The Spanish Consultant (Westerling)

The colour drained out of her face and she swayed slightly. He felt a flash of concern and then reminded himself that he was dealing with a woman who could sleep with two men at the same time without displaying the slightest flicker of conscience. Now she’d finally been found out he fully expected her to seek refuge in that most female of pastimes. Tears.

‘Is that why you left without even a word? Because you believed I was having an affair with someone else?’ Her tone was flat and lifeless, her normally sparkly blue eyes dulled with shock and distaste. ‘Couldn’t you have at least have asked me about it?’

He shrugged a broad shoulder dismissively, his expression sardonic. ‘I didn’t need to. I had all the evidence I needed. An encounter between us would have been—’ He broke off, remembering the searing anger and hurt that he’d felt on discovering her duplicity. His mouth tightened. ‘Let’s just say that I felt it would be better for both of us if we had no more contact.’

‘Evidence?’ Her voice was croaky, like someone who hadn’t drunk for a week. ‘This evidence—who gave it to you?’

He frowned. Surely she should have been asking what the evidence was? Or was she trying to cover her tracks? ‘I don’t see the relevance—’

‘It was my father, wasn’t it?’

So she’d known all along that her father had had incriminating photographs.

‘Don’t blame him. For once your father was acting honourably. He thought I should know the truth.’

Especially given that ten minutes earlier he had announced his intention of marrying Katy.

Thanks to her father, he’d had a very narrow escape. He owed him a debt.

‘Honourably?’ Her voice shook and she sank onto the nearest chair, her breathing shallow. She looked terrible. Her cheeks were pale and her slim fingers shook as they clutched the seat of the chair. ‘My father has never behaved honourably in his life. He sees what he wants and he goes for it, no matter what obstacles stand in his way. No doubt he manipulated you the same way he manipulates everyone.’

Jago frowned, disconcerted by her unexpected reaction. He’d expected hysterics and denials about the affair. Instead, they seemed to be having a conversation about her father. ‘What are you suggesting?’

Katy lifted her head, her eyes dull. ‘Show me the photographs.’ Her chest rose and fell and she appeared to be struggling to breathe. ‘I want to see those photographs. Do you still have them?’

Slight colour touched his cheekbones. ‘I don’t understand what purpose it would serve—’

‘Show me!’

After only the briefest hesitation he reached into his desk and withdrew a large envelope, thoroughly discomfited by the fact that he still had the photographs to hand. It raised questions that he’d never wanted to address before.

But Katy didn’t ask questions. She didn’t even seem to find it strange that he had the photographs in his desk eleven years later.

She just ripped at the envelope with shaking hands and emptied the contents onto the desk.

As the glossy prints emerged from the envelope, Jago felt the tension rise in his body. His lean hands fisted and he felt the same sickness he’d felt when he’d first seen them. ‘I warn you—they’re very revealing.’

She gave an uneven laugh. ‘I’m sure they are.’ She lifted the photographs, suddenly in possession of an icy control that he’d never seen before.

He frowned slightly, puzzled by her reaction. She certainly wasn’t behaving like a woman with a guilty conscience.

As her eyes dropped to the first photograph he averted his eyes. He still wasn’t able to look at pictures of her entwined so intimately with another man without wanting to commit grievous bodily harm. Why the hell had he kept them? He should have burned them years ago.

She flicked steadily through the pictures, her beautiful face blank.

Then finally she dropped the last one on the pile and lifted her eyes to his. ‘I always wondered what made you leave.’ Her tone was flat and suddenly all his senses were on alert. Alarm bells were ringing but he didn’t know why. She lifted her chin, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. ‘You didn’t think to ask me about them?’

He was watching her warily now, totally confused by her reaction. Instead of guilt and apology, her blue eyes were full of hurt and accusation.

And disappointment.

Was he missing something here?

‘They appear to speak for themselves,’ he observed, and she nodded slowly.

‘But not when you look at all the facts together.’ She turned away from him and walked over to the window, staring out across the courtyard. ‘I always wondered what my father said to make you walk away. I knew it had to have been him that ended our relationship. Nothing else made sense.’

Jago was suddenly very still. ‘Your father had nothing to do with it. It was my choice to walk away—’