The clock is ticking.’
‘Maggie…I’m sorry…’
She looked at him aghast, her mouth dropping open. ‘Sorry? What on earth do you have to be sorry for, Caleb? I got what I wanted; you got what you wanted…’
He smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes and she noticed lines around his mouth, smudges of dark colour under his eyes. ‘I didn’t get you, Maggie, not really. And I still want you.’
She frowned, suddenly feeling a little adrift, wanting to know what he meant but not wanting to ask.
He raked a hand through his hair and looked out to the tumultuous Atlantic for a minute.
‘Caleb—’
He looked back, blue eyes vivid. ‘I know, I know—the time…God, this is hard.’
Her heart squeezed crazily and she tightened her arms as if to stop it.
‘I think I know what happened…that night, eight months ago. Someone said something in London and everything dropped into place…’
Maggie felt a sudden fear. ‘Did you go to my mother to find out where I was?’
He nodded.
‘Did you say anything to her…?’ Her breasts rose and fell in her agitation. ‘Did you—?’
Caleb put out a hand, coming a step closer. Maggie moved away. ‘No! No, Maggie…I could have asked her, but I didn’t need to. I know. I just want to hear it from you.’
‘Know what, Caleb? Time is really running out—’
He took a deep breath. ‘Eight months ago you seduced me that night against your will, didn’t you?’
The room went fuzzy for a second and Maggie could feel her legs wanting to buckle but somehow she managed to stay upright. ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ she said faintly.
But Caleb had taken in her reaction, the ashen tinge to her skin. It made something joyous erupt in his chest. Even as it was just confirming his worst fears. That she’d never really felt anything for him. Just physical desire.
‘Your stepfather saw the attraction between us and made the most of it, didn’t he?’
She shook her head numbly.
‘He made you flirt with me…made you pretend to show an interest…made you come to the hotel that night dressed like a—’
‘Stop!’ Her mind worked feverishly. He still didn’t know that she hadn’t been aware until that day. Her heart was still safe. Her arms dropped to her sides unconsciously. ‘How…how do you know this?’
‘Just something someone said. I didn’t need to hear any more…I knew immediately. I can’t believe I didn’t see it at the time…but I was blinded.’
She tried to figure out what she could say to keep him happy and send him on his way. Looking at him, having him so close, was quickly becoming unbearable. ‘He threatened me with something…too huge for me to fight alone.’
‘Your mother?’
She sucked in a breath. ‘How do you…?’
‘You have a bond that goes beyond anything I’ve ever seen. And you’re like a mother bear with a cub whenever she’s mentioned…plus she’s inordinately happy for a recently widowed woman who had been left with nothing.’ His voice softened. ‘Maggie, I heard…that he was violent…Did he ever—?’
‘Never me. Unless I got in the way,’ she said bitterly. ‘Always her, though. And I could never protect her. Nothing could. Not even the police. He was too powerful.’
A vivid image came into his head, a sick feeling. ‘That scar…on your thigh…’
Maggie went paler. ‘I got in the way one day…when he was…when I tried to…he knocked me out of the way and I fell into the ironing board, the iron…’
Rage filled him. He opened his mouth but Maggie had had enough. She held up a hand. ‘Please, Caleb. You know now. Thank you for giving us back the house and for paying off the tax debts…My mother told me. You didn’t have to do that—’
His hand slashed the air. ‘Of course I did. It was my fault your mother was put in that situation; it was the least I could do.’
Maggie continued; she wanted him gone. ‘I’m sorry I deceived you too eight months ago, but it’s over. Please, just go.’
For a second he half turned as if he was going to go. Maggie held her breath, a hollow feeling spreading throughout her body, but then, abruptly, he came back. She was rooted to the spot.
‘No…Maggie, I won’t go. Because I want to know—once Holland had died and there was no threat any more, why didn’t you try to defend yourself?’
‘Would you have believed me?’
‘Perhaps not at first,’ he conceded. ‘But it wouldn’t have taken much to convince me. I’m not such an ogre and I would never have taken the house if I’d known.’
‘I know…’ she said quietly.
‘So…why?’
Her brain had become mush. Why, indeed?
When he said it like that now, so simply, she could have cursed herself. It had simply never occurred to her. Her main priority had been self-protection, but hadn’t she ironically gone the most self-destructive route? Since she’d seen him again…her brain had become so scrambled that she’d happily sabotaged herself. In an effort to block out reality and to have him on any terms. His terms. She was pathetic.
‘Because I thought you wouldn’t believe me…’It sounded weak to her ears.
‘So you allowed me to use you, take you as my mistress, let me make love to you almost every night…put on the not very successful pretence of someone who was the complete opposite to what you really are?’
‘But it was…’ she breathed, not realising that she was giving herself away spectacularly.
He felt triumphant. He lifted a brow. ‘Then why leave everything behind? The clothes, the jewels, the car?’
‘Because they weren’t mine,’ she answered simply.
‘Exactly.’ He looked smug. ‘Any other woman would have cleaned out the lot. And more. Believe me.’
She felt as though she was being wrung out on a rack; he was stretching her and stretching her to breaking-point. Her voice came out brittle and harsh. ‘Look, Caleb; what do you want? I can’t tell you any more…’
But he was relentless. ‘I bet you made it all up, just to keep up the front…College? You put yourself through it and never took a penny from Holland, am I right? Probably lived in a bedsit with mice rather than take his money. Lovers? I know you weren’t a virgin, but you weren’t far off it, Maggie.’
She
