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With his usual ruthless efficiency he had obviously already contacted the removal firm to have her personal things packed. A slow-burning anger built up inside her and erupted in fury.
'The bastard. The low-down, arrogant, over-sexed bastard,' she swore out loud. 'Well, this time the swine is not going to have his way.'
Her violent outburst acted like a catharsis. She could see things clearly at last. She had come to her senses just in time. She still had her home, and here she was staying. Even if she had to fight Leo Kozakis in every court in the land, she would keep her child and her independence ...
The decision made, she took a few deep, calming breaths, and an icy calm pervaded her being. Blank-faced, she crossed to the mantelpiece and picked up one of a group of tiny little figures, a dragon's head, the first netsuke she had acquired, as a present from her father. She turned the smooth ivory figure over in the palm of her hand. Who would believe the desire for such a tiny object could bring so much pain? Perhaps it was fitting, she thought with irony, replacing the dragon on the mantel. The ivory trade was a disgusting business; maybe it was only right the recipients of the dirty business should feel some pain. And she knew in that moment that she would never buy another netsuke...
The sound of fists thundering on her front door stilled her hand for a second before she continued methodically raising the fork to her mouth and eating the dish of baked beans set in front of her on the kitchen table. It was all she had been able to find in the near-empty cupboards. But the sound of Leo's angry voice shouting to her to open the door did get through to her.
'Jacy, are you there? Are you all right?'
She stopped and replaced the fork in the dish, her hand shaking. He actually sounded as if he cared. What a liar! 'Get lost,' she screamed back, not actually expecting him to hear her, but it made her feel better...
The pounding on the door intensified. 'Open this door, Jacy. What the hell are you playing at? Liz was worried sick when you didn't turn up.'
Tea! She'd forgotten all about it. She might have guessed Liz would call Leo, and of course he had to play the caring husband and come looking for her. What a joke! She stood up and, rinsing her plate under the tap in the sink, walked slowly through to the hall. She was going to bed, and he could hammer till doomsday for all she cared.
'Jacy, if you don't open this door I will break it down.'
Jacy hesitated, her foot on the first stair, and thought about it for a second. He would do it, she didn't doubt. Turning around, she straightened her shoulders, and, head high, she marched to the door. If it was a confrontation Leo wanted, that was what he would get. Hadn't she spent the last hour convincing herself she was worth more than what Leo was offering, and determining to do something about it? Well, now was the time to start. No longer was she a slave to his sexual expertise; she could learn to live without him, and the sooner she began, the better.
She flung open the door and Leo was captured with a fist up above his head. 'Lost your key, Leo?' She had given him it only yesterday. 'But then I shouldn't be surprised; after all, you must have an awful lot to juggle with,' she opined with thinly veiled contempt. He must have the keys to more women's apartments than a locksmith!
'What the hell are you talking about?' he said in a hard voice, lowering his hand to his side. 'And why did you stand Liz up? She waited two hours for you. She was worried about you and called me.'
She stared at him. He had changed from the suit he had left the apartment in that morning into a soft denim shirt and jeans. For a second she wondered if it had been for Thelma's benefit, and frowned, before responding. 'Sorry you've been troubled, but, as you can see, I am perfectly OK.' The words were clipped and she had to stifle the desire, even now when he had hurt her beyond belief, to reach out and touch him. The first three buttons of his shirt were open, his hair was rumpled, and he needed a shave, but even so he exuded a raw animal magnetism that it took all her strength to ignore.
His rapier-like glance raked her from head to toe as though he had never seen her before. 'And of course it never once occurred to you to inform me where you were going,' he drawled derisively.
'No, why should I? You're not my keeper.' With a defiant toss of her head she turned on her heel, and would have slammed the door in his face, but she was too slow...
Leo grabbed her around the waist, swung her high in the air, and carried her across the hall and into the living-room. She struggled furiously, her arms flailing wildly, but with her back to his chest she had nothing to strike out at. He spun her around to face him, and for an instant desire flared between them, but brutally she crushed it.
'Let me go,' she said curtly.
Leo's mouth curled. 'O
ver my dead body.' His grip tightened on her upper arms, his dark eyes narrowed assessingly on her pale face. 'Now what happened? You are not OK. You've been crying; your eyes are red. What the hell are you playing at, Jacy? I demand an explanation.'
He demanded! And of course what the great Leo Kozakis wanted he got, she thought bitterly. Well, not this time. And, schooling her features into what she hoped was cool disdain, she responded by acting for all she was worth.
'It is quite simple, Leo. I have decided to live here in my own house. I'm sorry I forgot about Liz, but I will call her and apologise. As for the red-rimmed eyes, I was looking at a photograph of my father; it's the anniversary of his death this week,' she improvised quickly. His touch was getting to her again, and, clenching her hands at her sides, she evaded his eyes as she continued, 'Maudlin, I know, but...' She tried to shrug, and swallowed hard. The silence seemed to stretch interminably between them.
Finally Jacy had to look up at him, and choked back a gasp at the expression on his hard face. She had expected him to lose his temper, rant and rave. Instead his dark brown eyes were curiously empty, but in the emptiness she glimpsed an edge of... was it torment?
He was staring at her and when he finally broke the tense silence even his voice sounded different, defeated. 'All right, Jacy, we will live here for now.' Letting go of her arms, he turned and lowered his long frame on to the sofa.
Her mouth fell open in shock. She shook her head to try and clear it, her long hair flying around her face. What did he mean, we will live here?
'Do you think I could have a coffee? I left the apartment in rather a hurry.' He shot her a wry glance. 'Obviously I need not have worried about you; you appear to have everything under control.'
Jacy took a step forward to stand in front of him. 'No. No...' she repeated desperately. This wasn't supposed to happen. Leo had to go.
'No coffee.' One black brow arched sardonically. 'And I have to give up a luxury apartment for this? Tut tut.' He shook his head mockingly, and Jacy saw red.
He wasn't defeated. He wasn't tormented. He was his usual bloody-minded arrogant self, and laughing at her to boot. In a split second something seemed to snap in Jacy. Tears of rage half blinded her, and she jumped on him like a wildcat. Her hands curled into fists, she hit out at his cold face. She was bitterly angry, thwarted by his bland acceptance of her story, and filled with burning jealousy and resentment.
Leo's hands gripped her wrists, and with insulting ease he swung her on to the sofa and pinned her beneath him.
