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“Do you really believe that? That I’m capable of such a crime?”
“No.” Her momentary relief disappeared as he continued, “But given that I only have one side of the story to go on, that mywifedidn’t confide in me, I can only go off what I was told.”
The pieces fell into place with a resounding thud that wiped away the guilt she’d been feeling over not confiding in Alaric. There was only one person in the world who would have made such a horrific accusation.
“Did you call Temperance or did she call you?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
She looked up at him. Whether it was the shock or some leftover semblance of self-control, she managed to keep her voice level. “It does matter. It matters who called who, and it matters that instead of giving me a chance to tell my side of what happened, you automatically went off the word of a woman you’ve never met, a woman I told you made my life a living hell when I was with her son.”
“You had your chance. Multiple ones, in fact.” His eyes flickered. “I told you how important it’s been to rise above the gossip Daxon and Celestine courted for years. I told you what the tabloids and press did to my mother. You know personally how much is riding on Linnaea being shown as a country rising from the ashes, not a nation run by spoiled despots. What do you think the media will do if they find out I not only married my secretary after I got her pregnant the night my fiancée broke off our engagement, but that I married a woman suspected of causing the accident that killed her wealthy husband?”
I won’t cry. I will not cry.
Slowly, she stood.
“Is that what’s most important here? Preserving Linnaea’s image?”
“Don’t twist my words,” Alaric growled. “That’s a part of it. You lied to me.”
“I never lied.”
“Concealed, distorted, however you did it, you didn’t tell me the truth, Clara.”
She closed her eyes to keep the tears at bay. She should have told him, should have trusted that he would listen to her as she had listened to him when he’d confided so much in her. But she’d done exactly what he’d told Cass not to: let her fears hold her back.
Now it was too late. She’d broken Alaric’s trust. Temperance would never let her stop paying for what she imagined Clara had done to her precious son. The happiness Clara had so briefly found with her husband would now be forever out of reach. She could try to explain, but he’d just revealed he cared more about reputation and scandal than he did the truth.
She breathed in deeply and opened her eyes.
“Since Temperance filled you in on the details, it sounds like there’s nothing more for me to say.”
She turned and started for the door.
“Do not walk away from me, Clara. We aren’t finished here.”
“But we are.” She stopped, her hand on the doorknob, and looked back at him. “You already have all the information you need. If it comes to light in the press, I’ll work with the public relations department to mitigate the fallout as much as possible and will take full responsibility for whatever is needed to preserve Linnaea’s image.”
He ran a hand through his hair, the first sign that he wasn’t in full control of his emotions.
“It’s not just a public relations issue.”
“No, but that seems to be a priority. Why else would you have taken Briony’s suggestion to move the ceremony or take the wedding photos?”
She waited for him to correct her, to tell her it had been more than just for publicity.
But he remained silent, watching her with that hawklike gaze.
Her hurt surged forth, took control of her tongue.
“Caring about how things look compared to how they are seems to run in the family.”
She wanted to snatch the words back as soon as they left her mouth. His lips parted slightly as the full weight of what she’d said registered, essentially accusing him of his worst fear: that he was just like his father.
But before she could even begin to apologize, he pointed at the door.
“Go. The helicopter will be here in an hour to take you back to Linnaea.” He bit out the words with a snapping fury that made her tremble. “We’ll revisit this issue in time. But until I summon you, I don’t want to hear from you, see you, nothing.”
