The waiter bringing the bottle of wine Jack had ordered stopped Vivienne from saying or doing anything at that precise moment that she would regret. It also gave her a minute or two to gather herself, and her thoughts.
It was only natural, she accepted once she could think properly, that Frank Ellison would invite Jack to Courtney’s engagement party. Jack had, after all, built Frank’s harbourside mansion, the same one she had decorated last year. Had she received an invitation too? Vivienne wondered. She doubted it. As much as Frank might be ignorant of Daryl’s very recent engagement to another woman, Courtney certainly wasn’t. Or was she? Maybe the girl didn’t know he’d been engaged when they’d started seeing each other.
Vivienne suppressed a sigh. She didn’t want to think about Daryl any more, or the new life he’d made for himself with Courtney Ellison. She’d moved on and, although his actions had hurt her badly, she was feeling better now. Much, much better.
By the time the waiter poured the wine, took their dinner orders and departed, Vivienne knew what she had to do.
First she lifted her glass of chilled Chardonnay to her lips and took a deep swallow. Then she locked eyes with Jack over the rim and said in steely tones, ‘I presume your invitation says “and partner”?’
Jack had an awful feeling he knew what was coming.
‘Yes,’ he answered warily.
‘In that case, I’d like to come with you.’
He knew it! Jack sighed his frustration. ‘I really don’t think that’s a good idea, Vivienne.’
Her eyes turned mutinous. ‘Why?’ she snapped.
‘Because you don’t know what and who you’re dealing with,’ he shot back just as sharply.
‘Yes I do. I’m dealing with a two-timing bastard who’s been allowed to get away with his disgusting behaviour up till now,’ she said, doing her best to keep her voice low so that the other people in the restaurant didn’t overhear. ‘He lied to me when he broke off our engagement. Claimed he hadn’t been unfaithful, that he was doing the honourable thing by leaving me before sleeping with his new love. And I actually believed him at the time! My God, I can’t believe I was such a gullible little fool where that man was concerned.
‘The moment I saw those photos in the paper, I should have gone after him and told him what I thought of him. I should have made him suffer a little, even if it was only discomfort at the distress he’d caused. This is the perfect opportunity for me to confront him. Look, for all I know, Courtney Ellison might not even know about his engagement to me. Daryl could have lied to her as well. I want to make sure she is well aware of what kind of man she’s planning to marry!’
‘There’s no chance in hell that Courtney doesn’t already know everything about you, Vivienne,’ Jack stated with bald honesty. ‘Trust me when I say that Daryl being engaged to you would have added to his attraction for her. Seduction is her favourite game. She went after me big time when I was building her father’s house and cornered me in one of the home’s ten bedrooms one day, as naked as a jay bird.’
Vivienne’s eyes had gone wide, showing Jack how shocked she was, her reaction to such behaviour underlining to him that she would never do such a thing. This strictly sexual fling she was having with him...it was definitely out of character for her. She was the kind of girl who would usually want marriage and children, not the role of mistress.
‘Heavens!’ she exclaimed, shaking her head. ‘And did you...did you...?’
‘No. I wouldn’t touch Courtney Ellison with a barge pole,’ he ground out.
Was that relief he saw in her eyes? He sure hoped so. Because that would show that she genuinely liked him, the way he liked her.
‘You don’t want to be around people like that if you don’t have to be, Vivienne,’ he went on. ‘They’re bad, greedy, soulless people. You’re way too good for them. Like I said, you’re much better off without someone like Daryl in your life.’
‘I dare say what you’ve just said is all true. But, on a personal level, I need to show Daryl that I’ve survived. That he didn’t destroy me. If I go to their party with you, it will be the perfect revenge.’
All the breath left Jack’s lungs at the word ‘revenge’. God, but that actually hurt. He leant back in his chair and studied her for a few moments. ‘Is that all I am to you, Vivienne?’ he asked quietly. ‘An instrument of revenge?’