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‘Enough, Lisa,’ he growled, spinning her around to face him. Lisa stared at him. He was seethingly angry; she could sense it in the tautness of his features and the cold black depths of his eyes. ‘Where the hell do you think you’re going?’
‘You know the saying—two’s company, three’s a crowd,’ she shot back furiously. ‘I’m leaving.’
He shook her arm, his mouth a tight, menacing line. ‘You are not going anywhere.’ His black eyes held Lisa’s in a fierce challenge, daring her to disagree.
‘Oops, I seem to have made a mistake.’ Margot’s voice cut through the electric tension in the air.
Both Lisa and Alex turned to look at the woman with equal degrees of anger.
‘Sorry, I must have got the day wrong. I could have sworn it was tonight.’
Lisa took a really good look at the other woman. She had small breasts and a tiny waist, but she was not a natural redhead. On seeing the woman’s face for the first time, Lisa’s eyes widened in stunned recognition. Her picture had been on posters around Stratford-upon-Avon a couple of months ago. It was Margot Delfont, an up-and-coming Shakespearean actress.
‘Margot, get dressed and get out,’ Alex commanded. ‘I’ve told you it’s over.’
‘But after two years I didn’t think you meant it, Alex, darling.’ Margot replied lightly, though Lisa saw the naked pleading in the other woman’s eyes and had to look away. ‘I mean, that was weeks ago, and we’ve had tiffs before, and got over them.’
‘How many weeks ago? Seven?’ Lisa asked, but she already knew the answer.
‘Not now, Lisa,’ Alex snapped at her. Then, picking the red dress off the floor, he walked across to Margot and threw it at her. ‘Out.’
But Lisa saw it all now. The first time she had met Alex he had said he was in Stratford for the theatre, but had left early. He hadn’t been there for the play but obviously to see his girlfriend. Lisa’s lips twisted in the travesty of a smile. Alex had had a drink with Harold, Nigel and herself, before pleading a late dinner engagement and leaving, but only after having made quite sure he could see Lisa the next day. The phrase ‘killing two birds with one stone’ sprang to mind…
A night with his lover and a bid for the property Lisa owned. What a naive fool she had been! Lisa clenched her teeth to stop herself crying out in pain.
‘Look, I’m awfully sorry, darling, but really it is no big deal. In fact, it might be rather fun with a threesome,’ Margot suggested, smiling up at Alex as she shimmied into her dress. And then, turning her attention to Lisa, she added, ‘I’m sorry, we haven’t been introduced, but you must be the new wife. So what do you say?’
Lisa shook her head in complete disgust. It was like a black comedy, and she would not demean herself with a response.
‘Margot, shut up and get out.’ Not by a flicker of an eyelash did Alex betray his feelings. He simply gave the woman standing by the bed a cold, impersonal inspection. ‘And leave the key behind this time.’
Lisa didn’t know which one she hated more. Margot, or her arrogant husband. She almost felt sorry for Margot; it was obvious she loved Alex, and would do anything, anything at all for him! But it was equally obvious he cared little or nothing for her; she had been a convenient body in his bed when he had needed a woman.
Alex turned back to Lisa, sliding a proprietoral arm around her waist. ‘This is all an unfortunate mistake.’
Lisa glanced up at him. A mistake, he’d said, but it was Lisa who had made one. Alex didn’t feel any more for her than he did for Margot. His handsome face was expressionless; he was not at all embarrassed by the ludicrous situation he found himself in. Because he didn’t really care for either woman…
The realisation galvanised Lisa into action. With an almighty jerk and a hefty kick to Alex’s shin, she broke away, and was out of the door and straight into the guest room across the hall, slamming the door behind her. Luckily it had a lock, and swiftly she turned the key. She flung back her head and took deep, shaky breaths, trying to force the air into her lungs. She saw the light switch and pressed it on. The sudden glare hurt her eyes and she doubled over. Her stomach churned and she knew she was going to be sick. Stumbling into the adjoining bathroom, she bent over the toilet bowl.
CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_d75680a3-7138-54ea-a4d2-60709e7f680d)
HOW had she never realised what kind of man she was marrying? Lisa asked herself over and over again. She tore off the shirt she was wearing, she didn’t want anything of Alex’s near her. Then she crossed to the wash-basin and splashed her face with cold water and cleaned her teeth, trying to take the taste of nausea from her mouth. She filled a glass with water and drank it. She was shivering, more with shock than cold, and, glancing around the bathroom, she saw a robe provided for guests on top of a pile of fresh towels by the bath.
Picking up the thick white towelling robe, she slipped it on, tying the belt firmly around her waist. Yet still she was shaking. She had half expected Alex to follow her. She walked into the bedroom and glanced around; it was pleasant, if a bit like a hotel room. A double bed in the centre of one wall. At one side a soft-cushioned sofa and an occasional table, a cabinet that housed a television, video and CD players. Against the wall to the left of the door was a desk and office centre. The three guest bedrooms of the apartment, Lisa knew, were all equipped in the same fashion. Alex had told her this was his base in the UK, so it also doubled as a company apartment. The master suite and his study remained locked when he was not in residence, but the place was occasionally used by visiting executives and for corporate entertainment. A bitter smile twisted her soft lips. Alex had failed to add he also used it for strictly personal, sexual entertainment.
In the distance she heard a door slam. Had the luscious Margot left? She didn’t know and she no longer cared, she told herself. She had no illusions left. She had made a horrendous mistake, marrying a man she hardly knew, but she would get over it—she had to. She closed her eyes for a second and immediately saw in her mind’s eye the face of Margot, and the expression in the woman’s eyes came back to haunt her. Margot had looked at Alex with slavish, sick desire, and how had Alex reacted? By ordering her out. Yet, for two years, if Margot was to be believed, he had used the woman quite shamelessly.
Lisa opened her eyes, and in that moment she vowed she would never become so enslaved to any man again, especially not her husband. Alex had betrayed her trust, and it hurt. How it hurt. But he would never get the chance to do it again… She raised her hands and swept the tangled mass of her hair back from her face and straightened her shoulders. The shivering had stopped and she began to think logically about the night’s events.
Dear heaven! She shook her head, appalled at her own stupidity. She could see clearly now. Alex, Margot and Nigel were all alike: immoral, money-hungry, selfish. What sort of fool did they take her for? The only way Margot could have known Alex was going to be alone tonight was if Alex had told her. A harsh laugh escaped her. Her over-sexed husband had made one mistake. In his hurry to let Lisa seduce him he had forgotten to ring his girlfriend and tell her their date was off. Thinking about it now, Lisa supposed she should be flattered his desire for her had overcome his usual controlled efficient self. But she wasn’t.
‘Lisa, open the door.’ Alex’s deep voice broke the silence of the night. She saw the handle turn and then he knocked. ‘Open the door, Lisa, we have to talk.’
Not in this lifetime, she thought bitterly. She had nothing to say to him.
The banging got louder.
‘Please, Lisa, open the door. I really need to talk to you.’ The husky, sensual tone of his voice enraged Lisa; it was all an act.
‘Get lost,’ she yelled back.
‘Open the damned door Lisa.’ The doorhandle rattled ferociously.
‘No.’
‘I will count to three and then I will break the thing down,’ Alex declared.
It was too much to hope that he would leave her alone. Wiping her damp palms down the soft towelling covering her thighs, she reluctantly turned the key in the lock. She had to jump back as the door swung in and Alex burst into the room.
‘Lisa!’ His hands grabbed her shoulders and he pulled her towards him. ‘What do you think you’re playing at, locking me out?’ His eyes flared angrily; his fingers gripped her shoulders.
She planted her hands on his chest and shoved hard. ‘Let go of me,’ she cried, and lifted her knee, her intention plain. He jerked back, but did not release her.
‘Lisa, Lisa, calm down and let me explain.’ He tried to appease her, but she was having none of it.
‘There is nothing to explain. I saw it all. And as for calming down,’ she said angrily, her blue eyes like chips of ice, ‘I’ll calm down when you get out of my sight.’
‘You don’t mean that,’ he growled, pulling her hard against him once more. His mouth swooped on hers with savage anger. She twisted her head—anything to avoid his kiss. But one hand tangled in her hair, as his arm curved around her waist, clamping her firmly to his long body. She tried to wriggle free as he took her mouth with a ruthless passion that would not be denied.
But, even as she felt insidious warmth building inside her she recognised his strategy and was sickened by it. He was blatantly using his sexual prowess to overcome her. Her eyes clashed with his and she saw the implacable intent in their black depths, and she froze in his arms.
‘No,’ she said flatly, and at her withdrawal Alex lifted his head; what he saw in her face, gave him pause.
‘Your response was a bit lacking in enthusiasm. Does this mean the honeymoon is over?’ he queried cynically.
‘Not just the honeymoon. The marriage as well.’ She ignored the burning pain around her heart. Alex had only been able to deceive her so easily because she had wanted to believe in the myth of love at first sight. She felt him tense, and as his hands fell away from her she was free.
‘Now you’re being ridiculous, Lisa.’ he told her curtly. ‘The little scene with Margot was embarrassing for all concerned, but there is no reason to be so melodramatic. We will probably laugh about it later.’
She looked at him in the harsh glare of the overhead light. He was standing a foot away. His tall body was covered in a burgundy velvet robe, with satin lapels that fell open to reveal his curling chest hair. The belt was tied firmly around his waist but the garment ended a few inches above his knee, exposing a long length of strong tanned leg.
‘You might. I won’t,’ she bit out, refusing to be intimidated by his towering presence. ‘Somehow, finding a woman crawling into my husband’s bed not fifteen minutes after I vacated it does not strike me as a cause for amusement.’ Turning her back on him, she walked across the room towards the sofa. She couldn’t bear to look at him.
‘Wait just a minute.’ A strong hand wrapped around her arm and stopped her in her tracks. She glanced up at him. He looked dark and dangerous and for a second a shiver of apprehension slithered down her spine. ‘Don’t you think you’re overreacting? It was hardly my fault the woman called here.’
‘Hardly your fault?’ Lisa almost choked at the gall of the man. She was bitterly angry, angrier than she had been when she had overheard his conversation with Nigel. To be betrayed once was bad enough, but twice in one night! ‘Oh, please! Spare me the excuses.’
Alex was silent for a long moment, watching her with narrowed eyes. ‘I do not make excuses to anyone.’ She saw his face harden ‘And certainly not to my wife who, only a few short hours ago, could not keep her hands off me.’
Trust him to remind her. ‘But then I didn’t expect a few hours later to see another woman crawling into your bed,’ she returned with icy sarcasm.
‘If you had stayed in our bed, it would never have happened. I’d like an explanation.’
‘You want an explanation? That’s rich,’ Lisa said hotly, backing away a few paces, but Alex followed, until her back came into contact with the wall. ‘Especially coming from a man like you.’
‘So, humour me, wife,’ he drawled tightly, his eyes burning on her. ‘Because I have had just about enough for one night.’
She debated telling him to drop dead, but quickly dismissed the notion. He was standing looking down on her, his hands placed on the wall behind her, his body effectively trapping her. His black eyes leapt with anger, and she realised he was in a towering rage. Probably at being caught out, but she had no intention of testing him. She was hanging on to her sanity by a thread. She simply wanted him to leave her alone.
‘I got up to make a cup of hot chocolate. I was in the kitchen; I heard the sound of the door, and thought it was a burglar. I picked up a pan to challenge the intruder with, and crept to the hall door.’ Her eyes flashed with renewed rage as she added, ‘But lo and behold, it was a lady.’
‘Why didn’t you yell for me, or stop her?’ Alex demanded. ‘Surely those were the obvious things to do.’
‘Because I heard her speak.’ And in an exaggerated voice Lisa continued, “‘Alex, darling. Sorry I’m so late, and you’re all on your ownsome.”’ Her eyes hated him as she rashly held his gaze. ‘The lady could not have known you were going to be alone tonight unless you’d told her. My surprise arrival really upset your plan, didn’t it?’ She snorted her disgust. ‘Now get out of my way.’
‘For a girl who avowed her undying love not a month ago, you certainly have a fine opinion of me,’ Alex drawled sardonically. ‘Do you really think I asked Margot to come here?’
‘Who else?’ She raised one perfectly arched brow in query.
‘I don’t usually explain my actions to anyone, but in this case I will make an exception.’ She looked at him, and for the briefest of moments he looked away as he hesitated. Lisa did not need to hear any more. She knew him for the liar he was.
‘It doesn’t matter.’ Bone weary and sick at heart, she had neither the will nor the energy to fight with him.
‘But it does.’ He lifted his hand and cupped her chin before she could turn away, his breath warm against her skin, his dark eyes holding hers in fierce purpose. ‘Margot was at a nightclub and spoke to a man I’d had a meeting with today. I had mentioned I was staying in town tonight and that he could call me here with some information I required. Obviously in the course of his conversation with Margot he must have let slip the fact. As for her having the key to the apartment—it is true we did have an affair, but I broke it off before I met you.’
‘Your poor girlfriend didn’t seem to think so,’ Lisa said scathingly.
‘Don’t waste your pity on Margot; she was under no illusion about our relationship. It was never going anywhere; it simply mutually benefited both parties.’
‘If you say so,’ she responded grimly. ‘But, actually, I don’t really care.’ And at that moment she didn’t; she had taken too many shocks for one night, and simply wanted to be left alone.
‘That’s the whole trouble, you don’t care,’ Alex suddenly erupted, swinging away from her and marching across the room, and then turning back to face her. ‘That’s what this is all about. Any wife worth her salt would never have allowed another woman to climb into her husband’s bed in the middle of the night.’ A feral smile curved his lips. ‘I am damned sure I would not stand by and let a man walk into your bed.’
She didn’t doubt him for a moment. ‘But then, as you and I both know, unlike you, I have never invited any man into my bed,’ Lisa shot back.
‘I’m thirty-five. Few men my age have led a celibate life,’ Alex opined with a shrug of his broad shoulders. ‘Margot meant nothing to me, though I will admit she should never have got in here tonight. I have spoken to Security, but unfortunately the man on duty this evening has just returned from a rather long absence from work because of ill health. The man knew Margot, and was not aware I had since married. A mistake he will not make again,’ he declared. ‘I will not tolerate anyone who harms you, directly or indirectly.’
His dark-lashed eyes glittered brilliantly on hers, and he lifted his hand to brush a stray tendril of hair gently back behind her ear. Lisa believed he meant what he said, but sadly she recognised it was not from love, but from his inbuilt male possessiveness. She was his wife, ergo, his property.
‘You are my wife,’ Alex continued huskily, ‘and I can safely say from the minute I met you there has been no one else.’
Her blonde head flew back and she shook off his hand. ‘Are you sure about that, Alex?’
‘Of course. I do not lie.’ If she hadn’t known better, Lisa might almost have believed he was offended. He lifted his hand towards her again, and she stepped back a pace. His black eyes flared with some indefinable emotion which he then quickly masked, and his hand fell to his side. ‘But perhaps now is not the time for this conversation. We are both tired and may say things we will regret. ‘Suddenly he had gone all formal on her, his anger held in check. Only the tight line of his mouth betrayed his strict control.
‘The only thing I regret is marrying you,’ Lisa said bluntly. ‘And by the way, Alex, I recognised your girlfriend. She was appearing at the theatre in Stratford on the evening we met. You must have spent that night with her and then called for me the next day.’ She watched as a swift tide of colour swept up his face, turning his complexion a dark red. ‘I’m not a fool, Alex, even if I have let you almost make one out of me. But not any more. Next you’ll be telling me you forgot to ask for the key back,’ she continued scathingly. ‘You are certainly your father’s son. Five times married, isn’t it? Well, you can mark me down as your first. And start looking for the second. It is over. Finished.’
Alex stared at her in bitter, hostile silence for long moments. Then he stepped back. ‘It is finished when I say so,’ he informed her arrogantly ‘I am not prepared to argue with you any longer. You can stay in here for what is left of the night. We will continue this discussion in the morning, when you have got over your sulk and are prepared to act like an adult.’ Turning on his heel, he crossed to the door and opened it.
‘As far as I am concerned, the discussion is over. I will be leaving in the morning,’ she flung at his departing back.
Alex paused, then turned round and glanced at her, something dark leaping to life in his eyes. Lisa involuntarily stepped back, although he was nowhere near her. ‘You are not leaving tomorrow, or any other day. Understood?’ And before she could retaliate he walked out, banging the door behind him.
Shock and anger had kept her upright, but with Alex’s departure she sank down on the bed and buried her head in the pillow. She wanted to scream and yell out her pain, but the lesson she had learned as a teenager, when her height had made her an outcast from her peer group, gave her the strength to control her emotions. She would not allow herself to show her pain or humiliation to Alex. But anyone glancing at her lying on the bed would have seen her slender body shaking as she wept silently.
All cried out, Lisa turned over on to her back, her throat dry and sore. She wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her robe, breathed deeply and tried to tell herself she would get over it. But she knew she would never recover from the hurt Alex had inflicted on her. She would never trust another man as long as she lived.
Sighing, she rolled off the bed and stood up. There was no point in trying to sleep; the scent of Alex lingered on her skin from their earlier lovemaking—no, not love, sex, she amended. Glancing out of the window, she saw it was dawn. She headed for the bathroom, and, slipping the robe off her shoulders, she stepped into the shower stall and turned on the water.
She shivered as the first drops hit her flesh. It was cold. Adjusting the temperature, she flung her head back and let the warm water flow over her. How long she stood like that she had no idea, but slowly a sense of purpose seeped into her tired mind. She shampooed and conditioned her long hair and then, picking up the shower gel, she scrubbed every single inch of her body in frenzied effort to remove every trace of Alex from her. She turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, collecting a large towel from the pile provided and rubbing herself dry.
Dropping the towel, she picked up the hairdryer and, standing in front of the vanity mirror, began blow-drying her hair. She studied her reflection, a grim travesty of a smile twisting her mouth; her skin was red from her efforts in the shower. It was a pity she could not wash Alex out of her mind as easily. But, given time, she would, Lisa vowed.
Grabbing another towel she wrapped it around herself. Her mind was made up: she was going back to Stratford and she was not waiting for another confrontation with Alex. She knew her own weakness too well. Alex was clever; he would talk her into staying and use sex to convince her. She had little faith in her power to resist him and she wasn’t hanging around long enough to find out.
All her clothes were in the dressing room of the master suite, but luckily the dressing room could be entered via the hall as well as the master bedroom. Slipping into the dressing room, she stopped and listened, but everywhere was silent. It took her no more than a minute to withdraw blue briefs and matching lace bra from a drawer and slip them on. Another minute, and she had silently opened the closet where she had hung her clothes and quickly stepped into light blue linen pants. Her head was lost in the folds of a navy cotton knit sweater when disaster struck.
‘Lisa, your’re not usually an early riser; that is my prerogative.’ A deep, husky voice broke the silence, and two arms curved around her waist.
With her arms up in the air, stuck halfway into her sweater, Lisa was in a hopeless position. She felt his hands slide up over her midriff to cup her breasts over the flimsy lace of her bra. She drew in a shuddering breath and managed to wriggle her arms and head free of the restraining garment. ‘Let go of me,’ she snapped.
A throaty chuckle simmered along her throat as he nuzzled her neck, ‘You don’t mean that, Lisa. You smell so sweet, so delicious,’ he husked, holding her firmly back against his hard thighs.
‘And you are an oversexed jerk,’ She spat, suddenly aware the beast was aroused, and, twisting around to face him, she splayed her hands over his broad chest and pushed with all her might. But it was like trying to fell an oak tree with her bare hands. Alex simply folded his arms around her taut body and held her pressed tightly to him.
‘Now, is that any way to greet your husband?’ he drawled mockingly.
‘Soon to be ex-husband,’ She replied pithily, her eyes skimming over him. He was wearing a white silk shirt, unbuttoned to the waist, and pleated beige pants. Obviously he had not been lying in bed, as Lisa had hoped. She was uncomfortably aware he was fresh from the shower, his black hair damp, the clean, masculine scent of him filling her nostrils and, to her chagrin, she could feel her breasts swelling against the soft lace of her bra.
He studied her tousled appearance, her long blonde hair tumbling around her shoulders, her hands curled into fists on his broad chest. He took his time looking her over, a glint of devilment in his dark eyes. He knew perfectly well how he affected her. A broad grin curved his mouth, making her vitally aware of the sensuality lurking within his hard body. ‘Come on, Lisa, where is your sense of humour? You don’t want to leave,’ he contradicted softly. His dark head lowered, his lips feathering across hers, and she shivered as the pressure of his kiss deepened, the hard heat of his mouth burning on her own.
Lisa groaned, caught in the trap of sensation much stronger than she was. How could it be? she thought helplessly, while every part of her burned in a fever of need.
‘That is better.’ Alex eased her away from him with a husky laugh. ‘You look more like the girl I married. No more sulks, hmm?’ He stepped back, his smile tinged with a glint of triumph.
It was his satisfaction that really got Lisa. Still reeling from the power of his kiss, she was jerked back to reality with a thump. ‘I do not sulk, and I meant what I said, Alex. I want a divorce,’
He absorbed her flushed and angry face with arrogant detachment. ‘No, you don’t. You simply want to punish me for that unfortunate occurrence last night.’
‘Unfortunate? I don’t think so! Quite the reverse. It was fortunate for me.’ Lisa flared. ‘It showed me what a lowlife I had married. And I want out.’
‘Lowlife. Out,’ Alex repeated, his eyes narrowed, his jaw clenching. ‘No one talks to me like that. Not even you, my beautiful wife.’ He told her icily.
‘I mean it, Alex.’ She defied him.
‘Then, if that is so, I will be forced to do something about it.’ The illusion of icy control was abruptly cast aside as strong hands curved around her forearms. ‘No way are you walking out on our marriage after less than a month.’
‘You can’t stop me,’ she said bluntly, but even so it took all her courage to stare bravely up into Alex’s face.
