Ally sat back. ‘Marriage isn’t a necessity between parents these days. Or am I wrong?’ Her brow twitched as if she grappled with the question. ‘What you’re talking about doesn’t sound like a recipe for a happy marriage.’
Angelo snorted. ‘You’re right there.’ But not for the reasons she implied. ‘Yet, far from having doubts about marriage, you jumped at the idea.’
He should have seen that as a warning and taken his time. Instead he’d been young and firmly focused on his duty to his unborn child. He’d been inspired by his own father, determined to be the sort of father his own had been.
Though he and Alexa didn’t love each other, he’d told himself they could work to create a nurturing family for their child. Having seen grief turn his mother into a shadow of herself, he’d even welcomed the fact that their marriage would be based on necessity rather than romantic attachment. He would love his child, that was enough.
He’d been conceited enough to believe he was in control of the situation, never doubting he was doing the right thing in offering marriage. Angelo shook off the thoughts. ‘We married quickly and privately but it didn’t last long. Within months I discovered it had been a lie. You weren’t pregnant.’
‘Iwhat?’
He shrugged, the movement tugging at the rigid muscles of his shoulders and neck. ‘There was no pregnancy. You’d faked it, and the so-called proof from the doctor.’
He, who’d thought himself awake to the ways of the world, had been sucked in by her lies. That had been a blow to his ego and more, he’d actually grieved the loss of a baby who’d never been real.
The news had shattered his self-belief. Already stressed by the challenge of proving himself professionally to a board and financial pundits waiting for him to fail, the realisation he’d been duped so completely, and about something so important, had made him question his judgement more than anything else could have.
Ally gaped at him, mouth working, and he realised he’d had enough. He had to end this quickly.
‘Your plan was to fake a miscarriage but you were found out. Rosetta suspected things weren’t what they seemed. When I confronted you and you realised you couldn’t get away with lying you admitted it. For a while you tried to pretend you’d lied because you were in love and desperate to be with me. But you weren’t convincing.’ He paused, watching his words sink in. ‘You wanted me for the money. The lifestyle. The husband who’d support you in style so you never had to work again.’
‘Maybe Iwasin love.’ She scowled at him. ‘Maybe you misjudged me and it was all a terrible mistake.’
Bitterness filled him. Angelo had experienced love with his family and knew what he’d shared with her was too shallow to deserve the name.
He looked into Ally’s apparently earnest eyes and felt himself wishing things could have been different. Thatthey’dbeen different. Not because she could ever be the sort of woman he could love, but because for so long he’d felt empty inside.
Maybe it was time to make changes in his life, forget casual affairs and search for something more satisfying. Because after all these years he finally admitted he wanted something more.
The truth that he’d avoided for years was that he’d run scared of meaningful relationships with a woman.
Angelo remembered his grief when his father had died and he’d witnessed grief almost destroy his mother. He’d shunned anything that might bring him such pain, like a relationship that might make him vulnerable because he cared too much. He’d stuck to shallow sexual relationships because it seemed safer.
The irony was that policy had led to his affair with Alexa. In a twist of fate, by holding himself back from the possibility of a real relationship, he’d fallen into the trap set by a woman who saw only his bank balance. She’d targeted him because he could give her a life of luxury and because of that the people he loved had suffered.
Because ofhiserror of judgement.
‘It wasn’t a mistake.’ His voice was gruff. ‘It was a calculated lie.’
She frowned. ‘Maybe I was trying to get your attention the only way I could. If I loved—’
‘Enough!’ He refused to let her bandy that word about. ‘Don’t try to rewrite history. You didn’t love me. You admitted it when I challenged you. In fact you seemed pleased at the way you’d fooled me.’
He’d been left feeling that, far from experiencing unrequited love, Alexa’s feelings towards him and men in general were much more negative.
Now he watched her stunning eyes grow wide. If this was an act, she was impressive.
‘So we divorced. You’ve never set foot in one of my homes since the day I discovered the truth about you, and that’s how I prefer it. We’ve had no contact since.’
CHAPTER SIX
ALLYSTAREDINthe bathroom mirror, trying to read something, anything, into the image she saw there.
But, like mirrors the world over, it gave no clue to her character. She saw an ordinary woman with hair that in today’s bright sunlight looked dark blonde instead of light brown. Her mouth was pinched and there were shadows under her eyes but those spoke of tiredness and stress, not personality.
The only noteworthy thing about her was the colour of her eyes. The vivid blue-purple colour of jacaranda blossom.
Yet even that unusual shade didn’t spark any insights.