‘David, don’t listen to him,’ Caitlin begged.
But he had been listening. She could see him weighing what Crawley had said against all that had happened today, and the balance against her was growing in his mind.
‘He’s deliberately making trouble between us. Can’t you see that?’ she appealed.
‘You didn’t want me to meet with the German delegation,’ David said flatly. ‘You tried to stop me.’
‘I wasn’t thinking of them. I was thinking of us.’
‘You were thinking of yourself, Caitlin. Was the decision made when I walked out on you?’
A chill ran down her spine. She was losing him. She tried desperately to reach across the gap that was yawning between them. ‘David, don’t do this. Don’t let him poison what we have together. What we share...’
It was a mistake.
A cold mask of pride fell over his face.
‘We share nothing.’ He raked a scathing look over her body, then met her eyes with blazing contempt. ‘I won’t be tempted again.’ He took her car keys out of his trouser pocket and tossed them to her. ‘Get Crawley to drive you out to your car. Goodbye, Caitlin.’
It was only a couple of steps to the front door. David was there and gone before Caitlin could utter another word. The urge to run after him impelled her feet forward. She reached the door, grasped the handle, then realised any further plea was futile.
David had closed his ears to her, closed his heart to her. She had nothing new to say, nothing that might open his mind. If she threw herself upon him physically, he would cast her off. The desire she had so deliberately aroused this morning now damned her.
She heard the Ferrari growl, then roar into motion.
She leaned her head against the closed door and fought the wave of weakness that hollowed out her stomach and turned her knees to water. Crawley was behind her, watching her...Crawley, who had manipulated a scenario that smacked of conspiracy and betrayal...Crawley, who was undoubtedly gloating over the success of his machinations.
Caitlin stiffened her spine. She would not crumple into a heap of distress and despair. Not in front of Crawley. He had to be the lowest, meanest and vilest person in the human race. He also had to be faced. She had to challenge his lies. If she could draw something tangible from him, something she could take to David to prove her innocence, there was a chance that David might listen. Whatever happened, she would not crack.
She turned, standing right in front of the door to block Crawley’s ready exit. He was watching her, a self-satisfied smirk on his face. Caitlin abhorred physical violence, but she felt such a surge of hatred for Crawley that she barely quelled the impulse to step forward and slap the evil smugness from his face.
Almost instantly she realised he would like that. His dark, greedy eyes were feasting on the effect he was having on her, enjoying his power to stir responses that weakened his opponent while he remained in control. Caitlin fiercely determined he would get no more sadistic satisfaction from her.
‘Why?’ she asked. ‘What gain is there in this for you?’
He laughed. ‘Anything that hurts Hartley is a gain for me. The more I mess up his mind, the better. Tonight I hit a bonanza. I got the jackpot.’
The relish in his voice was sickening. Caitlin eyed him with contempt. ‘You have a strange idea of a bonanza.’
‘Not at all. I knew Hartley was laying you. I wish him joy in living off the memory.’ His eyes flicked lecherously over her curves. ‘But for Hartley to actually be emotionally involved...that I didn’t expect. Nice, gut-gnawing stuff.’
David was right. Crawley was a piece of slime.
He laughed again. ‘My Valentine’s Day investment really paid off. Hartley must have burned at the thought of you having another lover. Wish I could have been a fly on the wall when he blew up about it.’
‘He didn’t blow up.’
He wagged a finger at her. ‘Don’t try to deceive me, Caitlin. You didn’t resign for nothing. I know more about you than you know yourself.’
‘How do you know I resigned?’ she asked sharply.
‘I know everything.’
‘How did you get here?’
‘I just walked in. I met an eminently bedworthy blonde who asked me to stay when I told her that I’d come about David Hartley.’
Michelle! She’d probably been hovering in the foyer to see what resulted from Daddy’s talk! Another violent urge hit Caitlin. The thought of wringing her sister’s neck hovered in her mind. No doubt Michelle had self-righteously decided that Caitlin should get her come-uppance for playing fast and loose with two men.