The words died on her lips as she opened the front door and saw Edward. For a second, she simply stared at him. Then her eyes flared with bitterness.
‘Well,’ she said icily, ‘talk of the devil.’
Edward pushed past her, his face a mask of fury. ‘What the hell is going on! I’ve got the Inland Revenue breathing down my neck, demanding my account books and my bank statements for the last twelve months!’
‘You’ve come to the wrong place for sympathy, Edward!’ Lucy said tightly, slamming the door behind him and facing him.
‘Is that him?’ Gerald Winslow strode out into the hall, eyes blazing. ‘My God—you’ve got a nerve, coming here!’
‘It was you, wasn’t it?’ Edward turned on Lucy. ‘I remember you said something about the authorities last night! You must have told them it was an emergency! They were on to me first thing this morning!’
‘Good,’ Lucy said. ‘I hope they lock you up and throw away the key.’
‘I’ll second that!’ Gerald snapped, striding towards Edward. ‘Rotten to the core—that’s what you are. I took you in, treated you as my son, promised my daughter to you! And this is how you repay me!’
‘You would have spent it all anyway, you stupid old drunk!’ Edward snapped viciously.
Gerald hit him. Edward stumbled backwards, shocked, a hand to his jaw as he fell heavily against Lucy. She broke his fall, her arms instinctively catching him.
The doorbell rang and, as Lucy gasped, her father strode past her and wrenched it open to reveal Randal, whose eyes blazed with dark rage as he saw her holding Edward in her arms.
CHAPTER TEN
EDWARD staggered for his balance, turning in Lucy’s arms, clinging to her shoulders as she supported him with loathing. There was a peculiar expression in his eyes and he looked almost feral.
‘Get your hands off my wife!’ Randal said through his teeth, and shot across the hall to him, dragging him from Lucy and drawing his fist back to deliver a punch that sent Edward spinning across the hall with a sickening crack. He landed on the stairs, dazed, blood on his mouth. Randal strode over to him, picked him up by the lapels and snarled, ‘Prison and a punch in the face isn’t good enough for you. I ought to break your damned neck for what you’ve done.’
‘It was you,’ Edward said, running a hand over his bloodied mouth. ‘You told the Inland Revenue.’
‘That’s right,’ Randal said bitingly. ‘And I’ll come and cheer when they lock you up.’ He hustled him to the door, threw him bodily on to the path and towered over him, bristling with violence. ‘Now get in your flashy car and drive back to your flashy apartment. It won’t be yours for very much longer. Enjoy it while you can.’ He slammed the door, then turned on Lucy, his face barbaric. ‘I might have known he’d come crawling back here!’ he bit out hoarsely. ‘And that you’d welcome him with open arms, you little—’
‘Randal!’ her father broke in, rushing to him. ‘I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done—investigating Edward, informing the Inland Revenue. Lucy and I are eternally in your debt for all of this.’
Randal stared for a second, his lips white. ‘You know?’
‘Lucy told me the whole story not half an hour ago,’ Gerald said.
Randal was even more shocked, staring at Lucy as the colour drained from his face, and a dark enquiry formed in his steel-blue eyes. She couldn’t meet his probing gaze. She felt sick inside, aware that he would put two and two together and come up with love.
‘How much did she tell you?’ Randal asked very slowly.
‘Everything,’ Gerald continued. ‘How much Edward had stolen, where he lived, the car he drove.’
Randal was staring at her. ‘Did she tell you she went to see him yesterday?’
‘Oh, yes!’ said Gerald. ‘And she really tore twenty strips off him, didn’t she!’
‘She did what?’ Randal said thickly, staring at her.
Lucy’s face burned. She couldn’t look at him. Now he would know she loved him. The pain and humiliation were too great to bear. She wanted to run from his knowledge, hide her face from his intense gaze.
‘She told him exactly what I would have done. That he was a crook, a thief and a nasty little con-man,’ Gerald went on. ‘I only wish I’d been there to see it.’
‘So do I,’ Randal said under his breath, eyes boring into Lucy.
‘Stay for dinner, Randal,’ Gerald said suddenly. ‘I’d love to discuss this in greater detail with you both.’
‘I’d love to,’ Randal said curtly, eyes narrowed on Lucy, ‘but I’m afraid I’ve already arranged to dine at home with Lucy. Some other time, perhaps?’
They left in a tense silence a few minutes later. Lucy felt so exposed, so vulnerable. Randal knew now. He knew everything about her real feelings for Edward. She would have to fight very hard to make sure he didn’t guess her real feelings for himself.
The sports car shot out of London and on to the motorway. Neither of them spoke. Tension radiated between them in the luxurious interior of the car.
Suddenly, Randal said coolly, ‘When did you begin to realise that I was telling the truth about Edward?’
‘I don’t remember,’ she said thickly, not looking at him.
He gave a brief, harsh laugh. ‘Come off it. Of course you remember. When was it?’
Pulses leaping with alarm, she said, ‘What does it matter? I realised, and acted on it. That’s all that’s important.’
‘I want to know,’ he said tightly.
‘Well, I can’t remember,’ she muttered, face flushing hotly.
‘Jog your memory,’ he said bitingly. ‘Was it after we came back from Rome—or before?’
Her flush deepened. She couldn’t lie, so she said nothing.
Randal shot her a savage look. ‘Must you be so damned uncommunicative! It’s a perfectly simple question. Why won’t you answer it?’
‘Because I don’t want to discuss it with you,’ she said, tight-lipped.
‘I see!’ he said tightly, as the car put on speed. ‘You don’t want to discuss it with me. Is that why you didn’t tell me the real purpose of your visit last night?’
‘That’s right,’ she said, not looking at him.
‘Even when I made it clear that I’d set the authorities on his tail?’ Randal bit out.
‘That doesn’t make any difference, Randal,’ she said flatly. ‘You set them on Edward for your own reasons. Don’t try to make our reasons the same.’
‘I’m trying to find out why you didn’t tell me what was really going on in your head!’ he snapped, and the car shot off the motorway towards Mallory.
‘I didn’t think it was anything to do with you,’ Lucy said tautly, staring out at the hedgerows as sunlight dappled them.
‘What!’ His knuckles whitened on the steering-wheel. ‘How can it be nothing to do with me?’
‘Because it was never anything to do with you,’ she said. ‘It was always between me, Edward and my father.’
His teeth met. ‘My God, you ungrateful little bitch!’
‘Ungrateful!’ Her eyes shot to his, meeting his gaze for the first time, fury in her eyes. ‘Oh, I’m hardly that, Randal! I show my gratitude to you every night in bed! What more could you ask for from a grateful wife!’
His eyes blazed. ‘That wasn’t what I meant, and you know it!’
‘What else could you mean?’ she asked bitterly. ‘You certainly don’t want me to show love in return for your “chivalry”—do you?’
‘Certainly not,’ he drawled with a hard smile.
She turned away again, stung. ‘Then what do you want from me?’
‘I’d just like the truth once in a while,’ he drawled tightly.
‘Then you should be pleased. Because you just got it. My feelings for Edward and my private conversations with him are none of your business.’
They turned into the gates of Mallory, and the evening sun dappled the long white bonnet of the sports car as they drove up towa
rds that elegant white manor house.
‘Feelings for him?’ Randal said tightly. ‘You mean you still have feelings for that little creep?’
‘How many times do I have to say the words—none of your business?’
He slammed on the brakes a few feet from the front door. ‘That is my business, damn it!’ he swore hoarsely, his colour high and his eyes like burning coals. ‘I have a right to know what your feelings are towards the man who’s been my rival from day one!’
‘I thought you didn’t care if I loved him!’ she flung bitterly, and leapt out of the car before he could stop her.
Running wildly, she startled Mrs Travers in the hall, who spun, staring after her. A second later, Randal’s footsteps were echoing in the hallway as he followed her.
‘Lucy!’ His voice was a whiplash. ‘Come down here at once!’
Breathless, she skidded along the corridor to the master bedroom and ran in, slamming the door behind her, fumbling for the key, her heart pounding. The lock clicked into place. Lucy backed, gasping for breath, and waited for him to hammer on the door.
But he didn’t. Seconds ticked past. She frowned, perplexed. Then she realised he wasn’t going to come and get her at all. He obviously couldn’t be bothered.
Suddenly, the bookcase in the wall sprang open. Lucy spun, gasping. Randal stepped out, a dark shadowy wall behind him, and she realised it was the secret passage he had told her about.
‘I might have known you’d live up to the Mallory name!’ she said, pulses leaping. ‘Secrecy and subterfuge and—’
‘Given that I’ve just thrown the full legal book at your con-man lover,’ Randal bit out, ‘I hardly think that accusation appropriate!’
Her eyes flared bitterly. ‘How many times do I have to tell you! Edward was never my lover!’
‘But how you wish he had been!’ Randal snarled, and slammed the bookcase shut behind him as he advanced on her.
‘What difference does it make what I felt for Edward?’ she said fiercely. ‘You’re my husband now—and my lover. You bought me, you paid for me, and you can do what you like with me.’
‘I can’t, apparently!’ he bit out hoarsely, and strode towards her with demonic purpose in his eyes. ‘I can’t make you tell me what’s going on in your head!’
‘Get away from me!’ She backed away, her eyes fierce green. ‘You don’t give a damn about my feelings! All you want is to take me to bed when the mood strikes you.’ Her voice grew hoarse, tears burning her eyes. ‘And you don’t even want to do that any more, do you! You’re bored with me! Tired of me and—’
‘I’m not bored with making love to you, you stupid little bitch!’ he swore hoarsely. ‘I’m bored with the sound of your damned schoolgirl-love for that swine!’ He caught her shoulders. ‘I want to know exactly what happened between you and Edward Blair! Tell me, or I’ll—’
‘You know what happened!’ she said, struggling to get away from him. ‘You were there today, weren’t you? You heard what Edward said, what my father said. What more do you need to know?’
He was silent for a moment, a muscle jerking in his cheek. Their eyes met and warred. She felt his fingers digging into the soft flesh of her shoulders.
‘Do you still love him?’ he asked thickly.
Heat flooded her face. She lowered her lashes, afraid to answer for fear of revealing her true love.
‘Answer me!’ he commanded harshly, shaking her. ‘Do you still love Blair?’
Lucy cried out as she was shaken violently. ‘Let me go!’
‘Not until you answer me!’ He shook her harder, making her head snap back and forwards until something inside her could tolerate no more.
‘No!’ she shouted hoarsely, and the shaking abruptly stopped.
There was a tense silence.
‘No!’ Lucy whispered bitterly, tears blurring her vision. ‘I don’t love Edward any more.’ Her anger died abruptly when she saw his face tauten, the bones seeming to push out against that brown flesh, and her heart leapt with a violent hope that frightened her as she also saw the blazing passion in his eyes. ‘I...’ Her voice seemed to have dried up. ‘I...don’t love Edward any more.’
‘When did you stop loving him?’ he asked thickly.
‘I...can’t remember.’
He breathed harshly. ‘I’ll shake you till your head falls off, so help me, Lucy! Now tell me—when did you stop loving Blair?’
She felt tongue-tied. ‘In...’ She broke off, moistening her lips. ‘In...in Rome.’
He was motionless. ‘Be more specific.’
She flushed hotly, lowering her lashes.
One long hand moved to her chin, thrust her head back. ‘Tell me!’ he commanded. ‘I want the exact moment, Lucy.’
Lucy trembled, whispered thickly, ‘I don’t want to tell you, Randal. Don’t make me...please...’
His hand tightened on her chin. His voice grew strangely husky. ‘Why don’t you want to tell me, Lucy?’
Her colour deepened. She didn’t dare look away from the scrutiny of those blue eyes. But she had to fight to keep her own eyes guarded, not letting her love shine through and communicate itself to him.
‘Was it at the start of our honeymoon?’ he asked under his breath. ‘Or the end?’
Her face turned scarlet. ‘The start...’
‘The start. I see.’ His eyes were intense, his voice taut. ‘Could you be even more specific? The first day? The second?’
Lucy closed her eyes.
‘Answer me, Lucy,’ his voice commanded softly.
She swallowed hard, then said, ‘It—it was gradual...I didn’t realise I’d stopped loving him until the third day. But...but the process had started before then.’
‘On our wedding night?’ he asked softly. ‘Is that when the process began?’
With a cry of humiliation, Lucy broke away from him, her hands to her hot face as tears threatened to spill over her lashes, stumbling blindly away from him.
‘Lucy...!’ He shot after her, catching her by the shoulders.
‘No!’ she cried hoarsely, tears spilling over her lashes. ‘I won’t let you gloat over your triumph! You know now—isn’t that enough for you?’
‘Know what?’ His hand slid to her neck, pulled her against his hard chest, held her close as his voice said deeply into her hair, ‘Tell me, Lucy. Tell me...’
‘Oh, why don’t you say it out loud, you swine?’ she whispered against his chest. ‘You must know how I really feel! You’ve won!’ She lifted her head, tears spilling over her cheeks. ‘You said when we first met that you’d hunt me down, no matter how long it took, and close in for the kill. Well, this is it, isn’t it? The metaphorical kill took place long ago, Randal.’ Her mouth shook, her voice grew hoarse. ‘I fell in love with you on our wedding night and I hate you for it...I hate you...’
‘You love me...!’ He stared down at her, his eyes blazing with passion. ‘Say it again!’
‘No, I won’t say it again!’ she refused fiercely. ‘You’ve got your kill, Randal—isn’t there enough blood in your mouth?’
‘There’ll never be enough heart’s blood, Lucy,’ he said thickly, ‘and I can never hear you say you love me often enough. I’ve waited too long to hear it. I think I need to hear it all night long...all tomorrow...for the rest of my life...’
‘What...?’ She stared, incredulous, hope making her dizzy.
‘I fell in love with you months ago,’ he said under his breath. ‘Long before I asked you to marry me.’
Her breath caught. She felt as though she might faint with shock. ‘No...I don’t believe it...’
‘At first I just wanted you,’ he said thickly. ‘You were so beautiful and ladylike, totally unaware of your unbelievable sex appeal. When I spoke to you, you were polite and well-mannered. But when I kissed you, you turned into a spitting virago, with flashing green eyes and a temper like a wildcat.’ He gave an unsteady laugh. ‘I kept wanting to provoke you again. To make you turn into that green-e
yed cat. I even wanted you to slap me. Anything—just to see that look of blazing passion in your face.’
She was staring at him, her mouth parted in breathless disbelief.
‘When I bought you that perfume,’ he drawled huskily, ‘I knew you’d pour it all away, and I loved the thought of you doing that. I could just picture your face as you did it, furious and full of fire.’
‘You said such dreadful things to me...’ she whispered, unable to let go of her fear and believe him.
‘I told you,’ he said softly. ‘I wanted to provoke you. I couldn’t resist. I spent hours trying to think of the most scandalous things I could say, and then said them. Your reactions were even more exciting than I’d hoped.’
‘You said I’d one day be your mistress,’ she accused. ‘Don’t tell me that wasn’t what you really wanted.’
‘It wasn’t all I wanted,’ he said, smiling. ‘But it was certainly high up on the list. And you went scarlet and stared at me with those blazing eyes, my darling. My blood pressure went through the roof. I went home in an agony of excitement and planned my next little meeting with you.’
‘It was all planned?’ she asked dazedly. ‘Not impulsive?’
‘I knew the minute I saw you that you were a virgin,’ he said gently, and touched her soft cheek when she blushed and looked away. ‘Or rather—I suspected it. You looked as though your head and body hadn’t quite got together yet. I knew it would take a long time to get you into bed with me, and I wanted you so much I knew I was prepared to work like crazy until I got you.’
‘Go on...’ she whispered, heart pounding as she clung to him. ‘I’m beginning to believe you.’
He held her tighter. ‘I was bowled over the first time I saw you. I’ve never felt such a powerful attraction and excitement. I kept staring at you that night at the casino and imagining myself kissing you, undressing you, making love to you...my God, how I controlled myself I’ll never know. I think it was because I could see you didn’t have the faintest idea what was going on in my mind.’
‘I began to suspect,’ she said slowly, beginning to believe him, beginning to dare to hope it might be true. ‘When you sat down next to me, staring at me with that curious expression.’
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