‘By doing what? Getting me to betray him, make a fool of him?’
Vincente didn’t answer. Suddenly her eyes kindled and she struck him. He jerked his head away but not in time. She could see the mark of her hand on his face, but he didn’t rub it. She guessed he wouldn’t give her the satisfaction.
‘That’s it, isn’t it?’ she breathed. ‘You’d have put Ben in the spotlight, made sure the whole world was looking at him, and then humiliated him as much as you could. But suppose I wouldn’t play your game? Or were you so certain that I’d fall at your feet?’
‘I’m not as bad as that,’ he snapped.
‘I think you are. You were sure of me, weren’t you? You thought you couldn’t fail, that I was little better than a hooker who’d follow any man who dangled money in front of me. That’s true, isn’t it? Admit it, damn you!’
‘I won’t-not the way you put it. Yes, I thought I had a chance, but you’re making it sound worse than it was.’
‘Just how much worse could it get? You have no idea how you sound to an ordinary decent person-that is, if I’m allowed to call myself a decent person, because plainly, in your eyes, I’m not. A bought woman and next thing to a murderess, right?’
‘Not now-’ he said quickly, and instantly realised his mistake.
‘But then. That’s how you saw me, isn’t it?’
‘Before I’d ever met you. All I knew was that Angelo loved you, and you broke his heart.’
‘I had no choice but to leave him.’
‘I know that now; I didn’t know it then.’
‘Ah, yes, it’s more convenient if you don’t know too much. Why burden yourself with accurate facts? Revenge is so much easier when it’s blind. You had no idea what really happened, but that didn’t stop you judging me, planning to humiliate me as well as Ben.’
Elise waited to see if he would answer this, but he only looked at her out of bleak, haggard eyes.
‘So,’ she said at last, ‘when we were having an affair under the eyes of the whole city-and it would have been the whole city, wouldn’t it?-what was going to happen then? Were you going to dump me in public, or wouldn’t that have been enough? Was I going to end up in gaol too?’
‘Of course not,’ he said angrily.
‘There’s no “of course” about it. You’d have done anything, wouldn’t you?’
‘Things didn’t work out the way I thought. You were different-but Ben was exactly as I expected. I thought I had him-’
Vincente clenched his hand, as though imagining that he had the hapless Ben trapped there.
‘And then he died and escaped you,’ she said satirically. ‘So you had to take it out on me alone. How disappointing for you! Plus you needed to think of another way of getting me here. So you came to Ben’s funeral, and took me to dinner that night. I was slipping through your fingers and you had to find a way to hold on to me, didn’t you?
‘Yes.’
‘That’s why you tried to persuade me to come back to Rome with you. I wonder what you’d have done if I’d found a buyer for the apartment.’
He didn’t answer, and suddenly the truth hit her.
‘You did that,’ she breathed. ‘You fixed it so I couldn’t find a buyer. I remember now-there was a man who made an offer but he backed out suddenly. That was your doing.’
‘Of course it was. I persuaded him to withdraw his offer…’
‘I wonder how you “persuaded” him. Or don’t I need to wonder.’
‘I was determined to stop you selling this place. It was my only way of getting you to Rome.’
‘Oh, I’ve really got to hand it to you,’ she said softly. ‘As a shrewd manipulator you’re the tops. But of course you have no conscience, which is a big help.’
‘
‘I’ve always had a conscience about Angelo. I treated him badly but I didn’t want to. Ben had a hold over me. But you-plotting for eight years without let-up. How could you do that?’
‘I saw his dead body,’ he shouted. ‘I saw what the misery did to my mother. Do you expect me to forget that?’
‘Not to forget it, but not to rush to spread blame. You told me not to judge you too easily, but you’ve judged me every moment for the last eight years. You never thought that there might be something to be said on my side.’
‘No, I didn’t, and I’ve blamed myself for that ever since you told me how Ben forced you.’
‘But it came too late, didn’t it? I was already in the net by then. How you must have enjoyed closing it around me! Every word you said to me was a lie. Even when…’
She checked herself as a wave of anguish washed over her. She fought it with every fibre of her being. She couldn’t afford it.
Vincente, watching, drew a tense breath, but stayed still before the rage in her eyes.
‘Even when you seemed most sincere, it was a lie,’ she said. ‘That takes some doing. I congratulate you. It was a good act, but it’s over. You served your purpose.’
‘And what does that mean?’
‘It means you’re not the only one concealing their real thoughts. I hadn’t slept with a man for years. I was ready for-shall we say?-a new experience. No ties. No conditions. You fitted the bill perfectly.’
That struck home, she was glad to notice. He paled, his mouth tightened and his face had a withered look.
‘What are you saying?’ he asked warily.
‘You know exactly what I’m saying,’ Elise said, challenging him with her look. ‘I said you were shrewd and calculating, but you’re good in another way-just the way I needed. Do you want me to elaborate?’
‘I don’t think you need to,’ he said quietly.
‘I didn’t know a man could be that skilled in bed,’ she went on, disregarding him. ‘It’s something I won’t forget, because it gives me a touchstone to measure the others by.’
‘Others?’
‘In the future. And there are going to be others, make no mistake. You did a fine job; now I’m going to discover just how fine. I remember everything, you see. Are your special little touches yours alone, or do other men know them? And, if not, how quickly can they be taught? Never mind. I’ll have fun finding out.’
‘Don’t talk like that,’ he almost shouted.
‘I’ll talk as I like. If you don’t like it, tough. Remember, I’m partly your creation. I’ve learned a lot from you, not just about sex but about cruelty and ruthlessness, deception with a straight face. I’m glad of it. Your lessons are going to come in very useful.’
His mouth twisted cynically. ‘Well done, Elise. You turned out to be everything I thought of you. I knew you’d show your true colours in the end.’
‘Yes, you did, didn’t you? And now I have. So have you. So we can toss each other on the scrap heap and go our separate ways without regret.’
‘An admirable idea,’ he snapped. ‘I’m glad you feel you learned something from me.’
‘Ruthlessness, manipulation-’
‘I’m commonly held to be a master. You’ve been learning from the best.’
‘Every word you ever said to me-’
‘Pretence, all of them. Every word, every caress, every moment of passion-all done for a purpose.’
‘All those times we made love-?’
‘You don’t really think I could love you, do you?’ he demanded coldly. ‘To me, you’re little better than a murderess. I know my mother thinks Angelo committed suicide because he couldn’t endure what you’d done to him, and perhaps he did-’
‘Perhaps?’ She seized on this. ‘Aren’t you sure? Is that what the witnesses said?’
‘There were no witnesses. Nobody saw the actual crash.’
‘Then it might have been an accident,’ she said desperately.
