‘What?’
‘You make her insecure. She thinks you’re more attractive than she is,’ he said bluntly. ‘On her own, she’s fine. When she’s with you, she loses all faith in herself.’
Maxine looked appalled. ‘You mean she doesn’t trust me?’
She genuinely hadn’t known. Bruno smiled slightly. ‘I don’t know, maybe I’m the one she doesn’t trust. I don’t have the greatest reputation in the world ...’
‘And that’s why she didn’t want us to meet in the first place,’ said Maxine, her tone thoughtful. ‘She thought you might prefer me.’
‘Of course she did.’ With a trace of exasperation, Bruno said, ‘I can’t believe it’s never occurred to you. How can you not notice something like that?’
‘Easy.’ She drained her glass and inspected the bottle. ‘I’m selfish and thoughtless, aren’t I?’
‘So what are you going to do now?’
‘That’s easy, too.’ She smiled. ‘See if I can’t persuade you to open another bottle of wine.’
As he drove her back to Trezale House, Maxine said, ‘You still haven’t told me how long it’s been going on.’
‘You mean how long I’ve been sleeping with your sister?’ There was a note of irony in his voice. ‘Why don’t you ask Janey?’
Maxine shrugged. ‘She isn’t speaking to me at the moment.’
‘And I’m not telling you,’ said Bruno. With a sideways glance in her direction, he added,
‘There, doesn’t that prove how discreet I can be?’
‘It certainly proves how bloody infuriating you can be.’ Peering into the darkness ahead, she said, ‘Next turning on the left, just past that big tree. I know you didn’t believe me earlier, but I can keep the odd secret ... no, I said next left.’
Bruno, who knew the country lanes well, ignored her. A couple of hundred yards further along the road he turned the car into a gateway.
‘This isn’t next left,’ said Maxine, as he switched off the ignition.
‘We haven’t finished talking yet. There’s something I’m curious about.’
‘What’s that?’
The sky was inky black and sprinkled with stars, but the moon was almost full. The darkness wasn’t total; she could see Bruno’s white shirt and green eyes. She could also see that he was smiling.
‘I’ve told you what Janey was afraid of,’ he said in conversational tones. ‘But you haven’t asked me whether or not she was right.’
‘Oh.’ Maxine thought for a moment, aware of what he might be leading up to. ‘OK then.
Was she?’
Janey’s an attractive girl.’ Bruno shrugged. ‘Who needs her self-confidence building up.’
‘I think you already know how attractive you are.’ Maxine half-smiled. ‘But when you first saw me, did you like me more than you like Janey?’
‘I like you both, very much,’ he said slowly. ‘But you and I are more alike. We understand each other. And as I said before, I’m very discreet.’
Maxine didn’t bother to look surprised. Bruno Parry-Brent was every bit as unscrupulous as she had suspected. They might be alike in many ways, she thought, but even she wasn’t that two-faced. ‘I see,’ she murmured, pushing back her hair with her fingers. ‘You mean, what Janey doesn’t know about won’t hurt her?’
‘Exactly. You said you could keep a secret when you had to.’ His smile broadened, his teeth gleaming white in the darkness. It had evidently not even crossed his mind that she might turn him down. ‘It could be fun. A lot of fun. You and I.’
Charisma was a powerful aphrodisiac, and Bruno had more than his fair share of it. He really was amazingly attractive, thought Maxine. But then he had to be. Only men at the very top of the league in the attractiveness stakes could expect to get away with this kind of thing. And most of the time, presumably, they did.
Wishing, now, that she hadn’t worn four-inch heels -although at least she was only a quarter of a mile from home - she ran her hand lightly over the soft leather upholstery.
‘Do these seats go right back?’
Bruno grinned. ‘All the way.’
‘Hmm,’ said Maxine. ‘Somehow I thought they would.’
‘Where are you going?’ he protested as she opened the passenger door and climbed out of the car.
Yuk, thought Maxine as her heels sank into three inches of mud. So this was her reward for making a noble stand. No wonder she’d never bothered in the past.
‘Home,’ she said, her tone brisk. ‘I realize this may come as a bit of a shock to you, but you aren’t totally irresistible. And if you really want to know, I think you’re a complete shit.’
‘Maxine—’
‘Poor Janey,’ she continued, slamming the door shut and addressing him through the open window. ‘What chance does she have, falling for a two-faced bastard like you?’
‘OK,’ said Bruno, making calm-down gestures with his hands. ‘I get the message.’
‘And here’s another message,’ Maxine snapped. ‘I may not be perfect, but did you seriously think I’d play a dirty trick like that on my own sister?’
