,” Kate said, trying to sound offhand. But the realization that Mitchell had let her go on and on about Zack Benedict after their boat captain pointed out theJuliemade Kate feel a little ill. Still, he hadn’t really lied when he said he wasn’t fan” of Benedict’s. Mitchell was apparently Zack Benedict’s friend. And to give Mitchell credit, he was certainly no braggart, either.
Evan wasn’t fooled by her replies. Her complexion was too fair and her eyes too expressive to hide shock or dismay. didn’t know about the house or the yacht, did you?”
think this conversation is pointless and needs to end,” Kate said firmly.
after you answer one more little question for yourself, not for me: How in the hell does it happen that you know Wyatt lives in Europe and New York, but you don’t know that he also has aChicago address?”
doesn’t know anything about Chicago,” Kate said before she could stop herself. talked a lot about Chicago—he would have told me if he knew anyone there. In fact, he had to ask me how long it takes to get down here from there! Evan, we aren’t talking about the same man.”
hope you’re right, honey, because the man I’m talking about has been living in Chicago with Caroline Wyatt.”
?” Kate said in frustration.
Wyatt. Late last year, a man named William Wyatt disappeared. Remember?”
.”
beautiful Caroline was, and still is, William’s wife. Your Mitchell is shacked up with his half brother’s wife, and he moved in just as soon as her husband disappeared!”
told me about his brother,” Kate said quickly, glad for once that she knew something. liked William very much, and if Caroline’s home is typical of most of your friends’ and relatives’ houses, then it’s the size of a hotel.”
Lifting his hand, Evan smoothed her hair back off her forehead, then he dropped his arm. ’t let that son of a bitch hurt you too badly. And when he does,” Evan added tenderly, “you remember that it was me, not you, he wanted to hurt. Maybe that will make it easier.” He picked up his drink and glanced at her luggage. should carry those for you, but I can’t make myself help you go to him. I’m sorry, Kate.” It was a gruff apology, not a parting taunt.
Shaking inside, Kate watched him walk out onto the patio and into the garden.
Questions and doubts were raging through her as she walked into the bathroom to get her purse and make sure she wasn’t leaving anything behind. Instead of doing that, she stood in front of the sink, trying to rid herself of Evan’s slant on everything Mitchell did, and to think things through for herself. In her mind, she heard Mitchell whispering,I felt all the same things you did last night, and you know I did, and her spirits lifted. That was real. That was the real Mitchell, not Evan’s version of him.
Evan’s description of Mitchell’s childhood explained exactly why he’d evaded Kate’s questions that first night. The story of his life wasn’t the sort of story a man would want to share with a stranger. Furthermore, the fact that Mitchell hadn’t simply invented a more impressive past for himself, one that he could dispense freely and impress strangers with, was even more to his credit. It showed tremendous strength of character.
As far as everything else Evan had brought up, Kate could think of valid reasons and explanations for all of it, including gossip. There was just one thing she couldn’t justify, no matter how hard she tried: If Evan was right about Mitchell living, even temporarily, in Chicago, there was only one possible reason for Mitchell’s having concealed that from her—he had no intention of seeing her after they left St. Maarten.
She needed an answer to that right now, not later when they were face-to-face and he could disarm her or distract her. A simple, straightforward answer. After all, Mitchell had sent her here expecting her to break up with Evan “in the shortest possible time,” and then to back.” She had every right to expect a straightforward answer to her question.
Closing the bathroom door, she dug in her purse for her cell phone and the brochure from the Enclave. Her fingers trembled as she pressed the buttons on her cell phone, and her pulse edged up with each ring. By the time the Enclave’s operator answered the phone, Kate was leaning back against the vanity for support, and her voice actually wavered with nervousness when she asked to be connected to Mr. Wyatt in the Presidential Suite.
’m sorry, ma’am,” the operator said a moment later, . Wyatt has checked out.”
out? Did—did he leave a message for me, for Kate Donovan, I mean?”
moment please.” Kate’s knees began to knock while she waited. , ma’am. No message,” the operator stated with certainty.
Kate twisted around and made a grab for the vanity, trying to hold her quaking body upright while Mitchell’s mocking voice whispered in her ringing ears. want to be sure you don’t have any false illusions about what’s going on between us. . . . It can’t go any further than that. It would get much too complicated. . . . But I do intend to ravish you.”
The sound of her own sobbing drowned out his voice, and Kate groped blindly for a towel, holding it tightly to her face, trying to muffle her cries before Evan heard them. Desperate to get herself under control and to get out of there before Evan walked in from the garden, she threw the towel down and splashed cold water onto her face; then she opened the door a crack and saw that the living room was empty. With tears pouring from her eyes and blurring her vision, she grabbed her suitcase and garment bag, made an awkward dash for the door, and struggled with the knob.
Her shoulders shaking with silent sobs, she nudged the door open with her knee and was halfway outside when Evan walked in from the patio. , wait, let me help you with—”
’m fine, stay there,” she called, keeping her face averted, but she couldn’t stop her shoulders from jerking.
the hell—?” His hands locked on her arms, turning her around. He took one look at her tormented face and pulled her against his chest. ’s wrong, honey?”
d-don’t be n-nice to me; I was l-leaving you for him, and he’s gone.”
’t worry,” he said drily. don’t feel like being very nice to you right now. Why don’t I take you home?”
Kate nodded, too choked up to speak. have to pick up Max.”
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MAX BOUNDED ONTOthe floor of the taxi’s backseat and Kate scooted over into the center. Evan went around to the passenger side and opened the back door. is going to be a tight fit,” he said, wedging himself in beside her. Once he was inside, his left thigh and leg were pressed against hers, and there was no room for his left arm, so he put it across the back of the seat behind her.