‘Seeing my husband,’ Milly fired back as she stepped out of the lift. ‘Or was that not part of your terms?’
‘The terms are moot,’ Alex returned evenly. ‘Considering our marriage is about to be annulled.’
‘Yes, about that. Does annulment count the same as divorce?’
‘What?’ Alex looked nonplussed as Milly strolled into his office, trying to hide how she trembled. Where had she got this courage? And what was she going to do with it? ‘What does that matter?’
‘Because the prenuptial contract stated that you owe me another five million euros if you divorce me.’
Alex closed the door behind him, looking incredulous. ‘Is that why you came here? To demand more money?’
‘No,’ Milly cried with ragged emphasis. ‘I came here for a straight answer, Alex. How do you think it feels, to have your husband walk out of your wedding night and then disappear for three weeks? And then the next communication is that he is intending to annul your marriage?’ Tears started in her eyes but she blinked them back furiously, determined to stay strong. ‘How could you be so cruel?’
‘Cruel?’ If anything her husband looked even more incredulous. ‘I wasn’t being cruel, Milly. I was being kind.’
She let out a harsh laugh, just as disbelieving as he was. ‘Then you have a very twisted idea of kindness. Do you know how awful I felt? How...how rejected?’ She sniffed, folding her arms and tilting her chin in a pointless effort to hide the worst of her pain.
Alex shook his head slowly. ‘Milly, if anyone felt...rejected...’ He took a swift breath. ‘Look, there’s no getting around the plain fact that our wedding night was a disaster. I tried to make it as—as endurable as possible, but I know you still found it difficult to...’ He blew out a breath, colour slashing his cheekbones, his scars mottled red. ‘To touch me. Or even look at me.’
Mi
lly stared at him in confusion. ‘What...?’
‘Come now, Milly, let’s not prevaricate. It was obvious.’ He strode to his desk and sat behind it, as if he could turn their fraught conversation into a business meeting, as usual. ‘I was trying to spare either of us any further discomfort. Marriage was a foolish choice for someone like me.’
Milly stepped closer to him, her mind racing with all he’d said—and hadn’t said. Could this really be about his scars?
‘Someone like you? Who is that, exactly?’
Impatiently Alex gestured to the scarred side of his face. ‘Do I have to spell it out for you?’
‘Yes, I actually think you do.’
His mouth compressed, his nostrils flaring. Milly forced herself to stare him down. ‘I disgusted you, Milly. That much was clear. I disgusted you so much you were sick.’ The words fell like lashes on her back, on her heart.
‘Alex, I was sick because I’d guzzled too much champagne.’
‘One glass—’
‘On an empty stomach, and far too many nerves. I was terrified, Alex. I was a virgin.’ Her voice wobbled. ‘You knew that, didn’t you?’
Colour slashed his high cheekbones. ‘Yes—’
‘And did you ever think that maybe that’s why I was scared, not because of some scars on your face?’ Fury boiled through her, surprising her with its force. ‘Could you stop thinking about yourself for one moment to think about how I felt? A virgin who had barely been kissed, on her wedding night with a man who was practically a stranger—’
‘A man who repulsed you—’
‘Oh, stop talking like that! I don’t care about your scars. And if you had bothered to pay attention, you would have realised I wasn’t repulsed at all. I desired you, you...you ninny!’
* * *
Alex stared at her in disbelief. Why was she pursuing this complete fabrication? ‘Your actions said otherwise, Milly.’
‘You’re not listening to me,’ Milly snapped. ‘I was a virgin. I was nervous. I drank too much champagne on an empty stomach. You didn’t even kiss me.’
Her words fell like hammer blows, shattering his illusions, and yet he still couldn’t believe it. ‘You didn’t want me to kiss you.’
‘How on earth do you know that?’ she demanded, looking entirely fed up. Still Alex couldn’t let it go.