AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She swallowed and looked away, so he couldn’t tell how she was feeling. ‘Three good things,’ she said, eventually, when he was about to turn and walk to the door. He waited for her to continue, his breath held.
‘The babies,’ she reminded him. ‘If it weren’t for them, we’d never have seen one another again. It’s because of them that we’re marrying.’
He nodded, and left the room, wondering at the hollow sensation in his gut that simply wouldn’t quit.
‘Who will be there tonight?’ she asked, as the car slowed down at traffic lights, anxiety thickening her blood.
‘Dignitaries, film stars, politicians, some diplomats and artists.’ He spoke with cold detachment, as though they hadn’t made love earlier, as though they were strangers who barely knew one another. ‘The gallery is renowned throughout Europe and the Middle East.’
‘Are these people your friends?’
‘Some are,’ he said, but she had the feeling he wasn’t being completely honest with her. ‘My cousin will be there—Astrid el Abdul. She is a few years younger than me, and a woman of great integrity. I will introduce the two of you. If I am busy, she will take care of you.’
Her smile was lopsided. ‘I don’t need to be taken care of—you might have forgotten but I’m quite experienced at mingling with strangers at fancy events.’
‘The kind of mingling you indulged in in the past will not be tolerated here, remember?’
She looked away from him, her smile dying. ‘So Astrid is actually some kind of babysitter for me?’
‘If necessary, she will be.’
India bit down on her lip. ‘I don’t know what I can do to make you believe me,’ she said softly, shaking her head at the futility of that. ‘I was never that kind of escort.’
He stared at her, his eyes probing hers, and she waited, because for a moment it almost seemed as if he believed her, or wanted to believe her, and she desperately needed that. She didn’t know how they could really make their marriage work if he bought into such lies about her. But after a moment, he shrugged, a careless, throwaway gesture, and looked to the window beyond her. ‘It doesn’t matter any more. We’ve put the past in the past. Our children are the future.’
But it did matter! India reached across to touch him, and his eyes dropped to the gesture, consternation on his face, so she withdrew her hand abruptly. Were there rules for this too? That they could touch in the bedroom, but not beyond it? Ice filled her heart. She looked away, nodding once, just as the car pulled to a stop outside a modern building on the edge of one of the canals she’d spied from the plane. It was illuminated by red spotlights, and enormous posters were hung from the windows proclaiming the benefit. A score of paparazzi stood waiting, roped off the event, kept separate from the guests.
His hand on her chin surprised her, and as he drew her face back to his she didn’t resist. ‘I have never wanted a woman as I’ve wanted you.’
‘Is that supposed to make me feel good?’
‘It’s a start,’ he said, with a frustrated jerk of his head. ‘We’re both working this out as we go along. I don’t want to hurt you, but nor do I want to lie to you. I’m not going to pretend to feel something for you that I don’t, I won’t act as though I care for you or am falling in love with you, simply to placate you. I’m offering a relationship that works for me; you have to decide if it works for you.’
