Roarke's Kingdom

by Sandra Marton

  He drew a ragged breath, lifted both hands from his ex-wife in a slow, exaggerated gesture and stepped away from her.

  “Okay,” he said tonelessly. “How much do you want this time?”

  Alexandra crossed her arms over her breasts and massaged her shoulders. “Don’t you ever dare try that again, Roarke, or I swear—”

  “I asked you a question. How much?”

  “Twice—No. Three times what you gave me the last time.”

  He nodded. “I’ll write you a check. And then you’re leaving. I want you out of here, fast.”

  “That’s fine with me. I’ll be gone first thing in the morning.” The glittering eyes swept from him to Jennifer, then back again. “I didn’t think you’d be caught by such a mouse,” she said with an ugly laugh. “But then, I never did understand your tastes, did I?”

  Roarke strode into the library. He was back a couple of minutes later with a check in his hand. His ex took it, looked at it, then smiled.

  “Thank you, darling. This should do me—for a while.”

  Jennifer stood beside Roarke, watching as Alexandra Campbell climbed the stairs and vanished from view. Long minutes passed, and then Roarke turned to Jennifer and gathered her to him, holding her so tightly that she could barely breathe.

  “You can’t imagine how I hate her,” he said.

  Jennifer shuddered.

  She could.

  Except, if it were possible, she hated Alexandra even more.

  * * *

  Hours later, in the first moments of dawn, Jennifer sat up carefully in bed.

  Roarke lay asleep beside her, his arm curved protectively across her hips. He had finally fallen asleep, but not even sleep had erased the deep furrows from between his brows.

  She had not intended to share his bed, not with Alexandra in a room only a few doors down the hall. But Roarke’s need for her had burned in his eyes.

  “Please, sweetheart,” he’d said. “I have to hold you tonight.”

  How could she have denied him when being in his arms was what she ached for too?

  And so she had gone to him willingly, curling tightly into his embrace, listening to the beat of his heart and the rasp of his breath until finally she’d felt his tension slip away.

  But sleep had eluded her.

  There was too much to think about, too much to anguish over, and now she rose quietly and slipped into his robe.

  She had to think. To plan.

  To decide what to do.

  She stepped into the silent hallway and closed the door after her.

  She, she alone, could wipe away the power Alexandra Campbell held over Roarke and Susanna.

  All she had to do was tell Roarke the truth about his daughter, and his former wife’s hold on him would be eliminated forever.

  And, at first, lying in the dark, safe in the shelter of her lover’s arms, Jennifer had been certain that was what she’d do.

  Except—except if she did, she would break his heart.

  In one horrendous moment, she would not only tell him the awful truth about herself, she would also destroy everything he’d believed in for the past years.

  How could she tell him that the child he adored wasn’t his?

  Jennifer padded barefoot s to the nursery.

  There had to be an answer. Maybe, in the silence of Susu’s room, she could find it.

  She opened the door stealthily, determined not to disturb her daughter’s sleep.

  Her daughter.

  This was her child. Her baby.

  Her search was over.

  The realization sent a shimmer of bittersweet joy through her as she made her way toward Susanna’s bed.

  Susu was sleeping on her belly, clutching her teddy bear.

  Jennifer reached out a trembling hand and gently stroked the child’s dark curls. What was it Roarke had said? Something about Susu’s dark curls and blue eyes being like hers.

  And they were. There was even a similarity about the mouth—

  “I had a feeling I might find you here.”

  Jennifer spun around. Alexandra Campbell stood watching her from the open doorway. She was wearing a long black silk negligee. Even in the faint glow of the night-light, it was easy to see that she wore nothing else beneath it.

  Jennifer drew her lover’s robe more closely around herself.

  “What do you want?”

  “Just a little chitchat with my daughter’s nanny.”

  The inflection she put on the word made it clear what she thought.

  Jennifer could feel logic starting to slip away.

  This woman was evil. Roarke’s ex had hurt him and if she had to hurt Susanna to get what she wanted, that was exactly what she would do.

  Jennifer stepped away from the sleeping child.

  “I don’t want to wake Susanna, Mrs. Campbell. If you insist on carrying on a conversation—”

  “Oh, I do. I definitely do.”

  Jennifer nodded. “Then let’s go down to the library.”

  * * *

  The library was silent and dark. Jennifer walked quickly to the French doors and drew open the heavy curtains, letting in the pale, early morning light.

  “Now,” she said, turning to face Alexandra Campbell, “what is it you want to talk about?”

  The blonde leaned lazily against the wall. “You’re very much at home here, aren’t you?”

  “I told you, I’m Susanna’s—”

  “Nanny. Yes, so you said.” She smiled. “Does my husband lend his robe to all his servants, I wonder?”

  Jennifer felt her cheeks flame. Don’t let her intimidate you, she told herself. This was some kind of game, that’s all it was, and she wouldn’t let herself be drawn in.

  “Mrs. Campbell—”

  “How long have you been living with Roarke?”

  “I’m not living with him—not in the way you mean.”

  The other woman laughed. “No? Then why hasn’t your bed been slept in?”

  Jennifer started toward the door. “We don’t really have anything to discuss,” she said, trying to disguise the tightly repressed fury inside her.

  “Wait.” Alexandra’s voice curled after her like a whip. “I haven’t finished with you yet.”

  Jennifer stopped in the doorway. Tell her, she thought. Tell her what you know…

  Except, what would that do to Roarke?

  Slowly, she turned and faced Alexandra. “Well? What do you want?”

  “I want you out of this house. Immediately.”

  “That’s not your decision to make.”

  “My husband—”

  “Your ex-husband.”

  “Roarke’s no different from all the rest of the men in the world. He’s a fool about women. Surely you know that, Ms. Winters. I bet it didn’t take any effort at all to get him into bed.”

  Jennifer wanted to fly across the room, grab the other woman and shake her like a rag doll, but she knew that would just be a kind of victory for Alexandra.

  “You’re the one who be an expert on men, Mrs. Campbell. Not me.”

  Alexandra laughed. “You’re clever, but I should have figured you were. I mean, it took brains to figure out the best way to come at him.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “He had quite a reputation as a lady-killer before he met me. Well, why wouldn’t he? A man with his looks and his money—he was always a catch.” She smiled. “In those days, he liked his women beautiful and sexy.” Her gaze swept over Jennifer. “But it makes sense that he’d be open to some little homebody now, with Susu to care for and this great mausoleum of an island draining all his energies.”

  “It was nothing like that!”

  “It was clever of you, all right. Here’s poor Roarke Campbell, still mourning the loss of his wife—”

  “Is that what you think? That he misses you?” Jennifer laughed. “Believe me, Mrs. Campbell—”

  “No,” Alexandra said sharply, “you believe me, Ms. Hamilton.�
�� She took a step forward. “Roarke never got over me. What you saw earlier—the rage, the anger—it’s all just a cover-up for what he really feels.” A smile curled over her mouth. “That’s how it is when we’re in bed together,” she said softly. “Sometimes, when he makes love to me, he’s so passionate that he—”

  “You’re disgusting.” Jennifer’s voice shook. “And you’re a liar. Roarke doesn’t love you.”

  “We mustn’t forget our roles here, Jennifer.” Alexandra paused dramatically. “You’re just some little thing who saw a way to worm herself into the life of a rich and lonely man.”

  “That’s not true. I don’t give a damn for his money.”

  “But I’m the real thing, you see. I’m his wife.”

  “Go on,” Jennifer said softly. “I’m sure you’re saying all this for a purpose.”

  Alexandra’s eyes narrowed. “You’re quick. Very quick. I mustn’t underestimate you.” But the thing is, I’m bored with traipsing around the world. It might be nice to settle down in one place.”

  “Meaning?”

  The other woman shrugged. “I’ve been thinking.” She walked slowly across the luxurious room, running her hand lightly over the massive pieces of teak furniture. “Perhaps I’ll stay on here for a few months. It might be fun.”

  “Fun? Walking in and out of a man’s life, a child’s life, might be fun? Do you really think that? Not that Roarke would give you the chance.”

  “I can do whatever I like. I thought you understood that.”

  “And I think you overestimate your power over him.”

  “My emotional hold on him, you mean?” Alexandra Campbell shrugged. “Maybe.” Her eyes flashed. “But I’m Susanna’s mother. That gives me very special power.” Her voice hardened like steel. “Legal power that no one can contest.”

  Jennifer felt herself go cold. “How can you do this? Don’t you have any feelings for Roarke? For Susanna?”

  The other woman’s eyes were frigid. “I want you out of this house within the hour. You have no place here. I am Roarke Campbell’s wife.”

  “No. You are not. Not any more.”

  “More to the point, I am Susanna’s mother.”

  “You’re not that either.”

  Jennifer’s voice was whip-sharp. Alexandra Campbell paled for an instant, but she recovered quickly.

  “I hate to disappoint you, but a divorce does not undo motherhood.”

  “You’re not her mother,” Jennifer said. “You never were.”

  The other woman stared at her. A muscle ticked in her eyelid.

  “What—what nonsense is this?”

  “It’s the truth, and you and I know it. Susanna’s not your child. You—you bought her.”

  The Campbell woman stepped back. “You’re crazy. Crazy! I definitely want you out of my house. I don’t want a lunatic taking care of my—”

  “Your lies won’t work,” Jennifer said. Hot, angry tears rose in her eyes. “Not with me.”

  “Listen here, Ms. Hamilton—”

  “My name isn’t Hamilton. It’s Winters. Jennifer Winters. I gave birth to a little girl on January sixteenth two and a half years ago at seven-thirty in the evening at Women’s Hospital in Chicago.”

  Alexandra Campbell turned white. “You’re a liar!”

  “My doctor said he’d arranged for my baby to be adopted.” Jennifer’s voice broke. “But he sold her. He sold her. To you. You bought my daughter so you could convince Roarke to take you back.”

  “No,” Roarke’s ex said, but her voice was paper-thin.

  “We both know the truth. You bought my child. Bought her! As if—as is she were something you saw in a store and decided you could use.”

  “Such a fantastic story. Only one problem. Nobody will believe it.”

  “You can’t hide the truth. Too many people know. Me. The doctor who betrayed me and my baby. The hospital. And if it comes to that, DNA tests.” Jennifer took a shaky breath. “The scam is over, Ms. Campbell. You’ve lost.”

  The blonde felt behind her for a chair and collapsed into it. “How did you—how did you find out? About who had adopted the child?”

  The child. Jennifer trembled with fury. Alexandra couldn’t even pretend to think of Susanna as hers.

  “I hired a detective. I wanted to see my baby. That’s why I came to Puerto Rico.”

  “And you met Roarke how?”

  “I—I went looking for him. I had his name. The name of the man who’d adopted my little girl…”

  “And when you found him, your worked your way into his life.”

  “No!” Jennifer’s eyes flashed. “That’s not how it was.”

  Alexandra smiled thinly. “Really? Because that’s certainly how it appears.”

  “But it wasn’t!”

  “Does he know? Does Roarke know that you had a baby and sold her?”

  “I didn’t sell her!”

  “I asked you a question. Does Roarke know?”

  Jennifer bowed her head. “No,” she whispered.

  “And, of course, he still believes he’s Susanna’s father.”

  Jennifer’s head came up. “I believed it,” she said sharply, “until tonight.”

  Alexandra nodded. “Excellent.”

  “What do you mean, excellent?”

  “I mean,” the Campbell woman said as she rose to her feet, “nothing has changed. Nothing at all.” Her voice took on strength. “You have one hour to get off this island.”

  “I’m leaving. But so are you. I’m not going to let you hurt Roarke and Susanna any more.”

  The blonde laughed. “I’m not going anywhere. And you can’t do a damned thing about it.”

  Jennifer lifted her chin in defiance. “Can’t I?”

  “What are you going to do? Run upstairs and tell Roarke this ridiculous story you’ve invented?”

  “I’m going to tell him the truth, if that’s what it takes to keep you from hurting him again.”

  “Well, go on,” Alexandra waved her hand toward the door. “Go on, tell him your story.” Let him see you for what you really are, Jennifer—a slut who dropped a baby the way a bitch drops a litter.”

  “It wasn’t like that.”

  “Wasn’t it? You had a child and you sold it to the highest bidder.”

  “That’s a lie. I never took any money for my baby.”

  Alexandra’s eyes flashed coldly. “Fifty thousand dollars, that’s what I paid for Susanna. Try and convince my husband that you didn’t see a penny of it.”

  Jennifer felt a chill of apprehension, but it was too late to back down.

  “I’ll tell Roarke the truth anyway.”

  “Or maybe you came here to blackmail him. That sounds about right. You came to demand money for not dragging him into court to try to get back your baby.”

  “No!” Jennifer clenched her fists. “That’s not true!”

  “Although, actually, I prefer a different scenario. You came to get money out of him and then you thought of something better, something that would pay off in a much bigger way. Get him to want you. To fall in love with you—”

  “He’d never believe that!”

  “Well then, go on. Tell him.” Alexandra stepped forward. “Just remember that I’ll be here to make certain you tell him the entire story.” A smile flickered across her face. “Besides, no matter which story he believes, how do you think your precious lover will react when he knows that the child he adores isn’t his?”

  “She is his in every way that counts. He loves Susanna!”

  “Exactly. The truth will kill him. You know it will.”

  “No,” Jennifer whispered, but her voice shook with uncertainty. That was the one thing Alexandra might have right. If Roarke knew his daughter wasn’t really his—how would he deal with it?

  “The bottom line is that you didn’t just tumble into his life. You schemed your way in. You let him see you as some sweet, innocent thing when in reality you knew who he was, what he owned, what he h
ad that you wanted. Money. Prestige. He had it all, and when you found out that he was lonely, that he was vulnerable, that he was the kind of man who could easily be taken in by a woman who’d pretend she was interested in him, in his child, in this—this dull, boring island—”

  “Jennifer?”

  The breath caught in Jennifer’s throat.

  It was Roarke.

  He said her name again and she swung toward the doorway. When she saw the look on his face, she felt the room sway beneath her feet.

  How much had he heard?

  “Roarke.” She put her hand to her throat. “How—how long have you been standing there?”

  He looked from her to Alexandra, then to her again. “What is she talking about, Jennifer?”

  “She—she—” Jennifer’s mouth trembled. “What did you hear? Because none of it is the way she’s making it sound.”

  “I heard her say you schemed your way into my life. Did you?”

  “No. No. I—I—”

  “She said you were after my money.”

  “Never!”

  “Then tell me she was lying.” He took a step forward. “Tell me that we met by accident. That you hadn’t set out to—to trap me.”

  Jennifer swallowed hard. “Roarke, please. It’s not—it’s not that simple.”

  His eyes darkened. “It’s every bit that simple. Was she lying or wasn’t she?”

  “No. Yes. But not about—”

  “No? Yes? What the hell are you talking about?” She said nothing, and he moved forward quickly and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Answer me,” he demanded. “Did you come into Campbell’s looking for a job that day, or for me?”

  “For—for you. But—but…”

  “Because I’m Roarke Campbell.”

  “Yes. But it’s not the way it seems.”

  “She told me everything.” Alexandra hurried toward them, her voice soft and filled with concern. “She came to my room a little while ago—she said I’d better get out of your life, that she wasn’t going to tolerate any interference. Oh, darling, how awful for you. To have trusted this girl when all the time she was laying her pathetic little plans.”

  Jennifer stared at Roarke, horrified.

  “Roarke. Please, don’t believe her.”

  “Are you saying she’s lying?”

  “Yes. Of course.”

  His eyes swept across her face. “Then tell me why you sought me out.”