‘I was a naïve fool when I married you. I knew you wanted Forest Manor, but my mistake was in thinking you wanted me more. I discovered the truth that night at the London apartment. It was ironic really; for weeks I had suffered from hormonal depression after the miscarriage but that morning Dr Bell had convinced me to snap out of it.’ She looked at Jake, not really seeing him. ‘I caught the train to London, happy for the first time in ages, my passport in my purse, and dreaming of a wedding anniversary in Paris.’
Jake’s only reaction was to tighten his grip on her hand.
‘Instead, I found you and your mistress, virtually naked, calmly discussing how you could tell your poor little wife you had broken your marriage vow, and wanted your freedom, and would I settle for cash...?’
Jake’s head snapped back. ‘You what?’ The words were rasped out hoarsely, but Lexi ignored his aghast query.
‘Of course I said I’d take the money. I had some pride left, though not enough to drink champagne to your future happiness. But you know the real irony, Jake?’ she asked with a harsh laugh. ‘I would have sold you the house for the price of my father’s debts without a qualm. Contrary to your opinion of my mercenary characteristics, I have never had any great desire for material things. So you see, our marriage was totally unnecessary.’
There was a silence, and she could hear the ticking of the ornate ormolu clock on the mantelpiece. She glanced at it. Almost two, her mind registered, as her gaze swung back to Jake. The expression on his ruggedly handsome face would have been laughable if the moment had not been so tense. His face was grey beneath its tan, his wide mouth parted in an incredulous gasp; he looked absolutely stupefied.
Well, why shouldn’t he hear some home-truths? Lexi thought with bitter resentment. He had been the one calling the tune for far too long. ‘As for your latest attempt at a reconciliation, Luigi was right. Nothing changes. I saw you and Lorraine tonight in each other’s arms, and realised, much as I value my friendship with Signor Monicelli, I am not prepared to give my life for it.’
Jake dropped her hand and grabbed her by the shoulders, pushing her against the back of the sofa. He stared down into her pale face as though he had never seen her before, and when he spoke it was as if each word was forced out of him. ‘Am I to understand that you left me because you thought I only wanted your house, and I was having an affair with Lorraine? Have I got that right?’
‘Not thought, knew,’ Lexi said scathingly.
‘Oh, my God. I knew we needed to talk but I never realised...what you imagined... What a low opinion you must have of me...’ His rich voice deepened with a strange urgency. ‘Lexi, you’ve got it all wrong.’
‘I don’t think so.’ She tried to sit up but Jake wouldn’t allow it. Instead he swung her up and across his thigh to hold her on his lap like a small child, a strong arm firmly around her waist.
‘Let me go.’ Held in his arms close to his hard warmth, his strong thighs beneath her, she was far too susceptible to him, and she tried to slide off his lap, but Jake was having none of it. ‘Sit still and for once in your life listen,’ he demanded hardily, but, with an oddly gentle gesture, he brushed the tangle of her red hair from the side of her face before curving his hand
around her leg.
Lexi stopped struggling. She would hear what he had to say. She didn’t have much choice, she was trapped, but she didn’t have to believe him...
‘Do you remember that night when you arrived at the apartment?’
‘Yes,’ she said curtly. She would never forget.
‘I asked you if you had heard all our conversation and you agreed.’
‘I heard enough.’ Lexi glared up at him. His betrayal was an ache in her heart. ‘And I saw: the woman was wearing my robe.’
‘For the very simple reason, if you cast your mind back, that there was a hell of a storm that night and we were both soaked to the skin. There is no way on this earth I could ever have an affair with Lorraine; her preference is for other women, and always has been.’
‘What?’ Lexi gasped. Her violet eyes clashed with his. He wasn’t joking, he was deadly serious. ‘You expect me to believe that Lorraine...’ As excuses went it was a classic, but could she believe it? He was right about the rain. A brief memory of when they were on honeymoon prompted her to ask, ‘In Paris, when I asked if you and she had had an affair—was that why you laughed? And I never got the joke.’
‘Exactly. I should have told you, but I thought Lorraine’s sexual preference was her own affair.’
‘But I heard you tell Lorraine you were breaking your wedding vows.’ However Jake tried to colour his story, that fact was unmistakable.
‘No, Lexi, you heard me say I was breaking my promise to you. But what you obviously didn’t hear was the first part of the conversation.’ His sober gaze held hers captive as he continued. ‘It had nothing to do with our marriage, but none the less it doesn’t reflect very well on me.’
Lexi tensed, fearing what was to follow.
‘I promised you that, when Forest Manor was converted to a hotel, you would always have a home there. But unfortunately it wasn’t possible.’
Inexplicably, a tiny glimmer of something very like hope ignited in Lexi’s heart. She squirmed on his lap and, lifting one hand, placed it on his chest urging him to continue. ‘And? Carry on.’
‘Sit still and I will,’ Jake commented with a very masculine groan. ‘Yes, well, the bottom had dropped out of the property market and I had sunk all my cash into the Docklands venture. The only good news was the meeting with Mr Stewart, the American I was dining with the night we lost our baby.’ He hugged her tighter for a moment. ‘It hurt me more than you knew, Lexi.’
‘I think I do know, after Pompeii,’ she confessed.
‘Anyway, that night Mr Stewart loved the hotel, but—and this is the hard part—he didn’t want to lease the rooms, but made me an offer to buy the hotel outright. I resisted at first. I didn’t dare discuss it with you, not when you were ill and so depressed. The night you burst in on Lorraine and me we were arguing over the sale of Forest Manor. I knew it made sound business sense to liquidate some of my assets, and the hotel was the simplest one to dispose of; the offer was lying on my desk. I couldn’t refuse. But it meant breaking my promise to you. I felt a heel, but there was no other way out. It would save the construction firm and solve my cash-flow problem.’
Lexi’s violet eyes widened in horror as the full extent of her mistake dawned on her. ‘You...I...’ She could not find the words to express her feelings. She believed Jake. It all made perfect sense. While she had convinced herself Jake had broken his sacred wedding vow and wanted a divorce, he had simply been afraid to tell her that his business was in trouble and Forest Manor had to be sold. Maybe if she had not been so depressed about the miscarriage she would have recognised the signs—looking back he had given plenty of hints that business was difficult—but in her pregnant state he had not wanted to worry her, and afterwards she had been so wrapped in her grief that she had not listened to him at all.