She’d bitten back a sob then. ‘I didn’t believe that. I didn’t want your money.’
But it had led her to research the family, and the more she’d read about Sebastian, the more she’d liked him. She’d watched him from afar the last time he’d been in London—just before he’d gone overseas.
‘I wanted to approach you, but after speaking with Marjorie I was too afraid to,’ she’d confided. ‘I was on welfare benefits. I hadn’t been able to find a flat. If I’d had a job and proper place to stay, and was doing OK with money and things...well, that would’ve been all right. But I had nothing and I thought... I thought you’d despise me like Marjorie did.’
Seb had paled at those words. ‘I’d have helped you.’
She’d nodded, tears in her eyes. ‘I know that now.’
She’d blown her nose and continued. ‘Rhoda kept telling me to confront you and demand what was my due, but I couldn’t see that you owed me anything. But then Social Services wanted me to come in for an interview and my welfare payments were stopped until I did...and I knew that if they found out I was living rough they’d take Jemima away from me. Rhoda told me that’s exactly what they’d do. But she swore if I left Jemima with you, you’d look after her...that you wouldn’t go to the authorities because you’d do anything to avoid a scandal.’
At that point Seb had cursed, making them all jump. ‘Sorry,’ he’d muttered. ‘What happened then?’
‘She said once I’d done that, she’d help me get back on my feet—find a flat and a job. That it’d be so much easier without Jemima in tow. I didn’t want to leave Jemima—I hated leaving her like that—but I was afraid if I didn’t do something drastic she’d be taken into foster care and... I couldn’t bear it!’
Seb, Liv and Mrs Brown had all assured Liz that they understood, and that they didn’t blame her for anything.
Katie had stared up at Seb with those big blue eyes of hers. ‘I knew you’d take good care of her. And your secretary had such a kind face. I’d watched her for three days in a row. She bought sandwiches for the homeless family in the park every single day. I knew I could trust her.’
That had made Liv’s throat thicken. Seb had turned to her, but she hadn’t been able to meet his eyes. ‘It was nothing,’ she’d mumbled. ‘Tell us what you were doing at that squat. Wasn’t this Rhoda supposed to be helping you find a flat?’
‘I never saw her again after I left Jemima in your office. Not once.’
Seb had nodded, as if far from surprised. ‘Rhoda is a malicious piece of work. She wanted nothing more than to cause trouble. She’s as bad as Marjorie and Hector. She took advantage of you, Katie, and I’m sorry, but I’m glad it led you to me.’
‘I was going to get back on my feet—get a job and find a place to stay—and then I was going to come and see you. But you found me first.’
‘I’m glad I did. And now everything is going to be just fine, you’ll see.’
Katie was still a little shy around Seb, but it was evident that she had a bad case of hero-worship...and he was slowly but surely winning her trust. He was all she could talk about when she, Jemima and Liv had their daily ramble up to the co-op.
Liv was fiercely glad that Seb finally had a family who looked up to him, who appreciated him the way he deserved to be appreciated, who were going to love him the way he deserved to be loved.
He folded his frame into the chair opposite. ‘I haven’t thanked you properly.’
She frowned. What did he mean by that?
‘When you told me you had a secret that you couldn’t share, I acted like a two-year-old and went into a ridiculous sulk.’
Her fingers worried harder at that loose thread. ‘It wasn’t ridiculous. You were hurt. I totally understood it because we’re more—’
She broke off and dug her fingers deep into the plushness of the cushion.
His eyes darkened and he nodded, his eyes never leaving hers. ‘Exactly. We’re more than just colleagues.’
‘Yes,’ she whispered.
‘But we can’t move forward until you deal with this thing that you can’t tell me about yet.’
She couldn’t speak. She could only nod. Though she didn’t really know what he meant by moving forward. He’d made it clear that a romantic relationship didn’t figure in his future.
Unless he’d changed his mind?
Fat chance! He’s talking about sex. Just sex.
She bit her lip, heat flicking through her. But...sex was nice. There was nothing wrong with sex.
But would it be enough?
‘It’s something you believe can be dealt with, yes?’
‘God, yes!’ And soon! Liz’s situation seemed to have reached a more even footing, her health stable. She and Liz had to tell him the truth. Between them all they’d sort the situation out. Beneath the shelter of the cushion, she crossed her fingers.
He stretched out his legs, but she had a feeling his assumed nonchalance was just a front. ‘From the very beginning of this strange adventure, you’ve acted with nothing but integrity, kindness and generosity. Why should I doubt your word now? You tell me you can deal with this unknown thing and I’m choosing to believe you. I’ve no reason not to trust you.’
‘Oh!’ Her fingers dug so hard into the cushion she was afraid she’d poke holes into it. In the next moment she shot to her feet and flung the cushion back to the chair. ‘I... I need to go and make a phone call right now and—’
‘It can wait.’ He motioned for her to sit. ‘There’s something I want to tell you.’
She sat. She had a feeling she’d do anything he asked of her at the moment.
‘You asked me if I’d ever been under the shadow of a secret.’
Her mouth dried. ‘Is this about the unsuitable woman you mentioned?’
‘Yes.’ His lips cracked open the merest fraction to utter that word and Liv’s stomach performed a sickening somersault. ‘I suspect you’ve worked it out by now. Her name was Rhoda.’
Her heart stuttered in her chest. ‘The same Rhoda Katie spoke of?’
‘One and the same. I met her just over three years ago at a business function in London. At the time I didn’t question what she was doing there. I know now that she was there to meet well-heeled men.’
Her stomach clenched. ‘You started dating?’
‘Yes.’ The lines bracketing his mouth momentarily deepened. ‘She was beautiful, fun...and she played me to perfection.’
Liv’s mouth dried. She had no idea what that last bit meant, but it sounded cold-blooded...clinical...awful.
His mouth twisted as if he’d read the confusion in her eyes. ‘She discovered my weaknesses and she played on them. I imagine it didn’t take her too long to work out what I really wanted, which was a family and a quiet life. So...she turned herself, outwardly, into my ideal woman. And I fell for the charade completely.’
A lump lodged in her throat. He’d fallen in love with her. And then she’d broken his heart and left him completely disillusioned. Even more disillusioned than Brent had left her. At least she hadn’t given up on love altogether. She’d always expected to fall in love again one day.
‘What I didn’t see at the time was that all she wanted was my money and my title.’
She swallowed the lump. It lodged in her stomach, heavy and indigestible. ‘How...?’ She swallowed again. ‘How did you find her out?’
His face had gone grey and he now pressed fingers to his eyes, as if to push back a headache. ‘I tried to keep her and my parents separate for as long as I could. I didn’t want them tainting the one bright spot in my life.’ He gave a harsh laugh, his hand clenching. ‘They’re snobs, they’re unkind, and... I didn’t want them to hurt her.’
Her stomach churned. He’d wanted to protect her and she’d obviously thrown it back in his face. Her chin shot up. ‘It sounds like they�
�d have been kindred spirits, bosom buddies!’
His lips lifted into a mockery of a smile. ‘Funny you should say that.’
She went cold all over at the expression in his eyes. ‘What do you mean?’ she whispered.
* * *
Sebastian stared at the woman opposite. She was nothing like Rhoda. She’d never set out to seduce a man with one eye always on the main prize. In fact, she’d been doing her level best to do the exact opposite and resist the attraction flaring between them. She’d never use a man the way Rhoda had.
‘Seb?’
He opened his mouth and forced the words out. ‘Rhoda and my parents hit it off splendidly. So splendidly in fact that I found her in bed with my father.’
He tried to toss the words off lightly, as if none of it mattered any more, but the expression of horror that spread across Eliza’s face brought his overwhelming sense of betrayal, and all of the ensuing pain that had ripped through him, to full-bodied life. Rhoda, the woman he’d loved, the woman he’d planned to marry, had betrayed him. With his father! A part of him still couldn’t believe it.
Eliza stared at him, her face losing all its colour. And then she shot across the small space, dropping on her knees in front of his chair. ‘Oh, Seb! I’m so sorry...so very, very sorry.’
‘She was appalled that I’d found them out.’ The sight of their limbs entangled—it was an image he’d never erase from his mind. ‘All of her hard work undone in a matter of moments.’
‘I can’t even...’ Eliza trailed off with a shake of her head.
‘She begged me to overlook it...she begged for forgiveness...she swore it would never happen again.’
‘But you couldn’t overlook it,’ Eliza said quietly.
‘No. I didn’t want the kind of sophisticated marriage my parents had, but it was clear that’s exactly the kind of marriage Rhoda had in mind. And in that moment it was as if the scales had been lifted from my eyes.’
Eliza surveyed him, her face pale, though her eyes were steady. ‘Is it too much to hope that she went quietly?’
‘It is. She hurled every insult at me she could lay her tongue to. At least she now no longer had to marry the most boring man in England; my father was ten times more fun, et cetera.’ If not edifying, it had certainly proved enlightening. ‘So she embraced the role of Hector’s mistress instead, hoping no doubt to gain some financial benefit from that arrangement...and perhaps some leverage to use against any of us at a later date.’
‘Like the documentation she showed to Katie.’
‘Exactly.’
His chest clenched and his stomach churned. The episode had left him reeling. It’d left him feeling lonelier than he’d ever felt in his whole damn life.
Eliza’s face turned fierce. She gripped his knees. ‘She was a liar and a cheat and good riddance to her!’
But then she pulled in a breath and blinked hard—blinking back tears for him, he suspected. ‘But I know it wouldn’t have felt like that at the time.’ She gulped back something that sounded suspiciously like a sob. ‘At the time it would’ve felt as if everything you’d held dear had been ripped away.’ She shook her head, her brow creasing. ‘How could she have done that to you? How could he? That’s not an ordinary betrayal it’s...so callous.’
He’d always known his parents were ruthless and inconsiderate, he’d known he didn’t count for much in their emotional landscape, but he’d have never thought his father could break faith with him so completely. It had staggered him. It still did.
The pressure of her hands on his knees pulled him back from the edge of the black pit that opened before him. ‘Seb, this is a reflection on them and their warped morals, their...their twisted depravity, not you. You know that, right?’
How could her faith and the vision she had of him temper his pain? He’d never thought he’d be free of it, but something in her face pushed it back and kept it at bay. He didn’t understand it. He didn’t know whether to be grateful or whether he ought to flee.
She stared back at him as if he were the centre of the universe, and it was all he could do not to take her face in his hands and kiss her until neither one of them could think straight.
He couldn’t do that until she told him her secret.
‘Do you wish you’d never found out? Do you wish you’d married her?’
He shook his head. ‘I’m glad she’s out of my life. I’m glad I found out what she was before I made a bigger mistake and married her.’ Once they’d married, Rhoda would’ve worked on getting pregnant as soon as she could. And she’d have wielded that child like a weapon. It made him sick to his stomach thinking about it.
Eliza let out a slow breath. ‘What happened afterwards?’
‘My parents were living here. On my charity. So I threw them out.’ He shrugged, fighting an inappropriate grin—not because of the momentary satisfaction it’d given him, but because he knew Eliza would appreciate the gesture.
She stared at him and then her lips lifted in an answering grin. ‘Good for you!’
‘Part of the settlement—when I extracted my father from his financial straits—was that he and my mother could keep the apartment in Monte Carlo, but everything else had to be signed over to me. They all packed their things and flew there that very day.’
‘What?’ She frowned. ‘Even Rhoda?’
‘Even Rhoda.’
‘Didn’t your mother mind?’
He shrugged. ‘She always turned a blind eye to my father’s affairs.’
She opened her mouth...and closed it again.
He sympathised. There really were no words to do the situation justice.
‘I understand the arrangement between Rhoda and my father lasted for several months before my father tossed her over without a penny. I suspect she’d been trying to get pregnant.’
‘Oh, my God! You thought Jemima might be...?’
‘That was the phone call I made. I asked her if she’d had a child...that I would make her an allowance if she had. Her reply was a very bitter no. She ordered me instead to make recompense for all the anguish she’d suffered at my family’s hands. I told her to take a hike and then I had Jack double-check all the facts where she and my parents were concerned. But as my father is now infertile her plan would never have worked.’
‘But if it had...’ She pulled in a breath. ‘She’d have taken your father for all the money she could?’
‘Yes.’
‘I’d have had no sympathy for him if that had happened, but...’
‘But?’
‘She’d have had you where she wanted you too, wouldn’t she? You’d have done anything to protect that child.’
Exactly. But thank God it hadn’t come to that.
‘Instead she tried to cause mischief for you through Katie.’
‘If she has any inkling how that’s ended, she’ll be gnashing her teeth.’ And it served her right.
Eliza reached up and touched his face. ‘And now you need never bother with her again,’ she whispered. ‘Instead you’ve gained a sister and a niece who adore you, and who’ll look after you.’
He couldn’t help it then; he hauled her onto his lap and buried his face in her hair. Her arms went about him and she held him tight. He had no idea how long they remained like that. He only knew that it helped, that it pushed away the darkness that had raged inside him for the last two years.
He eased back to glance into her eyes, and then at her lips—full and plump. They parted a fraction and her breath hitched as if she suddenly couldn’t get enough air into her lungs. Adrenaline surged into every muscle, priming him for action.
One of his arms was about her waist, but with his other hand he traced the length of her leg from knee to hip. She shivered and shifted. ‘Seb.’
Her voice held a warning note that he ignored as he trailed his hand from hip t
o shoulder, his hand brushing the side of her breast. She trembled and half smothered an exclamation. Her nipples beaded and peaked through the thin material of her blouse and hunger roared in his ears.
‘I told you my nasty little story because you deserved to know it all after everything you’ve done for Jemima and Katie...and me. Not telling you became too hard.’ His voice rasped from him, low and husky...and full of desire.
Her eyes darkened in answer and he felt her press her thighs tight together to counter the same desire he knew coursed through her too.
How had he lived without this for so long—the feel of a warm woman in his arms, a woman he liked and respected...and desired?
‘As soon as you sort out this issue of yours, I’m taking you to my bed where—’
Her hand pressed against his lips, silencing him. ‘You don’t want to make any decisions about me yet,’ she whispered.
He trailed his fingers along her collarbone and the delicate skin of her throat, back and forth until her eyes grew dark and slumberous. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’ she finally rasped out.
‘One kiss.’ He cupped her jaw, lifting her face to meet his. ‘One kiss can’t hurt.’
Hunger flared in her eyes. ‘Seb, I—’
He swallowed her words, his lips closing over hers with a fiercer hunger than he meant them to. She wanted to resist him. He could feel it in the way she tried to hold herself stiff and still. Her hand went to his chest as if to push him away.
He cupped her face in both his hands, his lips moving over hers gently, reverently. He wanted to tell her in a language that needed no words how beautiful he thought her.
A shudder racked her entire frame and rather than push him away, her hand tangled in his shirt to pull him closer as she kissed him back with a vigour that made the blood stampede in his veins.
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