Mistress And Mother

‘When I was sixteen, Sholto called in out of the blue one day to pay us a visit. We hadn’t seen him in years. My father was at work. I was at home nursing a couple of broken ribs,’ Pandora delineated harshly. ‘But Sholto saw the bruises on my arms and he wasn’t so easily fooled. He got the whole story out of me and drove straight back to London to tell his father.’

‘Thank God for that,’ Molly whispered.

Pandora grimaced. ‘The same day, Riccardo Cristaldi confronted my father. He told him that he intended to inform the social services and apply for custody of me. My father couldn’t face that size of a disgrace…’ Her voice wavered tellingly.

‘And that’s why he shot himself,’ Molly inserted in appalled realisation, slowly feeling her way down onto a seat.

‘I went to live with the Cristaldis in Rome but three months later Sholto’s parents died in that air crash. I was supposed to have counselling and all that sort of thing but I refused,’ Pandora revealed ruefully, ‘I didn’t want to discuss what had happened to me with strangers. I thought I could just put it behind me. And for a long time I believed I had. But every relationship I tried to have with a man went wrong and the only constant in my life was Sholto. I was never jealous of his girlfriends until you came along…and then suddenly he didn’t have the same time for me and I got more and more frantic—’

>

‘You really don’t need to tell me any more,’ Molly interrupted.

‘I owe it to Sholto.’ Her beautiful face stiffened. ‘I wasn’t really in love with him, it was just that I was so scared of losing the one man I had ever really cared about and trusted. I got it into my head that that could be the foundation for something more… On your wedding day, I just snapped. I wept all over him and told him how much I loved him. He was devastated. Since he certainly couldn’t encourage me, all he could do was assure me that he would always be there for me as a friend. You know what happened the night of your wedding…’

‘Yes,’ Molly confirmed reluctantly.

That was the most selfish thing of all that I did. I wanted to make him suffer for not returning my feelings,’ Pandora confessed uncomfortably.

An awkward silence fell.

‘I’m terribly sorry about that newspaper article,’ Molly breathed heavily.

‘Forget it,’ Pandora advised ruefully. ‘I cost you your marriage and you lost me a few friends. But something positive did come out of it—for me anyway. Sholto finally managed to persuade me to go for counselling and I haven’t looked back since then. I’ll always be very fond of him but I have my own life now and I also have Armando.’ A warm smile softened her lips, a warmth Molly had never thought to see on that once coolly beautiful face.

‘You do?’ Molly questioned helplessly. ‘I thought—’

‘A silly tiff and me getting cold feet before I finally commit myself.’ Pandora laughed, flashing the opulent engagement ring adorning her left hand. ‘My dress is being made in London. That’s why I’m over here. Are you going to come to our wedding?’

Molly smiled, the last of her tension evaporating. ‘Oh, yes…and thank you for the invitation.’

‘About the only thing we have in common is Sholto,’ the beautiful blonde mused with complete candour. ‘But for his sake I’d like us to try to be friends. He’s the only family I’ve got left.’

‘I don’t see a problem with that now,’ Molly murmured gently.

‘Great…then it was worth me coming down here to sort things out.’ Pandora smiled. ‘It also means I get to drive Sholto’s Ferrari back to town. I don’t think he can have thought of that.’

Sholto walked into the room a few minutes later. Outside the engine of the Ferrari ignited with a loud, almost taunting roar. But neither Molly nor Sholto had eyes or ears for anything but each other.

Sholto looked incredibly anxious, intense dark eyes pinned to her face, his strong face taut. ‘Pandora insisted on seeing you personally.’

‘That was incredibly kind of her…she’s so changed, too,’ Molly muttered, looking back at him, trying to read what was going on behind those vibrantly handsome features of his. ‘If only I’d known. She’s had such an appalling time of it.’

‘I really don’t want to talk about Pandora any more,’ Sholto breathed tensely. ‘And I must’ve been out of my mind this morning to react the way I did.’

‘I did give you quite a shock with my ability to add two and two and come up with a distinctly embarrassing five.’

‘Did you mean it when you said you loved me?’ Sholto bit out tautly.

‘Oh, yes…very much,’ Molly assured him cheerfully, knowing that this was not the time to stand on injured pride.

His sizzling tension gave and he reached for her with two possessive hands, snatching her up against him and holding her so tightly she could barely breathe. ‘I suppose you’ve already worked out how much I love you.’

‘Well, I could do with hearing it firsthand.’ Molly said apologetically.

With an unsteady laugh, Sholto lifted his dark head. ‘I was knocked for six when I saw you again at Freddy’s…and then I was outraged when I saw that ring on your finger. I didn’t know what was happening to me and I didn’t enjoy losing control in bed with you…but after you’d gone I read all the letters you ever wrote to Freddy.’

Molly stiffened. ‘You did what?’