‘Dirt sticks, sweetie-pie. It would cause a small sensation, but just imagine what it could do if the more sober broadsheets picked it up.’ His fingers tightened on her arm as he bent and whispered in her ear. ‘Your husband’s an establishment guy; he heads an awesome establishment-type business. The customers for his fabulous gems come from the very top social drawer. There’s many a royal lady wearing something fabulous from Nolan’s. Bit of a slur on the revered family name to have it coupled with a woman with that kind of past, wouldn’t you say?
‘The nobs just might start buying their platinum and diamond knick-knacks from one or other of his highfalutin’ rivals.’ He jerked her closer. ‘So pay up, or, as I said——take the consequences.’
He pulled her even closer, intimately close. And she could do nothing about it. All the stuffing had been knocked out of her. He meant it, all of it. He’d get the money one way or another.
In the light of the publicity surrounding her recent acceptance of that prestigious award the seamier tabloids would pay top dollar for his story, his warped allegations, disregarding the
fact that there might not be any truth in them because stuff like that sold papers.
People liked to see other people get to the top, but they liked it better when they saw them knocked right back down again!
She could handle it for herself, but she couldn’t let Jed and the Nolan gem empire be smothered in that kind of slimy publicity. She couldn’t let that happen to him.
‘You can have your money,’ she said bitterly, hating having to give way but having no choice. ‘I don’t have that amount in my UK account. But we’re going back to Spain tomorrow. I can get my hands on it there and send—’
‘I’ll give you three days.’ He stuck his face inches from hers. ‘And I’ll come to Spain and pick it up in person. No cheques in the post, nothing traceable. Cash. I know where to find you, remember.’ He pushed his face closer. ‘Is your phone unlisted?’
She shook her head, trying to draw back. He wouldn’t let her.
‘Good. I’ll call you. Tell you when and where to meet me.’
The scrunch of tyres on the gravelled surface of the drive had Liam pulling his face out of hers, turning his head. Elena felt weak with relief. Being so close to him had made her feel nauseous and dizzy. But she would rather collapse in a heap than cling onto the foul blackmailer. Only when she heard the expensive clunk of the Jaguar’s door did she fully understand what was happening.
Frantically forcing her brain to function, she turned. Jed had returned hours earlier than expected. She didn’t know whether to be glad or sorry.
Sorry, she supposed sinkingly, as she looked into his hard, expressionless face. Wearing the dark grey trousers of a business suit, his white shirt tie-less, open at the neck, sleeves rolled up to the elbow, he looked gorgeous. But quelling.
‘I guess you must be husband Mark Two.’ It was Liam who broke the heavy silence. He advanced, cast an appreciative eye over the gleaming car, extended his hand, which Jed ignored, and aimed for a clipped public school accent but failed. ‘I’m Mark One. For your sake, old boy, I hope she doesn’t do the dirty on you like she did on me. But don’t put money on it.’
His hand dropped back to his side. ‘Well, if you’re not going to invite me in for drinkies, I’ll be on my way.’ He shrugged, stuffed both hands in the pockets of his disreputable trousers and swaggered away. Then he turned, his smile malicious. ‘Take a tip from me, old boy. With that woman around you’d better learn to watch your back.’
CHAPTER TEN
‘WHAT was he doing here?’
Jed looked at her with narrowed eyes. The afternoon sun was hot, but Elena shivered. He was looking at her with cold suspicion when she’d wanted to see the beginnings of the trust and understanding he’d hinted at in last night’s telephone conversation.
Liam had ruined his homecoming.
‘Asking for hand-outs,’ she told him, setting her jaw, because if she let herself relax her teeth would start to rattle with nervous tension. She knew she couldn’t tell him the whole truth about her ex-husband’s successful blackmail attempt because Jed would insist on calling his bluff, contacting the police, and then those smears and allegations would end up in the tabloids. She couldn’t let that happen.
It might, as Liam had threatened, actually harm his business, not to mention his reputation, and even if it didn’t, seeing his wife’s name smeared in the gutter press would hurt his pride. He’d take it on the chin, but he’d find it deeply distasteful.
‘What for?’ he asked tightly. ‘The price of a pint? New clothes—he looked as if he could use them! Or more? Was it more, Elena?’
‘Of course.’ She hadn’t been able to keep the bitterness out of her voice. She could have said, Just something to tide him over while he looks for work—something to take the steam out of the situation. But she hated having to lie to Jed, even by leaving things unsaid.
He caught her tone. Of course he did. ‘And did you give it to him? The way you were folded round each other when I turned into the drive suggests you might have done. He looked remarkably pleased with himself, and you looked as if you weren’t averse to reliving old times.’
From his viewpoint it could have looked that way. She had to give him that, she conceded miserably. Yet she couldn’t tell him what had really been happening. She shuffled her feet in the gravel, realised what she was doing, how guilty and embarrassed the childish action would make her look, and stopped, pushed her hands into the pockets of her trousers and shrugged.
‘Hardly that. Old times with Liam are something I’d prefer to forget. I certainly wouldn’t want to relive a second of them. And how could I give him anything, even if I’d wanted to? I’ve only got pin money with me, and I couldn’t write a cheque because my UK account is as good as empty.’
She’d only kept it going because it had been handy to have something to draw on when she visited the UK for meetings with her agent and publisher. Since coming over for Sam’s funeral and her wedding, and now the awards, she’d practically cleaned it out
He seemed to accept that, but probed ruthlessly, ‘Did you tell him where to find you?’
‘Of course not!’ Did he think she’d kept in touch with Liam, perhaps even met up with him after his release from prison? That made her very angry. How could he think she’d do that and, worse, keep it from him?