He held her defiant glare. ‘This evening was an aberration,’ he said. ‘It is not unreasonable for ex-lovers to feel some residual attraction for each other. I think that now that we have dealt with it, it will go away.’
‘You used me like a whore.’
His top lip tilted insolently. ‘If that is how you behave, what else do you expect?’
She flung herself out of the car, slamming the door as hard as she could and stomping towards the house with short angry strides. ‘I am not going to put up with this,’ she said. ‘So I slept with another man? So what? That doesn’t make me a tramp.’
He caught her by the arm and turned her to face him. ‘You are exactly as my nephew described you,’ he bit out. ‘A filthy little slut who—’
Keira only realised she had slapped his face when she heard the sound of her palm connecting with his cheek. She stood in heart-thumping shock as the red imprint of her hand gradually spread across his lean jaw.
His fingers bit into her upper arms, his eyes blazing with a hatred so intense she felt scared that he might return the action and slap her back. She shrank away from him, wincing as she physically prepared herself, her eyes closing as she waited for it to happen.
Patrizio dropped his hold as if she had burned him, his voice coming out as a scratchy rasp. ‘You surely do not think I would retaliate in such a way, Keira?’
She couldn’t speak, choking sobs were filling her throat and she bent her head, hugging her arms across her chest.
He let out a vicious curse and gathered her to him, his arms encircling her. ‘I cannot believe you have such an appalling opinion of me,’ he said in a voice she could hardly recognise as his. ‘What sort of man do you think I am?’
She blubbered into his shirt front. ‘I wouldn’t blame you if you did. I hate myself.’
He gave her a little shake and, holding her from him, looked down at her. ‘Stop this nonsense right now, Keira. I would never lay a finger on you. You are safe with me. You do realise that, don’t you?’
Not safe enough, Keira thought as she looked into that dark fathomless gaze. Her bottom lip quivered uncontrollably as he held her, his body so close she could feel the warmth of it seeping into the cold loneliness of hers. ‘Yes…I do know that…’
‘You are overwrought and tired,’ he said, leading her towards the house. ‘I should have realised this evening would test your limits. Your brother knows you very well. It must have been hard to maintain the charade in front of him.’
She brushed at her eyes with the back of her hand and sniffed. ‘I hated lying to him like that,’ she said. ‘I feel so…so…tainted…’
Patrizio frowned as he reached past her to open the door. ‘I feel bad about lying to my nephew too, but what else can we do?’ he asked. ‘The headmaster is threatening to expel them both. We have to do whatever we can to get them through this final stage of school. If they fail their exams it will influence their career choices. Doors that close now will almost certainly close permanently.’
‘I know,’ she said, giving another little sniff.
He closed the door once they were inside and handed her his handkerchief. ‘Here,’ he said with a wry smile. ‘This might be better than your sleeve.’
Keira pressed her face into the lemon-scented folds of his handkerchief. ‘You must think me a total emotional wreck,’ she said once she’d dealt with her streaming eyes and nose. ‘Lately I seem to do nothing but cry.’
‘I think you are a bit like me. We are thrown a little off course by being forced to confront our past. It is an unusual situation, no?’
‘Yes,’ she said, releasing an unsteady breath. ‘Yes, it is…’
Patrizio carved a rough pathway through his hair with one of his hands. ‘I am ashamed of how Bruno spoke to you this evening. I know a lot of young men have one rule for themselves and another for the women in their lives, but I had no idea he had such double standards.’
‘Yes, well, I can see where he got his role model from,’ she responded before she could stop herself. ‘You have had numerous one-night stands but I have only had the one and it was with a close friend.’
‘You think that somehow makes it better, do you?’ he asked, his brows snapping together in anger. ‘That you opened your legs for a friend rather than a total stranger?’
She held his glittering gaze with an equanimity she was nowhere close to feeling. ‘So what if I did? It was one mistake. It probably only lasted three or four minutes, if that.’
‘So you are starting to remember that night, are you?’ he asked with a disdainful tilt to his mouth.
She had to drop her gaze from the accusing inferno of his. ‘No…I just think it’s a little unfair to judge me by different standards.’
‘I did not betray our marriage vows,’ he reminded her coldly. ‘That was you.’
Frustration and guilt made her voice rise to a shriek as she lifted her eyes to his once more. ‘I didn’t do it on purpose!’
His dark gaze stripped her of what little dignity she had left. ‘Yes, you did,’ he said with contempt burning in his eyes as they held hers. ‘You could have chosen no better way to destroy my love and respect for you than by giving yourself to another man whilst legally married to me.’