Marriage of Convenience

Chapter Thirty

She could see it all now. Every last thing had become hideously clear. He had already been thinking of children when she had made that reckless proposal. Not because he particularly liked children, but because he needed an heir. And along she had come presentable, intelligent, and wealthy in her own right, dangling the Dexter shares as temptation!

Those shares had been the deciding factor, and now he had them, and he would have the heir he'd wanted so what possible use could he have for a wife? Tears were streaming down her cheeks, blinding her, and she stumbled through a thicket of shrubs, not knowing or caring what she was doing, and she heard him call her name. He was close behind and there was nowhere to go, and she hated herself for the weakness of tears because now he would know.

'Freya.' A hand-held her, another pulled at branches as he frees her, and Then both hands cupped her face, his thumbs wiping the shaming tears. 'Does it matter to you so much?'

'What?' Her mouth was mutinous. Two could play the game of intentional misunderstandings.

'The divorce. It's what you wanted, after all. And I owe that to you, at least.'

Angrily, she jerked her head from his hands, her eyes flickering, looking for an escape. But there was nowhere to go; he was blocking the only way out of the tangle of bushes she'd landed herself in.

'It's what you want,' she denied. 'So why not take it? You already have everything else you wanted an heir on the way, those shares'

'Those wretched shares again!' He looked puzzled as if she'd just told him he'd grown a second head. 'Damn the shares! I'm already in the process of handing them back to you, in any case. I've got enough on my plate without having to contend with that powerless old board of so-called directors, and Sam sweet heaven preserve me from Sam! It's your baby, your problem, and that's what I've always ever intended. All I ever wanted to do was help you sort the mess out. I thought you might need me.'

Uncomprehendingly, she studied his closed face, shuddering as he added bitterly, 'But you never did need me, did you? Or only as a name on your wedding certificate! And I don't blame you for that, at least you were honest about your reasons for wanting to marry me. I was the one at fault, all the way down the line.' His mouth twisted in self-derision. 'Too wary to insist on knowing why you had to get your hands on your money too blind to see beyond what my eyes were telling me that you and Leo were lovers and, right at the beginning of it all, too damn smug about my wretched plan of campaign.'

'What plan?' Her brow furrowed and she took a tentative step towards him but he turned away, his face dark with an emotion she couldn't identify as he glanced at his watch.

'It's not important now. Believe me, Freya, there's nothing more to be said, nothing useful. And it's time we left—if you've seen all you want to see.'

He was walking away, and she stared after him, not understanding anything. She felt limp and wretched, her mind in turmoil. He'd said he had never wanted the shares. He'd said so many things that hadn't made sense.

She was used to solving tricky financial problems but she didn't come near to understanding the man who was now striding away from her, not looking back. And she knew that if she let it go now, he would never look back again. He would close his mind on the brief episode of their marriage and she would never begin to understand the enigma who had once been her husband, and always, loved.

'Theo!' She ran after him, her feet flying over the grass, and she caught up with him before he reached the car.

'Ready?' he asked, only the slight roughness in his voice betraying any emotion at all.

'No.' She caught his hand, almost sobbing as she recognized the electrifying sensation that engulfed her at the physical contact.

'I want to talk to you,' she said, her voice betraying her savaged emotions.