Angelo needed to protect her.
He swallowed a growl of fury and strode down the path, noting how secluded and private the garden seemed after the chatter of guests mere metres away.
If Branston laid a finger on Ally...
The thought died as he rounded a corner and found the pair strolling together in a small courtyard. Their heads were together as if whispering secrets. As he watched, Ally stopped and Branston moved closer and took her arm.
Fury at Branston exploded in Angelo’s belly.
The denotation sent shockwaves through his body, making his heart pound. What would he have found if he’d waited another twenty minutes to follow them?
He waited, breath severed, for her reaction. But, instead of pulling back, Ally leaned into the other man and Branston’s arms went around her, his head dipping towards hers.
This time it wasn’t an explosion radiating out from Angelo’s belly. It was a piercing stab of pain shearing from his throat, through his chest and right down to his feet, soldered to the ground.
Ally didn’t need saving. ShewantedBranston’s touch.
The revelation hit like a smack to the face.
Angelo felt his lungs collapse as the air inside rushed out on an exhalation of realisation and hurt.
How could he not have suspected?
How could he not haveknown?
Suddenly everything became clear.
Amazing that he hadn’t worked it out earlier.
From the first he’d understood his ex-wife would only come to the island because she expected to get something from it.
In his hubris, Angelo had assumed she was angling for a reconciliation. Then, over the last week, she’d convinced him that her amnesia was real and she was, at the moment at least, guileless and needing support.
How she’d played him.
Again.
Pain shot through his jaw and around his skull as he ground his teeth. To be gulled by a predatory woman once was a monumental blow. To be gulled twice...
It wasn’t Angelo she wanted. He’d just been a convenient tool in her latest scheme.
She’d come to the island because Branston had bought the estate adjoining Angelo’s. If there was one thing she’d always wanted as much as money it was the chance to become an actress.
Her performance this week really had been superb. She’d convinced Angelo, who of all men should have known better, that she was wounded and fragile. All the while she’d been waiting for a chance to connect with the top Hollywood director who had a reputation for taking unknowns and turning them into stars.
Angelo remembered her on the cliff path two days ago, eyes wide as she’d simpered up at Branston. She must have been waiting for an opportunity to meet him.
No wonder she’d been adamant about attending the party. Now her decision to wear a dress that left little to the imagination made sense.
Except Angelo refused to be a pawn in her plans. He strode across to the pair, gravel crunching underfoot. Even then Ally didn’t look up. She was too busy sinking against Branston as if she knew she only had seconds to make an impact.
‘Branston, you—’
‘Good thing you’re here,’ the other man said. ‘Ally’s not feeling well. I think she needs to go home.’
She does indeed, all the way to Australia. The sooner the better.
‘Angelo.’ Her voice had a husky throb that caught something in his chest. Except now he knew the emotion he heard was fake. Like that wide-eyed look of fragility.