Page 8 of Bride of Betrayal
He huffed an unamused laugh as he took her arm again. ‘Believe me, after what I’ve been through, marriage to you will be a cakewalk. Time to start paying your dues,cara.’
He urged her in through the door into the gloomy interior and when her eyes adjusted to the light, Angelica could see the men waiting for them near the altar. There was a priest, presumably to bless this non-wedding of a wedding. It was a farce, and yet, as Leo walked her down the aisle, it galled her to acknowledge that anger at the fact that her life was being derailedagainwasn’t her uppermost emotion, it was a mixture of far more conflicting things that she’d never expected to be feeling again.
And actually, it was fear she was feeling, fear that she might forget just how badly this man had hurt her, because seeing him again was reviving far too much and she was fast being hurtled into a future she’d never expected before she had time to catch up with herself. Or, worse, protect herself.
The hum of the aeroplane was the only sound. They were on their way to New York where Leo had a life and business to reclaim, with the help of his new wife. Angelica hadn’t reacted when she’d been told of their destination.
Why didn’t he feel more triumphant?Leo brooded as he sat in a sprawl across the aisle from his new wife. He’d achieved exactly what he’d set out to achieve. A swift and comprehensive lesson delivered to the woman who had betrayed him with her lover/husband,hisex-business partner. But instead of triumph all he felt was a certain level of frustration.
She’d barely looked at him during the short and businesslike marriage ceremony. The most emotion she’d shown had been when they’d had to exchange rings and Leo had held up a gold band only for her to lift her hand where Aldo’s ring had still sat. She’d said, ‘I already have one. It seems a waste to use another one.’
A red tide of emotion had made Leo bite out, ‘Take it off.’
She’d just looked at him, face pale and set. Eventually she’d removed it and handed it to him, and he’d slipped the ring he’d bought onto her finger, very aware of the distaste deep inside him in that moment for what he was doing and yet he couldn’tnot.
The urge to cleave her to him even like this was too strong. He told himself he welcomed her hatred and resentment. Her reluctance. The more she hated this whole situation, the more it would salve his bruised soul. But…itwasn’t.
She was sitting on the cream leather couch opposite him, shoes off, legs pulled up and to the side. Hair down and over her shoulders, in waves of dark brown silk. She was on her phone, intensely absorbed, fingers moving fast as she communicated with someone.
An unsavoury thought occurred to him. ‘Do you have a lover?’
She looked up and those unusual green eyes caught him right in the gut, much as they had when he’d first seen her.
‘That’s none of your business.’
His insides tightened at the thought that she was communicating with someone. ‘I won’t tolerate infidelity.’
She put her phone down on the seat beside her. Face down, Leo noticed. He had to curb the urge to reach across and pick it up. He’d never been jealous over a woman.Until this one.
She sighed. ‘No, I don’t have a lover.’
Leo didn’t believe her. He knew who she was now. A liar and a cheat.
‘Do you?’ She looked at him.
Leo felt like laughing, but didn’t. He shook his head. ‘No, I don’t.’
A slightly panicked expression crossed her face. ‘We aren’t sharing a bed.’
Leo’s blood spiked as if rejecting that assertion, every cell humming with awareness, his body telling him that as much as he wanted to deny it, he still wanted her. But he said, ‘Don’t worry, I have no intention of sleeping with Aldo’s leftovers. This will be purely an exercise in appearances.’
Everything within Angelica demanded that she defend herself against Leo’s low opinion—leftovers—but she bit her tongue. He had no right to know the truth of her existence. He’d got her where he wanted her for the next three months and then she would walk away.
She told herself it was a good thing that he no longer wanted her.You still want him.Even now her skin felt sensitive and the blood too close to the surface. She couldn’t stop her gaze from getting caught on his jaw, his shoulders, his chest and down…that lean waist, those formidable thighs.
She resolutely fixed her gaze on his face, not that that was any better. She’d traced those hard-cut planes with her fingers and mouth too many times to count. ‘Good,’ she bit out. ‘We’re on the same page.’
Appearances. She could do appearances. After all, she was a model, it was her job toappearand put a mask on. She would just approach this as a three-month gig. Something audacious occurred to her and for the first time since she’d seen Leo again she felt a smidgeon of control. He might have compelled her to be his wife but he couldn’t control any other aspect of her. She certainly didn’t have to give him an easy ride.
‘What is that look?’
Angelica felt a jolt in her gut. She’d forgotten how easily he could read her. And she’d spent the last three years hiding behind a serene mask. She couldn’t let it drop now. She thought of something to divert his attention, ‘Actually…if you’re so concerned with appearances, won’t it attract the wrong sort of attention when people realise you’ve married the widow of your ex-partner, the man who put you in jail?’
He shrugged. ‘It’s not ideal, no, but in the circumstances I don’t think I could have found a more convenient wife. It’s common knowledge we were together before. People will just assume you’re the fickle one, following whoever has the money. I’m sure something or someone else will come along to divert their attention away from speculation.’
At that moment Angelica vowed to do everything in her power to ensure that people’s attention wasn’t diverted. And if it helped to hurry up the demise of this marriage, then all the better.
She forced a sweet smile, ‘I’m sure you’re right.’
