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‘It must be nice to be so perfect. To live your life without ever making a mistake.’ She put down her chopsticks carefully. ‘I told you that I came here for Archie’s sake, and I did. But I had an ulterior motive. I wanted to find out who you were. You see, I thought you couldn’t possibly be as cold-blooded and manipulative as you appeared.’
Her lip curled.
‘Guess I was wrong. Goodnight, Mr Law.’
CHAPTER FOUR
DORA HATED WAKING UP, and it was taking even longer than usual to drag herself out of the cocooning, comforting fog of sleep.
With an effort she rolled over onto her side and forced her eyes open.
For a moment she was utterly disorientated.
She had been dreaming about Della, and that holiday they had taken in Greece to celebrate her job in Macau. Instead of their usual modest apartment Della had splashed out and, as she glanced around at the unfamiliar luxury of her surroundings, Dora’s first thought was that she was back in that hotel room.
And then she remembered.
Her heart lurched.
She wasn’t in Greece with her beloved sister. She was in Macau with a man who thought she was a waste of space. A man who thought so little of her that he never missed an opportunity to remind her of that fact—as last night had proved.
Pushing back the covers, she rolled out of bed and headed to the bathroom.
But why should she care what Charlie Law thought of her? It didn’t seem likely that she was going to see much of him anyway. He might have come up with a reasonable explanation for his no-show yesterday, but men in his position always put work before everything else—including their children and wives.
Except Charlie didn’t have a wife.
She knew that because—and it was embarrassing to admit it—she had looked him up on the internet late one night.
And why shouldn’t she have? she thought defensively. She was going to be staying in his house. And it wasn’t as if she had gone through his bins or hacked his phone records. It was all there on the internet, for anyone to see.
Her insides tightened. Not that she cared one way or another if he was married. She would happily serve him up on a platter to any and all comers. He might look divine, but he was ruthless and single-minded and utterly devoid of any kind of empathy.
Remembering that crack he’d made about the family tree, she scowled.
Honestly, it was hard to imagine that he and Archie were actually related. Archie was so sweet and soft. Surely there was no way he would grow up to be like his horrible big brother.
And what gave Charlie Law the right to be so horrible anyway?
He had a charmed life. Fortune had blessed him with beauty, intelligence and wealth, with this incredible house, and with a father who had clearly thought so highly of him that he’d made him his successor to head the family empire.
Frankly, she’d swap his life any day for the hand she’d been dealt.
Her mother had found her so unnecessary she had walked out just months after she was born. And, although her father had stuck around longer, he’d never bothered hiding his indifference to her.
No one other than Della had ever shown her any love or support. And now she had lost the one person who had loved her no matter what.
Her chest tightened with a spasm of old pain and new anger. Picking up her toothbrush, she began brushing her teeth savagely.
If she could just go back in time—back to before she had gone downstairs and apologised to him.
Apologised!
She spat into the sink, her shoulders tensing. She had gone to check on Archie and found that toy monkey in his cot. Realising that she had accused Charlie of something he hadn’t done, she had felt guilty.
Guilty.
Breathing out shakily, she spat that word into the sink too, along with a mouthful of toothpaste, and stalked back into the bedroom.
