‘Good,’ he said, his eyes dipping to her mouth briefly before returning to hers. ‘As long as we both know how things stand.’
‘I understand you hate me,’ Keira said. ‘You’ve made it pretty clear.’
A hard glitter came into his eyes as they clashed with hers. ‘Do I not have the right to hate you, Keira?’ he asked. ‘You destroyed our marriage by sleeping with another man.’
Keira closed her eyes tight, unable to look at the fury in his black-brown gaze.
His hands gripped her upper arms. ‘Look at me, damn you!’
Her eyes sprang open, tears burning as she encountered the bitterness reflected in his gaze. ‘I’m s-sorry…’ she whispered brokenly. ‘I’m so sorry…’
He dropped his hands and let out a muttered curse. ‘I suppose you are going to spin me that worn-out excuse that you had too much to drink and did not know what you were doing,’ he said.
‘I wasn’t drinking…’ she said, unable to meet the burning accusation in his eyes. ‘Or at least no more than half a glass…but it’s true that I don’t really remember much about that night…apart from the argument we had and…and going to Garth’s place…’
‘Where you opened your legs for him like the filthy little slut you are,’ he ground out savagely, his black brows meeting over his eyes.
Keira felt her shame scorch her from head to foot. If she hadn’t woken up naked in Garth’s bed the next morning, she would never have believed herself capable of such reckless behaviour. But, even worse, she hadn’t just betrayed her husband, but the one friend who had stood by her for most of her childhood.
‘Did he make you sob with ecstasy, Keira?’ he asked. ‘Did he make you beg for release the way you begged for it with me? Did he?’
She put her hands over her ears. ‘Don’t. Please. I can’t bear it!’
He pulled her hands down, his fingers biting into her wrists. ‘Did you put him in your mouth like you did to me? Did you—’
Keira felt herself begin to sway on her feet, her face draining of colour as the room began to spin uncontrollably. She tried to focus on his embittered words but they faded away as if he were speaking to her through a very long and fog-filled tunnel. She tried to get her voice to work but her throat felt as if someone had lodged something hard halfway down. She felt her body begin to slump against his, her extremities tingling as if every drop of her blood had completely drained out of her.
‘Keira?’
She opened her eyes at the gruff urgency of his tone but had to close them again as the black abyss inexorably beckoned…
CHAPTER THREE
KEIRA woke to find herself lying in Patrizio’s bed, the covers lightly over her, the bedside lamp casting an incandescent glow over the room.
‘How are you feeling?’ he asked from the chair beside the bed.
She turned her head on the pillow and met his dark concerned gaze. ‘I…I’m fine…I think…’
‘You fainted,’ he said somewhat unnecessarily.
‘Yes…’
‘Has that happened before?’ he asked.
‘A couple of times…’ she answered, putting a hand up to brush her hair out of her face. ‘I had the flu a few weeks ago…I haven’t fully recovered.’
‘When did you last eat?’
‘I don’t remember…last night, I think.’
He swore and got to his feet. ‘How long has this being going on?’ he asked.
‘I don’t see why you should be concerned,’ she said with a glittering look. ‘You hate me, remember? Why should you care whether I eat or not?’
‘I am concerned, as anyone would be, when the person one is speaking with suddenly drops in a dead faint before them,’ he responded. ‘It is disconcerting, to say the least.’
‘Then maybe you shouldn’t speak to them so aggressively,’ she countered.