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‘On top of the house?’
A sharp nod.
He sighed, feeling even more strongly for her.
A cacophony of beeping cars broke through the silence and, with a start, he realised they were beeping at him.
He put the car into gear and pressed gently on the accelerator. ‘What did you do with the rest of the money?’
‘What do you think I did with it?’ she asked, turning her head to look at him, a curious expression on her face.
‘I don’t know.’ Every single one of his assumptions about her had been wrong, that much he did know. ‘I don’t think you spent it all on yourself.’
‘I bought some houses.’
‘You went into property?’
She let out a muted bark of laughter. ‘No. I didn’t go into property. I bought houses—one for my mum...’
‘I bought your mum a house,’ he interjected. Unlike Charley’s father, who he wouldn’t spit on if he were on fire, her mum he did like and he’d been happy to buy her a decent place to live. He’d bought it as a Christmas present for her, keeping it a surprise from both her and Charley.
He knew Charley’s mood would be lighter if her mum could have been here to celebrate her birthday too, but Charley’s grandmother had had a hip replacement the week before and Paula was staying with her.
‘That was in England. I bought her a holiday home here in Valencia so she could visit whenever she wanted and have a place to stay; my home is a little cramped for two. Also,’ she added as an afterthought, ‘I thought it unfair my dad was getting a Spanish home when she couldn’t have the same.’
He grinned, liking her way of thinking.
‘Who else did you buy houses for?’
‘My half-brothers and—’
‘Why on earth did you buy them homes?’ Raul had never met her half-brothers and had no wish to. Like her father, they only bothered with her when they wanted some money. ‘Let me make an educated guess—your dad told them we’d separated and that you had some money in your own right so they took the opportunity to get in touch and played you with a good sob story?’
‘Wrong.’ She scowled at him. ‘I bought them because I wanted to. They might keep their distance but they’re the only siblings I’ve got.’
‘Did you buy them cars too?’
She nodded.
‘Who else?’ he asked, with a sigh. There was no point in arguing about the wrongs or rights of it. There was truth in the saying that blood was thicker than water. Charley had been right in her criticisms of his own family but that hadn’t stopped them needling him like barbs in his skin.
‘My grandparents and my auntie Beverley.’
‘Is that it?’
‘Isn’t that enough?’
She wasn’t being facetious. Her question was genuine.
‘Enough? Charlotte, that money was for you.’
‘And I did spend some of it on me. I wasn’t completely selfless, you know. I bought myself my villa and a car, and until recently I’ve been taking monthly visits to the hairdresser. They all needed homes of their own far more than I needed another exotic holiday.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me you wanted to buy your family houses?’
‘I couldn’t have asked you to do that,’ she said, clearly horrified at the idea.
‘Why not? We were married.’ He didn’t know what was worse: knowing he’d thought the worst about her or learning that she hadn’t felt secure enough in their marriage to think she could ask him for anything.
He’d thought he’d given her everything she’d wanted and needed.
Suddenly it hit him with force, like a punch to his solar plexus. It had all been a lie.
‘You never opened up to me at all, did you?’
She must have caught something in his tone because her eyes became wary. ‘What do you mean?’
‘In the whole of our marriage you never trusted me, did you?’
‘I did trust you. I told you before I knew you wouldn’t cheat on me...’
‘That is not trust!’ A fraction too late, he saw the flashing brake lights of the car in front and slammed his foot down, missing the car in front by inches. ‘You trusted me not to cheat but you didn’t trust me with what was going on in your head.’ He took in a breath. ‘I loved you but you were never honest about anything, were you? You started all those businesses without having any real interest in any of them but didn’t have the guts to tell me. If you’d had an ounce of the passion for them that you have for the centre, they would have succeeded.’
He took in her red checked silk top, black crepe trousers and short black heels, a classy combination that, with her blonde hair twisted in a simple knot, looked stunning on her but was markedly different from the clothes she used to wear.
