Page 6 of His Best Mistake

His dark eyes glittered and his jaw tightened for a moment. “You had an affair with my sister’s fiancé,” he said. “You broke her heart and destroyed her happiness and I couldn’t despise you more. What other way would it go?”

Right. Well. There was that, she thought, battling back the sudden surge of shame because it hadn’t been her fault. It really hadn’t. “When you put it like that,” she began, “I can see why you might think you have a point.”

“I do have a point,” he said. “There’s no might about it. But at least you’re not denying it.”

“Why would I deny it?” she said. “It happened, although –”

“So how many times?” he cut in brutally. “How many times have you gone after someone who’s already taken? Is it a habit? Is it a thrill? Does it turn you on to destroy the lives of others?”

Reeling, Stella stared at him, her jaw dropping for a moment because what the hell? Was that what he thought of her? God, he really must hate her. Pushing aside the stab of hurt she felt at that because what Jack thought of her was entirely irrelevant, she knocked back the rest of her drink and slammed both the glass and the bottle down on the scrubbed pine dining table. Moving around it she stalked towards him and took up a position against the breakfast bar, right opposite him, right in his line of sight.

Keeping her gaze fixed to his, she thrust her hands into the pockets of her jeans. “Not that it’s any of your business,” she said, her chin lifting as her temper began to spike, all hope of remaining cool, calm and collected vaporising, “but I’ve never done it before and I have no intention of doing it ever again. It’s not a habit, it’s not a thrill and nothing about what I did remotely turns me on. I hate, hate, hate the thought of being the other woman. But as I was saying before you rudely interrupted me, unfortunately it did happen. Although I’m willing to bet everything I have not in the way I imagine you think.”

“You have no idea what I think.”

“Oh, I have a pretty good idea,” she said, taking in the rigidity of his jaw, the condemnation in his eyes and the animosity emanating from his every pore. Judging by the vitriol she’d received on social media from Cora’s very loyal friends as well as Jack’s evident opinion of her, Brad had clearly done an excellent job of spinning things in his favour. “I’m very aware I’m the villain of the piece.”

“My sister is a wreck.”

“That’s not my fault.”

For a moment he just stared at her, and who knew deep dark brown eyes could be so, well, steely?

“You are unbelievable,” he said so brutally she felt it like a blow to the solar plexus. “You seduced a man you knew had a fiancée and then carried on an affair with him without a thought for anyone other than yourself. How the fuck is that not your fault?”

“You make it sound like he didn’t have a choice,” she fired back.

“I know he had a choice,” Jack said tightly, as if it pained him to admit it. “But I also know you made it hard for him to resist.”

“You know nothing.”

“I know more than enough,” he snapped. “I know you came on to him at a wedding back in September and refused to take no for an answer. I know he tried to end it again and again and you wouldn’t leave him alone.”

“Like I said,” said Stella, feeling the heat bubbling up inside her hit her cheeks, “you know absolutely nothing. You are so far removed from the truth it would be laughable if there was anything even remotely funny about this.”

“The truth?” said Jack with an incredulous scoff. “I doubt you even know the meaning of the word.”

“Try me.”

“I wouldn’t trust you as far as I could throw you so why the hell would I believe a word that comes out of your pretty, lying mouth?”

“Whether you do or you don’t, I’m entitled to a defence,” she said hotly, now more than a little exasperated and, yes, upset, by his continued disdain. “You’ve judged me before I’ve even gone on trial and that’s not fair. Whatever happened to the concept of innocent until proven guilty?”

“Innocent?” said Jack with a lift of his eyebrows. “Hah.”

In an instant the exasperation exploded into full-blown irritation, and Stella curled her hands into fists. God, he was infuriating. And quite frankly she’d had enough. He’d had his say. Now it was her turn. “Has it ever occurred to you that you’ve only heard one side of the story, and that your source may be less than reliable?” she said, injecting as much steel into her voice as she could. “Not to mention second-hand? I read that for all your legendary ruthlessness, Jack, you’re also principled and objective and upright. Well, you know what? Right now, I’m not seeing any evidence of that whatsoever.”

Silence fell after that, and for several long moments Jack just glared at her. She could feel her heart hammering against her ribs and the air between them pulsing with electricity, and it was a dizzying combination. But then, after what seemed like an eternity, he gave a short nod, as if her words had struck a nerve, and she pulled herself together.

“OK, fine,” he said abruptly. “Take the stand. Have your say. If you think it’ll make the slightest bit of difference.”

Stella thought she didn’t care much whether it did or didn’t. She knew the truth, that was the main thing, and the moral high ground she was standing on was so lofty she needed oxygen. But at least if she told him, he could tell Cora and she’d have closure. She’d be done.

Taking a deep breath, she stiffened her spine and resolved to ignore the scepticism she could see flashing in his eyes. “I met Brad – or Ben, as he was calling himself at the time – back in September at a wedding,” she said, somehow managing to dredge up the cool, calm collectedness she’d temporarily mislaid. “I was working. I’m a court artist, but at weekends I do quick sketches at events. It’s a bit more personal and original than photos. Sort of quirky. People seem to like it… Anyway, Brad was a guest. We got chatting. He flirted with me. It was nice. He aske

d me for a card. I gave it to him. He rang me a couple of days later and asked me out. I didn’t pursue him. He pursued me.”

“And naturally you went,” said Jack scathingly.

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