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But please—please don’t let it come to that…
She was clean, dry, scented and in her robe, making coffee in the kitchen, when the buzzer sounded.
Donna? she wondered ironically as she went to answer the door. Come back to lend a hand with the washing up, or offering to take the sheets to the launderette?
But it was Diaz who was waiting outside.
Diaz as she had never seen him before—heavy-eyed, unshaven, and still in the clothes he’d been wearing the previous night, minus the silk tie, and with his waistcoat and shirt unbuttoned.
‘My God, what’s happened?’ She took a pace towards him and he stepped back, flinging up both hands as if to ward her off.
‘Don’t touch me,’ he grated. ‘Or I might do something we’ll both regret for the rest of our lives.’
‘I don’t understand.’ She stared at him. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘You are,’ he said. ‘My sweet, treacherous Rhianna. Stringing me along. Encouraging me to make a total fool of myself. You’re what’s wrong. You—and Rawlins, of course.’
‘You—you must be mad.’ Her mouth was dry, her heartbeat quickening into panic. He knows—but what does he know?
‘I was,’ he said. ‘But fortunately my sight wasn’t affected. I saw him arrive last night, and let himself in with his own key. A very convenient and intimate arrangement.’
A key? Donna actually gave him his own key?
His eyes were on her face. He said harshly, ‘It’s all right, Rhianna, don’t look so shocked. I know he’s not here now, because I also saw him leave just after dawn. I was sitting in my car across the street, so I was able to time his visit to the minute.’
He threw back his head. ‘And now I’m back again, to take a long look at you in daylight. No lamps, no candles, no moon, and no shadows for you to hide in.’
She could feel the anger radiating from him, hot and dangerous. She tried to say his name, but no sound would come.
He walked past her into the flat, into the living room, his mouth curling in distaste as he surveyed the debris on the table.
‘A cosy dinner,’ he observed flatly. He walked across to her bedroom, glancing at the unmade bed. ‘Followed no doubt by an ecstatic end to a perfect day? I do hope, Rhianna, that you weren’t also planning to share that bed with me?’
She found words. ‘It’s not what you think…’ Oh, God, couldn’t she have come up with something better than that hackneyed formula, usually employed when someone had been caught bang to rights? As he assumed she had.
‘Did you tell him I wanted you too, Rhianna? Did you share that with him during pillow talk, or were you too preoccupied?’ He shook his head. ‘You should have dumped him for me, darling. I’m a very rich man and I’d have paid a great deal for the pleasure of you. Actresses, even with bodies as lovely as yours, are two a penny. You could have made a small fortune allowing me access to that treacherous, delectable little body of yours. Used it as your pension fund when your other work eventually dried up.’
He added mercilessly, ‘You’ve used me. Just as your mother used my father, years ago.’ He gave a short mirthless laugh. ‘“Past history”, you said. The pair of you, mother and daughter, unable to keep your greedy, selfish hands off other women’s men, and I wouldn’t let myself see it.’
He drew a breath. ‘All this time—cheating on Carrie. Pretending to be her friend when you were out to steal her fiancé. I should have remembered that you’re an actress, trained to deceive. You’re even better in real life than you are on television.’
Last night’s receipted hotel bill, she thought, showing the hot chocolate she’d ordered last thing from Room Service and this morning’s breakfast, was in her bag. She only had to show it to him to throw his accusations back in his face.
Except that it wouldn’t stop there, she realised just in time. Because if she hadn’t been with Simon last night, then someone else clearly had. And he would want to know who that was.
She swallowed. ‘Are you going to—tell Carrie?’
It was all she could ask. She’d been drawn into this disaster by the need to shield her friend from the knowledge that Simon had enjoyed a blatant and cynical affair only weeks before their wedding. She still needed to do that. Now she had to discover the terms.
‘No,’ he said. ‘How can I? I hold no brief for Rawlins, but it’s the fact that he cheated on Carrie with you that sticks in my gullet. Although I can’t blame him, or any other man, for being tempted. I haven’t exactly been immune myself,’ he added curtly. ‘I’ve seen the way you move, the shape of your mouth. Those eyes a man could drown in. Who wouldn’t want to get you into bed?’
