Mistresses: Blackmailed With Diamonds / Shackled With Rubies
Page 78
‘If you would like to carry on with your own meal?’ he suggested to the others.
But no one, it seemed, had any appetite.
‘I’d like to get out of this place.’ For the first time Melinda sounded edgy. ‘It gives me the heebie-jeebies. We only booked in here because Kirk thought somewhere like this would be safer than sitting around at the airport…Safer. That’s a laugh!’ she added bitterly.
‘So when were you thinking of leaving?’ Blaze enquired smoothly.
Kirk gave her a warning glance.
‘Oh, what’s the use of trying to kid ourselves?’ she demanded irritably. ‘You know as well as I do that the game’s up.’
Raising her glass to Blaze, she took a sip, then, reverting to her former manner, said almost flippantly, ‘We’d planned to leave very early in the morning for fresh fields and pastures new.’
‘Such as?’
‘Can’t you guess?’
‘South America?’
‘Brazil. Rio de Janeiro, to be exact. I’ve always wanted to live and love in Rio.’
‘How did you manage the fare?’
She grimaced ruefully. ‘I’m afraid I was forced to part with your wedding present. I didn’t get anywhere near what the Porsche was worth, but it would have been enough to tide us over until…’
‘Until you could sell the rubies?’
She lifted slim shoulders in a shrug. ‘I never could see the point of having precious stones that just lie in a bank vault.’
‘Possibly not, but I must point out that they aren’t yours to sell. They’re part of a Balantyne family tradition—’
‘But darling, you told me you’d lived most of your life in the States. I don’t believe you give a hoot for the Balantyne family traditions.’
‘That’s where you’re wrong. Having taken over the Balantyne estate I think the least I can do is carry on as my father would have wished.’
‘How incredibly stuffy,’ she scoffed. ‘You don’t really intend to follow things through to the letter, do you?’
‘Yes.’
She widened her eyes. ‘You’re going to let your bride wear the rubies, and then, when the wedding’s over, put them away for twenty years until the next generation want to marry?’
‘That’s exactly what I’m going to do,’ he assured her icily.
Shrewdly, she changed tack. ‘Well, if you feel so strongly about it, I’m sorry I wasn’t there to wear them at the party as planned…’
When he made no comment, she went on, ‘I suppose when you weren’t able to produce either a fiancée or the rubies you had to cancel it?’
‘Not at all. Everything went ahead as arranged.’
A flicker of surprise in her blue eyes, she asked, ‘How did you explain my absence?’
‘I didn’t. As no one had ever met you, I simply found myself another fiancée.’
There was a brief silence, then, showing how quickwitted she was, Melinda looked at Fran and said consideringly, ‘I don’t want to sound rude, but you don’t look the kind that could carry it off—’
‘There again you’re wrong,’ Blaze cut in evenly. ‘Francesca carried it off magnificently.’
‘And I suppose she wore the fake rubies?’
‘They were good enough to pass muster.’
‘So no one knows about…?’ She let the question tail off.
‘I haven’t yet informed the police, if that’s what you mean.’
At the mention of the word police Melinda’s confidence faltered a little. ‘I hope that won’t be necessary?’
‘It all depends.’
‘On what?’
‘On how quickly I get the rubies back, for one thing.’
Melinda’s beautiful face took on a calculating look, and, making it quite obvious what she meant, she asked, ‘Are the rubies the only thing you want back?’
There was a pregnant pause, and at least three of the people round the table held their breath.
Blaze’s grey eyes flicked from one to another of the waiting faces before he answered calmly, ‘No, they’re not.’
Kirk lost colour; Fran, her heart feeling as though it was being squeezed by a giant fist, stared blindly at her untouched plate; Melinda breathed an audible sigh of relief.
After a moment she asked slyly, ‘Do I take it you haven’t cancelled the wedding?’
‘No, I haven’t cancelled the wedding.’
‘So if you were to get the rubies back straight away everything could go ahead as arranged…’
‘It could,’ he agreed. ‘But in view of what’s happened, I’m not—’
‘I can understand how you feel,’ she broke in hastily, ‘and I really don’t blame you for being angry.’
‘That’s nice of you.’ The sarcasm was blistering.
‘But as I tried to tell you earlier,’ she persisted, ‘the whole thing was Kirk’s idea…’
Kirk made as if to protest, then fell silent, his fair, handsome face tired and beaten.
Looking at the wreck of the man she had once thought she loved, Fran could only feel sorry for him.
‘If I’d had any sense I would never have gone along with it,’ Melinda went on. ‘But it was one of those sudden and powerful attractions, and I’m afraid I lost my head…I’m sorry now that I behaved so stupidly—’
‘I bet you are.’
Brushing aside the interruption, she went on with the easy confidence of a woman sure of herself and her own beauty, ‘But it’s not too late. After all, there’s no real harm been done, is there? So if you want to go on as if nothing has happened…?’
Before Blaze could speak, Kirk said, an ugly look appearing on his face, ‘Just a word of warning. Before you decide to take her back, there’s something you ought to know. Try asking her—’
Losing her cool, Melinda turned on him furiously. ‘Why don’t you keep out of this?’
Suddenly he was pleading. ‘Don’t go back to him, Mel…You said you loved me…We’re much better suited, and you know it…’ He seized her hand. ‘Everything I tried to do was for us…’
Pulling her hand free, she said trenchantly, ‘You must be mad if you think I’ve the slightest intention of staying with a penniless bankrupt who could well end up in prison.’
‘If I go to prison I’ll take damn good care that I don’t go alone—’
‘Instead of making threats,’ Blaze broke in curtly, ‘suppose you tell me what you think I should be asking Melinda?’
‘Ask her whether she ever really intended to have your children.’
Blaze’s grey eyes narrowed on Melinda’s beautiful, heart-shaped face. ‘Well?’
‘Of course I did, darling,’ she assured him. ‘You know quite well it was part of our contract, and I would have kept to it—’
‘She’s lying,’ Kirk burst out hoarsely. Then, with something like desperation, ‘You tell him, Fran. You were there when she admitted she had no intention of ever having children.’
Blaze turned to look at Fran.
Feeling sick inside, she shook her head mutely. She wanted no part of it. If he was prepared to take Melinda back after all that had happened he must want her very badly indeed. And now he’d been warned it was up to him.
Melinda turned to Blaze, her smile blatantly triumphant. ‘You see, darling? Kirk’s jealous…He was just trying to make trouble.’
Reaching across the table, she put a possessive hand on Blaze’s sleeve. ‘Now, if you can forget about these last few days I’m prepared to go ahead and marry you as planned.’
His answering smile as glittering and dangerous as a knife-blade, he said, ‘How very noble of you! It’s too bad I’ve already found myself another bride.’
‘Another bride?’ All the sparkle died from her face, making her look suddenly older and plain. ‘Who?’
‘I’m planning to marry Francesca, on the grounds that fair exchange is no robbery…’
It was a toss-up which of the two women was the most surprised.
&n
bsp; ‘Though in this case I’m satisfied that I’m getting the best of the deal by far.’
Rallying a little, Melinda cried, ‘I don’t believe it. You’re pulling my leg.’
When, his expression steely, he merely looked at her, she objected, ‘But you’ve only known each other three days, and she’s not your type at all.’
‘I’m afraid you’re wrong on both counts. Francesca and I met more than three years ago, and she’s exactly my type.’
‘But you said the rubies weren’t the only thing you wanted back…’
‘Nor are they. I’d like you to return my engagement ring.’ Silently he held out his hand.
After hesitating for a second, Melinda reluctantly removed the ring and dropped it into his palm. Real venom in her tone, she snapped, ‘I suppose you want it back so you can give it to her?’
‘No,’ Blaze answered evenly, ‘I want it back because it happens to be another family heirloom. Francesca already has a ring.’ Reaching for Fran’s hand, he displayed the half-hoop of moonstones.
Refusing to look at it, Melinda begged, ‘I need to talk to you alone. Please, darling. There’s something I must tell you, something I want you to know…’
‘Later, perhaps. First things first.’
Taking an object from his pocket, he tossed it across the table to Kirk, who caught it in a reflex action. ‘Just to even things up. You’ll no doubt want that back.’
Fran realised it was her ring. So much had happened since Blaze had taken it from her finger that she hadn’t given it a thought.
As Kirk stared down at the modest solitaire, Blaze suggested, ‘Perhaps, while you’re still a free man, you’d like to ask Melinda if she wants it?’
Then, his smile derisive, he added, ‘Though I very much doubt if it’s…shall we say…princely enough to make her change her mind.’
Fran looked from Kirk’s hopeless face to Blaze’s relentless one, and shivered. Judging by that, ‘while you’re still a free man’, it seemed as though he did mean to call the police after all…
Unable to stand any more of his cat-and-mouse games, she rose to her feet.
Taking in her paleness, her air of quiet desperation, Blaze said, ‘I still have several things to settle, but I asked the taxi to wait, so it might be as well if you go back now…’
Picking up her stole, he arranged it around her shoulders. ‘I suggest you have a nice relaxing bath and get to bed early. Don’t bother to wait up for me.’
Bending his head, his lips brushing her ear, he added, ‘I don’t want my bride to be too tired to enjoy her wedding night.’
Though his manner was intimate, his voice, Fran realised, had been pitched so that Melinda could hear.
Don’t get mad, get even… Fran bit her lip.
A hand at her waist, he urged her towards the door. Leaving Melinda and Kirk sitting at the table, she went without a word. After all, what was there to say?
The window table was empty now, but the middle-aged couple who had occupied it earlier were standing in the lobby, looking at a range of leaflets giving details of shows and London attractions.
They turned and glanced at Blaze, who nodded silently before escorting Fran down the steps.
When they reached the street he lifted his hand, and the taxi, which had been waiting at the end of the cul-de-sac, drew up alongside the kerb.
Having put her into it, he produced one of the penthouse keys. ‘You’ll need this…’ Then, handing the driver some notes, he directed, ‘Back to the Empire Park, please.’
Before she could ask him what he planned to do, or how long he’d be, the door slammed and the taxi moved away.
During the journey back, Fran found herself replaying the unpleasant scene over and over again.
Shivering, she recalled Kirk’s angry despair…Melinda’s cold-blooded determination to ditch the man she had said she loved and end up on the winning side…Blaze’s calculated cruelty…
She couldn’t blame him for being angry, but she had been momentarily appalled by his ruthlessness, his decision to give no quarter…
When they reached the hotel, she thanked the driver and, stumbling out of the taxi, crossed the foyer to the lift.
She found the suite seemed depressingly silent and empty. Chilled and bone-weary, she decided to have a bath and go to bed, as Blaze had suggested.
But when she had donned her nightdress and crept beneath the duvet her troubled mind refused to let her sleep.
After almost an hour of restless tossing and turning, weary of her thoughts, she pulled on her robe, went into the elegant sitting room and, curling up on the settee, flicked on the TV.
The drama unfolding on the screen was tense and well-acted, but it failed to grip her, and after a few minutes she switched it off again.
Immediately her recalcitrant thoughts returned to what had happened earlier that evening.
Though Blaze had stated his intention of going through with the wedding, Fran felt unconvinced and anxious.
Her emotions, she realised, had tilted like a see-saw. At first she hadn’t been able to bear the thought of marrying him when he didn’t love her…Then she had reluctantly decided that though living with him would be painful, it would be better than living without him…
And now, when pride dictated that if he wanted another woman more she should step down, she couldn’t bear the thought of losing him.
And it was on the cards that she would.
In spite of everything that had happened, Melinda had seemed very sure he still wanted her…And though he had denied loving her, it was obvious that, sexually at least, she had a powerful hold on him.
Perhaps his brush-off, his flaunting the fact that he had found himself another bride, had been intended simply to teach her a lesson?
Maybe when he was satisfied that she had been punished enough and was feeling suitably chastened he would agree to let bygones be bygones and take her back…?
Fran, her throat feeling as if it was full of shards of hot glass, swallowed hard. If he did, there was nothing she could do about it. Though he had said he wanted her, in truth she had only ever been second-best, a substitute for Melinda…
For what seemed like an age, while her thoughts continued to go round and round in circles and she grew steadily more miserable, she listened for his key in the lock.
When eleven-thirty came and went with still no sign of him she began to wonder desolately if perhaps he wasn’t coming back.
Melinda had said she wanted to see him alone. That could mean only one thing. She intended to use her sexual powers as a means of persuasion.
And she would no doubt find it easy.
Recalling the little scene in the Jacuzzi, Fran wished fervently that instead of being stupidly shy she had agreed to Blaze’s suggestion.
Now it was too late, and if he was lying in Melinda’s arms it was partly her own fault…
By the time another hour had dragged past all hope had gone, and the only thing she could feel was a leaden sense of despair. Three years ago she had lost the man she loved; now she had lost out again…
And this time she had lost so much more…The chance to be his wife, to have his children, to live with him for the rest of her life…
When he had said he only intended to marry once, that he wanted a happy and stable home for his family, she had never doubted that he meant it. And it was exactly what she herself wanted.
It was unlikely to be what Melinda wanted, but if Blaze was unable to see that for himself…How could a man with a brain as sharp as a Samurai sword be so blind?
Slow tears began to roll down her cheeks and, sniffing, she wiped them away with the back of her hand…
She was fast asleep when a touch wakened her. Opening heavy eyes, she looked up dazedly to find Blaze was sitting on the edge of the settee, gazing down at her.
His expression set and angry, he asked shortly, ‘Why aren’t you in bed?’
Sitting up, she pushed the tangle of ash-brown hai
r back from her flushed cheeks and said thickly, ‘I couldn’t settle…I kept wondering if…’
‘If Varley had been carted off to gaol? Well, I can put your mind at rest. He hasn’t been. At this precise moment he’s at the airport, waiting to catch a flight to Rio de Janeiro.’
Unable to ask what she really wanted to know, she mumbled, ‘Alone?’
‘No. They patched up their differences, and Melinda is with him.’
All Fran could feel was joy, a deep and abiding gladness that Melinda and Kirk were gone and Blaze was here with her. Closing her eyes for an instant, she offered up a silent prayer of thanks.
‘The fact that they’re still together seems to have come as something of a shock to you,’ Blaze observed coldly.
Her voice unsteady, she admitted, ‘I am surprised. I felt quite sure she’d give Kirk up in favour of coming back to you.’
‘So what did you have in mind? A ménage à trois?’
When she looked at him blankly, he added with a bite, ‘Surely you haven’t forgotten that I had made arrangements for us to be married tomorrow? Or should I say today?’
‘No, of course I hadn’t forgotten…But Melinda said she wanted to talk to you alone, and I…I thought she might have made you change your mind…’
A white line appearing round his mouth, he asked, ‘Thought? Or hoped?’
She had started to shake her head when he said flatly, ‘As it’s turned two-thirty, and you look absolutely all-in, I suggest you get to bed.’
There were so many things he hadn’t told her, so many questions left unanswered, but she felt dazed, unable to think straight. All she wanted to do was lie down with her head on Blaze’s shoulder.
Making an effort, she struggled to her feet, but almost immediately swayed.
Stooping, Blaze lifted her and carried her through to her bedroom. He set her on her feet by the bed and helped her off with her robe, before turning to leave.
‘Blaze…’ She barely breathed his name, but he paused and looked at her. ‘Don’t go. Please don’t go.’
In the light that filtered in from the other room she saw him stiffen. ‘I thought you wanted to sleep on your own tonight?’
‘I’ve changed my mind.’
‘In need of consolation?’ he asked derisively. ‘Well, why not?’