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‘I was going to call you this afternoon,’ he told her rather defensively.
‘I needed to see you to talk. This morning I found out something that I wish you’d thought to share openly with me,’ Milly admitted tautly.
‘Unlike your life, mine is an open book,’ Edward retorted crisply. ‘I’ve kept nothing from you.’
‘What about the partnership you get the day you marry me?’ Milly enquired, wanting him to tell her that that was a very twisted version of the truth.
Edward stiffened. ‘Your parents told me they wanted that news to be a surprise. Naturally I didn’t discuss it with you.’
Her knees now unreliable supports, Milly dropped down on the arm of a chair. ‘Would you have asked me to marry you without that partnership, Edward?’ she asked tightly. ‘Please be honest.’
Edward’s fair complexion reddened. ‘That is a very unfair question.’
‘But you’re not denying that the partnership was put on the table before you decided to propose, are you?’
Edward studied her with unconcealed resentment. ‘I don’t see why you should have a problem with that. Your father’s generous offer meant that we could have a financially secure future together. Of course it made a difference.’
Nausea pooled in Milly’s stomach. ‘What about love?’
‘I’m very fond of you. But I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit that I was also very concerned about the risks of forming a lasting relationship with you.’
‘Risks?’
‘Do I have to spell it out? That bombshell you dropped on me last night wouldn’t have occurred in a normal relationship!’ he reminded her with derision. ‘Like any other man, I want to feel confident that I know everything there is to know about my wife’s past. You can’t give me that confidence.’
‘But the assurance of a financially secure future persuaded you to overlook those drawbacks,’ Milly gathered, struggling to keep her voice level. ‘Yet you said you loved me.’
‘For pity’s sake, you’re talking like a silly teenager-’
‘I think maybe I still am just a teenager inside, Edward. If I had had any idea how many reservations you had about me, I’d never have agreed to marry you.’ Tugging the solitaire from her finger, Milly stood up to place it on the edge of his desk.
Edward was outraged. ‘You asked me to be honest!’
But he had been cruelly belittling her from the minute she started speaking, Milly reflected painfully. ‘When you hear what your boss has to tell you, I think you’ll be relieved to have that ring back. I imagine he’ll offer you the partnership anyway. I do wish you well, Edward.’
Striding forward, he snapped bruising fingers round her slender wrist to prevent her departure. ‘Who do you think you are to talk to me like this?’ he demanded contemptuously.
Milly was shaken. ‘Let go of me…you’re hurting me—’
‘I found your attitude equally offensive last night,’ Edward snapped furiously. ‘It seems to me that the minute you discovered that Connor’s father was a rich man, you got too big for your boots! Now put that ring back on and we’ll say no more about this nonsense!’
Taken aback as she was by his aggression, Milly was relieved when a knock sounded on the door and his secretary interrupted them. Edward released her immediately. Milly hurried down the corridor, ignoring his call in his wake. And then, out at Reception, she hesitated and looked at the car keys still clutched in her hand. She left them with the receptionist for Robin Jennings to collect. Suddenly she wanted nothing that had belonged to Faith Jennings…
Edward had never loved her. Indeed, right from the start Edward had had serious reservations about a woman with a past she couldn’t remember. Without the partnership deal he would never have proposed. And why had she never noticed what a bad-tempered bully Edward could be if he was crossed? The answer was that until last night she had never crossed or challenged Edward. She had been a doormat, ashamed of her unwed mother status, thinking herself very fortunate to be the intended wife of a respectable professional man. And who had given her such low expectations and such a
poor self-image? Her fake parents, who had packaged her up with a lucrative partnership to persuade Edward to marry her.
There was a stiff breeze blowing and it was cold. Milly had left her jacket locked in the car, but she still hurried away from the engineering plant. When she found herself on the main road she just kept on walking, insensibly soothed by the noise of the anonymous traffic. All the shocks she had withstood over the past twenty-four hours were hitting her now full force. Edward had seemed like a safe and sturdy post to clutch in the storm, but the post had toppled when she had reached for its support. The oddest thing was that she couldn’t yet feel a single shard of grief. But then, she acknowledged dully, she wasn’t really feeling anything…
‘Where the hell is she?’ Gianni raked into the phone.
‘We’ve found her. She’s OK. She’s sitting on a bench by the lake in that park.’
‘Madre di Dio!’ Gianni launched, paling at that information. ‘I want two of you within six feet of her until I get there!’
After telling his driver to go as fast as the speed limit would allow, Gianni threw back a brandy to steady himself. He was furious with himself. He had known he had to go slowly with Milly. The psychologist had warned him to be careful. But from the first moment he had wildly overplayed his hand.
He should have kept quiet about Benson and the partnership. He had planned to hold that in reserve for a few days. Yet he, who had the reputation for being a brilliant tactician with a superb sense of timing, had ploughed in like a bull in a china shop. The prospect of reaping his own just deserts didn’t bother him. But he went into a cold sweat at the threat of Milly reaping them for him…
