Heart heaving, she found her suitcase and began to fill it, barely registering what she was putting in, her arms and hands acting by themselves. Finally it was done. But as she fumbled with the zip, the air seemed to ripple around her and there was a sudden shift in the light. Looking up, she felt her throat close over tightly.
Rollo was blocking the doorway. The same doorway where he’d stood just a few hours earlier, when she’d tried to read his mood. Only this time she didn’t need to try. His mood was unmistakable. He was utterly, shatteringly furious.
‘Y-you’re back,’ she stammered, her stomach plummeting beneath his blank-eyed hostility. ‘I wasn’t expecting you.’
Rollo gritted his teeth, his gaze shifting from her face to the suitcase lying on the bed, and suddenly his whole body tightened and he was breathing too fast.
Packing her bags had been one of his mother’s favourite tricks too.
Only for show though. He knew that because when she finally had left for real she’d taken no suitcase. She hadn’t needed one. Of course she’d taken what mattered. But she’d left everything else behind.
Including her son.
And the note justifying her actions.
He felt sick. Anger and pain sliced through him but, pushing down his nausea, he met Daisy’s gaze, his eyes narrowing with contempt.
‘Clearly.’
‘I didn’t mean—’
‘Save it. I know what you meant. And even if I didn’t, the suitcase is a bit of a giveaway.’
‘I—I wasn’t running away. I was waiting. For you.’
‘Of course.’ His lip curled into a sneer. ‘You’re an actress. Your USP is making an entrance and an exit. But it works best with an audience.’
Rage was pounding inside his head.
He’d actually started to think she might be different. That maybe he’d misjudged her. Only he’d been wrong. Not just wrong, but obtuse. Forgetting all the lessons he’d learned from childhood, he’d let himself be fooled by Daisy’s beauty and sexual allure.
Only he wasn’t a little boy any more. He was a man—the owner of a global property company worth billions, who’d worked hard to build his business. Harder still
to keep his life free of the sort of emotional tension and uncertainty he hated.
Which was why he’d brought their engagement forward.
It had been a unilateral decision, and as such a clear reminder to Daisy that he was in charge. And, of course, the first solid proof he could give Dunmore that he was a changed man—a man in love and committed to one woman.
Deep down though, what really mattered—what he had needed to know, to see and feel for himself—was that Daisy could be open and honest. When she’d finally not only admitted her desire but responded so feverishly to his touch it had been the assurance he’d needed to accelerate their relationship.
Only watching her open the ring box, he’d found himself in the extraordinary position of feeling nervous about how she would react. Worse, in the limousine she’d lied again, and he’d felt the same shifting unease, the same devastating, unbearable insecurity that had blighted his childhood.
And now she’d packed her bags.
His gaze shifted to her face, eyes hardening.
‘I’d like to say I’m surprised or disappointed. But, given your character, it’s all quite tragically predictable.’
Daisy flinched inwardly at his words but she forced her eyes up to meet his. ‘You can insult me all you like. I don’t care. I only stayed to tell you that I’m going to see David, so if you could—’
He cut across her.
‘How thoughtful. The caring sister. He will be pleased.’
Meeting his cool, expressionless gaze, she felt misery clutch low at her stomach. So this was how it was going to be. He was going to play with her, punish her as he’d wanted to do right from the start—before he’d decided she was more use to him as a ‘wife.’
‘I know you’re angry, Rollo, but this isn’t all about you. Or us.’