Marriage of Convenience

Chapter Seventeen

Freya?' Rose's voice came brightly over the wire. 'I've just had a call from Mr. Dylan. He asked me to get you to have Benjamin meet him at the airport at five-thirty, and to remind you the Andersons are expected tonight. OK?'

'Thanks, Rose. I'll pass the message to Benjamin right away.' She was about to ring off, feeling herself color as she realized that Rose just had to be wondering why Theo had phoned her and not his wife, but Mary chattered on, 'How's the new job going? I must say I miss you here. And couldn't you have persuaded your husband not to promote that Emily Steven to your old job? Nobody likes her, I'm told, so I'm sure I won't.'

As Rose seemed set to gossip for hours, Freya cut in smoothly, advising, 'I'm sure she'll be fine, just get on with your job and leave her to get on with hers.

Lovely to talk to you, but I must dash—Theo wants to make an impression

on Sir George Anderson this evening.' This was as good an excuse as any to cut the conversation short, even though Mary had everything in hand for this evening and there wasn't a thing Freya had to do apart from dress herself up and dredge up a smile and a line in relaxed conversation from somewhere. She didn't feel in the mood to talk to anyone, not even Rose. She was so tense she felt she might explode, disintegrate into a million ragged pieces.

On Tuesday morning, after discovering her with Leo Issac, Theo had driven her home in a stinging silence and had departed, almost immediately, for Zurich. And late this afternoon he would be back, and before the Andersons arrived for dinner she was going to have to make him listen to her explanations.

He had been too angry to listen to anything she could have said the last time she had seen him, and she could understand that, but today he simply had to hear her. Side of the story. The sordid business about Leo's blackmailing threats would have to be exposed and, in a way, it would be a relief because Theo might be able to help.

Her hands shook as she pushed together the pile of papers, the reports and balance sheets she'd been plowing through, and slid them into an empty drawer in the desk in Theo's study. It hadn't taken her long to realize that Dexter Securities was in a mess, and she couldn't begin to see a way out while her mind was in such turmoil. Loving Theo as she did, his disgust with her, the loathing she'd seen in those cold, azure eyes, was a constant and debilitating pain, blinding her to everything else. And her worries about Leo's possible next move didn't help any, she acknowledged as she pushed herself listlessly to her feet on her way to find Benjamin and relay Theo's message.

Leo hadn't had the money he'd demanded, so heaven only knew what his next move would be. She didn't know whether to expect a renewed demand or to see, in print, the whole sordid pack of lies. And if that happened she couldn't bear to think what would happen to Uncle Charles And Sam, for one, would make sure the old man read every word.

It was like living with a time bomb. But maybe, when Leo knew the truth, he would know what to do.

'You certainly know how to make yourself look sexy, but then you've had plenty of practice, for Theo, haven't you?'

Freya twisted round, her heart pumping wildly. Wearing her new dress, she had been putting the finishing touches to her make-up when he'd walked in on her.

She hadn't heard the bedroom door open and now he was leaning against the frame. He looked tired, world-weary, the lines of cynicism deeply scored beside his mouth. Disadvantaged, she looked at him with anguished eyes, the smoke-grey irises deepened to charcoal. She had planned on being ready when he returned, composed, waiting in the drawing-room. But Benjamin must have had a smoother drive from the airport than she had bargained for and her fingers froze, dropping the perfume bottle she'd been using on to the polished rosewood surface of the dressing-table. The tiny clatter broke the silence of his long, unwavering scrutiny and she said, 'We have to talk,' and tried to get herself together. He had to listen to her. He had to. She would never get through this evening if he didn't.

'Must we?' His tone was bored as he moved slowly into the room, loosening his tie, and her heart jumped, but she resisted the impulse to run. She wasn't a coward, although his patent disgust with her, his terrifying coldness wasn't making things easy.

'Yes, we must.' She was ashamed of the slight tremor in her voice, of the hunger she was sure must show in her eyes as she watched him remove his suit jacket, his hands moving next to the zip of his trousers. God, but he was superb, almost frighteningly male, and he was her husband, and she loved him, and he loathed her! But she was about to change all that, wasn't she? Because after she'd explained about Leo he would go back to being the caring, exciting lover and beloved companion he had been before, surely he would? She knew he had been on the verge of growing more than fond of her. She couldn't believe that wasn't true, and she had to cling on to that.

He was naked now and she closed her eyes against a sudden inrush of pain, of need, that gripped her like a giant steel hand. She had to get him to listen, to understand.

'Theo'

'Don't you think you ought to go down?' The look he flicked in her direction might have been given to an irritating child. 'Sir George Anderson and his wife will be here in an hour. You should be checking with Mary.'

He didn't pause in his progress towards the bathroom, and that, and the irritated look angered her. She wasn't so completely besotted by the love that she would allow him to brush her aside like a subnormal hireling!

'This won't take long.' Resolve stiffened her spine as she moved between him and the adjoining bathroom door, her chin lifting defiantly, her eyes unwavering even as she faced the exasperated lowering of his black brows.

'You've judged and condemned me without a hearing, and I deserve better than that!'

'You deserve a thrashing.' His mouth twisted down in a sneer. 'But I'm too much a gentleman to give it to you! But I tell you this--' He moved closer, and his tanned, taut nakedness seared her through the filmy fabric of her dress, making her shudder at the awareness of how easily he could rouse her, even in his hatred. He didn't touch her, he didn't need to, and her words of hot protest at his high-handed refusal even to listen to her side of the story died in her throat, clogging it. 'I know now why you married me. I didn't have to be a genius to work that out,' he flared, controlled anger making his eyes glitter. 'You needed to get your hands on your inheritance and you couldn't afford to wait another twelve months because your lover was getting restive. He wanted to get his hands on that so-called little gift he was practically drooling over. And you couldn't marry him to gain access to your inheritance, no matter how much you might have wanted to because there's no way your guardians would have approved a jerk like him. So you married me, and, OK--' his breath sucked harshly into his lungs, making the rough

satin of his skin quiver with an inner tension she could feel through every fiber of her being as if he were an extension of herself ' so now I know, and, granted, our marriage was only ever one of expediency but you're still my wife.'

Suddenly, his hands were at her throat, making her heart flutter in panic as the balls of his thumbs, beneath her chin, forced her head back, forced her to read the dark intent in his eyes.

'You will not be seeing Leo again, and as that means you'll be deprived of the pleasures of his bed and his body, I've decided to help you.' His voice lowered to the threatening purr of a tiger and she shuddered helplessly, cold with the chill of the hating mockery that was looking at her from those narrowed, glittering eyes. 'You are one hell of a highly sexed lady, as I found out when you begged me to make love to you when you used me to satisfy your needs in Leo's absence. So, just to help you,' his mouth curled derisively, 'I'll make love to you until you're faltering... I'll make damned sure you know who you belong to, and you won't have enough strength left to even think of Leo!'

He released her suddenly. And shaken, appalled, by what she was hearing she registered his voice, coming as if from a misty distance.

'Now get downstairs and see if Mary needs any help. Start earning your keep!'