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He saw it. His nostrils flared. And even before he opened his mouth, she knew what was coming. ‘Do not even think about withholding from me. I won’t hesitate to summon every single employee, board member and acquaintance to interrogate one by one until I get to the truth. A truth I’m suspecting we both agreed to keep under wraps for whatever reason?’
‘Fine. You want to know why? Part of the agreement we made when we married was that either or both of us had the option to petition for divorce after three years.’
He looked momentarily poleaxed. Then he shook his head. ‘Impossible.’
‘Oh, no, it isn’t. And you were the one who put it in the agreement. In fact, the whole agreement was drawn up by your lawyers.’
‘And you’re in a hurry to reach that point of separation because...’ He paused, his gaze snapping volcanic fire. ‘Is there someone else?’ he demanded icily, his chest rising and falling with mesmerising pace. ‘Who is he? That Harvard puppy sniffing around you?’
‘No! But...that’s what we agreed.’
Her jaw dropped when he whirled around. She watched him stride to where he’d discarded his mobile phone in the living area.
‘What are you doing?’
He returned to the bedroom and held it out to her. ‘You say there’s an agreement. I’m finding out everything there is to it. Call my lawyer.’
Imogen knew there was no point arguing.
She had no one but herself to blame. She’d dropped a disconcerting fact into his life when she should’ve kept her mouth shut. Refusing his request now would only further exacerbate the problem.
Taking the phone, she brought up the website of the firm Zeph used for his private matters. She gave her name and was immediately connected. She handed the phone to Zeph and a second later he was delivering a torrent of Greek into the receiver. The conversation lasted less than three minutes before he hung up.
Without looking her way, he marched out of the room, then returned scant minutes later holding a sleek laptop.
‘Sit down, Imogen.’
Dear God, what had she done?
She sat. Waited while he pulled up the document she was certain his lawyers had sent to him in record time. Narrow-eyed, he read through the agreement then slammed the machine shut. ‘I have good news and bad news for you, my sweet,’ he declared, that voice still wrapped in ice. ‘From first glance at this agreement, I already see a few loopholes I can explore. If nothing else, it’ll keep you busy...and marriedfor longer than three years.’
Her heart jumped before dropping to her toes. ‘Zeph...’
One corner of his lips quirked. ‘It’s a little too late to attempt to wrap me around your finger with that sexy voice.’
She gasped. ‘I wasn’t doing anything of the sort!’
His mouth quirked higher. ‘Which makes this all the more promising. It will be delightful to see how far you resist what you truly want.’
‘Excuse me? What’s that supposed to mean—?’
‘It means I have a new proposal for you. You will give me six months I’ll never forget and I’ll consider letting you go, as per our original agreement,’ he interjected with titanium finality.
‘Six months you’ll never forget?’ she echoed with a dry mouth, absolutely refusing to entertain the possible fireworks wrapped in those words. ‘What does that entail, exactly?’ she forced herself to demand.
His casual shrug did nothing to ease her mind. Not when his eyes glinted with Machiavellian shrewdness that made her belly quake. ‘I am your long-lost husband returned from the dead. Who has felt a distinct...lack in his wife’s enthusiasm.’
She expelled a breath shrouded in mild panic and lots of irritation. ‘I’ve told you why.’
‘And I expect you to do better.’
‘You can’t be serious! And if I don’t?’
‘Then you might be left wishing you’d waited seven years and washed your hands of me once and for all. And I might just insist we wait out however long my memory returns to get the full picture of the state of affairs.’
He rose and stared down at her. ‘I suggest you think it through and have an answer ready for me by dinner tonight.’ He turned and started to walk away.
And since some part of her insisted on compounding an already precarious position, she opened her mouth and damned herself some more. ‘Where are you going?’
