The Heat Of Passion

'Had I known of your father's state of mind, I would have done everything within my power to reduce his distress. Everything^ he stressed, surveying her with scorching intensity. 'Did you really believe that my desire for you would outweigh the worth of a man's life? Or even the smallest risk of him taking that life?'

'No, I didn't...' Jessica was shaking.

Carlo's golden eyes raked her with derision. 'Or were you just looking for a damned good excuse to come back to me without sacrificing your precious pride?'

She flinched as though she had been struck but she was in no condition to respond. When had she turned Carlo into the very image of vicious corruption inside her own head? When and on what grounds had she shorn him of every decent human emotion? Dear God, why had she deceived herself that way? For she had deceived herself. She saw that now. Had it been easier to blacken Carlo and blame him for everything sooner than face the extent of her own culpability? And worst of all, had she done that purely to avoid coming to terms with what Carlo made her feel?

'You said that there was no sentiment in business,' she attempted desperately to defend herself. 'You said that you had no interest in my father except as a means to an end and that the subject bored you,’

Reminded of those harsh words, Carlo swung away from her. 'I had no idea of your father's depression, no knowledge of your parents' divorce or of your mother's death,' he muttered less aggressively.

Jessica couldn't think straight. She felt sick inside. She saw quite clearly that last night at the Deangate she should instantly have told Carlo what had happened to her father. Yet she had not even considered telling him. She had been so punch-drunk on her image of Carlo as a sadist that she had remained silent.

'I should have told you,’ she heard herself whisper.

Carlo wasn't even listening. ‘I will meet with your father tomorrow and set his mind at rest. I will not have him on my conscience,' he asserted, shooting her a glance of smouldering condemnation. 'And to further that end I will tell him that I have offered you a job as my secretary,’

'That's what I intended to '

'Believe me,’ Carlo cut in fiercely, 'had I known yesterday what I know now, I would never have touched you! Just to think of you lying in my bed smugly thinking that you were sacrificing yourself

for your father's life.. ,’ His teeth gritted and he spread his hands in violent rejection of the idea, his dark features pale and taut. 'That disgusts me, but it also makes me want to shake you until your teeth rattle!'

'Don't you dare!' Jessica gasped.

Carlo reached out a punitive hand and hauled her up against him without warning, his sheer strength intimidating her. Flaming golden eyes clashed with hers and she stopped breathing. 'You're not a martyr, cara... you're a coward!' he seethed down at her with lancing derision. 'You want me every bit as much as I want you but you haven't got the guts to admit it!'

'Let go of me!' Jessica suddenly sobbed in turmoil.

Carlo released her so abruptly, she fell back against the bed. Spinning on his heel, he strode out of the room.

Picking herself up, Jessica slammed the door after him and then she leant back against it, tears streaming down her convulsed face, trapped in a morass of pain and emotional turmoil. She understood the turmoil but she didn't understand the pain. She could not explain to herself why it should hurt so much when Carlo looked at her with distaste and derision.

CHAPTER FIVE

(...A TREMENDOUS opportunity for me,' Gerald Amory continued with satisfaction. ‘A challenge is exactly what I need right now, and I've always liked Scotland,’

Jessica gave her excited father a strained smile. Carlo had offered him the management of an ailing engineering company in Glasgow. And her father, seemingly a broken man mere days ago, had been so boosted by Carlo's apparent faith in his abilities that he was a changed personality. There was a new spring in his step and a look of energy in his tautened features that she hadn't seen in a very long time.

'He couldn't have been more understanding,' Gerald murmured, not for the first time. 'But obviously I couldn't let him write off the money I took from Amory's.'

Jessica gave him a look of shock. 'Carlo suggested that?'

'Yes, but I couldn't let him do it. I have some very valuable antiques in this house and I intend to clear the lot. I want to start with a clean sheet. I should have done it years ago. I should never have stayed in this house with all its memories of your mother,' he said with a wry grimace. 'Nor should I have agreed to stay on at Amory's, not when I felt like a dog in the manger. That was taking the easy way out. I should have restructured my life then and moved on just as your mother did. I expect to be free of my debt to Carlo within two years and who knows, with a little belt tightening, maybe sooner!'

This was said with such good cheer that Jessica simply stared, but she was inwardly digesting the astonishing news that Carlo had tried to persuade him that there was no necessity for him to return the money he had stolen.

'As for Amory's and my abrupt departure...' Gerald sighed. 'Everybody thought I had been suddenly taken ill and that's why I was rushed out of the building. Of course my secretary and the chief accountant know the truth but neither of them will talk. I've been very fortunate, although I'm not quite as slow on the uptake as you and Carlo seem to imagine, Jess.. .’

In receipt of his suggestive smile, Jessica said, 'Meaning?'

'Even when I finally managed to convince Carlo that yes, I had reached a very low ebb but no, I did not intend to put an end to my existence,' Gerald Amory asserted squarely, 'Carlo was still set on being extraordinarily generous. And I can think of only one reason for that.'

Jessica sat very taut.

‘He has to be in love with you.'

Jessica forced a laugh. 'He offered me a job, Dad. That's all!'