Convenient Brides (31 page)

‘Damien.’ Her tone was bleak. ‘I need to tell you something. Something important.’

‘No,’ he said. ‘I need to tell you something first. It’s about Linda.’

Emily turned back to face him, her eyes widening in panic. He wanted to leave her for Linda; she was sure of it.

‘Linda is—’

‘Emily? Are you all right?’ Rose’s voice was just outside the door. ‘Damien? Shall I call the doctor?’

Damien sighed and, leaving Emily to wash her face, opened the bathroom door to his aunt.

‘That won’t be necessary, Aunt Rose,’ he said reassuringly. ‘We spent the day at the beach. Emily’s had a little too much sun. I’ll take her home shortly.’

His aunt murmured something Emily didn’t catch as she rinsed her face one more.

He turned back to her once his aunt had gone. ‘Do you want me to take you home?’

Emily shook her head. ‘This is your aunt’s first dinner party in fifteen years or so. I don’t want to be the one to spoil it.’

‘I don’t mind,’ he said. ‘I can always come back once I’ve taken you home.’

Yes
, Emily thought.
And continue where you left off with Linda Janssen.

‘Do what you like,’ she said defeatedly. ‘It’s all the same to me.’

Damien sighed. ‘Come on,’ he said heavily. ‘I’ll take you home.’

He helped her into the house and hovered around as she made preparations for going to bed.

‘Shouldn’t you have something to eat?’ he asked as she pulled the bed covers back.

‘I’m not hungry.’

‘That seems to be your stock phrase,’ he commented drily. ‘But it’s hardly one that will ensure the health and well-being of your expected infant.’

‘I can’t see that it can be any concern of yours,’ she said, brushing past him to reach for her wrap.

‘Someone has to be concerned,’ he said.

‘Don’t trouble yourself.’ She tied the ends of her wrap viciously. ‘Anyway, I find your hypocrisy nauseating.’

‘And my presence as well, I take it?’

She flashed him a malevolent glance. ‘Go figure.’

He turned and left her without another word. Emily stared at the empty space he’d so recently occupied and bit her lip. She didn’t like herself in this mood, but what did he expect? How could he expect her to tolerate an evening in the company of his latest fling and not complain?

She threw herself across the huge bed and sobbed until there were very few tears left. She felt exhausted. Physically and mentally drained. As if all her energy had been tapped.

She must have slept. She woke to the sounds of someone moving about the house downstairs and sat up, brushing the hair out of her face and listening intently.

She heard Damien’s tread on the stairs. She’d become aware of every sound he made, her senses on full alert to his every move. He opened the bedroom door but she didn’t have time to slip down beneath the covers again and pre-tend to be asleep.

‘How are you feeling?’ he asked, turning on the lamp by the bedside.

‘I’m hungry,’ she said honestly, blinking at the increase in light.

‘I’ll get you something,’ he offered. ‘Aunt Rose sent a doggy bag for you in case you were feeling better.’

‘Not oysters, I hope?’

He gave a wry half-smile. ‘No, not oysters.’

He came back with a dainty portion of lemon chicken with spinach-flecked wild rice and a shell-like bread roll, all laid out on a tray, complete with damask napkin and silver cutlery.

Emily picked up her fork and nibbled at the food, conscious of his silent watchful gaze.

‘I hope Rose wasn’t too disappointed about me leaving,’ she said between mouthfuls.

‘She wasn’t disappointed, just concerned.’ He sat on the end of the bed and undid his black shoes. ‘I had to promise I wouldn’t upset you. She was most insistent.’

‘And did you promise?’

He swung his legs around to face her. She could see the tired lines etched in his face, his broad shoulders slightly slumped. He undid his tie and tossed it carelessly to the wing chair in the corner.

‘It has never been my intention to upset you,’ he said wearily. He lay down across the end of the bed, one of his shoulders just near her feet. He put one arm over his eyes, as if the light from the shielded globe above him was too bright for his tired eyes. ‘But I seem to have got us both into a God-awful mess, all the same.’

Emily wasn’t sure what to say. Her appetite had waned and she crumbled the bread roll with restless fingers as she sat there watching him.

‘The truth is, you caught me off-guard,’ he said.

‘I…I did?’

He still lay with his eyes closed against the light.

‘Your interest in Rose was too close for comfort. I had to do something to stop you writing about her. Marrying you was taking it to extremes, I know, but I didn’t really stop to think. I had to protect Rose and Linda, no matter what.’

‘Linda?’ Emily straightened in agitation at the mention of that name. ‘Why protect Linda? What has she got to do with Rose?’

Damien levered himself up off the bed, his gaze meshing with her questioning one.

‘Because,’ he said slowly and deliberately, ‘Linda is Rose’s illegitimate daughter.’

‘L
INDA’S
your
cousin
?’ Emily stared at him, her mouth dropping open. ‘You’re having an affair with
your cousin
?’

Damien shook his head, giving her a world-weary look.

‘I’ve said this so many times I’m sick of saying it. Linda Janssen and I are not having, have never had, nor will ever have an affair. However, I do care for her, very deeply. Both she and Rose have suffered greatly in the years they’ve been apart and I promised myself I’d do anything I could to protect them from any further pain, as you’ve more or less gathered.’

Emily pushed the tray to one side with unsteady hands.

‘Does…does Danny know?’

‘I think he suspects something, but so far we’ve been able to keep him out of it. Linda and Rose have only recently been reunited. Rose told me tonight she’s been wanting to tell you for weeks but Linda had sworn her to secrecy. She didn’t want the press to get wind of it and blow it all up in their faces. Linda’s adoptive parents needed time to adjust to their daughter activating the search for her mother. It was fraught with legal difficulties, and then you came in, informing the public of your plans to release a biography on Rose. It was a potential minefield and I had to act quickly.’

Emily needed time to absorb his words. They’d impacted on her deeply. She didn’t know how to deal with the fact that she’d been so wrong about him; that she’d been so blind. She’d accused him of having an affair when all the time he’d been trying to protect the two people he loved deeply. She’d planned to write about the family as if they were characters in a play of her own devising, not real
people at all, with real emotions, real pain. She felt so ashamed.

She knew her silence was condemning her, but she couldn’t engage her mind and mouth to say the words she needed to say. To ask for the forgiveness she silently craved, to tell him of her own doubts and fears that had driven her from her unhappy childhood headlong into the deep, dark, secretive pool of his, stirring up secrets and adding to the speculation that had dogged him most.

‘I’ll leave you to get some rest.’ He spoke across her jumbled thoughts. ‘I’m flying to Brisbane tomorrow with Linda. I’m going to meet her adoptive parents, encourage them to meet Rose. They’ve resisted so far, but Linda feels it might help if I talk to them.’

‘Because of your own experiences?’ she managed to ask.

He gave her a long studied look.

‘Rose told you, didn’t she?’

Emily nodded, unable to speak, emotion clogging her throat, but he’d already turned away and didn’t see the glitter of tears welling in her eyes.

‘I want Linda to have what I missed out on. A proper and loving relationship with her natural mother.’

‘I understand,’ she said once she had control of her voice, but when she looked up he’d already gone.

When Monday finally came around, after one of the longest Sundays in Emily’s life, she changed her mind about visiting Danny at the address he’d given her. Instead, she called him on his mobile and left a message for him to meet her at Damien’s house. She felt safer that way, not trusting him to fulfil his side of the deal.

Emily looked at her watch. She had five minutes. Everything she owned was contained in the single bank cheque that lay in between the pages of her appointment diary on the sideboard. She’d sold her apartment within hours of releasing it. The real estate agent had at first questioned her haste, but he’d had an anxious buyer in the wings
and the deal had been signed and with the lawyers before lunchtime.

She checked her watch. Three minutes.

She opened the door on his second knock and felt instantly nauseated as his greedy eyes ran over her.

‘I’m on time, Emily,’ he said suavely.

‘Let’s get this over with.’ Her tone was dark. ‘Where’s the diary?’

His cold blue eyes chilled her to the marrow but she held his gaze.

‘Where’s the money?’ he asked.

‘We never did discuss how much you want.’

‘You know me, Em.’ His eyes ran over her. ‘I’ve got expensive tastes.’

‘I can’t—won’t negotiate on this,’ she said. ‘Like you, I have limited funds.’

His lip curled. ‘Isn’t my brother paying his way?’

Her eyes glittered with anger. ‘I can’t imagine what you mean by that.’

‘Can’t you?’ He laughed.

‘No.’

‘Hasn’t he bribed his way into your bed yet?’

She knew she was blushing but could do nothing to stop it. ‘He didn’t have to resort to such tactics,’ she said. ‘I went quite willingly.’

His eyebrows rose speculatively. ‘Yet again he seems to have succeeded where I failed.’

‘You’re insanely jealous of him, aren’t you?’ she asked.

‘Jealous?’ His icy eyes spat chips at her. ‘He’s got nothing I want.’

‘No, I imagine not. Common decency and loyalty aren’t qualities highly valued in your book. You’d rather sell your soul than protect those who have loved and supported you.’

‘I suppose you’re referring to my aunt Rose?’ His mouth curled again. ‘She never had eyes for anyone but Damien. I didn’t get a look in.’

‘At least you had two parents who loved you.’

‘All the love in the world doesn’t pay the bills. I need money to survive, and Aunt Rose is hardly likely to leave me anything with Damien standing in the way.’

Emily frowned in disbelief at his callousness.

‘This is all about money, isn’t it?’ she asked. ‘You don’t care about your aunt or Damien, do you? You can’t possibly care about your family, otherwise I wouldn’t be standing here offering you money for a diary no one has any business seeing.’

‘But you want it, don’t you, sweet Emily?’ he sneered at her. ‘You want it so bad. You can finally find out all of Rose’s secrets and make your million dollars in royalties.’

She looked at him in disgust. ‘Of course I want the diary, but not for the reasons you think.’

‘I don’t care why you want it, you stuck-up little bitch. Just give me what you’ve got and I’ll go.’

‘Not until I tell you what I think of you,’ she flashed at him angrily. ‘You used me to get back at your family and I can never forgive you for that.’

‘Don’t make me laugh!’ Danny rocked back on his heels. ‘You came sniffing around me for information. I just gave you what you wanted.’

‘You exploited your own flesh and blood! How can you live with yourself?’

‘Don’t get all hoity-toity on me, Em,’ he taunted her. ‘You’re the one who’s exploited the Margate name. Tell me, was it worth it?’

‘What do you mean?’ She eyeballed him suspiciously.

‘Was it worth marrying my brother? I mean, you could’ve written the book and fought it out in court. Why did you marry him? Was it just the money?’

‘No,’ she said implacably. ‘It was never about money.’

‘Don’t tell me you love him—that would really make me laugh.’

She tightened her hands together and stayed silent, not trusting herself to answer him. He looked at her closely, his hooded eyes narrowing.

‘You’ve fallen for him, haven’t you?’ he asked. ‘You’re wasting your time,’ he added when she remained silent. ‘He’s only got eyes for that Janssen woman. Even her husband turns a blind eye.’

He doesn’t know!
she reassured herself.
He doesn’t know!

‘Tell me something, Danny.’ She walked to the side-board, picked up her appointment book and faced him. ‘Have you read your aunt Rose’s diary?’

His shoulders lifted in a shrug. ‘I’ve skimmed it, but I knew as soon as I found it you’d be interested. Now, let’s get down to business.’ His tone was becoming increasingly impatient. ‘Give me the money.’

‘Give me the diary.’ She held out her hand, her stance determined.

‘The money first.’

‘I want to see the diary.’

‘Try before you buy, eh, Em?’ He reached into the inner pocket of his loose-fitting jacket. ‘Wise of you.’

He handed her a worn leather-bound pocket-sized journal. She desperately tried to disguise the tremble of her hand as she took it. She felt tainted just touching it, never mind opening it.

She handed him her cheque and his eyes widened as he looked at the figure written there.

‘Not bad.’ He whistled through his teeth. ‘Damien must be paying dearly for the privilege of sleeping with you. What a pity I didn’t actually get around to sampling you for myself.’

She didn’t care for the sudden lascivious glitter in his frosty gaze as it ran over her once more.

‘But then,’ he added, ‘as someone so wisely said, “There’s no time like the present.”’

He reached for her, but she’d seen it coming and stepped backwards. She tripped over the coffee table and landed awkwardly. She righted herself just in time to see Damien send Danny flying across the room with a single punch that
sickened her with its intensity. She closed her eyes against the violence, her stomach churning at the thought of Damien being hurt and she being too weak and pathetic to assist him.

She shouldn’t have worried. She opened her eyes to find him in front of her, offering her a hand. His dark hair was ruffled, the corner of his mouth was bleeding slightly and his right eye looked as if it was going to bruise horribly.

‘He’s gone,’ he said, still breathing hard. ‘He won’t hurt you now.’

She took his hand and got to her feet, her unsteady legs threatening to let her down when she needed them most.

‘I got the diary,’ she said weakly, handing it to him. ‘I got the diary…’

‘Yes.’ He took it and put it down on the coffee table. ‘I know you did.’

She looked up at him for a long moment. His eyes were warm and his mouth had softened, leaving no trace of the rigid lines of tension she was used to seeing there. His hands were on her arms, holding her to him, close but not quite touching.

‘Why did you marry me, Emily?’ he asked.

She couldn’t hold his questioning gaze.

‘I…I’m not sure…’ She bit her lip and, lowering her eyes, concentrated on the open neck of his shirt instead. ‘I think I needed to belong to someone—anyone.’

‘Anyone?’

She met his eyes bravely.

‘Not just anyone—you.’

He smiled and pulled her into the shelter of his warm body.

‘You have no idea how much I’ve longed to hear that,’ he said against her hair. ‘No idea at all.’

She breathed in the scent of him—a mixture of maleness and physical exertion and aftershave that sent her senses reeling.

‘I have to tell you something, Damien,’ she said against his chest. ‘Something very important.’

He held her away from him to look down at her.

‘You don’t need to tell me. I already know.’

She gazed up at him questioningly.

‘I heard it all,’ he told her. ‘I came home and saw Danny’s car. I decided to come in the back door and listen for a while. I learnt some things about my brother I didn’t know before, and some things about myself that shame me. Can you ever forgive me? I treated you appallingly. I have no excuse other than that I was as jealous as hell and jealousy blinded me to the truth that was staring me in the face all the time. I had so many preconceived ideas about you, but every day I spent with you showed me what a beautiful person you are. You hide behind a sharp wit and acid tongue but underneath you’re vulnerable and fragile. I should’ve realised it the day we were married.’

‘Are you…are you disappointed about the baby?’ she asked cautiously. ‘I didn’t mean it to happen. I hadn’t taken the Pill for months because…well, because I didn’t need to. I didn’t believe it could happen so easily. I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault.’

‘No.’ His finger halted her speech by pressing against her soft lips. ‘You are not to blame. I am. And I hereby accept full responsibility by insisting you stay married to me for the next fifty years or so.’

‘You don’t have to do that,’ she said. ‘I can—’

‘You can what?’ he asked. ‘You’ve just sold your only asset. You have nothing to back you. How can you think of doing this alone?’

She bit her lip and stared at his neck again.

‘Come on, Emily,’ he urged. ‘Tell me you need me. I need to hear it much more than you need to say it.’

She looked up at him at that.

‘I love you,’ she said. ‘Do you know, you’re the first person I’ve really loved since I was a child?’

He smiled and held her close, his words stirring her hair
when he spoke. ‘I love you more than I can say. You’re everything to me. I think that’s why I acted so outrageously by insisting you marry me as I did. I didn’t want anyone or anything to get in the way of my desire to tie myself to you.’

‘I don’t understand.’ She looked up at him incredulously. ‘I thought you hated me.’

‘I thought I did too, but my body had other ideas. Has it convinced you enough, or should I actively engage it to convince you a bit more?’

She smiled, her eyes dancing with happiness. ‘I’m not entirely convinced, but perhaps you have something in mind that will finally persuade me?’

His mouth came down and hovered just above hers.

‘I thought I’d start with this.’ He kissed her soundly. ‘And then I thought I’d move on to this—’ He kissed her again, but this time deeply, his tongue searching and finding hers. ‘And then…’

She sighed as his hands sought and found her breasts.

‘I’m still not quite convinced.’

His hands moved lower.

‘I’m not finished yet,’ he said huskily. ‘But give me time.’

She smiled against his searching mouth.

‘You have all the time in the world.’

Emily and Damien met Linda outside the recovery unit. Linda was pale; her hands would have been trembling except she had them so tightly clenched they didn’t get a chance.

‘Have you heard?’ Linda asked.

‘What? Is everything all right?’ Damien asked, reaching for her hands.

‘She’s come through,’ Linda said in a rush of relief. ‘The doctor is pleased with her recovery so far. He said it’s still too early to be sure but he thinks it went very well.’

Emily felt the sting of tears in her eyes as she saw the
comfort and support Damien was giving to his cousin as he stood and hugged her silently.

‘Emily, darling.’ He reached for her and kissed the top of her head. ‘Why don’t we tell Linda our own exciting news?’