Like a startled deer, she blinked at Lord Dorchester until she decided Galahad’s unexpected arrival might actually be a blessing in disguise. A chance to create a new final memory of their time together. One that didn’t make her hate herself.
“We need to talk.”
As he wasn’t the only one who could act, Vee used every drop of bravado she possessed to glare imperious. “We need do no such thing.”
“We do because…” Galahad stared pointedly at Dorchester. “Do you mind? Isn’t it obvious Venus and I need some privacy?”
As Dorchester stuttered in outrage, she smiled at him simply to vex Galahad while saving her own face. “This shan’t take more than a minute…Marmaduke.” Good grief, that name tasted awful on her tongue, but the use of it made him smile triumphantly while Galahad’s eyes fumed at the sudden new familiarity. To make them seethe some more, she touched the pompous lord’s sleeve in mock affection and tried not to grimace in disgust. “Why don’t you fetch us that champagne and I shall join you presently.”
“As we shall be toasting our future, it would be my pleasure.” The dud smiled victoriously at Galahad, who practically snarled back and continued to snarl like a territorial cat until Lord Dorchester was out of earshot, then huffed to cover his obvious jealousy.
“Why on earth are you bothering with him again?”
Vee did not dignify that with an answer. “I believe you were about to put forward a case as to why I should deign to speak to you when I can assure you, I have nothing pleasant to say.”
He winced beneath the force of her stony glare. “We need to clear the air because…” He ran an agitated hand through his thick sandy hair. “… because I hate how we left things. If I could change how I went about everything, I would. I should have told you my plans from the outset. I realize that now. But hindsight is a wonderful thing and… well… the truth is I didn’t tell you for three reasons.”
“Because you are a liar, a cheat, and a manipulative opportunist?”
He winced again. “Because I didn’t trust Mallory not to welch on the deal, and because… well…” He raked an agitated hand through his hair. “I’m not used to trusting others with a confidence, Venus.” As that admission clearly pained him, and because, devil take him, she instantly understood, she steeled her spine. Refusing to feel pity for a man who had used her for his own selfish desires.
“And the third reason?” She knew already that this was the one that would hurt her the most. “The calculated and ruthless businessman’s reason?” Clearly he knew it, too, as he bowed his head rather than see how his selfish motives would wound.
“The honest truth is, I didn’t want a war on my own doorstep, Venus.”
Honesty!
Truth!
Huh!
He wouldn’t know the meaning of either if they slapped him in the face.
“Yet conversely, now you have one.” Vee refused to let him see again how much he had hurt her, how much all his flowery fibs and lying kisses had cut her to the quick. She folded her arms. “Ironically, all entirely of your making.”
“I realize that, too.” He made a good show of looking miserable and contrite, which she did not believe for a second. “I made a mistake, Venus. A huge one. One I bitterly regret.”
“At least we have that in common.”
He reacted to that barb as if he actually possessed feelings and her words wounded them. “I guess I deserved that.”
“You deserve shooting, you despicable liar!”
“I didn’t lie!”
“You didn’t tell the truth, either, did you?”
Because she had him there, he huffed and stared at his feet some more. “I appreciate that you’re mad at me, Venus. You have every right to be, and I swear to you that I will do whatever it takes to make amends.” It was staggering how effortlessly he could strap on a mask of sincerity when he wanted to. “Whatever.It. Takes.” He reached for her hands and dropped his, frowning, when her arms remained resolutely folded.
“Whatever it takes? Really?” Her bitter laugh was loaded with all the sarcasm that flimsy declaration deserved. “I’ll take my building back, if you please. Or I’ll buy it back. Either-or will suffice as compensation for your deceit and the humiliation I will have to carry for as long as we breathe the same air. I believe two and a half thousand wasthe price you quoted back in Brighton, Galahad. Or do you expect me to be the idiot to payover the oddsnow that you hold all the cards?”
“Venus, be reasonable—” His outraged expression confirmed he wasn’t actually prepared to do whatever it took after all. He stepped closer, palms spread, and she planted her feet and set her jaw to ensure she appeared unmoved by his sham sincerity even though she was dying inside.
“Reasonable! That is rich coming from you! Of all the things you have been these past three weeks, reasonable hasn’t been one of them. Disingenuous is on my list. Dishonest, too. A despicable liar, most definitely.” A despicable liar who had broken her heart.
“I appreciate that from your perspective, my silence could be viewed as disingenuous. But what you call disingenuous, I call cautious. It’s never a wise move in business to count your chickens before they are hatched, and Iwasdealing with Mallory, remember. A man whom his own aunt didn’t trust enough to leave any money to.” He edged a pace forward and halted when she raised her flattened palm in disgust. “A man in debt up to his eyeballs and in such dire need of ready cash he would have happily sold those buildings out from under me if someone had offered him more in a hurry. Surely you can understand why I didn’t want to bare my hand?”
“Of course I see.” Only too clearly. “You took advantage of him. You knew he needed money fast and you dangled it before his aunt was even cold in her coffin.”
