Fatal Deception

by Sally Wentworth

  Norrie glared at him impatiently. 'Look, there's no point in arguing; I'm not going to accept it, so you can just return it to the garage and get your money back. If they'll give it to you.'

  'You weren't always so reluctant to take presents from me,' Bruno reminded her.

  'That was—different.' Norrie looked away, remembering the things he'd given her during their brief months together: the gold chain bracelet for Christmas, an unusual stone they'd found on the beach, a china figurine, a plastic ring from a bonbon they'd pulled together and Bruno had teasingly put on her engagement finger. She had them still, although she'd been going to throw them away a dozen times, but somehow when it came to it she had been unable to bear parting with them.

  'Do you still have them?' Bruno asked, his head tilted so that he could see her face.

  Norrie laughed derisively. 'You flatter yourself. Do you really think that I'd want to keep anything that reminded me of you?'

  Bruno's jaw hardened, but he said, 'Why not? We had some good times together.'

  'Did we? I don't remember.'

  'Liar. You remember as well as I do.'

  'Then let's just say that I prefer to forget. All I remember about you is the way you kicked my father off his own paper.'

  'It was hardly that. And if you would face facts instead of judging it on ah emotional level, you'd realise that I had no alternative . ..'

  Norrie suddenly turned on him furiously. 'What the hell other level is there? I was in love with you, and yet you did something that hurt my father so much that he didn't want to live any more. Do you think that car crash he died in was an accident? Well, I don't. I know that he wanted to die.'

  'And you're blaming me for his death, is that it?' Bruno's jaw thrust forward. 'There's no way you're going to make me feel guilty because of that. Your father was a grown man. What happened to him has happened to nearly three million others, and he should have had the courage to face it like everybody else.'

  'Are you saying that he was weak?' Norrie bristled.

  'I'm not saying that he was anything. I'm not going to let you try to push the responsibility for his death on to me, that's all.'

  Norrie gripped the back of a chair and said tensely, 'He was my father. If you had really loved me as you said you did you would have let him stay on as the editor until he retired.'

  'And let the paper go on going downhill for another ten years? I bent over backwards to give him time to face reality and see that he had to change with the times, but he was as stubborn as a mule. And you're just as bad,' he added roundly. 'Once you get an idea fixed in your head you won't even consider that you could be wrong.'

  'If by that you mean that I should believe your version of what happened, then the answer's no,' Norrie retorted doggedly.

  Bruno made an impatient sound and half turned away, but then sighed and said, 'Look, nothing we say or do is going to change the past. It happened and it's over. What we have to think about now is the future, and most specifically Ben's future.'

  'That's none of your business.'

  Anger flashed in Bruno's eyes as he said exasperatedly, 'We've already gone into that and I don't intend to start arguing all over again. If you won't accept the car as a present, then you can look on it as a company car to go with your job.'

  Norrie smiled rather grimly and said with mock sweetness, 'How very kind of you. Only you seem to have forgotten that I don't work for you any longer. I resigned yesterday.'

  'But I didn't accept it.'

  'You don't have any choice. You can't force me to work for you.'

  'You seem to forget that you signed a contract in which two months' notice of termination of employment had to be given by either side.'

  Norrie gave a disbelieving laugh. 'You're not going to hold me to that, surely? Not in the circumstances?'

  'What circumstances exactly?'

  'Well, the fact that I can't stand the new managing director plays a large part in it,' she informed him acidly.

  'Does it indeed? Well, that's a pity because you're just going to have to get used to having me around when we're married.'

  'You're not still on about that? You can't be serious.'

  'I was never more serious about anything in my life. And I've already made enquiries at the local Registrar's Office. We can be married in three weeks' time.'

  Norrie gasped. 'You're crazy. You know I'd never marry you.'

  'Oh, but you will. I shall need your birth certificate for the marriage licence, by the way.'

  'I won't give it to you,' she said defiantly.

  But Bruno was quite unperturbed. 'Okay, then I'll get a copy of it.'

  'You can't do that. I won't let you.'

  'You can't stop me. Anyone can get a copy of the birth certificate of anyone they like.'

  It was probably true; Norrie didn't know, but she wondered if, at the same time, he would check on Ben's birth details. He would get a nasty shock if he did, she thought with inward malice. 'You'd be wasting your time. The whole idea is—is preposterous. What's the point of getting married, even for Ben's sake, when we both hate each other?'

  Bruno raised a quizzical eyebrow. 'I don't ever recall saying that I hated you.'

  Norrie's eyes flew to meet his and were held by their intensity. Her heart gave a crazy lurch and her throat suddenly felt dry so that she had to swallow before she could speak. 'That—that has nothing to do with it.'

  'Doesn't it? I should have thought it had everything to do with it.' He moved closer to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

  'Don't touch me.' She moved quickly away.

  'You liked me to touch you once,' he reminded her.

  'But I don't now. And you're the one who said that the past is best forgotten. You can't have it both ways.'

  'No, you're right,' he admitted. 'But there are some things that you just can't forget.'

  'That's exactly what I feel about my father,' Norrie exclaimed triumphantly.

  But Bruno didn't seem to hear as he went on softly, 'Like the way you looked when you opened your eyes after I'd made love to you; like a child who had been given such a wonderful present that she can't believe it's true. And the way you snuggled up to me in your sleep. And then of course there was the way you . . .'

  'Shut up! I don't want to hear it.' Her cheeks flaming, Norrie strode over to the door and jerked it open. 'Get out of here.'

  'What's the matter? Have I touched a sensitive nerve?' Bruno asked mockingly, making no move to go.

  'I certainly don't want to be reminded of just how stupid I was to trust you. But at least it taught me never to get emotionally involved with a man again,' Norrie exclaimed bitterly.

  Bruno frowned. 'Are you trying to tell me that you haven't been out with another man since then?'

  'No, I'm not. I'm just saying that I haven't let myself fall for anyone since. Now will you please go?'

  He looked as if he would have liked to ask another question, but changed his mind. 'What about the car?'

  'Keep it. I don't want it.'

  'No, I'm not going to take it back. Be stubborn if you want to, but it stays here whether you use it or not.' And he dropped the keys on the table. 'Do you have anyone who can baby-sit for you?'

  'Why?' Norrie asked, immediately suspicious.

  'Do you or don't you?' Bruno said forcefully, his patience wearing thin.

  'There is someone I know that I can ask,' Norrie admitted reluctantly. 'But if she isn't free then I have to pay for someone to come from the agency, but they charge so much that I use them as seldom as possible.'

  'Contact the agency and ask them to send somebody round tonight. I'll take you out to dinner. Is there any special place where you'd like to eat?'

  Norrie gasped indignantly. 'Has it occurred to you that I might not want to go out with you?'

  'It has. Which is why I didn't ask.' He smiled suddenly and very devastatingly and said cajolingly, 'Look, we need to talk this over calmly and sensibly, and as we always seem to
end up arguing when we're alone, it seems like a good idea to meet in a public place where we won't fly off the handle at each other.'

  'There's no guarantee against that even in a restaurant,' Norrie informed him drily.

  'You'll come, then. Good. I'll pick you up at seven-thirty. See you.'

  And before Norrie could say more than, 'Hey, wait a minute,' he was out of the house and striding off down the road in the direction of the town.

  Well, of all the nerve! Norrie watched him go angrily and then slammed the door as she saw one of her neighbours avidly watching from across the road. That was all she needed. Now it would probably be all over the neighbourhood that she was entertaining men in her lunch hour. And when they found out that she'd been given a car as a present ... Norrie suddenly saw the funny side of it and began to giggle and was soon laughing rather hysterically. God, if Bruno only knew what a fool he was making of himself! How I'd love to see his face when he finds out the truth, she thought with malicious enjoyment. But then she sobered just as swiftly as she realised how angry he would be. She shivered for a moment, but then shrugged off the feeling; there was no way he could hurt her, not any more.

  Which left the question of whether or not she wanted to go out with him tonight. No, not whether she wanted to, because she most definitely didn't, but it would be extremely amusing to carry on the charade just for a little while longer. Just to see how far Bruno would go in his intention of marrying her of course. She couldn't make up her mind for some time and then decided to leave it to fate. If the agency had a baby-sitter available she would go, but if not she would show Bruno Ben's birth certificate so that he would take his car back and get out of her life again. Reaching for the 'phone she dialled the number.

  Bruno knocked on the door promptly at seven-thirty and Norrie opened it, already dressed to go out. His eyebrows rose in pleased surprise as she shut the door behind her. 'I thought I was going to have to fight another battle before you'd come out with me,' he said wryly. Norrie didn't bother to answer and walked past him to his car. He paused before opening the door of the Jaguar for her, his eyes going over her slim figure in the black cocktail dress and sequinned evening jacket, her fair hair in a sleek halo around her head, and her skilfully made up face. 'You look very— sophisticated,' he remarked as he at last opened the door.

  'Do I take that as a compliment or not?' she asked coolly when he joined her in the car.

  'I'm not even sure myself. You've certainly changed.'

  'I'm nearly five years older. And not a girl any more.' She turned to give him a sugar sweet smile. 'But don't worry. You haven't changed a bit. You're still a louse.'

  'Thanks,' Bruno smiled grimly. 'Where would you like to eat? I understand there's a good restaurant here in Welford?'

  'There is,' Norrie agreed. 'But I'm fussy about whom I'm seen with here, so I'd rather drive to somewhere outside the town, if you don't mind.'

  'Are you deliberately trying to provoke me?' Bruno demanded.

  'Certainly not,' Norrie replied blandly. 'It comes quite naturally.'

  He gave a short bark of laughter. 'This looks as if it's going to be quite an evening. Well, okay, Norrie, if that's the way you want to play it, it's fine by me.'

  They didn't talk again until they arrived at an Italian restaurant in a town to the north of Welford that Norrie hadn't been to before. A word from Bruno and the head waiter placed them at a table for two set in a discreet alcove where they were partly hidden from the rest of the diners.

  'Do you still drink sweet sherry as an aperitif?' Bruno asked her as the waiter hovered beside them.

  Norrie's eyes widened in surprise at his remembering, but she said coolly, 'No. I'd like a Bacardi and Coke, please.'

  Bruno gave the order and turned back to her. 'So your palate has become sophisticated, too, has it?'

  'I was extremely young when you knew me.'

  'As you said; a girl and not a woman.' His eyes rested on her face and Norrie flushed and looked away, knowing that he was remembering, as she was, the night he had made her a woman.

  'And you were right about me having changed,' Norrie said shortly, to break the silence. 'I'm not so gullible now, not so easily taken in by superficial charm.'

  'Ouch! That was nasty.'

  'It was meant to be.'

  It seemed as if they were hell bent for a row anyway, but the waiter innocently prevented it by arriving with the menus and their drinks.

  'Cheers,' Bruno said in a sardonic toast. 'Look, can't we call a truce, at least for tonight? This back-biting is getting us absolutely nowhere.'

  '/ don't want to get anywhere,' Norrie pointed out. 'I'm quite happy as I am.' She glanced up and saw him watching her steadily and shrugged. 'Oh, okay.

  Have a truce if that's what you want. Although it won't be easy,' she warned.

  Bruno gave a small smile and asked her what she would like to eat. For a few minutes they discussed the menu and, because it was a safe subject, it reminded her of the old days when they had gone out together for a meal, when there seemed to be endless things to talk about, to learn about each other. Now, when they'd chosen what they wanted to eat, Norrie couldn't think of a thing to say, so she covered it by looking round the restaurant.

  'Have you been here before?' Bruno asked.

  'No, but I've heard about it. It has a good reputation.'

  'Where do your dates usually take you?'

  Norrie looked at him quickly, wondering if he was insinuating anything, but his face was quite bland. 'Around.'

  'Have you a boyfriend at the moment?'

  She shook her head. 'No one in particular.'

  'And you haven't been tempted to settle down since—since we last met?'

  'Once bitten, twice shy,' she answered drily. 'And it may be an old cliché but it still holds true.'

  'So you haven't had a—shall we say relationship, with anyone since me?'

  'I didn't say that,' Norrie pointed out sardonically. 'Anyway I don't for a second suppose that you've led a celibate life for the last four and a half years.'

  Bruno gave a short laugh. 'Hardly. But I would be sorry to think that what happened between us has put you off men.'

  'It hasn't put me off men,' Norrie said sweetly. 'Just off trusting them.'

  'I see.' Bruno looked down at his glass, a rather bleak look in his dark eyes. 'Do you think you might have got married—if it hadn't been for Ben?'

  Norrie was tempted to try and make him feel guilty by saying yes, but she shook her head. 'No, I haven't met anyone I cared about enough to even contemplate it.'

  'So there's nothing to stop you marrying me?'

  'Only the fact that I don't want to,' she told him calmly.

  Bruno smiled and changed the subject. 'How long have you been working for the Observer?'

  'A couple of years. But you must know that already, you had all the personnel files to look at before we even knew you were taking the paper over. So you knew I was here.'

  'Yes,' he admitted. 'It came as quite a surprise to see your name on the list.'

  'But you still came here to handle things yourself. Couldn't you have sent someone else?'

  'It wasn't something I cared to delegate.' He paused, then added rather brusquely, 'And maybe I wanted to see you again.'

  'Why? Because you thought it might be amusing to see if you could still attract me, was that it?' she demanded bitterly.

  Bruno's hand reached out and covered hers as it lay on the table, gripping hard. 'No,' he said forcefully. 'It was never that. I wanted to see you because I've always been sad that we parted the way we did, on such bad terms. I wanted to see if we could—patch things up, and at least be friends. But you made it perfectly obvious that you didn't want to know, so I was willing to leave it at that, until I found out about Ben.' For a moment anger showed in his eyes and his grip hurt so that she gasped and he abruptly let go of her hand. 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. I suppose it was my fault that you didn't tell me about Ben
. I should have made sure that you were okay before we split up.'

  Norrie slid her hand under the table. 'Here's our food,' she said brightly as the waiter came up. 'I'm starving, aren't you?' Adding rather desperately, 'Where do you live now?'

  'In London. I have a flat near Regent's Park, and at the moment I'm commuting from there to Welford every day. It hasn't got a garden unfortunately, but the park is only a short walk away. And Ben will enjoy being able to go to the zoo.'

  'You seem to take it for granted that I'm going to fall in with your plans.'

  'Why not? If you look at it purely from the financial aspect, you'll be getting a pretty good bargain. Security for yourself and Ben for the rest of your life, companionship, a home in London, anything you want that I can give you.'

  'And you,' Norrie added sardonically.

  'And me,' he agreed.

  'And just what do you expect in return for all these riches?'

  He refilled her glass with wine while he considered it. 'First and foremost of course to be able to have my son with me, and to have a say in his upbringing.' His eyes challenged hers but Norrie didn't speak. So he went on, 'And to have you.' Her eyebrows rose at that and he tagged on mockingly, 'To take care of Ben and to act as hostess when I entertain. In short, to be a wife.'

  Norrie tilted her head to one side and pretended to consider his offer, then shook her head. 'Sorry, but I prefer to be on my own in a hovel in Welford than live with you in your concrete palace.'

  'So if you don't like it we'll find a house somewhere. I only live there because it's convenient for my office, but I understand that a kid needs a garden, and I don't mind commuting from wherever you want to live.'

  'How about Devon?' Norrie suggested sarcastically.

  His face grew grim. 'If you had wanted to stay in Devon, you would never have left.' A thought occurred to him. 'Unless you left there because of Ben. Because you didn't want anyone to know.'

  Honestly, he was almost asking to be fooled, the way he was playing into her hands. Norrie didn't answer, letting him think that he was right, and instead made some comment about the food. Bruno accepted the change of topic and told her about some of the eating places he'd visited on trips abroad and in London.