Page 60 of On His Bride's Terms

And he had a suspicion that she wasn’t experiencing the same inner implosion as him. Because suddenly Primo was having all the feelings, after a lifetime of pushing them down and believing himself immune. There was anger, rage, loss, joy, hope and awe. And they were all coalescing into a swirling black mass inside him.

But all he could think of right now was the day his mother had left, when Quin had been crying and begging and pleading and Primo had been so icy-cold. Numb. Pulling Quin back. Vowing never to be someone who would humiliate himself like that.

And there was another emotion swirling in the mix that Primo wasn’t ready yet to name.

He couldn’t.

It was unbelievable. Impossible.

And if he uttered it everything he knew, every tenet he’d built his life upon, would dissolve and he would be left behind. This woman would walk out through the door anyway, just as his mother had done, and Primo would be undone. And this time he wouldn’t be able to stay numb. So he wouldn’t utter it.

He moved back. Away from Faye. Shut himself off from that swirling mass inside him. He thought of how she’d taken up a place in his life that he’d never expected—to the point that he’d taken his eye off the ball. He’d never been so lax when it came to the business, and he felt a shiver down his spine.

Had he turned into his father after all?

The whole point of marrying her had been to enhance his life and work, not eclipse it. Maybe she was right. She’d deceived him, and now she was giving him a chance to reclaim his sanity, to remember what was important to him.

Except he wasn’t sure what that was any more.

He felt the terrifying urge to go on his knees before her and beg her not to go. Ice entered his veins. A self-protective force he hadn’t had to use in a long time.

He said, ‘You’re right. We’re done.’

And then he turned and walked out through the door. He was still intact. Still himself. He hadn’t dissolved into the mass of seething emotions in his gut.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Manhattan,a week later

FAYEWASN’TSUREwhat day it was. Time had become something elastic...hard to fathom. When she’d emerged from that little house in the forest with her bag, Sadie had been waiting for her. Primo and Quin and the children had gone to some other place. Because they were family and they belonged together.

She was the outlier. Not welcome.

Somehow, Faye had kept it together.

Sadie had taken her to the airport and put her on a plane. She’d hugged her and said, ‘I really hope this isn’t it, Faye.’

But it was. Faye had always known, from the moment that the spark between her and Primo had got stronger, that she was playing with fire by not telling him the full truth of her past.

If only the marriage had been one of two moving parts, orbiting around each other but never really meeting...

‘Faye...?’

She looked up and saw Mark, her assistant, looking a little worried. ‘Um...someone is here to see you.’

In her little office? Hardly anyone came here. She always went out to meet people. It was a perfectly serviceable office, but it wasn’t all that interesting or sexy. It was in a building full of offices on the upper east side. Her window overlooked a tiny corner of Central Park that could just be spotted between two blocks.

‘Who is it?’

She tried to make her sluggish brain work. Was there something she’d missed in her diary?

‘It’s Primo...your husband.’

For a second Faye’s hearing and senses went. She felt as if she was under water, with everything muffled and sounding distorted. Mark was frowning, coming towards her. She waved her hands, sucked in breath. Came up for air.

She could do this. He was probably just here to discuss the divorce... But surely he could have done that through his lawyers?

‘It’s okay,’ she said. ‘Send him in.’

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