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‘Sweetheart, I’m always on your side, you know that, but for a man as fiercely proud as Jago, these would have seemed like the ultimate insult to his manhood. It’s the male ego thing. Can’t you see that?’ She narrowed her eyes. ‘I must admit they’re bloody good. You look stunning in this one.’
Katy ignored her. ‘But I wouldn’t do a thing like that. He should have known I wouldn’t do a thing like that. Instead, he assumed I went from virgin to slut faster than you could say broken heart.’
‘I know, and deep down I suspect Jago knows, but love must have clouded his judgement.’
Katy stiffened. She was singularly unimpressed by Jago’s judgement. Or rather lack of it. ‘We both know that Jago never loved me.’
If he’d loved her, he wouldn’t have been so quick to believe the worst of her.
‘I certainly didn’t think he did,’ Libby mused, still leafing through the photographs, ‘but now I’m changing my mind.’
‘Based on what?’
‘Think about it. Think about the way he’s been behaving since you walked back into his life—or rather since you arrived on a stretcher. He is seriously bothered by you. Also, we both know that Jago is Mr Super-Bright. Nothing gets past him in the intellectual stakes, which can only mean one thing…’
Katy stared at her stupidly and Libby rolled her eyes and dropped the offending photographs on the table.
‘He was so blinded by love that he didn’t bother examining the facts. His reactions were totally emotional, which was what Dad was banking on when he set it all up.’
‘You’re being ridiculous,’ Katy said. ‘Jago couldn’t have been in love with me.’
‘Why?’
‘Well for a start because he never mentioned it,’ Katy said caustically, and Libby rolled her eyes to the ceiling.
‘So? You’re twenty-nine, Katy. When are you going to realise that not everyone is as honest and straightforward as you are? I suspect Jago had never said those three little words in his life before. You’d only been together for a month and you were only eighteen. Maybe if you’d had longer—’
‘Well, we didn’t,’ Katy said flatly, ‘and it’s history now.’
Libby put the photographs on the table. ‘I’d be very surprised if it’s history.’
‘Meaning?’
‘A man like Jago isn’t going to let it end there.’ Libby’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully and the hint of a smile touched her soft mouth. ‘And if I were Dad, I’d be shivering in my bed.’
‘Yes, well, we both know that nothing disturbs our father’s sleep,’ Katy said bitterly, not wanting to think about how his interference had affected her life. She didn’t know who angered her more. Her father for inventing his lies or Jago for believing them.
And he still didn’t know the whole story.
Libby looked at her. ‘What if he wants you back now he knows the truth? At the very least he’s going to want to talk to you again.’
‘There’s nothing to talk about,’ Katy said flatly. ‘It was eleven years ago and in two months’ time I’m marrying Freddie. Jago Rodriguez is nothing but a painful part of my past. I know that Dad was responsible, but Jago should have believed in me, Libby. He didn’t trust me and I can’t be with a man who doesn’t trust me.’
‘Jago, can you concentrate?’
Jago shook himself and stared at Charlotte. ‘Did you say something?’
‘Yes.’ She put her hands on her hips, her expression frustrated. ‘I’ve been talking to you for the past five minutes and you haven’t been listening to a word I’ve been saying. What’s the matter with you?’
‘Nothing.’ Jago’s insides were raw.
After Katy had walked away from him the day before, he’d spent a sleepless night coming to terms with the fact that he’d been successfully manipulated by a master.
He’d always known that Sir Charles Westerling was utterly ruthless, but when that ruthlessness had been turned on him, he hadn’t spotted it.
He was also extremely disturbed by Katy’s quiet statement that she’d been the one left to deal with her father.
What exactly had she had to deal with?
