Page 32 of Bride of Betrayal
‘Natalja Jordan Segal. She’s just returned to work from maternity leave. She had her third baby over a year ago.’
The thought that, even after last night, Leo still didn’t trust her made something inside her shrivel up. And made her more determined than ever to connect with her family. She was glad now that she’d woken before him this morning and had managed to get her bearings. She needed them.
She said, ‘A car is meeting me at the airport to take me straight to the shoot. I’ll be back at the hotel early this evening.’
‘I’ve lined up a dinner with some business associates. I’d like it if you were there too.’
Angelica looked at Leo. ‘OK, sure.’
When the plane landed, Angelica was directed to the sleek SUV waiting for her, and she tried not to let Leo see how excited and also trepidatious she felt to be in the same city as her family. She’d never have dared to come anywhere near them while married to Aldo.
‘See you this evening, Angel.’
She glanced back at Leo just before she got into the car. He was wearing a dark blue suit and shades. Every inch the powerful titan. All at once achingly familiar, and almost like a stranger that she was still getting to know.To trust.
He hadn’t been a stranger last night. In a bid to avoid thinking about the significance of what had happened and wondering if it would happen again, Angelica said, ‘See you later,’ and got into the car.
That evening, Leo’s car pulled to a stop outside a warehouse on the outskirts of the city. He’d got a text from Angelica during the afternoon,Hi, I’m really sorry but we’re going to have to go late here, I won’t make the dinner.
After finishing the business dinner Leo had decided to come and pick Angelica up from the shoot. He went into the cavernous space where there seemed to be hundreds of people milling about.
Something eased inside him to see she’d been telling the truth. Maybe he was just being paranoid?
And then he saw her and stopped. She was standing against a black backdrop in a gold dress made of some shimmery material that looked as if it had been poured directly onto her body, lovingly outlining every curve, dip and hollow.
For a second, Leo had to battle with a blast of pure lust so strong that he wanted to stride in there, yell at everyone to stop looking at her and pick her up and take her away.
He took a breath. She looked smaller and somehow more fragile against the massive backdrop and with everyone scurrying around her. He noticed that she looked faintly weary and thought of how little sleep they’d got the previous night. His body tightened at the memory. And in anticipation of re-enacting it. It was just lust. Physical desire. Unfinished business.
Suddenly everyone seemed to snap to attention. A couple of people were touching up Angelica’s make-up and hair, and the dress. A slim woman with blonde hair tied up in a messy bun had a camera in her hands and was directing proceedings. That had to be Angelica’s friend.
And then, after about another half an hour, someone called out, ‘OK, guys, thanks for a great day, that’s a wrap.’
There was a smattering of clapping and laughter. Angelica was smiling and hugging the photographer. And then over the woman’s shoulder she saw Leo and her eyes widened and the smile faded. He felt it like a punch to the gut. She wasn’t happy to see him.
When she’d extricated herself from her friend’s embrace, she came towards him, holding the dress up with one hand. Her hair was styled in glossy Hollywood waves. She stood before him. ‘You didn’t have to come all the way here.’
‘It was no problem. Dinner finished early.’
‘How did it go?’
‘Fine. Constructive.’
‘I’ll just get changed and get my things.’
Leo nodded, and watched her walk away. Someone came up to her with what looked like her handbag and Angelica smiled at them in a way that he remembered from before. She’d smiled easily a lot, and she’d been sweet. Or, she’d certainly faked it well.
Leo ignored the voice calling him churlish. What else was he supposed to think when she’d gone and betrayed him so heinously?
But then another memory came back—he’d gone to one of her shoots while they’d been together and when a photographer had bawled out a young assistant, Angelica had gone over and had words, forcing the photographer to apologise to the tearful assistant.
Afterwards he’d told her what he’d seen and she’d said, ‘I don’t like people treating others badly. There’s no need for it.’
He’d been impressed by her kindness. It was a rarity in the circles he moved in.
He lost Angelica momentarily in the crowd of people and searched her out, finding her eventually in that gold dress. She was standing on the other side of the space, head bent, looking at her phone. Fingers flying over the screen. Texting someone.
A dark weight slid into his gut. His instinct had been right all along.
