His smile became both admiring and indulgent as he lifted her fingers to his mouth. ‘I can see I’ll have to make all the important decisions in our marriage. But that’s all right by me,’ he murmured as he kissed each fingertip in turn. ‘I’ve always believed that a man is head of his family and king of his castle.’
Leah snatched her hand away from him. ‘You’re crazy as a loon!’
‘Not at all,’ he returned, without turning a hair. ‘In fact, I could give you a hundred references testifying to my sanity. But I appreciate I am rushing you a little. I promise to slow down if you promise to have dinner with me tonight. Ah… these must be your brothers now. Mike and Pete, did you say?’
She nodded dumbly, and watched while he charmed her two normally wary big brothers as effortlessly as he had charmed her.
He explained he was a property developer from Brisbane who was interested in buying some land in the area—with a view to building a small but exclusive resort. Any quibbles or qualms the boys raised about such a development were quickly waylaid by Gerard’s ready reassurances. Anything he built would fit right into the environment and not spoil the area. It would also bring some much needed money into the local community. He would guarantee it!
By the end of the day neither Mike nor Pete made any objection whatsoever when Gerard politely asked their permission to take Leah to dinner. He wasn’t given a single warning. Not one!
As it turned out, he didn’t need one. For he didn’t lay a finger on Leah, just a small peck goodnight on her cheek.
She lay awake into the wee small hours, thinking of him…
And so began their whirlwind courtship, Gerard sweeping Leah off to the altar barely three months after their first meeting.
She went to his bed on their wedding night still a virgin.
Not that she’d wanted to be. The moment she’d set eyes on Gerard he’d stirred a sensuality in her she hadn’t known she possessed. But he’d wanted to wait, he’d told her.
At the time she’d thought that was so sweet. Now she realised it was all part of his Prince Charming act. In reality he’d probably had some other woman on the side, catering to his carnal needs, while he made silly Leah wait. By the time the wedding had come along she’d been consumed by the most excruciating sexual tension, a ready slave for whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted it.
Prince Charming indeed! He was the devil incarnate!
Leah sometimes wondered what would have happened if she hadn’t decided to go for a walk in the garden that fateful night, if she’d never overheard that appalling conversation. The realisation that she would still be going along blithely and blindly as Mrs Gerard Woodward brought mixed feelings. Maybe it would have been better if she’d never found out. She’d been happy, hadn’t she?
Not entirely, she was forced to concede. Oh, yes, Gerard had given her everything she could possibly want. He’d spoiled her outrageously.
And it had been wonderful for a while. Gerard had swept her into a world she hardly knew existed, a sophisticated glamorous world of designer gowns, dinner parties and decadently expensive restaurants. She’d been agog with excitement over it all for the first few months.
But eventually her privileged and pampered lifestyle had begun to pall a little. She’d become bored with having nothing to fill her days but dress-fittings and hair appointments. Her only activity had been to make herself beautiful for the evenings she spent with her husband.
Once the honeymoon was over, she’d rarely seen Gerard during the day, and he worked six days a week. Sundays hadn’t been much better. He’d spent so much time on the telephone, even in the car when they were driving somewhere. Mobile phones, she believed, were a menace.
When she’d mildly complained over breakfast one day of her loneliness and boredom, Gerard had suggested charity organisations, flower-arranging classes and cordon bleu cookery courses. When she’d hinted at a baby instead, he’d vetoed that for another year at least. He wanted her all to himself for a while, he’d said.
That night he’d come home with two dozen red roses and made love to her for hours.
Looking back, Leah could well understand why she hadn’t been really content! Gerard had reduced her to nothing but a glorified mistress and hostess. He hadn’t discussed his business with her, except in scant detail. She knew nothing much about his past, or even his present, except what he’d chosen to tell her. Which wasn’t much. She’d had no friends of her own. No life of her own, except as Gerard’s wife.
It had been her growing discontent which had driven her into the garden that fateful evening. One of Gerard’s business colleagues had come over for dinner, and, true to form, after coffee Gerard had taken him into his study to talk business, leaving Leah at a loose end. As usual.
So she’d decided to walk down to the garden seat which overlooked the Brisbane river. Water always soothed her. It was a very pretty spot at night, looking across from their exclusive position on Kangaroo Point to the Story Bridge, and the lights of the city beyond.
She’d left the house by a side door, and had been walking along a path not far from the study when the open French doors and the stillness of the sultry evening had caused Gerard’s voice to carry far beyond the room.
‘You made a big mistake marrying a woman you loved so madly, Steven. Such passion destroys a man’s brain cells. And his judgement. Marriage should be approached like a business deal. With lots of cool thought and calculated research.’
On hearing those first shocking comments, Leah became riveted to the spot. But there were more shocks to come.
‘There are two types of women,’ Gerard continued. ‘Soft and hard. The givers and the takers. The first wants to love and be loved in return. The second wants everything else. Believe me when I tell you that these days the soft ones are getting rarer. You have to get them young, before they’re contaminated by other men. And life.
‘Take Leah for instance. She was only nineteen when I met her and had had no serious boyfriends before me. Naturally, she wasn’t from the city. Generally speaking, city girls are bad news. I knew from the moment I met Leah that she was just what I was looking for. Perfect wife material in every way. Innocent, sweet, beautiful. A natural giver.’
‘And very much in love with you,’ Steven remarked drily.
‘Still is,’ Gerard pronounced with a casual arrogance that took Leah’s breath away.
‘Of course, we’ve only been married a short time,’ he went on. ‘But I have no intention of ever becoming too complacent where Leah is concerned. You know what happens when you neglect a business. Before you know it the damned thing folds. I gave up a whole month for our honeymoon, and still pour a lot of time and money into my beautiful new bride. I don’t neglect her in the bedroom and I give her every material thing any woman could possibly desire, in return for which she gives me what every man wants. Complete love and loyalty.’
‘But don’t you love her, Gerard?’ came Steven’s troubled question.
‘Love wears best on a woman,’ came his coldly cynical reply. ‘As I said before, a man who loves is weaker for it. It makes him stupid. And vulnerable. The last thing a woman wants is a husband who’s weak,
