‘What do you mean, what else?’
‘I mean… regarding his family.’
‘He doesn’t have any family. His mother and father died some years back.’
‘Our father did. But our mother is alive and well and living in New York. I spoke to her only yesterday on the telephone.’
Leah’s mouth dropped open.
‘Well, you did say you couldn’t believe a word your husband said,’ Alan pointed out with merciless logic.
‘Yes, but… but…’ Leah’s frantic gaze scanned the man standing before her, raking him from head to toe to see if there was any visible evidence this was not Gerard. Since he was dressed casually, in pale grey shorts and a navy and white striped top, she could see quite a bit of him.
He looked leaner than Gerard, she finally conceded. And not quite as muscly. He looked older, too, with deeper lines etched around his mouth and eyes—eyes which at that moment were looking at her with a most irritating composure, as though he was patiently waiting for the truth of his identity to sink in.
‘I think you owe the man an apology, Leah,’ Alan grated out.
Leah glanced up into the man’s eyes, eyes which were identical to Gerard’s. They met hers levelly and quite blandly. Despite that, something decidedly sexual curled in her stomach.
Gerard had always been able to turn her on, just by looking at her. No way could another man—not even an identical twin—reproduce what Gerard could make her feel. Such a possibility was beyond belief.
‘Never in a month of Sundays,’ she bit out, ‘will I apologise, because I know I’m right. This man is my husband, Gerard Woodward, no matter what clever lies he trots out.’
‘Good grief, Leah!’ Alan exclaimed exasperatedly. ‘Why on earth would he say he’s your husband’s brother if he wasn’t?’
‘I don’t know.’ Unless it was to trick her into letting her guard down with him. Maybe he was plotting to kidnap her, or some equally appalling plan. She would put nothing past Gerard. She knew the real man now, knew what he was capable of.
Where once she’d thought him wonderfully strong and decisive, she now knew he was cold-bloodedly ruthless. His veins ran with ice, not blood. His silver tongue spouted lies with superb ease. My God, when she thought of the thousands of times he’d told her he loved her! Every morning before he left for work. Every time he’d made love to her.
Made love? she thought sneeringly. Such a description was a joke! Gerard had never made love to her. He’d seduced her. Manipulated her. Used her. Love had never come into the equation.
Nausea swirled in her stomach at the renewal of this bitter realisation. All lies. The man was a total lie. This crazy claim about a twin brother was a lie!
Hatred burnt in her eyes as she glared up at him.
‘I’m not him,’ he reiterated, in a voice so unlike Gerard’s that she was momentarily thrown. Suddenly his eyes were not Gerard’s, either. They were soft, and sad. Gerard had a wide range of expressions, but soft and sad was not one of them.
Still… faith in one’s husband, and one’s own judgement, once lost was not easily restored.
Leah hardened her heart against that treacherous weakness of hers to simply believe what she was told.
‘Do you honestly think you can fool me a second time?’ she threw at him in her agony and fury. ‘You’re Gerard and nothing and no one can convince me otherwise. So, I repeat, you either go back to that beach or I will. I’ll swim if I have to!’
Alan sighed his own frustration. ‘For pity’s sake, Leah, you’re paranoid. It’s perfectly clear this chap isn’t your husband. Why won’t you believe him?’
‘It’s all right,’ the man himself said. ‘I fully understand the young lady’s attitude, especially since she is unfortunate enough to be my brother’s wife. Gerard’s not a very nice person. He can be, in fact, a bastard of the first order. But I repeat… Leah, is it?… I am not Gerard. I’m nothing like him, except in looks, which is something I can do little about. I’m sorry if I have upset you. Truly sorry.’
Leah could only stare. An apology?
Apologies were anathema to Gerard. He gave reasons for his actions. Sometimes excuses. But never apologies.
Maybe—just maybe—this person standing before her wasn’t Gerard.
But only maybe. Leah was not about to rush into believing anything any more. Not where her husband was concerned.
Her eyes remained hard upon him. And sceptical.
The man who claimed he wasn’t her husband shrugged. ‘Perhaps you should take me back to the beach,’ he directed towards Alan. ‘I don’t want to spoil the cruise for everyone else.’
‘Certainly not!’ Alan replied. ‘If Leah has a problem with your being on this cruise then she can be the one to go back to the beach. I believe you’re not her ex, even if she doesn’t. No man would make up such a far-fetched lie over some female who obviously doesn’t want a bar of him. It doesn’t make any sense. Pity Leah can’t see that.’
Leah no longer knew what to think, for Alan was right in a way. It didn’t make much sense. She didn’t really believe Gerard was out to kidnap her. Violence was not his bag. He always used oral persuasion to get what he wanted. At worst, he appealed to an opponent’s darker side to achieve his ends, playing up to their greed, or their love of power and position.
She couldn’t see how pretending to be his twin brother could possibly persuade her back to her marriage. What could Gerard hope to achieve with a deception which could only be short-lived, at best? She would eventually find out the truth.
‘Perhaps if I might make a suggestion?’
Leah whirled at the sound of the female voice, flushing as she realised the rest of the party had been standing around, witnessing—and possibly being entertained by—every embarrassing, humiliating word. Sandra was especially wide-eyed, obviously fascinated by the situation.
It was Peggy who had spoken, however. Geoff’s wife. Once everyone’e eyes were upon her, she went on.
‘I used to go to school with identical twins. They were the dead spit of each other, and liked to play awful jokes on everyone, swapping places all the time. But then one of them had an accident in the playground, running into another boy and chipping his front tooth. After that, we could always tell them apart. Perhaps, young man, you have some physical defect that your brother didn’t have? That way this nice young lady could be sure. I can understand her reluctance to trust your word alone, if your brother is such a bad egg.’
Peggy’s suggestion had clearly pole-axed him, his shoulders stiffening with instant tension.
Leah’s stomach turned over when she saw that tell-tale muscle twitch along his jawline. Gerard did that all the time when put into an awkward or unpalatable position. His jaw muscle had twitched just like that when she’d told him she was bored that
