Page 8 of Forever Mr Black

“Yes, we probably would have,” I admit. “Why did you meet her?”

“She’d tried to call me a few times over the last couple of weeks, but I’d ignored her. She’s from my past, and like you, I’ve no desire to go back there. But when she kept ringing, I decided the only way to get her to stop was to speak to her.”

“What did she want?”

Art strokes his thumb over the back of my hand. “She needed my help. She’s getting a divorce, and she needs to find somewhere else to live.”

I narrow my eyes suspiciously. “Why did she think you could help?”

“She knows I’ve got some contacts, and she needs to move out pretty quickly.”

I disliked Aisling Lonergan before I could put a name or face to the woman who had seduced him into a world of domination and kink, and now that I can, everything’s magnified. There’s something about her that I don’t trust—aside from the fact that she and he have history.

“Why does she need to move so quickly?”

“Things are rather acrimonious between her and her husband, and it doesn’t help that they’re both still living in the same house. She needs to get out.” He glances at me. “It turns out, he found out about me and her but didn’t confront her at the time. He’s just kept tabs on her for the past few years.”

“You mean, she’s had other affairs?”

“A few. She said she stopped going to Savage a year or so ago, but by then, it was too late. He knows she’s been unfaithful and is using that against her to file for divorce.”

And they say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned! Looks like Aisling’s soon-to-be ex-husband didn’t like being taken for a mug.

“Why Savage? Why did you meet her there?”

His shoulders roll into a shrug, as if it were nothing. “I dunno. She suggested it. I went with it.” He gives me a look as if he knows what’s going through my racing mind. “Apart from the obvious, it’s like a normal club, and she’s a member even though she doesn’t go anymore. We sat and talked in the bar. We both said how weird it felt to be back there. That chapter of her life has closed, just like it has for me.”

I still don’t trust her. “So, did you help her out?”

“Yeah, this guy I knew at Oxford, Gabe White, owns a property development company. I put her in touch with him.”

I realise this is beginning to sound like an interrogation. “Have you got to see her again?”

He frowns. “No, I haven’t, but even if I did, it shouldn’t matter.”

Does he really not get why I don’t like her?

“It’s not you I don’t trust; it’s her. She seduced a client, sticking two fingers up to her professional ethics and values because she wanted you. Why the fuck would she care if you’re engaged? Why would that stop her? She put her career and marriage on the line to be with you time and time again.”

He fixes me with a firm look. “She helped me, and now, I’m helping her. Nothing more.”

“Helped you? You’d just lost your dad, and you’d just come out of prison. You were vulnerable,” I snap.

“I was an adult. I knew what I was doing.”

“She took advantage of you.”

He exhales slowly, and I know his patience is wearing thin. “Listen, I know seeing us this afternoon upset you. I fucked up, and I’m sorry. I should have told you before I left. I thought … I thought I was doing the right thing, but whatever happened between me and her is in the past. We’re just friends now—and barely that. I don’t want us to fight over this, Sophie.” He grips my hands tight. “I spent most of this afternoon telling her all about you and how happy I am that we’re engaged. She was happy for us both.”

My mind rewinds back to the look she gave me this afternoon. She certainly didn’t seem very happy to see me, but there’s no way I’m going into that now. He already thinks I’m overreacting.

“You’ve got absolutely nothing to worry about with Ash—with anyone for that matter. You’re mine, and I’m yours, remember.” He lifts my hand and presses a kiss to my knuckles. “For as long as we both shall live.”

“Don’t ever forget it,” I remind him.

He solemnly shakes his head and kisses me. “Never.”

Uneasiness continues to gnaw away at me. Ghosts from both our pasts have reared their ugly heads, and I’m not sure how things are going to unfold. There’s nothing I can do but watch and wait.

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