Beaumont Brides Collection (Wild Justice, Wild Lady, Wild Fire) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Forewords

  Praise for Liz Fielding

  About the author

  Some recent books by Liz Fielding

  The Beaumont Brides Trilogy

  Wild Justice

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Wild Lady

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Wild Fire

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Bonus Read

  The Complete

  Beaumont Brides

  A trilogy by

  Liz Fielding

  Published by Liz Fielding

  Smashwords edition

  Copyright 2013 Liz Fielding

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Forewords

  Praise for Liz Fielding

  “effortlessly engaging” … Julie Cohen

  “Witty, heart-warming and totally spellbinding…” Tempted By Trouble - Cataromance.com

  “…a beautifully written story full of emotion, with characters I will remember long after finishing it.” Mistletoe and the Lost Stilletto – Mad About Romance

  “…intelligent, realistic characters. You absolutely fall in love with the people in a Liz Fielding.” A Wedding At Leopard Tree Lodge – Romance Dish

  “A magnificent setting, a feisty heroine and a sexy hero – a definite page-turner…who could ask for anything more?” A Wedding At Leopard Tree Lodge – Still Moments eZine

  Reunited: Marriage in a Million is a story that contains everything we’ve come to expected from Liz Fielding – a veteran of romance fiction. Her well-honed expertise is apparent at each and every perfectly-plotted twist and turn of this story. – Romance Reviewed

  Liz Fielding’s The Secret Life of Lady Gabriella is charming and funny, but has some dark emotional moments too. A keeper. – Romantic Times

  “Fielding’s deft handling is a triumph. The characters are fabulous, the relationship between them complex and nuanced…and keep a tissue handy at the end!”

  SOS: Convenient Husband Required – Romantic Times

  “Liz Fielding does a marvellous spin on the marriage of convenience in this charming storyline.” SOS: Convenient Husband Required – Romance Junkies

  About the author

  Award winning author, LIZ FIELDING, was born with itchy feet. She was working in Africa before her twenty-first birthday and - gathering her own special hero and a couple of children on the way - lived in Zambia, Botswana, Kenya and the all over the Middle East, with pauses for sightseeing pretty much everywhere in between.

  She finally came to a full stop in a tiny Welsh village cradled by misty hills, and now mostly leaves her pen to do the travelling.

  When she’s not sorting out the lives and loves of her characters, she potters in the garden, reads her favourite authors and spends a lot of time wondering, “What if…?”

  For news of upcoming books visit Liz’s website at http://www.lizfielding.com, visit her blog at http://lizfielding.blogspot.com or follow her on Twitter @lizfielding

  Some recent books by Liz Fielding

  Flirting With Italian (Harlequin)

  Tempted By Trouble (Harlequin)

  SOS: Convenient Husband Required (Harlequin)

  Secret Baby, Surprise Parents (Harlequin)

  Her Desert Dream

  The Sheikh’s Unsuitable Bride

  Wedded in a Whirlwind (Harlequin)

  Wedding at Leopard Tree Lodge (Harlequin)

  Non-fiction

  Liz Fielding’s Little Book of Writing Romance

  Coming soon –

  The Last Woman He’d Ever Date (Harlequin)

  and as eBook re-issues -

  Eloping With Emmy

  Old Desires

  A Stranger’s Kiss

  Dangerous Flirtation

  The Beaumont Brides Trilogy

  The Beaumont Brides trilogy charts the loves of three women – Felicity Beaumont, Claudia Beaumont and Melanie Devlin.

  WILD JUSTICE

  BETRAYED by a lover, her career in ruins, Fizz Beaumont devotes all her energy to restoring Broomhill Bay pier, using the old theatre as the home for the radio station that is her life.

  The arrival of tycoon Luke Devlin, who has taken over her major sponsor, threatens not just her radio station but -- as he offers her a lesson in passion which promises to set the skies ablaze -- everything she holds dear.

  WILD LADY

  WITH old secrets and past loves revealed, the story moves on to, Claudia who on the morning of a parachute jump for charity receives an anonymous letter warning her that she will not survive the jump.

  Gabriel MacIntyre has no time for women like Claudia Beaumont. She’s so beautiful that she takes his breath away and she’s used to having any man she wants. Not him.

  Claudia Beaumont has no time for men like Gabriel MacIntyre. Overwhelmingly arrogant, swift to leap to conclusions. He thinks he knows her, but he doesn’t. And she doesn’t give a damn. But when her life is threatened, Mac is the only person she can turn to for help and suddenly their bantering flirtation becomes so much more.

  WILD FIRE

  MELANIE Devlin, tired of being treated like an airhead blonde, accepts a challenge from an old friend to prove that she’s made of sterner stuff. Within weeks she’s organising a revolution in the company she works for and falling for the dangerous, Jack Wolfe. Then Jack offers her a week in the West Indies as his pretend lover…

  Jack Wolfe has no intention of letting Melanie Beaumont see how much he is attracted to her. He knows she’s hiding something, and he’s determined to discover the truth and a week on a tropical island is going to give him all the time he needs.

  All the characters in these books have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure fiction.

  All Rights Reserved including the right of
reproduction in whole or in part in any form. The text of this publication or any part hereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the author.

  First published in Great Britain by Scarlet (an imprint of Robinson Publishing) 1996/1997

  Copyright Liz Fielding 1996

  Copyright Liz Fielding 1997

  Copyright Liz Fielding 2011

  Copyright Liz Fielding 2012

  Cover art by N J Allsopp

  Wild Justice

  by

  Liz Fielding

  CHAPTER ONE

  ‘LUKE Devlin?’ Fizz Beaumont pushed a distracted hand through the heavy mop of chestnut hair that fell across her face, obstinately refusing to be confined by a pair of delicate antique tortoiseshell combs that had once belonged to her mother.

  Irritated by their uselessness she abandoned them on her desk and scooped her unruly hair into an elastic band with one practised movement before her father’s continued silence alerted her to the fact that this was more than a social call to discuss a letter he had received that morning.

  She looked up. Edward Beaumont, tall, handsome, elegantly tailored heartthrob to the blue rinse brigade looked unusually awkward and her eyes finally dropped to the letter he was holding in his hand.

  ‘Who is Luke Devlin?’ she asked. Then, ‘What does he want?’

  ‘I think, my dear, that he’s already got what he wants,’ her father replied, heavily. ‘He’s taken over Harries Industries.’

  ‘Harries? You’re joking,’ she began, then realised with a chill feeling in her stomach that had nothing whatever to do with the February wind finding its way through every corner of the old sash cord window, that he wasn’t joking. Her father was in deadly earnest. ‘But how could he take over? Harries isn’t for sale. Where’s Michael? Surely he isn’t just letting this happen?’ The questions tumbled out but her father clearly had no answers. ‘I’ve never even heard of the man,’ she finished, as if that would put an end to such nonsense.

  Edward Beaumont pulled a face, sympathising with his daughter’s bewildered reaction. ‘It seems that not many people have, at least not until it’s too late. He keeps a very low profile.’

  ‘Low is about right,’ Fizz responded, with warmth. ‘Positively belly to the ground. There’s hasn’t been so much as a whisper -’

  ‘He moved very quickly according to Michael. Apparently it’s something he does particularly well. But since he now owns this radio station’s major sponsor, I suggest you keep any opinions about his business methods strictly to yourself.’

  Still confused at the suddenness of this turn of events Fizz clutched at straws. ‘Are you absolutely certain? It’s not just some misunderstanding?

  ‘I’m afraid there’s no doubt about it, Fizz. Michael phoned me late last night. And the news room have just received a press release.’ He threw the sheet of paper embossed with the impressive letterhead of Broomhill Bay’s largest manufacturer onto the cluttered desk that separated them, stuffed his hands in the pockets of his superbly tailored jacket and stared at the ceiling as if washing his hands of the whole affair. ‘I thought it would have taken the new man a few days to get around to worrying about details like us. But this was delivered by messenger a few minutes ago.’

  A small chill ran through her veins as she reluctantly reached out to pick it up. It was brief and brutally to the point. In the current economic climate the new management of Harries Industries was forced to “rationalize” its generous sponsorship of sport and the arts in the town. And since the support for Pavilion Radio was an informal arrangement between Michael Harries and Edward Beaumont, the company would be making immediate changes.

  Fizz Beaumont’s wide forehead creased in a puzzled frown. ‘What does this mean?’ she asked. ‘Informal arrangement? Harries have been sponsoring us since we first went on air. Michael was totally on board.’ It was on the strength of Michael Harries’ financial support that she had borrowed so heavily in order to go ahead with her plans for the new restaurant this year.

  Her father continued to avoid her eyes but his eloquent shrug spoke volumes. ‘It was a gentleman’s agreement, Fizz. Michael and I have been friends ever since school and a handshake seemed -’

  ‘Some gentleman!’ she exploded. ‘Some friend if he’s sold us out without warning!’

  ‘It isn’t his fault,’ her father declared, indignantly. ‘He didn’t have any choice.’ His actor’s voice vibrated against the walls of her small office, but she had lived with his role playing for far too long to be intimidated.

  ‘Then whose fault is it? You were the one who assured me that I had no need to concern myself with the details-’

  ‘I know.’ He cleared his throat. ‘And I’m sorry, Fizz. I just never foresaw this situation. Apparently Michael’s been selling off his shares for months in an attempt to keep the company afloat until things got better. They didn’t...’

  He raked his fingers through the thick mane of hair, beautifully distinguished by silvery wings at his temples and paused momentarily. Her father had played so many parts in his long career on the stage that he simply wore the one that was most appropriate to the occasion. Recognising the prelude to his “betrayed Lear”, Fizz hurriedly intervened.

  ‘And this,’ - she glanced at the letter again - ‘this Luke Devlin has been buying them?’ She felt a surge of anger that someone could have so insidiously been able to gain control of Harries Industries without a fight, without having to stand up and declare his intention.

  ‘Michael was so relieved to sell the shares at a decent price he didn’t give a thought to the possible consequences.’

  ‘Oh, lord,’ she murmured, suddenly stricken with guilt that, in her concern for the station, she hadn’t given her father’s oldest friend a thought. Her life was being made more difficult, but Michael had lost a company that had been founded by his family generations ago and which had been the prop and mainstay of manufacturing employment in the town ever since. And what about the men and woman who worked in the plant? Would they still have jobs to go to this morning? Tomorrow morning? ‘I’m sorry, Dad. I know that Michael’s been a good friend to us. This isn’t his fault. Everyone’s been hard hit in the last couple of years.’

  And it was true. The painful fact she had to face was that the fault was entirely her own.

  If she hadn’t let her enthusiasm run away with her wits she would have made certain the generous sponsorship her father had negotiated was watertight. But he had made it clear that this was something she didn’t need to bother her head over and she had been sensitive about intruding on an agreement between two old friends.

  ‘Do you think this man realises the implications for us if he withdraws support?’

  ‘I don’t suppose he cares. Why should he? He’s an outsider, a stranger.’ Her father seemed momentarily to lose his poise and for once, look his age. ‘Michael asked me to tell you that he was truly sorry. Apparently when the takeover move came, it all happened so quickly that there was no time to warn you.’

  ‘I didn’t realise that the company was in difficulties. Did you know? If only he had given us an idea of the trouble he was in.’ She stopped. There was no point in saying what she would have done had she known. She had to deal with the situation now.

  Without the new bank loan they could have managed. They would still manage. What she had to do now was persuade this Luke Devlin that Broomhill Bay would be a poorer place without its radio station. And have a convincing answer when he asked, as she knew he would, why he should be expected to support it.

  She had to be positive. It might all just be a storm in a teacup. A standard letter to all Michael’s good causes and there were plenty of them. Over the years the town had come to rely heavily on the Harries family.

  The Beaumonts too were always there to help raise funds, but the big m
oney had always come from the Harries, both the family and the company. Not any more.

  Mr Devlin was clearing the decks and he certainly hadn’t wasted any time.

  She gestured towards the letter. ‘I suppose we shouldn’t judge the man before we hear what he has to offer,’ she said.

  Edward Beaumont shrugged imperceptibly. ‘Maybe this is all just a formality,’ he said, giving voice to her own thoughts. ‘I’m sure he’ll cut back, but I can’t imagine that he’ll withdraw his support entirely.’

  Fizz re-read the letter carefully but there was no comfort to be found in the stark words. Michael’s cheque had been due within days. Without it “Holiday Bay”, the station’s soap opera, as well as live coverage of local sports events for the following twelve months, would be at risk. And without those programmes the franchise was at risk as well. But the new chairman of Harries Industries made it quite plain in his letter that he expected changes to take place without delay.

  Changes.

  Why didn’t he just say what he meant instead of playing with words?

  ‘Surely he just can’t back out of a commitment at this late stage,’ she was driven to protest, ‘even an informal one?’

  ‘I imagine that even if it had been a legal commitment he would have been within his rights to change things.’ Of that she had no doubt. But she would have been a lot happier nevertheless. If only he had told her the truth.

  Fizz fumed helplessly. A gentlemen’s agreement, indeed! She could hardly believe it. Two dear old-fashioned gentlemen, friends doing business together on a handshake; it was bound to lead to disaster.