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Carmen’s frown deepened. “I don’t get it. Why on earth are you worried about what will happen if we are both dead?”
This was it, the crunch. “Because an attempt has been made on both our lives.”
“What do you mean?”
Slowly, carefully, Rex summarized what had happened to him on the day of her accident. When he delivered the information, he waited for her response. He expected her to be shocked, afraid even. Instead, she folded her arms tighter across her chest and glared at him.
“Unbelievable!”
“I know it sounds far-fetched, but believe me, I’ve got grounds for my suspicions.”
“No, you are unbelievable. Why didn’t you share all of this with me before now? It’s just typical, you think you can take control and you don’t think about the implications. You just do what suits you regardless of the consequences to other people.”
Rex had to unclench his jaw in order to respond. “I was trying not to worry you any more than was necessary.”
“Well, you sure as hell have me worried now.”
“Believe me, I would have dealt with it all and protected you without you ever knowing the sordid details of my father’s previous love life, if I could have.”
“You just don’t get it. Just because I like you to take charge in the bedroom, doesn’t mean you can take charge of every aspect of my life now you’ve walked back into it.” Her eyes glittered.
He could see that she was afraid. That was making her lash out.
He reached for her, but she drew back and nodded at the house. “Take me to the manor, please. I’ll phone for a taxi and get the train back to London.”
“No way. You aren’t going anywhere on your own.” It wasn’t the only reason, but he was getting irritated by the way the conversation was evolving. “I don’t intend to let you out of my sight, so get used to the idea!”
She sighed pointedly. “Didn’t it occur to you that all this information you just dropped on me might be upsetting and that I might need some time on my own?” She turned and glared at him. “It’s a lot to take in, the fact that the man we all trusted, my mother’s husband, had a mistress all those years.”
“I know that.”
She shook her head at him. “And you lied to me. You told me that you didn’t know why your parents had split up.”
Increasingly frustrated, Rex shook his head at her. “I’m beginning to regret telling you at all.”
He turned the key in the ignition and revved the engine. “I should’ve just let you run loose and break your neck on some booby trap on the stairs?”
He pulled the car back onto the drive and set off at a pace.
“If you had any faith in my intelligence, you would have told me so that I could have been prepared.”
“Maybe I have gone the wrong way about it, maybe I should have told you. But I acted as I did with the best of intentions.”
They were still arguing about it after he’d parked the car and they reached the doorway.
Rex barely paused to grab his laptop bag from the boot of the car before darting after her. “Some women would be glad they had a protector.”
“Okay, so now you want to be praised to the high heavens for keeping me in the dark and feeding me bullshit. Why doesn’t that surprise me at all?”
They were standing on the steps outside the door.
Usually Mrs. Amery would be there, ready to greet them, door open. Rex tried the door handle. It was open.
Carmen gave him a terse look as she stepped past him into the hallway.
As soon as he stepped inside he registered that the place was eerily silent. The chandelier in the hallway was lit up, as was the one on the floor above. “Why is it so quiet? Where is Mrs. Amery?”
The door was open and the housekeeper was expecting them. Mrs. Summerfield, too. Something was amiss. He set his bag down on the floor and stuck his head out the front. The CCTV camera didn’t appear to be damaged in any way. Back in the hallway, he strained his ears, and heard nothing.
