Struggling into her clothes with jerky movements, Maxi laughed humourlessly. ‘Your life, by any method he cares to think of,’ she retorted unevenly, and looked at him when he swore. ‘Don’t worry, I’m not about to let him hurt you or anyone else.’
Kerr was clearly staggered. Watching her fasten buttons, he dragged a hand through his hair. ‘Hold on—you’re saying you were protecting me? Why?’
That was coming too close to the truth, and she hoisted her chin defiantly. ‘I don’t know. I’m just crazy, I guess.’
He swore again, more succinctly. ‘For sure, one of us is crazy. Just how were you planning to stop him?’
That deflated her again, and she bit her lip, frowning. ‘I don’t know. I’ve got to think about it.’
At that Kerr moved swiftly to stand in front of her. ‘Oh, no, if anyone is going to think of something, then it’s me.’
Which was what she was afraid of. ‘Don’t be a fool, he’s dangerous.’
‘And you’re a woman!’
Dressed at last, Maxi wanted nothing more than to leave, but she couldn’t let that pass. ‘A woman who can look after herself.’
Grey eyes narrowed consideringly. ‘That sounds like the voice of experience speaking. What else aren’t you going to tell me, Maxi?’ When she refused to answer, he smiled menacingly. ‘You know, I could take you back to bed and make you tell me.’
She gasped. ‘Only an utter bastard would even try it!’
He laughed. ‘But I am a bastard, as you’ve told me more than once. So why were you so concerned I might get hurt?’
Having been backed so neatly into a corner, the only thing to do was come out fighting. ‘Right this minute, for the life of me I couldn’t tell you!’
Kerr studied her for a long time in silence, then reached for his shirt. ‘OK, I’ll leave it for now. Give me a minute to dress and I’ll drive us home. But don’t imagine I’ll forget—you’ll tell me everything I want to know in the end. As for Ellis’s threat, you aren’t handling it on your own, and that’s final. It’s my life, Maxi, and nobody uses me to get to you. Whatever you may have had to do in the past, we’re doing this together.’
CHAPTER NINE
HAVING fallen asleep last night when she hadn’t thought she would, Maxi overslept in the morning, and washed and dressed in a hurry. Not bothering with make-up, she was still tucking her shirt into her jeans as she descended the stairs. There was only one question in her mind: where was Kerr? Last night, having forced the truth out of her, he had said they would work together, but she didn’t trust him not to go off and do something on his own. The thought of the consequences had her chewing anxiously at her lip when she went through to the breakfast-room.
Nor was her anxiety allayed when she found only her mother there, lingering over her coffee as she read the newspaper.
‘Good morning, darling. Did you sleep well?’ her mother asked, watching as Maxi helped herself to coffee and nothing else. ‘I do wish you’d eat more.’
Maxi felt so nervy that she’d have trouble just swallowing a liquid right then. ‘I’m not hungry, really,’ she protested faintly, taking a much needed sip of coffee.
‘You can’t be worried about your weight,’ Lady Ambro protested, laying aside her newspaper. ‘You used to eat like a horse and never put on a pound.’
Forcing a laugh, Maxi drained her cup. ‘I still do, but not in the morning.’ She glanced at her watch. It was already well past nine o’clock. ‘Er—where’s Kerr? Have you seen him this morning?’ she asked, trying to make the question sound idle, and not the urgent one it actually was.
‘He was here earlier. I believe he went to have a word with your father in his study.’
Which, while it eased her mind one way, only raised further questions. What were they talking about? As it happened, she didn’t have to wait long to find out. There was no advance warning, just the sudden opening of the door to let Kerr, closely followed by her father, into the room.
For a reason she couldn’t explain, Maxi held her breath, knowing only that with their entrance an energy field seemed to have entered the room, too. The air seemed to seethe with a volatile mixture of emotions. Her father, looking vaguely ill at ease, failed to meet her eyes as he went to his wife’s side, while Kerr looked positively grim. He stalked—there was no other word to describe it—to her chair, breathing so heavily that Maxi had the slightly hysterical thought he was in danger of busting his shirt buttons.
‘Where’s Fliss?’ He barked the question so sharply that he made everyone jump.
‘W-why, she’s at the tennis court,’ Lady Ambro divulged nervously, all at sea, glancing up at her husband when he laid a calming hand on her shoulder.
Having apparently heard all he needed to know, Kerr manacled Maxi’s wrist in a grip that stopped the flow of blood and jerked her bodily to her feet. ‘Excuse us. We have some...business...to discuss,’ he declared ominously and dragged her away.
It was not the sort of treatment Maxi was prepared to take lying down, but she waited until they were well out of earshot before putting on the brakes and trying to prise his fingers off. ‘Have you gone mad? Let me go this instant!’
It was a paltry attempt that hardly caused him to break his stride. He merely gave her arm a yank and carried on his way. ‘I’ll let you go when I’m good and ready, Maxine Ambro. And if, for once in your misbegotten life, you keep quiet, I won’t chuck you in the pool as we go by! Tempting though the thought undoubtedly is!’ he hissed through his teeth.
She remained silent only because words were jammed in her throat. However, her exhalations of breath were vocal enough of her fury, and Kerr had no trouble at all in interpreting them.
‘Stop spitting, little cat, or so help me...!’ He didn’t need to enlarge on the warning; she got the message. This was trouble with a capital T, and she only hoped he would explain and give her a chance to form some sort of defence. She didn’t have long to wait.
‘I’ve just had a very illuminating talk with your father,’ he went on conversationally, and Maxi’s heart leapt up to increase the blockage in her throat. Kerr cast a swift glance at her, lips mockingly curved. ‘What, nothing to say? Wonders will never cease! John seemed to think that as you and I were “getting along” as he so tactfully put it, then you must have told me.’
Although she thought she knew, still the words came out in an automatic delaying action. ‘Told you what?’
In the quiet garden, it was possible to hear his teeth grate—almost. ‘How can you sound so innocent? I’m referring to what we both know you haven’t said one damn word about, Maxi! I don’t know it all, because I decided not to add to your father’s concern, but I’m going to. There’s been enough stupidity around here. It’s time everyone, and I mean everyone, knew the truth!’
Now she did manage to find her voice, and, because the pool was only a step away, decided that discretion was the better part of valour. To continue pretending ignorance would only get her an unwanted ducking. ‘That was my intention when I came here. However, you might just have noticed Fliss’s reluctance to listen. And as for telling you...’ She allowed that to tail off eloquently.
Kerr uttered a bark of mirthless laughter. ‘You didn’t think I had the right to know, because you couldn’t care less what I thought of you?’ he guessed accurately.
Accurate, that was, up to a point. Now it mattered, now that she knew just who he was and what she felt for him. ‘Something like that.’
‘They say you learn a little something every day, and whoever “they” are, they’re right. That’s quite a complex you’ve got. Enjoy playing the martyr, do you?’ he jeered, and her temper flared because it wasn’t like that at all. Sometimes he made her so damn mad, she could spit nails!
‘Go to hell!’
They had, by this time, reached the fenced-off tennis court, and Kerr fumbled with the gate. ‘I’ve been there, thanks, and frankly it’s underrated. Hi, there!’ He raised his voice as Fliss, heari
ng their approach, turned from where she had been practising shots with the aid of a machine.
‘Hi,’ she greeted, giving her sister a reserved smile, before looking curiously at the way Kerr was holding Maxi’s wrist. Her brows rose. ‘Is something wrong?’
‘Yes!’
‘No.’
They spoke together, but a speaking look from Kerr won him the advantage. ‘Maxi has something she wants to tell you,’ he declared in the kind of voice teachers used when they wanted you to admit to a misdemeanour.
Fliss frowned, looked hard at Kerr, and, to the surprise of them both, set her jaw. ‘Maxi doesn’t have to tell me anything she doesn’t want to.’
Maxi felt her heart swell with emotion. For the first time in seven long years, Fliss was actually being protective instead of condemning. It made a whole world of difference. ‘No, Kerr’s right. There’s something I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time,’ she admitted gruffly.
Fliss picked at the gut of her racket. ‘About Colin.’ It was a statement, not a question, and she sighed shakily. ‘Perhaps we ought to sit down.’
They sat side by side on the bench. Kerr, having released his hold on Maxi, leant against the wire fencing, legs and arms crossed in an attitude of relaxation that his watchful expression belied.
Maxi sought for the right words. ‘What I have to say may shock you, Fliss, but please, hear me out before you say anything.’ Hands clenched into fists, she took a deep breath. ‘Did it ever occur to you to wonder why, seven years ago, I took Colin away from you the way I did? We could simply have left, but I wanted you to hate him, and was prepared for you to hate me too, because I knew he never wanted you. He was obsessed with me, Fliss, but I never encouraged him, and I never thought he would use you to get to me. I never liked him, but I disliked him even more after that. When I came home and found out, I broke it up as soon as I could because I wanted to stop him from ruining your life.
‘I know that sounds hopelessly melodramatic, but I was afraid, because there were things about him you didn’t know, and at the time I could only guess at. Oh, Fliss, when I couldn’t get through to you, I was in despair. I couldn’t get you to see that Colin was two-faced. He looked mild, but he had a violent temper. He didn’t look as if he took drugs, but he did. He liked to make conquests, and boast about them. I came to understand later that what he liked best of all was to corrupt.
‘Anyway, at the time, I knew that he never planned to marry you, Fliss. I went to Father, but he thought I was just jealous. Then I tried the police, but I had no proof of anything illegal. That’s when I decided that I had to take him away, but I had to make sure you’d hate him enough never to take him back. If that sounds like a martyr to anyone, I’m not about to apologise. I loved you too much to see you hurt.’
The end of her story fell into a pool of silence. All that could be heard was the rhythmic sound of the machine serving balls over the net, and then even that stopped as it was emptied. For a while nobody spoke, but Maxi was intensely conscious of Kerr’s presence behind her. Then suddenly Fliss jumped to her feet, hands wringing the racket handle.
‘I’ve been such a fool!’ she wailed.
‘You were very young,’ Maxi ameliorated gently, only to have her sister utter a groan.
‘Not then, now! Oh, Maxi, I’ve treated you so badly since you arrived, and I haven’t even got Colin for an excuse!’
Maxi looked justifiably confused. ‘I don’t understand.’
Fliss’s face was a picture of contrition. ‘I knew Colin was wrong for me years ago. The minute I met Andy, I knew. I always meant to tell you, but I was such a coward. Then, when you came back, you were so happy for me, and I just felt even guiltier. I over-reacted. Andy was so furious with me, but I just couldn’t seem to help it. Everything I said came out worse and worse. Everyone liked you, and forgave you, and I was so green with jealousy! I always thought I came second best when you were around.’
Maxi was on her feet at once. ‘Oh, Fliss, that’s just not true. We all love you,’ she declared huskily, and, when her sister burst into tears, took her in her arms.
‘I know,’ Fliss sobbed in a wobbly voice. ‘I hated myself. Especially for using Kerr against you when it’s obvious how much you like each other. I’m really sorry. Can you forgive me?’
‘Only if you forgive me,’ Maxi countered, near to tears herself.
‘I do, I do!’ Fliss insisted, pulling free and wiping her eyes, and the pair of them grinned at each other in an excess of relief. Until Fliss abruptly sobered again. ‘But, Maxi, if you didn’t even like Colin, why did you marry him?’
She hadn’t expected the question, and, even though she had told Fliss practically everything, there were still some things that were too private and personal. Smiling ruefully, Maxi shrugged and sat down again. ‘I didn’t mean to, it just sort of happened. Perhaps I thought I could change him, you know, like a good woman is supposed to do. Anyway, it didn’t work, so I ended it as soon as I could.’
However, Fliss, having shucked off her childish jealousy, wasn’t about to leave it at that. Face mirroring her concern, she sat down beside her sister. ‘You said he had a violent temper. He didn’t hurt you, did he?’
Trust Fliss to cut through the gloss, Maxi thought wryly, and spread her hands wide. ‘Do I look as though I suffered? Besides, there wasn’t time—the marriage only lasted for six months, seven years ago. It wasn’t a picnic, but I’ve put it well and truly behind me.’
‘Are you telling me the truth?’ Fliss questioned determinedly, like a dog with a bone. ‘I couldn’t bear to think of anything happening to you because of me.’
Maxi laughed. ‘May the ground open and swallow me up if I tell a lie!’ she declared, using the oath of their childhood.
Fliss grinned, immediately relaxing. ‘Golly, I feel as if I’m floating on air. I’ve felt so miserable for days. I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you back then, Maxi, and I’m glad we’ve cleared the air at last. It means we’re really a family again, just in time for the wedding.’ She sat up straight almost immediately. ‘I’ve got to go and tell Andy the good news. Are you coming?’
Maxi was on the point of agreeing when she felt two strong hands come down on her shoulders. ‘We’ll be along later,’ Kerr answered for them.
‘OK.’ With an effervescence that had been lacking of late, Fliss kissed them both, grabbed up her racket and ran off.
A silence fell about them then, so deep that Maxi could quite clearly hear the buzzing of bees and the clicking of crickets. But only peripherally, for her attention was focused on the man behind her.
‘Don’t you want to know if I forgive you, too?’ Kerr’s voice spoke almost directly into her ear, making her jump, and sending shivers down her spine.
Of course she did. What human being would actively choose to have people hate them? But... ‘It won’t make any difference if you do or not.’
‘I could have won a fortune on betting you’d say that. However, it might not make a difference to you, but to me it does. You put on a very convincing show seven years ago, but I’m glad to know it was only a show.’
Her leaping nerves told her the conversation was taking an unexpected turn. Not clear where it was taking her, she felt her way carefully. ‘My marriage was a very real one,’ she pointed out, unable to keep the edge from her voice. Immediately she felt his hands lift, but only to allow him to move round to straddle the bench. Head tipped to one side as he studied her.
‘I’d be interested to hear about that marriage of yours, Maxi. Without the precautionary crossing of your fingers behind your back,’ he mused drily, watching the colour storm into her cheeks.
She could kick herself for having forgotten he was behind her when she used that childish trick. All she could do was stare him out. ‘My marriage is over. I’m not about to do a post-mortem on it now.’
‘The results could be very revealing.’
That was what she was afraid of, and it propelled her to her fe
et. ‘I know all about it. I was there. Now all I want to do is forget it ever happened.’
Kerr’s hand shot out to foil her attempt to leave. ‘Can you, though? Somehow I doubt it. Dammit, don’t close up on me!’ This as he saw her lashes flutter down. ‘My God, must you always shut everyone out? You may have had to fight your own battles before, but you’re not alone any more. Let someone else take part of the burden. I’m not your father or your sister. I don’t need the truth diluted. Stop trying to protect everyone and let them protect you for a change. Tell the whole truth for once. Did the bastard hurt you?’
His anger rolled across her in waves, only it wasn’t directed at her, but at Colin. Yet that didn’t surprise her so much as the sheer intensity of his anger. There was a wildness in his eyes, too, which seemed to suggest the answer mattered to him, but she couldn’t understand why, when she knew for a fact he didn’t love her—which was enough to bring her chin up.
‘Whatever the truth is or isn’t, what’s it to you? Why should I tell anything to a man who’s made it very plain he despises me?’
At that Kerr gave a bark of mocking laughter. ‘Hell, you’re right. How can I expect you to see, when I’ve been criminally blind myself? You have every right not to trust me, Maxi, but nevertheless I’m telling you that you can. As for despising you, if it seemed as if I did, then I’m a better actor than I thought. Right now I’m too busy despising myself. Tell me. I need to know just what kind of man he is in order to deal with him. So I’ll ask you one more time, did he hurt you?’
It was hard to think of Colin when his declaration that he didn’t despise her was echoing back and forth in her brain. Even though she longed to talk to someone, she couldn’t drop all her defences. ‘He never put me in hospital, if that’s what you want to know,’ she admitted brusquely, and heard the hissing intake of his breath.
‘Meaning he never hit you, or that the results weren’t enough for hospitalisation?’ he gritted out painfully, and her eyes flew to his, seeing his anger...and his pain.
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