While Carli was receiving her next appointment date, Xavier found himself staring down at the photograph in his hands. He could hardly believe what he was seeing was true. The tiny figure was his child, now in the second trimester of development. The child he had longed for five years ago to repair their crumbling marriage. How ironic that his baby was conceived well after the demise of their relationship! His heart swelled with emotion at the thought of holding his offspring moments after birth, of watching him or her grow into toddlerhood then on to childhood, the first day of school…
He pulled himself up short with a reminder of the current state of his relationship with Carli. It was still a war zone and there was no sign of peace in sight, but maybe if he tried really hard he’d be able to bring her round.
Damn it! He had to bring her round!
Carli tucked the appointment card in her purse and followed Xavier outside to where her car was parked.
‘Can we have dinner tonight?’ he asked as she unlocked the door.
Her hand stalled on the door handle. ‘I don’t think…’
‘I’ll pick you up at seven.’
‘I don’t get home from work till half past.’
‘Why ever not?’ he asked.
‘I’ve already taken the morning off. I have to catch up on some paperwork as well as deal with my usual appointments.’
‘Call in sick.’
‘But I’m not sick.’
‘Pretend just this once.’
‘No. I don’t think it’s fair to my clients. I have a full list of them this afternoon and I couldn’t cancel even if I wanted to.’
‘Which of course you wouldn’t,’ he bit out, unable to hide his frustration any longer, ‘because even though you are now expecting my child you don’t want to have anything to do with me—isn’t that right?’
She gave him a hard look and wrenched open her door. ‘Got it in one, Mr Knightly.’
‘I won’t take no for an answer,’ he warned her. ‘I think you know me well enough to be assured of that.’
He stepped back as she slammed the door closed, the spluttering of her engine as she started the car for some reason making him even more irritated as if it too were giving him the brush-off.
He stood and watched her drive off, toying with the idea of following her and making her change her mind, but only last week the ex-wife of one of his clients had slapped an AVO on his client for similar behaviour and he knew Carli would have no hesitation in doing the same to him, and probably do it a whole lot quicker too.
He wasn’t used to feeling so out of control in a situation. Even during their break-up he’d always maintained the upper hand, even though his conscience had troubled him for months afterwards at the way he’d handled things.
His reputation as a brutal legal eagle had spilled over into his personal life, making him appear ruthless and clinically unfeeling when in fact nothing could be further from the truth.
He still had feelings for Carli but he wasn’t entirely sure what they were. For years he’d squashed any thought of her as he’d found it so painful. He desired her but then a lot of ex-husbands somehow viewed their previous wives in a possessive sense in spite of a bitter divorce.
Was he such a man? Unable to let go? Unable to allow her the same freedom he now took for granted?
He’d had several lovers in the past five years, none of them particularly serious, but the thought of Carli with someone else was…he clenched his fists against the tide of jealousy that almost swamped him.
He couldn’t bear the thought of some other man in her life. It nauseated him to think of her arms wrapped around someone else’s neck, her soft, panting cries of pleasure in someone’s else’s ear, her sweat-slicked body in someone else’s arms.
He wanted her back.
Simple as that.
He wanted her back.
On any terms…even if he had to engineer some to get his way.
Carli’s last client of the day had not long left when a call came through from one of her old but now distant friends, Elizabeth Dangar.
‘Eliza…’ She searched her brain for a valid excuse for not having made contact for so long. She had longed to, but because of Aidan’s close relationship with Xavier she’d avoided socialising with her ever since the divorce, even to the point of missing both of her children’s christenings in case she inadvertently ran into Xavier. ‘I’ve been meaning to call you…I’ve been busy and—’
‘Carli…’ There was the sound of a choked sob. ‘I have to talk to you. Are you with someone right now?’
‘No, my last client just left. Whatever’s the matter? Are the kids all right?’
‘Aidan wants a divorce.’
Carli almost dropped the phone in shock. Elizabeth and Aidan Dangar were quite possibly the only couple she’d thought would stay together forever. Their love had seemed so genuine, so intense…but then hadn’t hers for Xavier?
‘I don’t know what to say… Are you OK? I mean, what will you do? Are you getting custody of Amelia and Brody?’
‘I haven’t got a chance,’ Eliza sobbed.
‘Why ever not?’ Carli’s hand on the phone tightened. ‘Brody’s only ten months old, for God’s sake! Surely Aidan wouldn’t do that! And Amelia’s just about to start school. There isn’t a family-court lawyer this side of Bourke who would agree to take your kids off you permanently.’
‘You don’t think so?’ Eliza asked between sobs. ‘What about that ex-husband of yours? He’s exactly the sort of lawyer who would do it.’
Carli felt the spider-like legs of trepidation creep all over the surface of her skin, lingering the longest amongst the sensitive hairs on the back of her neck.
‘Xavier’s acting for Aidan?’ she asked in a choked gasp.
‘Of course he is,’ Eliza said bitterly. ‘They went to the same private academy and you know all about that old school-tie thing. Xavier Knightly will relish in destroying me, especially as he knows you and I have been friends for so long.’
As much as Carli hated to admit it, Eliza’s point was painfully valid.
‘You’ve got to speak to him, Carli. You’ve got to speak to him to tell him to change his mind.’
‘Who?’ Carli asked. ‘Aidan?’
‘No,’ Eliza said. ‘You have to speak to Xavier. I know you haven’t seen him in years but surely just this once you could see him and plead with him not to take on this case?’
Carli wondered what her friend would say if she told her she’d already seen him and got herself pregnant to him in the process.
‘You’re my only hope, Carli,’ Eliza cried before she could answer. ‘I can’t afford the sort of legal fees I’d need to pay to fight this and I don’t qualify for legal aid.’
‘I could represent you,’ Carli said with reckless impulsivity, ‘pro bono, of course.’
‘You’d do that?’ Eliza asked. ‘You’d take on the toughest legal eagle in town?’
‘I don’t see why not.’
‘But you were married to him for three years!’
‘What’s that got to do with it? I’m a lawyer, so is he.’
‘No offence, Carli, but he’ll eat you alive. I can’t let you do it. In fact, I forbid you to. You were so broken up after your divorce; can you imagine what it would do to you to face him in a family law court?’
Carli knew it was hardly the time to inform her friend she’d recently faced him under much more intimate conditions, but it wouldn’t be too long before she had to. Her pregnancy was already starting to show and if she was to meet Eliza face to face in the not so distant future she knew her friend would see for herself that one and one had very definitely made three.
‘Look.’ She gave her fingertips a quick drum on the desk top. ‘I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I’ll arrange to have dinner with Xavier and try and talk him out of representing Aidan. Who knows? I might be able to persuade him to hand him over to a more junior client in the firm. In the meantime, I’ll put my ear t
o the ground to find someone to act for you who won’t baulk at facing Xavier and who also hopefully won’t charge the sort of fees that puts Ferraris in most lawyer’s garages.’
‘You’re an angel, Carli. I knew I could rely on you. Call me as soon as you can, OK?’
‘I’ll do that, but in the interim have you considered some counselling?’
‘Aidan would never agree to that!’
‘What about for you?’ Carli suggested. ‘It can be tremendously helpful to have someone neutral to discuss issues with.’
‘You think I’m crazy or something?’ Eliza’s tone had hardened. ‘I’m not some sort of crackpot who needs to see a shrink.’
Carli frowned at the defensiveness in her friend’s tone. ‘Honey, I didn’t for a moment suggest that. Look, I had counselling myself and—’
‘Yeah, but it didn’t stop you getting a divorce, did it?’
‘There are counsellors and there are counsellors,’ Carli said, wishing she’d thought to shop around a bit more herself five years ago. ‘But even if the divorce still goes ahead at least you will know you gave it your best shot.’
There was the sound of a small child crying in the background and Carli knew the conversation was more or less over.
‘I’ve got to go,’ Eliza said. ‘Will you call me and let me know how things go with Xavier?’
‘Sure I will; now stop worrying and take each day as it comes. I’ll come and see you as soon as I can, all right?’
‘Thanks,’ Eliza said. ‘Good luck.’
‘Yeah right,’ Carli said as the connection ended with a click. ‘I’m going to need more than luck.’
She sat and nibbled on the end of a ragged nail for a minute, her thoughts flying around her head like a flock of startled pigeons.
Before she allowed herself a chance to change her mind she reached for the telephone again and dialled Xavier’s office number.
He picked it up on the first ring and answered gruffly, ‘Xavier Knightly.’
‘Have you fired your secretary?’ she asked without announcing herself.
She heard the creak of leather as he sat back in his chair. ‘I’m seriously considering it, but no—I haven’t as yet. Besides, it’s close to seven-thirty; she doesn’t do overtime.’ The leather gave another protest as he asked, ‘What can I do for you? Have you changed your mind about dinner?’
‘I have actually.’
‘Oh?’ She heard his pen click. ‘What brought that on?’
‘Hunger.’
‘You must be starving if you’ve consented to spending the evening with me.’
‘Ravenous.’
‘Good. I’ll be there in half an hour, subject to traffic, of course.’
‘I’m not at home yet,’ she said. ‘I’m still at the office.’
‘Shall I fetch you from there?’
‘No, I need to get changed. I’ll meet you at my apartment in about forty-five minutes, OK?’
‘I’ll wait outside,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to come across the wicked witch from the north-west again.’
‘Don’t tell me you’re frightened of a little old lady, Xavier?’
‘No.’ His tone was wry. ‘It’s the young and beautiful pregnant ones that spook me most. See you in forty.’
‘Forty-five.’
‘Thirty-five and the clock is already ticking.’ He put the phone down before she could answer and got to his feet with a punch of victory into the air.
‘Yes!’
CHAPTER THREE
CARLI had only just changed into a loose-fitting dress when the intercom sounded announcing Xavier’s arrival downstairs.
She did her best to ignore the fluttery sensation in her stomach as she quickly applied a fresh coat of lip gloss to her mouth, but her hand shook all the same.
She told him through the intercom she’d be down in a minute and, taking one last reassuring glance in the mirror, made her way down the stairs.
He was standing outside dressed in charcoal-grey trousers and an open white shirt, his tall, handsome figure sending the air right out of Carli’s lungs as soon as her eyes came to rest on him. She wondered if there would be a time in the future when he would cease to have such an effect on her, or would she always experience this shockwave of feeling whenever he was within touching distance?
He gave her a reproving look as she came through the security door. ‘Are you still taking the stairs?’
‘Every gym from Bondi to Blacktown has a stair-climber,’ she argued. ‘I’m saving myself a fortune in membership fees by using the stairs.’
‘What you’re doing is risking our baby’s health, that’s what you’re doing.’
Carli frowned at the disapproval in his voice. ‘I’m doing no such thing! Exercise is very good for pregnant women. It helps to regulate weight and strengthen the body for labour.’
‘Why not swim instead?’
She rolled her eyes. ‘Look, Xavier, I work a twelve-hour day as it is. Where the hell would I find time to stop off at a pool and do a few laps?’
‘I have a pool,’ he said. ‘Remember?’
She tore her eyes away from the provocative glint in his gaze as a host of erotic memories flooded her brain of all the times in the past when the swimming-pool water had almost boiled with the heat of their passion.
‘What sort of food do you fancy?’
His swift change of subject threw her momentarily. ‘I don’t mind—you choose.’
He gave her a wry look as he helped her into the car. ‘You’re seriously scaring me with this sudden submissive-female routine. It’s totally out of character.’
‘I truly don’t mind what we eat,’ she said, ignoring his penetrating gaze.
He pursed his lips for a moment as if in deep thought. ‘OK, let’s get it over with. What’s on your mind?’
‘Nothing.’
‘Yes, there is.’
‘I’m hungry so why don’t we have dinner? If you remember, you were the one who issued the invitation in the first place.’
He closed her door and came around to the driver’s seat, waiting until they were on their way before he spoke again.
‘Have you given any more thought to my offer?’
‘I have four more days to decide,’ she reminded him.
‘I know, but I’d like a progress report.’
She gnawed at her lip gloss for a moment. ‘Can we discuss it some other time?’
He glanced her way. ‘Why not now?’
‘Because I don’t want to argue with you while you’re driving.’
‘Which means your answer’s still no,’ he surmised.
‘What did you expect me to do?’ She gave him a frowning look. ‘Throw all my stuff in my car and drive straight over?’
‘There was a time when you would’ve done exactly that.’
‘That was a long time ago, Xavier, and I’m no longer a naïve young girl. There are quite a lot of things I wouldn’t do if I had my time over again.’
‘Want to be a little more specific?’ His tone hardened. ‘Why don’t you come right out and say it? I can take it. I know you regret our time together.’
‘It wasn’t exactly a picnic from day one,’ she pointed out coldly.
‘I was building my career; you know how hard it is to juggle everything else as well. I did my best, Carli, but too late realised it wasn’t good enough for your exacting standards.’
‘My exacting standards?’ She let out a choked gasp of affront. ‘You were the one with the check-list of what you wanted in a wife. No career, no ambition, no brain.’
‘That’s not true and you damn well know it. I didn’t mind you having a career, it’s just that—’
‘You have no idea of the struggles normal people face to get their careers up and running,’ she cut him off. ‘You walked into your father’s office and took over, for God’s sake! How hard was that?’
‘Nepotism had nothing to do with it! I had to be interviewed along with every other ap
plicant.’
‘Were any of the other applicants female?’ she asked.
There was a slight pause as he swerved around a driver trying to park.
‘No, I don’t think so.’
‘Of course there wouldn’t have been. The firm of Knightly and Knightly and Associates is known for its deeply entrenched misogyny—no woman in her right mind would have even applied. The glass ceiling is doubly reinforced and totally shatterproof. No one can see up and those at the top have absolutely no interest in seeing down.’
‘I hardly see that it’s my fault the majority of my father’s colleagues and mine are male. My grandfather started the firm and my father and I have simply followed in his footsteps.’
‘But that’s the whole point!’ Carli railed. ‘You can’t see the privileged position you occupy because you’re male and have never had to fight to be treated equally.’
‘Can we please change the subject?’ He changed gears with unnecessary force. ‘I don’t want to be drawn into yet another one of your feminist arguments which will no doubt end up with me crossing my legs all evening in case you’re tempted to take a swipe.’
‘You are being so typically male and obstructive. I can’t believe a man with three sisters can be so unenlightened.’
‘Look, Carli—I love women, you know that. I have nothing against equal pay and all that but let’s face it, women still have babies and the period during which childbirth is ideal for women unfortunately coincides with the time of a major career push. There’s really no way around it. Most women eventually have to make a choice between children and a high-powered career; it’s just too hard to have both.’
‘That’s only because men refuse to change. I read a study recently which cited the appalling statistics on male contribution to household tasks; that is, of course, if the male is still around. Most women are left holding the babies and the washing, the ironing, the shopping, the cooking, the—’
‘OK, OK.’ He held up a hand to stall her diatribe. ‘I take your point. I know not every man is perfect when it comes to housework.’
‘Someone from your privileged background may not realise this but a lot of women out there in the suburbs hold down full-time jobs as well as care for a family. They have no spare time and no spare cash for housekeepers and gardeners and cooks. That’s the real world out there, Xavier.’ She pointed to the sea of red roofs they had driven past. ‘And it isn’t always pretty.’
Back In Her Husband's Bed (Bedded By Blackmail) Page 5
