An Unbreakable Bond (2 page)

She gulped. Colour was rising into her cheeks and she bent her head so that he couldn’t see her guilt. She knew that if she’d told him at the outset he wouldn’t have gone through with it. How many seductresses did he know who were virgins? Everything she’d done this evening, from the killer stilettos to the long white dress and false nails were all meant for seduction. There was no way he was leaving for the States tomorrow without her having had just one bite. Why not, every other girl within a twenty mile radius had taken a nibble – why not her? “Losing my virginity was no big deal okay?” Who was she trying to kid – it was a huge deal! “If it weren’t you it would have been someone else, so don’t start to feel as though it was meant to be special or anything!” Her throat had gone dry and she could feel her bottom lip wobbling. To cry now would reveal her inner turmoil. It wasn’t meant to end this way, with him regretting it and her acting like some damsel in distress.

Tristan shook his head. “No…big…deal? Look, I’m so sorry. This shouldn’t have happened. Not like this anyway.”

He tried to touch her shoulder, but the heat of his fingers seared her skin and she couldn’t take the pity in his eyes, so she pulled away. “But, it did happen.”

He sighed, “I know.” Tomorrow, he was leaving to begin his five year corporate training plan, dictated by his father. Everyone knew about it and up until this moment he’d resigned himself to his destiny, but right now confusion was veiling it. “My future is pretty set for the next few years, so I don’t know when or even
if
I’ll ever come back here.”

“What exactly are you saying?” She couldn’t bring herself to look at him, she was too afraid of what she might see.

Pulling her chin around so that she couldn’t avoid him, he replied, “I’m not good enough for you Annabelle, you deserve someone better than me and a long-distance relationship won’t work. In knowing my father’s plans I won’t have any spare time to give to you or to us.” He watched as her stormy green eyes darkened and he felt her chin stiffen.

“You’ve always been such a puppet to daddy haven’t you? Can’t you even think for yourself just this once?” His father always seemed to be the proverbial dark cloud on the horizon, stampeding on any joy Tristan experienced. She sneered. “Anyway, who said anything about having a relationship? I just wanted to rid myself of my virginity, okay!” Wow, that was mature! She pulled away from his grip and dropped her head to rest on her knees. Pain was closing in on her and a sob threatened to burst forth, she didn’t want him to see how much this meant to her.

“Right, so you got what you wanted and just used me at your whim,” he replied sarcastically. “Glad to be of service. At least I know there’ll be no hard feelings when I say this was a mistake and I have nothing to offer you.”

That felt like a kick to a tender spot, she flipped up her head and met his wary gaze – she wanted to hurt him, so she smarted back, “Me, used you? Do you know what gets my goat Tristan? Is how you strut around here like a peacock, having conquest after conquest, but after having little Annabelle, you decide she’s a mistake!” That tender spot just got bigger. “Well, smile Tristan, at least I don’t have to look upon your face after tomorrow and be another love-sick cast off!”

Anxiety was bouncing in waves between them, then it hit her like a ton of bricks, there was no future for them, no long-distance romance and no happy ending.

He raked his hands over his face and sighed heavily. “What do you want from me? I’ve said I’m sorry. Look, this is not just about the sex; it’s also about who you’re related to.”

Shoving at his shoulder in frustration she clumsily got up on her knees and searched for her underwear. “Oh, I see, now all of a sudden you’ve developed a conscience about who you sleep with?” She found her panties, or what was left of them. Shame began to seep into her heart and she tossed them quickly into her handbag.

“Annabelle, you’re not thinking straight. If Wade finds out what we’ve done, not only do I stand to lose his friendship, but he’ll go nuts.” He was now putting on his trousers and shoes. “In his eyes, you’re definitely off limits.”

“Well, it’s your lucky day, as I’m the one conquest of yours that my brother will never find out about!” She threw the crumpled dress over her head in a rage. “God, you really know how to make a girl feel cheap!”

“Cheap? Why are we in this whole situation? You’re the one who made it happen and now I have to face your brother as though nothing is different and I haven’t just taken his sister's virginity!”

They were stood face to face, him shirtless and breathing heavily and she with bed-hair and not quite as groomed as when she entered the room, but in this moment she didn’t care. She threw his shirt at him. “It’s all about you isn’t it? All about what will upset your little world? You’re so selfish Tristan and I’m glad that you’re leaving, as right now, I couldn’t care less if I never saw your face ever again!”

Roughly, he pulled on his shirt and did up the only remaining button. “Good! Because you’re a manipulating bitch! You came to my leaving ball, manoeuvred me into this room and then threw yourself at me! What was I supposed to do?”

A fierce heat crept up her neck and across her cheeks as his words sunk in and the memory of ripping off his shirt popped ungraciously into her mind. “You could have said no,” she muttered weakly. Without a doubt she knew she was the instigator and guilty party, but her excuse was that she’d loved him for so long. If she had read what had happened tonight in a book, she would probably say that her character was insanely obsessed, but what else was she to do? When she heard that he was leaving to go back to Texas she’d panicked and out came her inner schemer.  If she were to stay behind in this little inconsequential village, then at least let her have something to treasure. At the moment though, Tristan was doing a good job of making sure all she remembered was her feelings of shame and being defiled.

She squared her shoulders in defence and pinched her thigh to prevent herself from blubbering all over him in desperation. Sadly, she watched him as he raked his hands through his hair. She could feel his regret.

Staring at a point on the wall above her head, he asked, “Are you on the pill?”

“What?” Where did that question come from?

“Annabelle, it’s a simple question?”
Gravely, he shook his head. “This is the first time I've gone without using a condom, so are you taking any precautions?”

“No.”

“Shit!” Picking up his jacket, he roughly stuffed the bow tie from his tux in his pocket before slinging it over his shoulder. “Look, Wade knows how to get hold of me if there are any complications.”

“Complications..?” Something wasn’t registering through the fog in her brain. They’d gone from full throttle arguing to worrying about the consequences. She shook her head. “I’ll be fine. It’s the wrong time of the month.” What exactly were the right and wrong times of the month? She wasn’t sure, but she needed to appear to be in control of the situation.

“Okay.” He shrugged. “Well, I guess this is goodbye then.”

Cold fear snaked up from the pit of her stomach. “So that’s it then? Six years of knowing each other, a roll on the floor and a polite goodbye?” She shook her head disbelievingly. “There’s something seriously wrong with the way you treat women Tristan. In fact, you’ve a huge gaping hole where your heart should be!”

It wasn’t true. How he felt in this moment about this feisty vixen stood in front of him was proof enough that his heart was well and truly pumping in his body. Sex was a regular visitor in his life. Girls came and went, but nothing,
nothing
had prepared him for what had just happened. Tonight, he’d been her first, so she didn’t have anything to compare it to, but he did, and quite frankly, it scared the hell out of him. Maybe he just needed some time to assimilate exactly what it was that they had shared, as it wasn’t just sex, but something else. Something he’d never experienced before. The second he’d laid eyes on her six years ago he knew there was an undeniable chemistry, but it had been safer for him, and for her, to hold her at arms-length.

When she cornered him tonight, the temptation was just too much. Thoughts of his father crossed his mind and dread settled in his gut. Who was he fooling? His life was already mapped out for him. There would be no room for Annabelle. His father would make sure of that. It would be wrong to leave either of them with any hope.

Wanting to explain his thoughts, he opened his mouth to speak, but then changed his mind and clamped his mouth shut. Nothing could be done about it. His future was nicely tied into a corporate package. Clutching the door handle, an overwhelming sense of loss filled his being. Not since the death of his mother when he was six had he felt such helplessness.

Capturing a final mental picture of her standing there in all of her innocent beauty, he resigned himself to the path already chosen for him. Staying any longer in her presence would make him waiver and destroy everything his father had sacrificed and worked for!

The urge to run in him was mounting, she could tell by the tic in his cheek. It always gave him away. He shot her a parting glance. She could see there was a war waging beneath his cool features, but rejection seemed to be wining.

“Bloody hell!” he threw at her before leaving and slamming the door behind him.

“Argh!”
She picked up her shoe in temper and lobbed it at the retreating door. How could she have been such an idiot to lose her virginity to an arrogant and conceited god-man! Angrily, she stomped to the far-side of the room and flung open another door. It was a restroom. Peering into the mirror she gasped at her reflection. There it was for all to see, the red cheeks, eyes that looked hollow and a paleness that revealed her emotional crash from a great height to bone breaking rocks below. She tried to laugh at her own stupidity. The best laid plans and all that garbage, but it came out as a choke. How could he just walk away with a shrug and a thank you ma’am?

She needed to get out of here! Leaving his suite of rooms, she headed towards the stairs, where bright lights, chatter and music consumed her. A brazen woman going up the stairs and a broken woman going down! Quite the comparison!

Stepping into the cool night air she strolled into the side garden where she could see people dancing through the large windows of Edingthorpe Hall. Hairs prickled on her neck and her gut tightened as she peered in closer and caught sight of him dancing with a raven haired beauty. Jealousy pummelled against her lungs and she couldn’t breathe properly.

How could he be so cruel, moving from one woman to another within minutes! Disgust thumped so heavily in her heart that it was under threat of pumping out of her chest. Stricken, she turned her back on him and ran from the garden and down the long driveway towards the village.

A car pulled up alongside her. It stopped and she heard her best friend Katie get out and call to her, “Hey, Annabelle, are you OK? I saw you leave?”

Tears were now pouring down her face and she turned towards the friendly voice in the dark and sobbed pitifully. “It didn’t go how we planned it. I should have known he’d be just a cold hearted womaniser. I can’t believe what I’ve done. I feel so humiliated.”

“Hey, hey, everything will be OK.”

Sniffling loudly, Annabelle nodded. “Can you take me home?”

Chapter 1

Ten Years Later

Tristan looked down at the city of Houston from his top floor office in Texas. His father, Preston Hemsley-Ford, now comfortable in his protégé’s ability and training, had taken early retirement last year and at thirty-two Tristan was now the official owner of Hemsley-Ford Oil Refineries. Under his directive the company had since expanded its revenue and in his own right he was a billionaire, but that didn’t ease his conscience.

Money was only a temporary fix. It never completely satisfied that gnawing hole of frustration for something more. This emptiness would wake him in the middle of the night and make him restless, yearning for something. What it was, he didn’t know. Something he couldn’t put his finger on. Every day he lived this emptiness and he saw the same dissatisfaction in others.

Over the last ten years he’d gained the reputation of being a ruthless businessman by day and a playboy by night, gracing the front page and gossip columns of many magazines with a variety of gorgeous women. He’d hid this restless feeling well. No-one would ever know the loneliness that came from being known for the size of your bank account and not from having someone discover the hidden facets of who you are. There were only three people in his life that had made that journey into the depth of his core and discovered him beyond his labels: his Gramps, Wade and Annabelle.

Before he retired his father had suggested that it was time for him to find a wife and settle down. It was a poignant moment between himself and his father, as it had always been understood that the two great oil companies, Hemsley-Ford and Boone, would unite forces through marriage and the only daughter of tycoon Marshall Boone, Cara Boone, was the decided choice. Negotiations and a pre-nuptial contract were signed and after a six month courtship he proposed. It was a cold way to live, but it served a function. Responsibility followed money and he had two thousand men reliant upon his decisions. Letting them down was not an option.