AllFreeNovel
Share Us
From the comer of her eyes she saw him move, bend to pick up a scrap of paper from the floor, and his voice was iced over with contempt as he crumpled the hotel receipt and dropped it to the floor again.
'A souvenir, I take it. Been reliving old times, have. you? God, he must have something if the affair's been going on that long!' His mouth curled bitterly and she had never seen his eyes so cold. 'So why didn't you marry him to gain access to the money you obviously intend to pour all over him? And don't bother to answer, let me tell you! Because there was no way your guardians would have approved your marriage to him—and so your considerable financial assets would have been frozen for another year.
Tough on him, that. He likes to spend, I take it!' His mouth thinned, displaying a cruelty she hadn't seen before. 'Was he getting restive, threatening to move to greener pastures? Was that why you hatched a plan to marry someone your guardians would approve of? And so, as I heard him saying when you'd invited him to my house, two days after becoming my wife, in order to get your hands on one fortune, you married another. Mine.
Sweet heaven—did you imagine I'd sit by and let you lavish mine on him once you'd run through yours?'
Things were going from bad to worse, and she couldn't bear it because what he was saying, accusing her of, was nothing like the tr
uth. And now, if ever, was the time to make him see that. She was crazily in love with him and she wanted him to love her, and if she couldn't put the record straight then this morning's debacle would put the possibility of that ever happening back a hundred years.
She scrambled to her feet, the notes pushed all anyhow back in the package, and he held a hand out, wordlessly, his eyes midnight ice as they swept dismissively over her.
'It isn't what you think,' she began, her courage almost deserting her under that cruelly denigrating look.
'Save your breath,' he cut in tonelessly. 'The scene I walked in on was explicit enough, and the hotel receipt confirms that you had no intention of losing a lover of some long-standing.' His hard eyes impaled her, making her feel ill. 'He must be sensational in bed. So much so that you couldn't stand the deprivation. That's why you asked me to make love to you on the island.
Any port in a storm.'
'No!' Appalled, she put a hand to her mouth to stop the words from tumbling out. She had asked him to make love to her because she had just realised how much she loved him. But he wouldn't believe that, not now, and if she tried to make him believe it he would end up despising her even more because he'd think she was trying to wheedle her way round him!
'No?' A black brow arched disbelievingly. 'I can't think of any other reason.
And I've no intention of listening to any fairy story you might try to invent.'
He tossed the package around in his hands, as if trying to evaluate the exact amount. 'I'll pay this back into your account. You are free to do as you like with your own money,' he commented savagely, 'except to give massive handouts to your lover. Like it or not, you are my wife, and, as my wife, I expect certain standards of behaviour.'
He turned from her dismissively, staring out of the small paned window.
'Get your coat. I'm taking you home. And don't ever think of trying to see that jerk again or I'll keep you under lock and key.'
Staring at the rigid line of his shoulders, the arrogant tilt of his head, a hot tide of pure rage flooded through her, burning her up, and she turned on her heels to fetch her jacket from the kitchen, her voice shaking with anger as she spat over her shoulder,
'Who the hell do you think you are? God? Well, I hope you find the judgement throne comfortable— although it's probably too small for your massive ego!'
She wasn't waiting for any reply, and she wasn't even going to try to tell him the truth! He had sat in judgement, condemning her, without hearing her side of the story, saying things, horrible things, things that cheapened the love she had felt for him, the ecstasy she had found in his arms. And she had her pride; she wouldn't go down on her knees and beg!
But the heated rush of anger fell away, draining her, and her eyes filled with scalding tears as she saw the carton he must have dropped on the table near the door as he'd walked in and found his wife sprawled out on the floor, another man's body covering her, another man's mouth on hers.
The name of the local delicatessen was plainly printed across the carton in bright yellow letters, so the contents were a foregone conclusion. And there was no mistaking the bottle of Moselle for what it was, either. He'd asked her to have lunch with him, to make his day better, and she'd told him she'd be here, working, and so he had come to her, bringing their lunch, because he'd rather picnic with her than eat off the best china in the most exclusive restaurant in town. And if he hadn't walked in and found her with Fenton then she would have been the happiest woman alive because his action, even if he hadn't realised it, meant that she was at last beginning to mean something to him.
But now he thought her to be a two-timing slut, and the hopes she'd had of their marriage developing into a two-way, long-term love-affair were dead as cold ashes. And no sadness could be as great as this.
CHAPTER EIGHT
'CLEO?' Dawn's voice came brightly over the wire. 'I've just had a call from Mr Mescal. He asked me to get you to have Thornwood meet him at the airport at five-thirty, and to remind you the Blairs are expected tonight. OK?'
'Thanks, Dawn. I'll pass the message to Thornwood right away.' She was about to ring off, feeling herself colour as she realised that Dawn just had to be wondering why Jude had phoned her and not his wife, but Dawn chattered on, 'How's the new job going? I must say I miss you here. And couldn't you have persuaded your husband not to promote that Sheila Bates to your old job? Nobody likes her, I'm told, so I'm sure I won't.'
As Dawn seemed set to gossip for hours, Cleo cut in smoothly, advising, 'I'm sure she'll be fine, just get on with your job and leave her to get on with hers.
Lovely to talk to you, but I must dash—Jude wants to make an impression on Sir Geoffrey this evening.'
Which was as good an excuse as any to cut the conversation short, even though Meg had everything in hand for this evening and there wasn't a thing Cleo had to do apart from dress herself up and dredge up a smile and a line in relaxed conversation from somewhere. She didn't feel in the mood to talk to anyone, not even Dawn. She was so tense she felt she might explode, disintegrate into a million ragged pieces.
On Tuesday morning, after discovering her with Fenton, Jude had driven her home in a stinging silence and had departed, almost immediately, for Zurich.
And late this afternoon he would be back, and before the Blairs arrived for dinner she was going to have to make him listen to her explanations.
