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Her mother rubbed her hands together nervously. ‘You can’t carry on doing nights and all those horrible hours once you’re married.’
Katy liked the horrible hours. Horrible hours gave her a perfect excuse not to have a social life.
‘I’ve got a new job starting in two weeks,’ Katy reminded her. ‘I’m a casualty officer in the accident and emergency department.’
And she couldn’t wait.
‘Oh, Katherine, what is the matter with you?’ Her mother screwed up her face in horror. ‘All those drunks and rough people—Saturday nights after the rugby. Why would you want to do that when you don’t have to?’
Because she loved medicine. And it was a million miles away from the ruthless world of banking that had been her entire life.
The garden was closing in on her.
‘It’s just such a waste,’ her mother was saying. ‘I still tell everyone that you were a successful model when you were seventeen. You were on so many magazine covers and if you hadn’t thrown it all in to become a doctor you’d be one of those supermodels now.’
‘No, she wouldn’t,’ Libby interrupted cheerfully. ‘Katy’s grown hips and boobs since then and you’re not allowed to have those if you’re a supermodel. Just bones.’
Their mother’s mouth tightened. ‘Just promise me you’ll give up this emergency department rubbish. I know Freddie’s parents are worried about it, too. It’s just not suitable, Katherine.’
Suitable. There was that word again.
Katy felt as though her head was exploding.
What was happening to her?
Normally she’d do anything to keep the peace for her mother’s sake, but today she just wanted to run screaming into the distance.
‘Start the job if you must,’ her mother carried on, ‘but you’ll be marrying Freddie in three months and you’ll have to give it up then. Oh, look, there’s Freddie’s mother. I must talk to her about the arrangements.’ She glared at Libby. ‘Elizabeth, go and change into something that hides your underwear before your father sees you. Please.’
She turned and walked with studied elegance across the lawn, beaming at her guests and reaching for another glass of champagne.
Libby gave an exaggerated sigh. ‘It’s a good job we’re triplets. At least they managed to get the physical contact over in one go.’
‘Libby!’ Katy turned to her, her blue eyes wide with reproach, and Libby shrugged.
‘Well, it’s true. Look at them.’ She tilted her head to one side. ‘They don’t show each other any affection. Their marriage is a business arrangement. It’s no wonder you, Alex and I are so dysfunctional. Look at our role models.’
Katy licked dry lips. ‘We’re not dysfunctional.’
‘Yes, we are. You’ve spent so much of your life trying to please Dad and avoid his wrath that you don’t even know who you are any more. I’m so determined to be the opposite of everything they want me to be that I’ve forgotten who I am, too. And as for Alex …’ Libby turned and scanned the garden, looking for their brother. ‘Alex is so disillusioned about marriage that he sets a three-month rule. After three months with a woman he ends the relationship just to be sure that they don’t start hearing the word “serious”. He’s the original commitment-phobe.’
Katy looked at her. ‘So are you.’
‘And can you blame me?’ Libby looked at her parents and shuddered dramatically. ‘If that’s marriage, then I hope I die single.’
‘Libby, that’s an awful thing to say.’
A bee hovered close to them and Libby took a step backwards.
‘Oops. Killer insects.’
Katy frowned, knowing that her sister was very allergic to bee stings. ‘Are you carrying adrenaline?’
Libby grinned and tapped her tiny bag. ‘Lipstick and adrenaline. A girl’s best friends.’
Katy knew that, despite the smile, Libby took her allergy seriously. They all did. Libby had had a frighteningly severe reaction to a sting in the past and none of them had ever forgotten it. Particularly Alex, who had been the one who’d kept his sister alive until the ambulance had arrived. Ever since then Katy had always carried adrenaline and she knew that Alex did, too. Just in case.
The bee moved away and Katy’s gaze was caught by Freddie, who was taking a call on his mobile phone.
Libby’s soft mouth tightened. ‘Don’t marry him, Katy.’ Her voice was soft. ‘As Mum says, there are three months to go. Plenty of time to change your mind.’
‘I don’t want to change my mind.’
Libby shook her head in disbelief. ‘Katy, life with Lord Frederick is going to be one long round of business entertaining. He’s marrying you because of Daddy.’
‘I know.’ Her sister’s bluntness should have upset her but it didn’t. It was the truth, after all. Freddie was marrying her because of her father’s immense wealth and influence. And she didn’t even care.
Libby looked at her with exasperation. ‘So why are you marrying him, Katy?’
‘Because I want to.’
Because their relationship was safe and predictable. Libby shook her head. ‘It isn’t right, Katy. Don’t you want to be in love with the man you marry?’
Katy felt her breathing quicken. No. No, she didn’t. Love was terrifying.
Love had almost destroyed her.
‘Well, maybe you can do without love, but what about passion?’ Libby was studying Freddie with narrowed eyes. ‘I mean, that man would never do it for me. I want someone who’s so overwhelmed by lust for me that he thrusts me against the wall, lifts up my dress and takes me there and then.’
‘There’s nothing to lift,’ came a dry male voice from behind them. ‘Your dress barely covers your bottom.’
‘Alex!’ Libby gave a delighted squeal and threw her arms around her brother.
He glanced over her shoulder and down her back. ‘Nice knickers, Lib.’
Libby grinned and tugged her dress down. ‘You’re late. We thought you weren’t coming.’
His handsome face was inscrutable. ‘I was busy.’ He released her and turned to Katy, his customary indifference momentarily suspended as he looked at his other sister. ‘Hi, there, kid. You all right?’
No.
Katy hugged her brother, avoiding his penetrating gaze. ‘Happy birthday, Alex.’
He tucked a finger under her chin and forced her to look at him. ‘All right. What’s going on? Tell your big brother.’
Katy gave a wan smile. Alex had been born first by all of three minutes.
‘She’s being bullied into marrying Freddie,’ Libby muttered darkly, ‘that’s what’s going on. She’s doing it to please Dad. It’s time for the triplets to unite.’
Alex’s blue eyes narrowed sharply. ‘Katy?’
Katy pulled away from her brother. ‘She’s talking nonsense. I’m fine. Really. Just a bit tired. And nervous about the new job, I suppose.’
‘A and E is great,’ Alex said immediately. ‘You’ll love it. I just wish you’d chosen to do it further from home. You could have come and worked in my department. We need good doctors.’
Katy smiled. ‘You never stay in one place for five minutes, Alex, so there’s no point in joining you. I wanted to be in the same hospital as Libby and, with Freddie in the City, I need to be in London.’
‘Well, of course you do,’ Libby drawled. ‘Which brings us back to the point I was making when you arrived, Alex. I just can’t imagine Lord Frederick indulging in spontaneous sex. He probably gets his secretary to book slots in his diary. Is that really what you want, Katy?’
Suddenly Katy felt sick and she closed her eyes to blot out the images.
She didn’t want sex with Freddie at all.
Alex frowned and was about to say something when their mother called him over.
‘Back in a minute.’ He touched Katy gently on the cheek, exchanged a meaningful glance with Libby and strolled across the lawn, lithe and athletic and totally confident.
‘He’s bloody good-looking. How come we’re both blonde and he managed to have such dark hair? It’s really spectacular with those blue eyes.’ Libby watched him charm a group of her father’s clients. ‘He’s everything a man should be. Sexy, strong, clever. The funny thing is, if he weren’t his son I’m sure Dad wouldn’t approve of him. He’s just a little bit bad and dangerous, isn’t he? And we all know what Dad thinks of dangerous men.’
Katy sucked in a breath.
She’d only ever met one dangerous man.
There was a tense silence. ‘You still think about him, don’t you?’ Libby looked at her, her blue gaze penetrating. ‘It’s been eleven years since he broke your heart but you still think about him.’
Katy didn’t even have to ask whom she meant. ‘I—I don’t …’ The sick feeling grew worse and her heart started to beat faster.
‘Don’t lie to me, Katy.’ Libby’s voice was soft. ‘It all seems such a long time ago now, doesn’t it? Our eighteenth birthday party. Do you remember that summer?’
Katy stood still, her features frozen. Of course she remembered it. She remembered every single minute.
Libby’s voice was soft and dreamy. ‘I envied you so much. I would have done anything to have been you.’
‘Stop it, Lib.’ Katy closed her eyes and then opened them again quickly. Closing them just made the images worse.
‘How was it that Dad used to describe him?’ Libby tipped her head on one side. ‘Brilliant, but dangerous. I’ll never forget the first time he came to our house for one of Dad’s social evenings. We were sixteen, remember? Everyone else was in a black tie and Jago Rodriguez turned up on a motorbike dressed in black leather with absolutely no respect for English social customs.’
‘That’s because he’s Spanish,’ Katy muttered, wondering why Libby was choosing this particular moment to tackle a subject that she’d studiously avoided for years.
‘That probably was half the problem,’ Libby agreed. ‘He wasn’t British and he didn’t have the right pedigree. I thought Mum was going to have a heart attack. I loved the fact that he didn’t give a damn what anyone thought of him. You would have thought that being the son of our housekeeper might have made him feel awkward but he had absolutely no hang-ups about who he was or where he came from.’
‘That’s because Mrs Rodriguez was such a great mother,’ Katy said, not wanting to remember those times. ‘Spaniards are renowned for having close families and she gave him pride and a belief in himself. And then Dad gave him his big break in the City—’
Libby gave a cynical laugh. ‘Don’t be naïve, Katy. Dad doesn’t have even the thinnest streak of altruism in his make-up. Every single move he makes is calculated and he does absolutely nothing that won’t benefit him.’ Her tone was bitter as she surveyed her father across the lawn. He still hadn’t noticed her. ‘He didn’t employ Jago Rodriguez out of any sense of kindness. He employed him because he spotted raw talent and the same character traits that he possesses himself. Both of them are ruthless, ambitious and completely lacking in emotional conscience.’
Katy flinched slightly at her sister’s harsh analysis. It didn’t match her memory of those few glorious weeks. ‘Jago was kind to me, Libby, gentle.’
‘He walked away without a word,’ Libby pointed out grimly, and Katy sighed, unable to argue with the truth, knowing that Libby was just being protective. And she would have felt the same if positions had been reversed. Libby and Alex were her best friends and the three of them were as close as brothers and sisters could be.
And it was hardly surprising that Libby blamed Jago. The months after he’d walked away had been the worst of her life and Libby had been the one who’d seen her through it.
She bit her lip.
But hadn’t he always warned her that he wasn’t looking for commitment?
Had it been his fault that she’d committed the cardinal sin of falling in love with him?
‘Well, he may have been a rat, but I can see why you fell for him.’ Libby broke off and looked at her with a touch of awe. ‘Jago was the most stunningly gorgeous male I’ve ever met. And to think you actually—’
‘That’s enough, Lib!’ Katy’s nails dug into her palms as memories exploded in her head.
Rapid breathing, the rough scrape of male stubble against sensitive flesh, and heat, pounding erotic heat, heat that burned inside and out …
‘You—the quiet, shy one and Mr Rough, Bad and Dangerous. Where did you ever find the courage?’ Libby looked at her in admiration. ‘I wonder what would have happened if Dad hadn’t found out? Would it have carried on?’
Sleek, hard muscle against soft skin, flesh scorching flesh, mouths locked, bodies joined in untamed, wild passion …
‘Of course not.’ Katy lifted a hand to her head, trying to clear the memories. ‘We were totally different.’
His strength mixed with her gentleness. Raw male power controlling her every movement …
Libby pulled a face. ‘That’s our father talking. To him Jago was a banned substance, right up there with drugs and smoking. He was the unsuitable man. Fine for fighting dirty in the money markets but not good enough for his daughter. He didn’t have the benefit of Lord Frederick’s bloodline.’
‘Maybe Dad was right. It would never have worked,’ Katy said frantically. ‘Now can we change the subject, Libby, please?’
Dark eyes holding hers, possessing her, taking her with him as their bodies exploded.
Her sister appeared not to have heard her plea. ‘Why wouldn’t it have worked? Because you were the rich heiress and he was a bit of rough? Dad’s protégé who clawed his way up through hard work and naked ambition?’ Libby gave a wicked grin. ‘I confess that I would have signed away my share of the family fortune for the chance of one roll in the hay with Jago. He might have been dangerous but he was so-o-o sexy. I’ve always wanted to ask you something.’ She lowered her voice and glanced around to check that no one could hear them. ‘What was it like with him? Was he good, Katy?’
Katy couldn’t breathe.
Good?
Oh, yes, he was good. Better than good. Jago was so skilled that he might have invented sex.
And she’d trained herself never to think about it. Never to remember those few weeks. The agony was too acute.
And now, for some unfathomable reason, her sister was making her talk about it.
She never talked about it.
‘That’s enough, Lib.’ Her voice was hoarse and she lifted a hand to loosen her collar, only to remember that her dress had a scoop neckline.
The constriction came from within.
Her memories were suffocating her.
‘You loved him, Katy. He was the one,’ Libby said softly. ‘The one.’
