Her jaw dropped and a stab of shock wiped out any idea she might have had of telling him exactly why she’d been so distracted. ‘What would I get out of it?’
‘I don’t know. Money?’
‘I have plenty,’ she said. ‘And I didn’t do this deliberately.’
He shoved his hands through his hair and narrowed his eyes. ‘No, I wouldn’t have imagined you would, because you’re not stupid and, forgive me if I’ve got it wrong, but don’t we have an agreement?’
Zoe blanched and her mouth went dry. ‘What do you mean?’
‘The confidentiality agreement you signed. You’ve breached practically every word of it.’
‘What do you plan to do about it?’ she said, horror now filling every cell of her body because if he sued, she could lose everything; Lily could lose everything.
‘I’ll let you know.’
She took a step towards him and felt the panic escalate when he took one back. ‘Look, Dan,’ she said desperately. ‘I’m sorry I made a mistake. More than you can possibly know. If there’s anything I can do to make things better I’ll do it. I’ll apologise to Natalie. I’ll talk to your mother. Your aunts. Whatever it takes.’
Dan just stared at her, a look of stunned incredulity on his face. ‘Do you really think I’d want you going around like the loose cannon you are making things worse?’
‘Then what can I do?’
‘Nothing.’
And then it struck her that she had really screwed up. ‘So is this it?’ she asked, hardly able to believe that they were over.
‘I think so, don’t you?’ he said flatly.
‘You really won’t forgive me?’
‘I don’t know that I can.’ Dan shot her a look that was so bleak, so horribly cold and resigned that her heart twisted in pain. ‘Oh, what the hell does it matter anyway? I knew you’d let me down in the end.’
Zoe went still. Hang on a minute. Wasn’t he even going to try and fight for this? Had she got it so badly wrong? Didn’t he feel the same way about her as she did about him? She’d been so sure he did. ‘What?’
‘You said you wouldn’t let me down, but you have.’
‘I know. And I’m sorry.’
‘What’s the point of being sorry when we both know that at some point in the future you’d do it again?’
‘Not intentionally.’
‘But you would.’
‘Well, I can’t guarantee that I won’t, because I’m only human.’ And actually that was a point, wasn’t it? ‘I’m not perfect, Dan, and nor are you.’
‘I know I’m not, but I thought you were.’
Huh? She stared at him in astonishment. Did he really think that? No, he couldn’t. Not when she was about as far from perfect as it was possible to be. ‘Wait a moment,’ she said, as it occurred to her that they might have been here before and she filled with an icy sort of numbness at the thought that it could be happening again. ‘You’ve been waiting for this to happen, haven’t you?’
His head snapped up and his gaze locked with hers. ‘What?’
‘You’ve been waiting for me to slip up.’
He frowned. ‘Why would I do that?’
‘I don’t know. You tell me.’
‘You seem to have all the answers.’