have reasonably free access to him, he won't,” Molly warned sweetly. “As I was saying, I shall present my demands tomorrow. High noon at the vegetarian restaurant around the corner from my shop. Be there or face the consequences.”

    Molly hung up the phone before Olivia could suggest she get professional psychiatric help.

20

    The Strattons were the first to arrive.

    Molly stood at the head of the long table in the alcove of the trendy vegetarian restaurant and watched as Danielle, regal in her disapproval, led the contingent.

    “This is an absolute outrage,” Danielle declared.

    “Good afternoon, Mrs. Hughes.” Molly inclined her head. “I'm glad you could make it.”

    “You were impossibly rude on the phone, Miss Abberwick,” Danielle informed her. “As far as I'm concerned, you issued a threat.”

    “You were right,” Molly said. “It was a threat.”

    She deduced that the two men following Danielle were Parker and his son, Gilford. Their ages and signature bone structure identified them as clearly as a fingerprint. Both men radiated icy anger. Olivia and Brandon brought up the rear. Each wore an expression of great caution.

    “Good afternoon.” Molly waved the newcomers to the chairs that lined the left-hand side of the table. “Please be seated.”

    Parker's silvered brows came together in a straight line above his patrician nose. “We know who you are. I'm Parker Stratton.”

    “Yes.” Molly smiled. “We spoke on the phone this morning. You wanted to know what the hell I was up to, I believe.”

    “Now, you listen to me, young woman,” Parker snapped, “I have better things to do with my time than play stupid games. I don't know what you're trying to pull here, but if it's money you're after, you can damn well—”

    “It's not about money, Granddad,” Brandon said quietly. He watched Molly with speculative eyes. “Whatever this is all about, it's not about cash. Ms. Abberwick has plenty of that at her disposal.”

    Olivia went to one of the chairs on the left side of the table. “I'll tell you what this is all about. It's about power and control. Isn't that right, Molly? You think you can exert both over the rest of us because of your position as Harry's fiancée.”

    Molly gripped the back of her chair. She kept her smile fixed determinedly in place. “Have a seat, Olivia. You can psychoanalyze me later to your heart's content. But please don't send me a bill.”

    “No one controls a Stratton, by God,” Gilford said evenly. “Ms. Abberwick, I'm a busy man. I'm here today only because you made it clear that there is some sort of family crisis. You've got exactly five minutes to convince me of that.”

    Molly looked at him. “Have a seat, Mr. Stratton. I will explain everything.” She glanced toward the door as the next group of people arrived.

    Danielle opened her mouth to speak and then closed it abruptly as her gaze fell on the newcomers who hovered in the doorway. She stared as if she could not believe her eyes. “My God. How dare they intrude like this.”

    “What the devil?” Parker swung around to see what had alarmed Danielle. His eyes widened with fury. “Christ Almighty. What arethey doing here?”

    Molly looked at the cluster of Trevelyans who had arrived. She saw at once that she'd managed