Her Husband's Christmas Bargain

by Margaret Mayo

  Megan stood for several long moments after the red-haired girl had gone. Luigi had done a good job convincing her that there was nothing going on between him and his PA. And now Serena had made a mockery of every word he’d said. He was a liar and a cheat and she didn’t know how she was going to get through the rest of the evening without telling him so.

  Luigi looked everywhere for Megan. One minute she was in his sights, the next gone. It had annoyed him when Serena took him to one side with an urgent discussion about work, something that couldn’t wait, she’d said. Which was nonsense. At one time he might have thought it important, but his home life was becoming his top priority these days. Unfortunately Serena couldn’t seem to see it.

  He supposed it was his own fault because he’d always been the one to keep her working late. When there was a job to be done he’d seen no sense in leaving it in the middle, working until midnight if necessary. And Serena had always co-operated. It was why he’d repaid her by taking her out for a meal now and then, and even a weekend away after they’d been particularly busy. But he wished she’d understand that things were changing now that Megan was back on the scene and he was a father.

  A whole new direction had begun in his life, one he had never foreseen but he liked very much. Where was Megan? There was Serena looking very pleased with herself. She liked to think that she was the linchpin in all of his dealings, and she’d been a teeny bit peeved when Megan insisted that she wanted to handle the arrangements for tonight. But she’d been pleasant enough to Megan when they met so he didn’t have any worries on that score.

  Then he saw Megan, talking to a neighbour’s wife at the other end of the room. He began to weave his way towards her. In truth he couldn’t wait for the party to end. She looked so ravishing that he found it difficult to take his eyes off her. His whole system had gone into overdrive the second he’d seen her in that slinky red dress, and all he’d wanted to do was tear it off her and make furious love. That feeling hadn’t diminished.

  If it hadn’t been their own party they could have sneaked away for half an hour, but unfortunately they couldn’t do that. He would have to be patient and wait, though the ache in his groin was almost unbearable. He couldn’t remember ever wanting her as much as he did now, and the good part about it was that she wanted him too. He had seen it in her eyes.

  ‘Megan, the dancing’s started again.’ He finally reached her and with a smile and an apology dragged her away from her companions. ‘I can’t wait for tonight to end,’ he muttered in her ear as he held her close, his hand on the naked skin of her back. Lord, she felt so good, he thought, as they moved to the rhythm of the music, and he pressed her hard against him so that she could feel his raging desire.

  He failed to notice that she wasn’t looking at him quite so lovingly, or that her responses were fractionally cooler. It wasn’t until the dance ended and she pulled away from him that he realised something had changed. ‘Megan?’ he asked with a frown. ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘Nothing.’

  But it was too quick a response, and she hadn’t quite met his eyes. ‘Aren’t you feeling well?’

  ‘I’m all right,’ she said quickly. Too quickly, he thought. Something was definitely going on in her mind. Was she regretting giving herself away earlier? Could that be it? If so he didn’t care because he knew that once they were alone he would easily persuade her that she needed him as much as he needed her. He’d kept away for far too long.

  He had thought he was doing the right thing, letting her come to him in her own time, but there was only so much a man could stand. And this abstinence was driving him crazy.

  The music started up again, something slow and smoochy, and before she could move away he slid both arms around her and she had no option but to hold him too. He felt the faint, unsteady throb of her heart and he inhaled her sweet fragrance, but simply holding her was intoxicating his senses to such a degree that it was all he could do not to whisk her away up the stairs. ‘You’re the most beautiful woman in the room, did you know that?’ he asked softly against her ear. ‘Which makes me the luckiest man alive.’

  She made some sort of response that he didn’t quite catch, but which suggested that his compliment didn’t altogether please her. And he couldn’t understand why. ‘Megan, are you sure there’s nothing wrong?’

  ‘Absolutely nothing,’ she said, but he sensed it was false.

  ‘I’m sorry if I haven’t spent as much time with you as I’d have liked, but there are so many people who want to talk to me, and you, of course. You’re quite the star of the evening. Everyone’s telling me how beautiful you are, and how pleased they are that we’re back together.’

  ‘They have no idea,’ she muttered, and he could feel acid dripping from her tongue.

  Instantly he had dragged her away into the silence and privacy of another room. ‘What’s got into you, Megan?’ he asked sharply, his fingers forcibly under her chin so that he could look into her eyes. Troubled eyes.

  ‘Nothing,’ she repeated stubbornly. ‘And we oughtn’t to shut ourselves away from our guests like this. They’ll wonder what’s going on.’

  ‘I am wondering what’s going on,’ he retorted loudly. ‘You can’t suddenly change for no reason.’

  ‘It’s a woman’s prerogative.’

  ‘Rubbish! Someone’s upset you. And, judging by the cold shoulder treatment, it would appear to be me. Am I right?’

  Megan averted her eyes.

  ‘Look at me, dammit.’ He clenched her chin so tightly that he knew it must hurt but she didn’t even flinch. ‘I said look at me.’

  Slowly she did as he asked, and what he saw sent his heart crashing into his shoes. Hostility, hatred, accusation! Everything he had hoped never to see again. ‘OK, what’s going on?.’

  ‘Need you ask?’ Her grey eyes were filled with raw hurt and he wished he knew why.

  ‘If I knew, I wouldn’t be questioning you, would I?’ Then something suddenly clicked in his brain. ‘It’s Serena, isn’t it?’ And he laughed with relief. ‘You saw us leave the ballroom? My dearest Megan, that was pure business. Serena lives and breathes it, the same as I used to. I tried to tell her it wasn’t important, that it would wait until we were back in the office, but no, she needed to talk it over with me.’

  ‘And that’s all there was to it?’ She looked as though she didn’t believe him.

  ‘I swear it.’

  ‘If you say so.’ But it was clear she didn’t accept that he was telling the truth. ‘Dammit, Megan, where has all this come from? I could have sworn earlier that you were as ready for me as I was for you. And now it’s all gone.’

  ‘And you can’t guess why? But for your sake I’ll behave exactly how you want me to—until our guests leave.’

  And then she would shut him out! He let his breath whistle through his teeth. He would never understand her, not in a million years. She had nothing to fear where Serena was concerned; how was he going to convince her of that?

  Suddenly the door was pushed open and the woman who was the cause of their dissension poked her head inside. ‘Ah, there you are.’ At a glance she took in the fierce glare on Megan’s face and Luigi’s unhappiness, and her smile was wide.

  ‘I wondered where you two lovebirds had got to. It’s almost midnight; we need to charge our glasses. Coming, Luigi?’

  Luigi looked at Megan and saw the green sparks of jealousy shooting from her eyes. ‘We’ll be out in a minute,’ he told Serena. Part of him was glad that Megan was so deeply jealous, but the other half knew that it was not going to be easy winning her round.

  What they needed to do was sit down and talk, get everything out into the open, lay all their cards on the table. Perhaps, with the start of a new year, they could do that. A new year, a new relationship. He couldn’t go on like this, that was for sure. After their guests had gone he would insist that they have a heart to heart. For now he would have to accept that she was simply play-acting.

  When Serena
closed the door he took Megan’s hands and their eyes met. She looked so miserably unhappy that he wanted to kiss her and promise that everything would be all right. But when he arched his head towards her she drew away.

  ‘Let’s get it over with,’ she said abruptly.

  And for the rest of the night she was the life and soul of the party, throwing herself wholeheartedly into singing ‘Auld Lang Syne’, singing the loudest, laughing the longest. She was too happy, brittly so, but no one knew it except himself.

  And, of course, Serena, but he was unaware of that.

  Megan didn’t know how she managed to act as though nothing was wrong; it was hard when your heart was broken in two and you knew that it could never be repaired. Luigi was an out and out liar. Did he really think that she didn’t know what he’d been up to? She had known, even without Serena telling her, but to have it confirmed so blatantly, so cheerfully, had frozen every vein and nerve inside her. Nor had she been able to hide her hurt from Luigi, no matter how much she’d wanted to. In fact she couldn’t remember anything about the latter part of the evening. Except Serena’s gloating smile every time their eyes met.

  She had shaken hands and made the right platitudes, but when everyone had gone, when she and Luigi were alone at last, she stripped the façade away. She looked at him with hatred in her eyes. ‘What a fiasco. I’m glad it’s over. I’m going to bed, goodnight.’

  But Luigi was having none of it. ‘We’re going to talk. Now!’

  ‘It won’t do any good,’ she said bitterly. Was he blind or stupid or both? She’d felt happier today than she had in a long time—until Serena stuck the knife in. It still hurt, and it proved that her husband was a consummate liar, and why he never professed any love for her ‘First thing in the morning I’m packing my bags.’

  Luigi looked as though he’d been turned to stone. He didn’t speak; he simply stood there looking at her, total incredulity in his eyes.

  ‘I’ve given it a good try,’ she added. ‘We’ve had a good Christmas and New Year, and I thank you for that. Now it’s time for me to go back to my old life—where I was happy and contented. And you’ll be able to carry on as many love affairs as you like.’

  Megan found that she was breathing hard by the time she’d finished. She couldn’t look at Luigi now without seeing Serena at his side—a smiling, complacent Serena, confident in the knowledge that Luigi preferred her to his wife. There was a red blur in front of her eyes, red rage that matched the colour of her dress. Luigi became the devil with horns. The red turned to black—to nothing.

  Megan was unaware that Luigi caught her in his arms as she began to fall to the floor in a dead faint.

  When she came to, Megan was being carried up the stairs, Luigi’s strong arms around her. She felt fear and alarm and began to struggle, unable to comprehend what was going on. How had she ended up here?

  ‘Keep still!’ he warned. ‘You fainted. I’m taking you to your room. You need to lie down.’

  She closed her eyes; she didn’t want to see the look of love and tenderness on his face. It had never been there before. Why now? Was it a trick of the light? ‘Fainted?’ she echoed. ‘I’ve never fainted in my life. If this is some ploy to—’

  ‘It’s nothing of the kind,’ he assured her, the softness disappearing, making her realise that she must have imagined it. ‘I think the evening proved too much for you. You were on your feet all day, and then…’

  Megan stopped listening. She was remembering the real reason for her distress, and she began to struggle even more violently.

  ‘Dammit, keep still,’ warned Luigi, his arms tightening around her. ‘Are you trying to get us both killed?’

  They reached the top of the stairs, but he still didn’t put her down, despite her continuing fight. He waited until he had kicked open the door and carried her across to her bed before he finally released her.

  Megan immediately sprang up again, but was unprepared for the dizziness that overcame her, and was compelled to sit back down, a hand to her forehead and a dazed look in her eyes.

  Luigi fetched her a glass of water. ‘Sip that slowly until you feel better,’ he commanded.

  Suddenly subdued, Megan did as he asked. She had clearly worked herself up to such a pitch that everything had exploded inside her head. What she needed to do now was be calmly organised. She still intended to leave, but she would do it quietly one day while Luigi was at work. She wouldn’t go back to the house she had shared with Jenny, but would find somewhere else where her husband would never find her.

  ‘Are you feeling better?’ To give him his due, Luigi looked genuinely concerned. It would be so easy to believe that she was the only woman in his life—if the image of a pair of gloating green eyes didn’t continually haunt her!

  She nodded. ‘I’ll be all right now.’ Meaning, please leave. But he didn’t take the hint.

  ‘Let me help you get undressed and into bed.’

  There was such tenderness and concern in his voice that it almost broke her in two. But she knew it was an act. He wanted the best of both worlds. A wife and daughter, and a mistress on the side! She sat bolt upright, slamming the glass down on the bedside table.

  ‘I wouldn’t let you help me if you were the last man on earth,’ she yelled. ‘Get out! Get out now!’ So much for her plans to lull him into a false sense of security and then quietly disappear. How could she live for even a minute longer with a two-timing swine like him?

  ‘If this is still about Serena—’

  ‘You can bet it’s about Serena,’ she tore in furiously. ‘You’re welcome to her, and she to you.’

  ‘But—’

  ‘But nothing,’ she thrust, pushing herself up from the bed and hastening across the room to open the door so that he could leave.

  He made no attempt to move, simply following her with his eyes, sad eyes, she noticed. What a good actor he was. ‘Serena means nothing to me.’

  ‘So you keep saying.’

  ‘It’s the truth.’

  She lifted her shoulders.

  ‘But you don’t believe me?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Why? You have no proof that anything’s going on. It’s all in your suspicious little mind.’ He took a step forward.

  Megan froze. ‘Maybe I do have proof, not that I intend to share it with you.’

  Luigi frowned. ‘How can there be proof when—’

  ‘When you don’t feel anything for her? Spare me the platitudes, Luigi. Just get the hell out of here.’

  His lips thinned to a narrow, straight line and to her relief he marched determinedly towards the door. But when he reached it he came to an abrupt halt and turned to face her, his eyes mere inches away from hers. Megan’s breathing quickened. Despite everything he could still melt her bones, still send her crazily into a state of readiness. Such was his power! It looked as though she was destined to love him for the rest of her life.

  Which made her even angrier.

  ‘I realise there’s no point in me saying anything more tonight,’ he said grimly, his eyes steely hard. ‘Not while you’re in this mood. Your over-active little mind is putting two and two together and making five. But I’ll prove to you that you’re wrong. Tomorrow I’ll fetch Serena here and she can tell you herself that you’re worrying for nothing.’

  He didn’t wait for her response. He swung away and she slammed the door behind him. Too late she thought of Charlotte and Kate, and prayed that she hadn’t woken them.

  What good would it do, Serena coming here? The woman would lie through her teeth, not for one nanosecond wanting Luigi to hear of the conversation she’d had with his wife. Maybe she ought to pack now and disappear before he woke up in the morning. Unfortunately it was New Year’s Day. Not an ideal time to find alternative accommodation.

  She threw herself down on the bed and punched her frustration out on the pillow. Damn Luigi! Damn Serena! And she was still damning them to eternal hell when sleep overtook her.

  Two
hours later she woke, shivering. With desperate fingers she ripped off her dress, uncaring whether she tore it in the process, then pulled on her nightdress and curled up beneath the softly padded quilt. But sleep was far away now. Anger and hatred filled the rest of her night.

  Daylight was beginning to steal through the sky when she finally dropped off and she dreamt that the green-eyed Serena, in her hateful green dress, was floating above her, a leering glitter in her eyes. And she was pleading with Serena to let her share Luigi. Serena laughed, a mocking laugh that echoed in Megan’s ears as she awoke.

  Charlotte and Kate were in Charlotte’s room and her daughter was laughing helplessly. Megan climbed out of bed and opened the dividing door.

  ‘I’m sorry if we woke you,’ apologised Kate at once.

  ‘It’s all right,’ said Megan as Charlotte hurled herself into her mother’s arms. She held her daughter close, immediately expunging the bad memories. ‘What were you laughing at, sweetheart?’

  ‘Nanny was tickling me. Was it a good party, Mummy? I wanted to come down but Nanny said I mustn’t because it was only for grown-ups.’

  ‘That’s right, and actually, my darling, it was a bit boring. I didn’t know anyone except your daddy and Serena.’

  ‘Who’s Serena?’

  ‘She works for Daddy.’

  ‘Is she pretty?’

  ‘Very pretty.’

  ‘That’s good, ‘cos Daddy likes pretty things. He told me so. He told me I was pretty, and that he loved you ‘cos you were pretty as well.’

  Megan’s veins stiffened as an electric shock ran through them. Luigi had said that? But the feeling quickly faded as she accepted that Luigi’s declaration of love would have been a throwaway comment, something to please a little girl anxious for affection. The aftermath left her feeling more dispirited than ever.

  ‘Will you come and have your breakfast with us?’ asked Charlotte eagerly. She had been encouraged into the routine of eating her meals with her nanny in the newly furnished nursery.