Page 51 of Her Diamond Deal with the CEO

They were in the bedroom. Ondine gazed over to where Jack sat staring out of the window. She had told his grandfather that she was tired but it was Jack who looked shattered.

He hadn’t spoken in the car on the way back to the airfield but he had kept hold of her hand. Now, though, he seemed remote, and it reminded her of her fake honeymoon at Red Knots when they had sat at opposite sides of the room. Then she had been too furious to speak. Now she didn’t know what to say. Except the truth.

‘Your grandfather is a lovely man,’ she said quietly.

He nodded. ‘He liked you.’

‘I liked him. I’m sorry your parents couldn’t make it, but we could arrange another date.’

A muscle flickered in his jaw. ‘That won’t be necessary.’

Not necessary.

She stared at him, wondering if she had misheard. ‘Of course, it’s necessary. They’re your mum and dad. I can’t not meet them. Your grandfather said that your dad was going to call you so just sort something out then.’

He was shaking his head. ‘He’s not going to call—’

‘Then call him. And then call your mum.’

‘That’s not going to happen.’

‘Because they didn’t come to the polo.’ She’d forgotten this, hadn’t she? This version of Jack. The handsome, spoiled brat used to getting his own way. ‘You’re acting like a child. Things happen—’

‘Things happen?’ he echoed. ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t know anything about what happens and you certainly don’t know anything about me.’

‘I know you’re angry.’ Blood was thudding in her ears. ‘And I know you were going to leave the tournament without saying goodbye to your grandfather even though he asked you to present the trophy. I know that you wanted to use me to lie to him—’

She broke off, out of breath.

‘I shouldn’t have done that.’ Jack’s voice was faint or maybe it was just that she couldn’t hear it above the pounding of her heart. ‘I just needed a reason—’

There was a silence.

‘You were wrong. My mother did come to the polo.’ His mouth twisted. ‘She was there. I saw her.’

She was there? Her eyes fluttered to his face.

‘You don’t believe me, do you?’ he said into the silence. ‘But I saw her just before we went to find my grandfather.’

Her breath scratched at her throat. ‘But why didn’t she come over?’

He shrugged. ‘You need to ask her.’

I thought they’d be different.

Jack’s words echoed inside her head. She’d wondered who he meant by ‘they’. Now, though, she had a glimmer of understanding, but only Jack could confirm her suspicion. She looked at him, at his still, tense body.

‘Or you could tell me.’

The seconds ticked by. ‘I don’t really have much of a relationship with my parents,’ he said finally. ‘They got divorced when I was four, and then they both remarried pretty quickly and had more children. I guess I was in the way.’

In the way.

Ondine stared at him in shock. How could he be in the way? He was their son.

As if he could read her thoughts, Jack smiled crookedly. ‘I wasn’t an easy child. I had a lot of tantrums, and I had night terrors too. My parents found it easier to outsource me to a nanny.’

His expression was bleak. ‘Actually, I had two nannies, one for each house, only that gave my parents something else to argue about, and the nannies got caught in the crossfire so they were always leaving. I think I averaged about five a year. But then everything changed.’

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