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As a mother, she had reasoned, she would surely be more secure, invite more sympathy during any potential court case than as a young widow with no dependants. A mother needed to be able to support her child… her children, and if she could be seen to be not just a mother, but also something of a modern madonna as well…
As she watched Nick and saw the panic, the fury, the powerlessness overwhelming him, she smiled secretly to herself.
‘Pregnant?’ Nick stared at her in disbelief. Had she gone mad? Didn’t she realise what this meant? It would ruin him… and she was standing there with that stupid expression on her face, looking at him as though he should be pleased.
Babies… He had never particularly liked children, and certainly never wanted to father any of his own. To have done so, outside his marriage and with a woman like Venice who lived such a high-profile local lifestyle…
He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to fight down his panic.
‘Isn’t it wonderful?’ he heard her saying. ‘Darling, I’m so thrilled.’
Thrilled? He finally found his voice, making no attempt to disguise his shock. ‘Are you mad?’ he demanded jerkily. ‘For God’s sake, Venice, I’m a ma
rried man… You’ll have to get rid of it.’
He was sweating now, his shirt clinging clammily to his skin, his heart racing. All the irritation he had felt earlier had returned, only this time it was hardened and intensified by resentment as well.
How could Venice do this to him? She would have to be made to see that the pregnancy could not be allowed to continue.
She would see it, of course… he would make sure that she did. He would make sure that she understood just what was at risk. Their relationship, for a start… He felt the pressure easing slightly as he remembered that he was the one in control, that, like all women, she would be manipulated into doing what he wanted, but for some reason this knowledge failed to have its normal restorative effect on him; instead the feeling of panic remained.
Venice was pouting now, her eyes filling with the tears he had expected to see earlier. Was it his imagination or behind those tears did her eyes really look as cold and hard as sharply cut glass?
It must be his imagination, surely, because Venice was coming towards him, her eyes widening with distress, her body trembling in that feminine, vulnerable way which so excited him in bed, underscoring as it did his male power over her.
‘But, Nick, I thought you’d be so pleased…’
‘Pleased? For God’s sake, Venice, I’m married!’
She stared at him. ‘But, darling, don’t you see? My having this baby makes everything so much easier. After all, no matter how sympathetic people might feel towards Fern, they’re bound to acknowledge that in divorcing her to marry me in order to protect your child, and of course his or her inheritance, you’d be doing the only honourable thing.’
She paused delicately, her eyes wide and innocent.
‘Nick, I’m so afraid. Bill’s family have never really accepted that he left everything to me. I’m afraid that once they know I’m having a child they’ll try to get some kind of control over Bill’s fortune through my baby…’
Venice waited, calmly sure of the effect this pronouncement would have on him. She knew Nick very well by now. Very well, and she knew just how badly his business had been hit by the recession.
It had amused her to listen to his carefully rehearsed speeches about the need for her to protect herself and the fortune she had inherited. He was quite right, of course. It did need protecting… especially from men like him. But she was more than a match for the Nicks of this world.
‘Don’t you see, darling?’ she coaxed now. ‘We need you… the baby and I… and it isn’t just that…’
She turned away from him, each movement underlining her supplication, her need; each movement carefully choreographed and rehearsed.
‘Nick, I’ve got such plans for us…’
Plans? What was she talking about? Nick was still trying to wrestle with the information she had just given him. His child, inheriting Bill’s millions… His child perhaps coming under the influence, the control of others. His child. Bill’s millions…
He was sweating again, but for a different reason this time.
Bill’s millions… Why had he not thought… ? But there was still Fern… Fern whom he would have to divorce if he was to marry Venice and safeguard his role in their child’s life. Fern, who would be free, and Adam…
‘Darling, I’ve had the most wonderful idea…’ Venice was saying.
He frowned, not bothering to conceal his irritation. She was probably going to start telling him how she planned to decorate the nursery…
‘You know that Jennifer Bowers has decided to retire from politics? Apparently her father isn’t well, and she feels that she needs to be at home with her family. If you ask me it’s probably far more likely that she’s worried that Maurice might stray, but… Anyway, that means that the party will be looking for a new candidate to take her place as local MP. Think of it, darling. Think of the influence you’ll have, the power…’
Nick was thinking of it… His head was dizzy with the magnitude of what she was suggesting. MP… MP… How small and unimportant that would make Adam and his place on the local council look… Adam who would have to acknowledge his political superiority, his wealth… his status… MP… It would be him that everyone looked up to… him and not Adam. He would be the one cited as a role model. He would be the one people spoke of in tones of awe and admiration.
