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“So someone at Stephens Timber tipped Claud off,” he charged.
Ashley stood her ground, refusing to back down to the anger in the set of his jaw. “Claud’s suspicious, if that’s what you mean.”
“What I mean, dear lady,” Trevor spat out, “is that no one in that damned timber company of yours can keep his mouth shut.” A deadly gleam of anger sparked in his eyes. “Or else you were just stringing me along all the time. This entire meeting was just a charade.”
“I didn’t come knocking on your door,” Ashley pointed out, her eyes widening in disbelief.
“But you didn’t exactly fight me off, did you?” he threw back at her, his angry glare burning through to her soul.
A small part of Ashley wanted to wither and die. Could this be the same man she loved with all of her heart? Did he really believe that she had sold him out? The fists rammed against his hips and the tense muscles straining beneath his shirt indicated that he was barely holding on to his temper, as if he really thought she had betrayed him.
“I wanted to be with you, Trevor.”
“Why?” he demanded, taking a step nearer to her and gripping her shoulders with his tense fingers. “Why? So that you could get close to me? Are you just like the rest of your family, Ashley? Would you do anything to protect your name?” he asked, his words slicing through her heart as easily as a razor.
“Of course not!”
“No?” Disbelief contorted his rugged features. His eyes narrowed in unspoken accusation. “You didn’t believe a word I said, did you? And you had no intention of holding up your end of the bargain.”
“You know better than that,” she insisted, her words trembling as they passed her lips. Dread slowly inched up her spine.
“What I know is that you used me, lady. You slept with me just so you could get close—see how I planned my campaign—so that you could protect your timber empire.”
Ashley was too numb to speak. The fingers pushing into her flesh were painful, but not nearly as agonizing as the words coming from Trevor’s lips.
“You missed your calling, lady,” he stated. “You should have been an actress. That performance you gave me last night was damned near convincing!”
Without thinking, she raised her hand as if to slap him, but the fingers tightening on her shoulders prevented the blow from landing.
“You bastard,” she hissed, tears beginning to run down her face.
“Like I said before—I call ’em as I see ’em.”
“Then you’re a blind man!” She pulled herself free of his grasp, lifting her head above the treachery of his insults. “You never could believe that all I ever wanted was you. You never could trust me and you never will.”
A muscle worked at the corner of his jaw. For a moment the anger on his face was replaced by raw and naked pain. But just as quickly as it had appeared, his misery was hidden and Trevor’s blue eyes became as cold as the midnight sun.
“Just remember that you and I have a bargain, lady. I expect you to keep your end.”
She took in a shuddering breath. “And if I don’t? What will you do, Trevor?”
“I swear to you that I’ll destroy Stephens Timber Corporation and drag your family’s name through the mud until it will never come clean.”
“So much for the image of the kind and just politician,” she threw back at him. “You’d better watch out, Senator, that gilded reputation you work so hard to keep in the public view might just become tarnished.”
“I don’t give a damn about my reputation, Ashley, and you know it.”
“What I know is that nothing matters to you—nothing other than your damned career. That’s all it’s ever been with you, Trevor.” His head snapped upward, as if she’d struck him. “I was foolish enough to think that you cared for me once,” she continued, unable to stop the words from tumbling from her lips. “But now I’m a little older and wiser.”
He looked as if he was about to protest. His broad shoulders sagged and he shook his head, as if he couldn’t stand to hear another word. “If only you knew,” he whispered.
“I’ll keep up my end of the bargain,” she stated wearily, “just to prove you wrong.”
He managed a bitter smile before he turned toward the door. She stood in the hallway, unable to move, her arms cradled protectively over her breasts, and watched in miserable silence as Trevor slowly pulled on his boots, buttoned his jacket and placed an unsteady hand on the door.
“Good-bye, Ashley,” he whispered, casting one last glance over his shoulder in her direction.
She couldn’t even murmur his name. Her th
