‘Well, we’re talking about a large, simple amount now, and it’s more than I can raise so quickly.’
‘Oh, really, darling, don’t be silly. Of course you can raise it. There’s always Joanna.’
His face tightened. ‘And what exactly do you mean by that?’
‘She’s worth far more than I ever was. People say you and she are as thick as thieves these days. So it’s easy. All you have to do is marry her.’
CHAPTER TEN
GUSTAVO stared as though he couldn’t believe what he had heard.
‘What-did you say?’ he asked slowly.
‘I said you should marry Joanna. Really, darling, don’t be dense. She’s got enough money to solve all your problems.’
When he still didn’t speak she came closer.
‘And then you could afford anything you wanted-including getting rid of me. Isn’t that a tempting prospect?’
There was genuine rage in Gustavo’s voice, enough to silence her, if only for a moment.
‘Don’t ever speak like that again,’ he snapped. ‘Don’t even think it at the bottom of your scheming little mind.’
‘All right, all right, there’s no need to be like that. I’m only thinking of your welfare.’
‘You were thinking of what suited you, and nothing else.’
‘Well, I don’t know what you’re making such a fuss about. You need a rich wife and there aren’t many who are richer than her. Goodness knows what she’s doing working for a living.’
‘Yes, you wouldn’t understand that, would you?’ he said harshly. ‘Joanna works because she loves her subject more than anything in the world, except her son.’
‘More than you?’
The question attacked him like a knife, making him draw in a sharp breath.
At last he spoke emphatically. ‘Joanna does not love me.’
She surveyed him, her head on one side.
‘Really? Well, I dare say you’d know all about that. Besides, there’s no need to despair. With a little effort I’m sure you could make her love you-’
‘Drop it,’ he said in a low voice. ‘Drop it if you know what’s good for you.’
Crystal sighed. ‘Oh, darling, how touchy you are. She’s your best chance, and you’d be wise to take it and then-’
She checked herself and backed off at the murderous look in Gustavo’s eyes.
‘Go to hell!’ he told her with soft fury. ‘Go to hell and stay there.
On the last words he raised his voice enough for it to carry faintly beyond the glass doors into the room, so that those standing nearest jumped and turned their heads. The next moment Gustavo erupted through the door and went straight to Joanna.
‘If you’re ready-’ he said.
‘Of course,’ she said, wondering what could have happened to make him so pale.
He got through the farewells to their hosts as quickly as he could square with courtesy before drawing her out of the room. The last thing Joanna saw was Crystal, looking like the cat that had swallowed the cream. It was a look she recalled from long ago, and it made her shiver.
Not until they were shut into the back of the limousine and the chauffeur was starting the engine did Joanna say, ‘For heaven’s sake, what happened? Why were you shouting?’
‘Because that woman…’ He clenched his hands, realising the impossibility of telling Joanna anything about that conversation. ‘I can’t talk to her without getting angry.’
‘Do you think she went there on purpose?’
‘Oh, yes, she knew we were going to be there.’
‘What about the fitness instructor?’
‘She left him in Naples. Apparently it’s all over.’
A tremor went along her nerves. She tried not to heed it. ‘So she’s back for good?’ she asked lightly.
‘She now has an apartment in Rome, and is talking about getting on with her life.’
‘Was that what she wanted to tell you, and that made you so angry?’
‘No, it was something else. Don’t ask me, I can’t tell you.’
His tone was abrupt because he felt hideously embarrassed by Crystal’s words. He resented the way she’d intruded on the delicate feelings that had been growing between himself and Joanna recently.
It was something he’d never known before, totally different from his passion for Crystal, which had blazed across the sky like a comet before dying abruptly. He knew now that his love for her had been almost entirely physical, taking no account of the person she was. And when he’d discovered that person, the love was over.
With Joanna it was the reverse. He treasured her warmth, her gentleness and understanding, the mysterious sense that she held the world in her hands and could share it with him. Desiring her had come later.
She was the woman he wanted. Twelve years ago it had been too soon. Now the time was right for them.
Or, at least, for him. About her he was still unsure. To Crystal he’d given an instinctive denial, appalled by the way her cynicism was dirtying something so precious. But secretly he was still waiting to learn the truth.
Joanna had fallen silent and he realised that his tone must have sounded like a snub.
‘Forgive me,’ he said gently. ‘I shouldn’t take it out on you. I don’t know what I’m saying. I just wish I could turn the clock back to before tonight.’
She gave a faint smile that he could only just make out in the gloom of the car.
‘No use,’ she murmured. ‘I’ve often wanted to turn the clock back.’
‘Yes, so have I. But I can never quite decide how far back to go.’
‘To the last moment of happiness?’ she said. ‘Or the last moment before a terrible mistake? Or perhaps it doesn’t matter, and we’d make the same mistake again. Because you couldn’t look into the future and see what was waiting, any more than you could the first time.’
‘Joanna, you’re talking mysteries. What mistakes could you ever have made?’
She shook her head ruefully. ‘Don’t take any notice of me, Gustavo. I’m talking nonsense.’
He leaned closer, trying to see her face, wanting to know if the half-smile he fancied he saw was real, and, if so, what it meant.
‘You never talk nonsense,’ he said. ‘It always means something, and it’s always something that I want to know about.’
She shook her head. ‘Now it’s I who cannot tell you. You must let me have my secrets.’
But he too shook his head. ‘No, I want to know your secrets. Every one of them. I want to know what you’re thinking and feeling. I want-I want
He had sworn not to say it, but he was no longer in command of himself. He knew that he should not take her into his arms and kiss her, but nothing could have stopped him.
He knew now that he’d meant this to happen since the night of the wedding, the night that had been interrupted. Since then, whatever he’d been doing, at any moment of the night or day, he’d been thinking of her, needing her, wanting her.
To Joanna it was a thousand kisses in one. It was here and now, but it was also every kiss he’d ever given her in her dreams. But then she dismissed the dreams: ghostly memories, yearning fantasies. They had no reality against the man, warm and solid in her arms, covering her mouth with purposeful lips.
Her own lips moved against his, seeking him more deeply, thrilling as he responded with an urgency that was a promise.
A flash of light from a car coming in the other direction recalled them to their surroundings, and the presence of the chauffeur.
