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A muscle flickered in his jaw. ‘It isn’t a question of trust.’
‘Of course it is!’ Her voice was high-pitched and unlike her usual tone. ‘I forgave you for what you thought about me at the beginning of our relationship because I was honest enough to admit that I didn’t exactly behave like a virgin, even though that’s what I was. I’ve made allowances for the fact that Antonia hurt you so badly, and I’ve made allowances for the fact that your position as ruling prince meant you weren’t allowed to grieve. But when have you ever made allowances for me? Never. Not once have you given me the benefit of the doubt. Not once.’ Her heart was racing and she felt suddenly light-headed.
Casper inhaled sharply. ‘Holly—’
‘Don’t look at me as if I’ve lost it! I am not hysterical. In fact, this is probably the sanest moment I’ve had since I’ve met you. I’ve always assumed that you act the way you do because of Antonia, but I’m starting to think it has more to do with your bloody ego!’
‘I’ve never heard you swear before.’
‘Yes, well, our relationship has been full of firsts. First sex, first swearing, first slap around the face—’ Feeling the baby kick, Holly placed a hand on her bump and rubbed gently. ‘You know what I think, Cas? I don’t think this has anything to do with Antonia. I think it’s more to do with your macho, alpha, king of the world, dominant—’ she waved a hand, searching for more adjectives ‘—man thing. You couldn’t bear the thought that I’d slept with another man, and the really ridiculous, crazy thing is I haven’t!’
‘You were engaged to him.’
‘But I didn’t have sex with him! That’s the main reason he dumped me, because I was too shy to take my clothes off!’ She glared at him, silencing his next remark with a warning glance. ‘And don’t ask me what happened when I met you, because I still haven’t worked that one out. You have a way of undressing a woman that James Bond would envy.’
‘You were devastated when you broke up with him.’
‘Obviously not that devastated or I wouldn’t have been having crazy, abandoned sex on a table with you the next day.’ A hysterical laugh escaped from her throat. ‘Just because you’re incapable of indulging in a relationship that doesn’t include sex, it doesn’t mean I’m the same. Now get out, and stay away from me until you’ve learned how to be human.’
In the grip of a savage rage, Casper strode through his private rooms and slammed the door of his study.
He’d lost his temper with a pregnant woman.
What had he been thinking?
But he knew the answer to that. He hadn’t been thinking at all.
From the moment he’d walked into the living room and seen Eddie standing there holding Holly’s hand, his brain had been engulfed in a fiery fog of red-hot jealousy.
Never before had he felt the overwhelming urge to wipe another person from the face of the earth, but he had today.
The thought that Eddie had been near her.
He felt physically sick, his forehead damp and his palms sweating.
He needed to apologise to Holly, but first he needed to make sure that Eddie didn’t set foot in her life again.
Not pausing to question the sense of his actions, he ordered his driver to take him to the hotel where Eddie was staying. Ignoring the amazed looks of the hotel reception-staff as they gave him the room number he wanted, Casper dismissed his security guards and then took the stairs two at a time.
Outside the room, he took a deep breath.
He was not going to kill him.
Having forced that thought into his head, he hammered on the door.
Eddie pulled it open and the colour drained from his face. ‘Your Highness—this is—’
‘Why did you break the engagement?’ Casper slammed the door shut behind him, guaranteeing their privacy.
Eddie’s mouth worked like a fish, and then he gave a slight smile and a shrug, his ego reasserting itself. ‘Man to man? Actually I met a stunning blonde. She had amazing—you know.’ He gestured with his hands and Casper gritted his teeth and forced himself to ask the question he’d come to ask.
‘Did you sleep with Holly?’ His voice was thickened, and Eddie gave a confident smile and a knowing wink.
‘God, yes—she was bloody insatiable.’
Forgetting his promise to himself, Casper punched the other man hard in the jaw and Eddie staggered backwards, clutching his face.
‘God, you’ve broken my jaw—I’ll have you for this!’
