Kitabı oku: «The Millionaire's Marriage Revenge», sayfa 3

‘Of course, Sofie. You poor thing, you look totally drained,’ he declared in some concern. ‘You made everything look so easy, I didn’t realise how tired you must be. You did a grand job tonight and I’m proud of you,’ he added as he took her arm through his to escort her out.

At that time of night it wasn’t a long journey from the hotel to her cottage. David saw her to the door, then left with a friendly wave. Letting herself in, Sofie closed the door gently behind her. She paused momentarily, looking up the stairs, then walked into the sitting room where a young woman glanced up from the book she was reading and smiled.

‘Hi, Annie, is everything OK?’ Sofie enquired, watching the woman gather up her things, getting ready to leave.

‘Not a peep all evening,’ Annie reported, taking the money Sofie offered her. ‘Just give us a bell when you need us again.’

‘I will. Thank you, Annie,’ Sofie promised, seeing the girl out and watching whilst she walked to the next cottage and opened the front door. Then Sofie climbed the stairs and went to a door which stood slightly ajar.

Pushing it open carefully, she slipped inside and walked over to the bed, looking down at the small figure sleeping there. Her heart tightened painfully, because her dark-haired little angel was the spitting image of his father—Lucas. This was the secret she so feared would be discovered. If Lucas was bent on revenge for the way she had walked out on him, what would he do if he ever discovered she had withheld the knowledge that he had a son?

Now her heart quailed, for the possibilities were terrifying, and her hand was trembling as she ran it gently over Tom’s hair. He sighed heavily and she waited until she was sure he was still asleep before kissing his forehead and silently leaving the room again. Outside she steadied herself with a hand on the wall. What was she going to do? Lucas had betrayed her, so why should she be the one to suffer more? He was the one in the wrong, and she had been justified in leaving him. Why should there be more?

The answer was painfully obvious. Because two wrongs didn’t make a right. Because everything had to be paid for sooner or later and, for her sin of omission, that time was now.

CHAPTER TWO

WITH a soft moan of distress, Sofie crossed to her bedroom, switching on the light but leaving the door ajar so she could hear Tom if he woke in the night. Kicking off her shoes, she walked over to the window, rubbing her palms up and down her arms as if chilled, though she knew that sensation came from within.

Was Lucas standing at his window too, staring out, wondering if she was thinking of him? No, he was too confident for that. He knew she was thinking of him, worrying what he was going to do. Now that he had found her, by accident though it might have been, he wasn’t about to walk away until he had answers. She couldn’t blame him, but oh, how she wished things could have been different.

Their relationship had started out with such passion and excitement, joy and hope for the future. Even now she smiled when she pictured him looking down at her with love in his eyes. Her heart ached with the memory and the knowledge that, by her later actions, she had forfeited the right ever to see such a look again.

Yet would she believe a declaration of love, even if he were inclined to give it? Her heart would, because she still loved him so desperately, but her head knew he had lied to her. He had broken her trust, and that could never be put right. She would never have believed he could do what he had, but she had the proof. She wouldn’t believe him. Could not.

Sofie sighed heavily, the weight of her sense of betrayal hard to bear now that she had seen Lucas again. Her eye was drawn to the jewellery box which sat on her dressing table and she went to it, taking out the top layer and removing what lay hidden there. Tears glistened in her eyes as she stared at the diamond encrusted wedding band she held in her right hand, so that when she looked at the photograph in her left hand it was almost a blur.

Blinking hard, she went back to the window and sat down on the tiny window seat. Biting her lip, she stared at the two figures in the picture. It was the only one she had taken with her when she’d left. It was of herself and Lucas, on their wedding day, and looking so happy it hurt. Of course, that was because she hadn’t known that, for all his charm and passion, he was fickle. Love obviously meant something else to him.

Even knowing of his betrayal, leaving Lucas had been so painful she had cried herself to sleep more nights than she could count. There had seemed to be no end to the tears. She couldn’t help wondering where he was, what he was doing. The longing to hear his voice had urged her to reach for the telephone more than once, but reason had always made her draw back at the last minute. She had fallen under his spell once, with the result that he had broken her heart. She couldn’t risk falling under it again.

More like an automaton than a human being, she had got through each day as best she could. It had been like walking through a dark, endless tunnel, with no light at the end of it. Until she had discovered she was pregnant. That day she had started to live again. Life had purpose once more, now that she had a precious baby to take care of.

Of course, once the initial euphoria had worn off, she had realised she was in an untenable position. The baby wasn’t just hers, and the knowledge tore her in two. She knew it was only right and fair that Lucas should know he had a child but, after what he had done, she could not contact him. Though it left her with a heavy burden of guilt, she was too hurt to change her mind, and she would just have to live with the consequences.

It hadn’t been easy, living her life without the man she loved, but Tom’s arrival had helped her. Loving him had been the easiest thing to do, and concentrating on him had kept her from despairing about how different her life might have been, had Lucas not proven to have feet of clay. Having made the hard decisions, she had done her best to put the past behind her and get on with her life.

Unfortunately, her past had just caught up with her.

Fear rushed through her as she realised how vulnerable she was. What was she going to do about Tom? Having kept him secret from Lucas, how could she reveal his existence now? Lucas would never forgive her, and that would be his right, but what might he do? Her heart knew that he would want his son, and yet she couldn’t lose Tom. After all that had happened, that would be too much to bear!

Tears burnt her eyes and she pressed her hand over trembling lips. In her mind she could hear her grandmother’s gentle voice uttering one of her truisms: be sure your sins will find you out. Oh, God, she knew she had sinned, but what else could she have done? She couldn’t have returned to Lucas, as that would have meant living in a state of constant doubt. Waiting for him to betray her again. Break her heart again. Because he surely would have. He had proved he was capable of it. What love he had felt for her hadn’t stopped him, and her leaving him must have destroyed even that. So she had stayed away, thinking he would forget her and get on with his life.

Only now she was discovering Lucas had other ideas. He hadn’t divorced her, nor forgotten her. He wanted answers. He wanted payment for what she had done to him.

A single tear snaked its way down her cheek. Of course he did. Never mind the double standard. He was a man whose pride had been wounded by his wife leaving him. He wanted revenge. Wanted to confront her. Unfortunately she wasn’t prepared, never could have been, for a confrontation with her husband. Yet one was upon her now, and she had to be strong. However wrong it was, she had to keep Tom a secret still. All she had to get through was one more meeting and then Lucas would be gone and her life could return to normal.

A strangled laugh escaped her. She hardly knew what normal was any more. It was so hard to lie, yet that was all she had to protect herself. When Lucas turned up, as she was certain he would, she must tell him what he wanted to hear. Tell him anything that would make him walk away—this time for ever.

Pain seared through her at the thought, and she leant her head back against the wall, drawing in a ragged breath. The severity of that pain told her a truth she had avoided—that deep in her heart she had always hoped that one day he would come back into her life, tell her he loved her and forgave her, and everything would be all right again. It was the vain hope of a lost and lonely, broken-hearted woman.

Sofie hugged herself as silent tears flowed. Nothing had changed. There was to be no happy ever after for them, because she could never trust him again. His betrayal had destroyed forever the fragile hope she had that there was one man out there she could put her faith in. She might long for a fairy godmother to wave her wand and make everything right, but she knew she lived in the real world. Even if he wanted her back, she would be afraid to trust him, because that would make her vulnerable again. Love without trust was an empty shell.

The following few days were a nightmare roller coaster of highs and lows. One moment confident she could get through meeting Lucas again with her secret intact, the next despairing, for she knew how hard it was going to be. How could she hide a five-year-old boy, who was used to running in and out of the house at will? She had hardly slept the last three nights, anticipating Lucas’s arrival at any moment, but so far he had failed to appear.

She didn’t think for a minute that he had given up the idea of seeing her again and gone home. He was either very busy with what had brought him north in the first place, or intent on making her squirm. Probably both, she thought with an atavistic shiver.

Now it was Monday and she had dropped Tom off at school on her way in to work. He had been in a grumpy mood all weekend and she guessed he was picking up on her emotions. She had snapped at him more than once and hated herself for it, because she was the one with problems. Thinking about it now choked her up and she determined to get her act together before she picked him up from Jenny’s later.

Jenny, her next-door-neighbour, had a boy of Tom’s age and was happy to look after Tom until Sofie finished work on school days. It was her daughter Annie who babysat for Sofie whenever necessary. It was an ideal situation all round, giving Annie extra pocket money.

Usually her work distracted Sofie from her outside worries, but not this time. Things were not going well. Lack of sleep was the problem. Right now she was muttering to herself as she worked at enlarging a head and shoulders portrait for a client and the air was turning a delicate blue. She rarely used bad language and, when driven to, used only the mildest of epithets. It was just as well she was momentarily alone in the High Street studio. David was doing a photographic session at a client’s home and Jimmie, the apprentice lab assistant, was out getting them some lunch.

Sofie was just in the process of making a fine adjustment when the buzzer sounded. She jumped like a scalded cat, undoing minutes of careful work in one fell swoop, evidence of how shot her nerves were. The buzzer was simply alerting her to the fact that someone had entered the studio and never had such an effect on her. Cocking an ear, she waited to hear Jimmie call out that it was only him, but silence reigned, meaning it must be a customer.

Abandoning her work, she started to unbutton her lab coat. Ordinarily a receptionist would be on hand to deal with anyone who walked in off the street, but Tina had called in sick, so she and Jimmie were covering. Hanging her coat on the back of the door, she opened it and stepped out into the studio’s reception area.

‘Sorry to keep you waiting,’ she apologised brightly, although she didn’t immediately see anyone. Stepping forward to glance around a corner of the oddly shaped room, she saw the rear view of a man standing before one of the photographs which lined the walls. He had his hands in his trouser pockets and appeared to be studying it intently. Her nerves jangled for a second time in as many minutes as she registered that special charge in the air and knew who her visitor was. Lucas had finally come calling.

‘No problem. I’m a very patient man. I’ve always been prepared to wait as long as I had to to get what I wanted,’ he said pointedly as he turned to face her. ‘I’ve been studying your photos. They’re very good. You have a knack of bringing out the true person behind the face.’

Sofie had to admit to being surprised by his compliment, but it would have meant more had he not delivered the promise of retribution first. However, it was more comfortable to concentrate on the photographs until he was ready to say what he had clearly come to say.

‘They aren’t all mine,’ she pointed out stiffly. She didn’t generally take the photos in the studio because that was her boss’s job. However, he had been impressed with her private work and had insisted that some of them should adorn the walls of the studio.

Lucas nodded thoughtfully. ‘I know. This one, that one, and the two over there, are,’ he said as he pointed to them. ‘I recognise your style. There’s a depth to them that the others lack.’

She wouldn’t be human if she wasn’t pleased by his praise. ‘I try to make every picture tell a story.’

‘You’ve succeeded remarkably well. Seeing beyond the obvious was always one of your talents. Not one of your hidden ones, though,’ he drawled ironically, a comment that made her tense up as the gloves came off.

‘What hidden talents do I have?’ she felt compelled to ask, and he smiled.

‘Why, the ability to vanish without trace, of course,’ he retorted, and Sofie decided that was enough false politeness.

‘What can I do for you, Lucas?’ she asked with all the composure she could muster.

Yet, whilst outwardly she appeared businesslike, on the inside her heart had another agenda. She couldn’t help eating him up with her eyes. There had been a time when she would have walked up to him, slid her arms around him and ignited the passion which was never far from the surface. Those days were long gone. She couldn’t imagine him wanting her touching him now. Nevertheless, she balled her hands into fists, lest temptation get the better of her, schooling her expression into one that, hopefully, gave little away.

Lucas came a little closer, a mocking smile curving his lips, blue eyes glinting. ‘Quite a lot, as I recall, amore,’ he declared in the sexy undertone she remembered so well but had never thought to hear from him again. Just like years ago, it sent shivers up and down her spine.

As he spoke, those mesmerising eyes ran over her with deliberate provocation, making her feel as if he had actually touched her, though there was virtually the width of the room between them. Her nervous system shot into overdrive and every hair on her body rose up. It was still an incredible sensation and made her feel weak at the knees.

Yet it was totally inappropriate, considering the circumstances, and Sofie battled to keep her reaction from showing, because she knew his look was a taunt to test her responses. He was toying with her and she couldn’t allow him to see how he still had the power to affect her so strongly.

‘Back in the day, maybe, but not now,’ she declared stolidly, forcing her legs to propel her to the desk, where she was able to lean against it and take the weight off her trembling knees.

Hands still in pockets, he strolled towards her, and she was made vitally aware of the strength and power in those long legs and muscular thighs. She could recall in minute detail how they felt wrapped around hers and it set a pulse throbbing way down inside her. She very nearly groaned and willed herself to stop her thoughts from taking that wayward path.

‘Why not? After all, nothing has changed between us,’ he countered smoothly, the words ricocheting through her system, setting her stomach turning.

Her eyes widened. What game was he playing now? What could he possibly hope to achieve by going down this road? Clearing a throat that showed a disconcerting tendency to dry up at his staggering claim, she managed to speak. ‘I left you. That would be called a change.’

‘True, but I discovered something interesting the other night. Despite my feelings about what you did, that connection between us was still there. Across the clichéd crowded room, it was as hot and as powerful as ever. It’s not over, is it, caro?’ Lucas challenged softly, setting her pulse racing madly.

Sofie staggered mentally and flipped open the appointment book with trembling fingers, pretending to read it. This was a tack she had never thought he would take. He couldn’t mean anything by it; it was just a means of rattling her chain. And he was rattling it—violently. ‘D-don’t be ridiculous. Everything was over when I left. I told you the other evening it was a waste of time pursuing this.’ She made herself glance up at him. ‘Look, I’m too busy for this. Do you want David to take your picture?’ she asked curtly, and the gleam in his eyes grew more intense.

‘That too.’

Her nerves leapt so much it must have been visible. Concurrently, anger suddenly welled up and she looked him squarely in the eye. ‘Stop it, Lucas! This isn’t funny. I don’t have time for your games. In fact, I think you should leave right now!’

‘Who said it was a game? You and I have plenty of unfinished business between us. More than I imagined. So, I won’t be going anywhere just yet. Let’s say I plan to investigate the possibilities more fully. Besides, you used to want to be alone with me,’ he confided, still with just the faintest hint of mocking amusement in his tone.

She stared at him, her large green eyes incredulous. ‘Let me see if I have this straight. You’re telling me you still want me and you think I want you too?’ He was quite right, of course. The pull of sexual attraction was so incredibly strong she felt shivery and had to battle a primal instinct which was urging her to close the distance between them. It was taking all her strength to remain where she was.

Lucas laughed. ‘I don’t think, caro, I know. There was always this powerful chemistry between us. I felt it the instant I saw you again, and so did you.’

Also true, but once again she refused to admit it. ‘Don’t presume to know me.’

‘Can any man truly know a woman? Look at my own situation. I thought I knew you, but I never suspected that you would just up and leave the way you did. However, when it comes to recognising physical attraction, I’m never wrong. You still want me, Sofie. If I kissed you right now, you’d melt in my arms just as you always did.’

She couldn’t withhold a gasp at his sheer gall, true though she knew it to be. ‘You have a n-nerve!’ she protested, and he laughed out loud.

‘Actually I have thousands and, though I would wish it otherwise, they’re all responding to you! Urging me to kiss you. To answer the mystery of how those luscious lips would taste now.’

Naturally, that drew her eyes to his lips, and all her senses suddenly wanted to know the taste and feel of them again. ‘If you tried to kiss me, I’d slap your face!’

‘No, you wouldn’t,’ he argued with conviction, and her pulse jumped because, of course, he was right.

Which was why she couldn’t allow it to go unchallenged. ‘And you know this because…’

His answer was to step closer so he could reach out and touch the pulse that beat at the base of her throat. Sofie felt the contact to the very core of her. It was like getting a powerful electric charge that sent shockwaves rippling through her. Her breath caught as he looked deeply into her eyes.

‘Your pulse is racing, caro,’ he declared mockingly.

She brushed his hand away. ‘Of c-course it is. I’m angry with you!’ she stammered, and his lips curved into a broader smile.

‘Liar,’ he countered softly. ‘If you were truly angry, you would be sending out totally different vibrations, giving an altogether different message.’

‘I’m not sending any message!’ she retorted gamely, all the while floundering in this totally unexpected situation.

‘You might not want to be, but you are. I know all the subliminal signals you send out. Your message is as clear as if you had used neon lights!’ he told her confidently, and her stomach lurched nervously. She didn’t want him to know her so well. She needed him to be blinded by anger. Only then could she be sure of keeping her secret hidden.

Unable to retreat from the field he had chosen to fight on, she folded her arms across her chest and squared up to him. ‘Th-that’s one heck of an ego you’ve got,’ she returned derisively.

Lucas shrugged, unfazed by her claim. ‘What you call ego, I call simple honesty. If you weren’t attracted to me, why were you watching me so ravenously the other night?’

Sofie caught her breath at his choice of words. ‘I was looking at a lot of people,’ she corrected firmly, though her voice held the faintest of wobbles.

‘Indeed you were, but none of them did you watch as you watched me,’ he countered boldly. ‘So much hidden passion, caro! It begs the question, why did you leave me when you still want me so much after all this time?’

He had given her an opening and she used it. ‘Yes, well…s-sex isn’t everything,’ she said as she struggled to find something else to say. When they came, they were painfully hard words to utter. ‘W-when I realised there was…nothing else going for us, I…I left.’ Oh, she ought to be struck down for the lie! She had wanted everything from him—she still did. However, her distrust would never let her risk her heart again.

If her answer stung, he didn’t show it. In response he raised his eyebrows. ‘Really? And yet I have the distinct memory of you telling me I was the love of your life,’ he said softly, and his blue gaze lanced into hers, testing her reaction.

Sofie had to brace herself to look him in the eye. ‘I must have lied,’ she denied croakily, and it hurt to say it, because he was, and always would be, her only love. ‘I s-suppose I wanted you to ask me to marry you out of sheer vanity. Y-you were quite a catch, you know.’ She watched him for signs of anger, but he was too much in control to reveal anything. She couldn’t begin to guess what he was thinking.

‘If I was that much of a catch, why leave the goose that lays the golden egg?’

She managed to shrug, pretending an indifference she could never feel. Of course she hadn’t married him for his money, though if it would speed his departure she would allow him to think so. Fortunately she had an answer ready. ‘I didn’t want to be trapped that way.’

That brought a sardonic twist to his lips. ‘How unlucky for you, because you’re still trapped, caro. The marriage wasn’t dissolved and, as you left me, the matter of divorce is in my hands.’

‘Then let me go,’ she urged in a flash, willing him to agree.

Lucas tipped his head on one side thoughtfully. ‘You know, caro, I would, were it not for one thing. I’m not ready to let you go yet.’

Anxiety brought a lump to her throat and she had to swallow hard. ‘B-but you have to!’

He laughed, a far from pleasant sound, revealing at last some of the anger inside him. ‘I have to do nothing. I have control here, Sofie. You signed up for the whole nine yards. I don’t think a couple of months is much of a bargain. As I said, you owe me, and I fully intend to collect—in kind.’

Sofie’s heart contracted and her breath failed her. ‘Y-you can’t possibly be suggesting that you and I…’ The words wouldn’t form, but she knew what he was proposing—that she return to the marriage bed until he said enough. ‘That’s positively medieval! I—I’d have to be crazy to agree!’

Lucas shrugged. ‘On the contrary, it would be crazy to refuse—if you want your freedom.’

Sofie stared at him, hardly crediting what she was hearing. The man she had fallen in love with would never have suggested such a thing. But then, she hadn’t believed that he would ever betray her, either.

‘I will never give in to blackmail. You and I getting back together for any reason can never happen,’ she responded tautly, attempting to regain control of the situation.

‘Never say never, Sofie. It’s tantamount to a challenge, or is that what you intended all along?’

Her nerves skittered because that hadn’t been her intention at all. ‘Why would I challenge you? I want you out of my life, not back in it!’ He had to go—for more than one reason. She couldn’t allow him to find out about Tom, and she couldn’t let him try to work his magic on her—she was far too susceptible to it.

‘That, I’m afraid, is unlikely to happen any time soon. However, let me get to the point of my visit and leave you alone for the rest of the afternoon. I came to tell you I shall be taking you to dinner this evening.’

Sofie’s stomach leapt at the blunt statement of intent, but at least it stirred her sleeping temper. ‘You came to tell me? What if I have other plans?’ she challenged angrily, but Lucas was unmoved.

‘Cancel them,’ he commanded shortly, and they were staring at each other like protagonists in a ring when the telephone rang.

‘Shall I take the call or would that interfere with your plans?’ she asked sarcastically, which brought a mocking smile to his lips.

‘By all means take the call,’ he insisted calmly, making her blood boil.

Muttering under her breath at his cavalier tactics, she reached for the receiver. ‘Hello?’ she greeted the caller, hoping that if it turned out to be a long call Lucas might leave.

‘Hi, gorgeous, why haven’t you rung me?’ challenged a familiar voice, and Sofie laughed affectionately, half turning away from Lucas for a little privacy, as the man on the other end of the line was Nick Colclough, a local gallery owner who was trying to persuade her into putting on a show of her work. So far she had refused.

‘Sorry, Nick, but I’ve been busy. You know how it is. How was the trip?’ Nick had been holidaying in the Bahamas with his family.

‘Incredible. Let’s have lunch and I’ll tell you all about it,’ he suggested cheerfully.

‘Can’t, I’m afraid, I’m having a working lunch today,’ she refused truthfully.

‘Dinner, then. I’ve had an idea about a combined showing that might tempt you into saying yes. We need to talk it over,’ Nick urged her to agree, and Sofie was tempted to accept just to put Lucas’s nose out of joint. However caution prevailed.

‘Could we make it lunch tomorrow? I have…plans for tonight,’ she told him, glancing over her shoulder at Lucas, who, she discovered, was watching her intently.

‘With anyone I know?’ Nick responded cheekily, and Sofie laughed wryly.

‘It’s just business,’ she corrected, wishing it really were that simple. ‘See you tomorrow, Nick. Bye.’ She ended the conversation and set the receiver back down.

‘Boyfriend trouble?’ Lucas asked casually when she turned back to him, and Sofie sighed heavily, combing her hair back with her fingers.

‘Nick’s a friend, nothing more,’ she retorted tiredly. Her lack of sleep was catching up with her, shortening her temper when she really needed to be cool and controlled.

One eyebrow lifted. ‘Really? Does he know that?’

She looked at him squarely, eyes flashing angrily. ‘Nick is a happily married man. Our relationship, such as it is, is strictly professional,’ she informed him firmly.

Lucas merely nodded. ‘Good, because for the foreseeable future you won’t be seeing other men,’ he said bluntly, and now it was her turn to raise her eyebrows.

‘Just because we’re still technically married, don’t think you can order me about,’ she warned him, and those blue eyes took on a challenging glitter.

‘You misunderstand me. It was a statement, not an order. You won’t be seeing other men because you won’t want to,’ he corrected in a voice as smooth as velvet and, though she wasn’t about to say so, she knew full well that Lucas was more than enough for any woman.

However, it would only count if she were about to comply with his wishes, and she wasn’t that foolish. ‘Well, now,’ Sofie said doggedly, folding her arms, ‘we’ll have to see about that, won’t we?’

It was a challenge no red-blooded man could ignore and Lucas stepped closer, so that every increasingly ragged breath she took brought with it the spice of his cologne mixed with his unique scent. ‘Do you doubt it?’

She inhaled deeply and incredibly had the urge to close her eyes and savour it. ‘It’s beside the point. I have no intention of playing your games!’

At that he smiled with lazy confidence. ‘Then it’s up to me to get you to change your mind,’ he countered, not about to take no for an answer. Flicking back his cuff, he glanced at his wrist-watch. ‘I have to go. I shall pick you up at eight. Don’t be late.’

Sofie blinked at the sudden change to brisk businessman. ‘I haven’t said I was going to have dinner with you,’ she reminded him.

‘No, but we both know you are. Besides, you put Nick off for me,’ he came back swiftly and she gritted her teeth, reluctantly accepting he had won the point.

‘You don’t know where I live.’

His beautiful lips twitched. ‘Don’t I? You’d be surprised what I’ve discovered about you in the last couple of days, Sofie,’ he told her, and immediately icy fingers tightened about her heart as she contemplated what that might be. ‘You live in a cottage in a village just outside the city. You started working here a couple of years ago and have a small bank account, but no credit card, under the name of Talbot. How am I doing so far?’