'I'm afraid that won't be possible.' Nick said without the least sign of regret as he finished his grapefruit and put d own the spoon. 'I'd have to evict the Thurstons, and they wouldn't be happy about it.'
Cally frowned. 'The Thurstons?'
'The couple who work for me.' He chose a croissant from the dish.
'What happened to Mrs Bridges?' She was astounded. Sir Ranald's housekeeper had been there for years— almost part of the fabric of the building.
His mouth quirked in faint amusement. 'She preferred to follow Adele into exile. But the Thurstons are a terrific find. You'll like them.'
'I doubt that.' Mutinously, she returned her cup to the trey.
"Then at least try not to show your dislike too obviously,' he said silkily. 'Save it for me instead, or I'll have to raise their salaries.' He paused. 'Are you going to eat something?'
'I'm not hungry.'
His brows lifted. 'Planning to starve yourself into an early grave? Or simply become anorexic?'
'Neither,' she said curtly. 'I'm not a breakfast person.'
'I stand corrected.' This time the glance he sent her was openly amused. 'But maybe you should change your ways , darling. After all, you need to keep your strength up.'
'I imagine I'm strong enough for your purposes.' Cally lifted her chin.
'Ouch,' Nick said with perfect amiability, and went on eating his croissant.
Oh, God, he was so pleased with himself— so enjoying his triumph, thought Cally, her hands clenching in the folds of her skirt.
She took a deep breath. 'If it can't be the flat, then maybe there's somewhere else I can have. For a while. Somewhere of my own. Some space.' She swallowed. 'One room would do.'
'You'll have the whole house,' he said. 'During the day, at least. The nights, of course, will be a different matter.' He got to his feet, dusting his fingers briskly with his napkin, then dropping it on to the trolley. 'And now it's time w
Cally rose too. She said bitterly, 'You're not prepared to make any concessions, are you?"
Nick picked up his jacket. He said quietly, ‘I gave you last night. But today our marriage begins." He paused. "So shall we go down to Gunners Wharf with the good news? I'D let you break it to them, darling. Credit where credit is due, after all.'
Her stormy gaze met the icy mockery in his.
She said, quietly but clearly, 'Damn you to hell, Nick Tempest.' Then, head high, she walked back into the bedroom to get her bag.
CHAPTER FOUR
'You look so different,' Kit said. 'I've never seen you in anything but black, white and grey. Now suddenly you're in Technicolor.' He surveyed her moodily. 'You look—amazing. But I feel as if I've never known you at all.'#p#分页标题#e#
Cally stifled a sigh. 'I didn't intend that you should,' she said quietly. 'Because I wasn't planning to stay. And I'm just here to clear my desk,' she added. 'Not part bad friends.'
'And I had no idea your name was Caroline until Tempest said it,’ he went on, as if she hadn't spoken. 'Why did you call yourself Cally?'
She shrugged defensively. 'When I was learning to talk, that was all of Caroline I could manage. It—stuck.'
He shook his head. 'No wonder I never stood a chance. He's a rich man, isn't he? A multimillionaire.' There was a note of self-pity in his voice that jarred on her. 'And you've let him buy you.'
Have I? Cally thought. Then, if so, why am I paying the price?
Aloud, she said wearily, 'Kit—let's not over-dramatise the situation. I'm going back to my husband—that's all. It was bound to happen sooner or later.' At least that's what I have to believe. She paused. 'And please remember I offered you nothing.'
'No,' Kit said bitterly. 'I'm not likely to forget that.'
Cally slammed the empty drawer shut. 'Also, you seem to be overlooking the fact that Gunners Terrace is alive and well,' she said crisply. 'We just happen to have won a famous victory, and Leila, Tracy and the others are jumping for joy out there. You should be over the moon for them too, joining in the celebrations.'
'Well, perhaps I'm not in a celebratory mood,' he snapped back, just as Nick appeared in the doorway, glancing expressionlessly between Kit's wrathful flush and Cally's taut self-containment.
'Finished up here, darling?' he asked pleasantly. 'Because it's time we were leaving.' He walked over to her, sliding an arm round her body, his hand resting on the curve of her slender hip in a gesture of total possession.
Cally saw Kit register the gesture, then turn away sullenly.
'Yes,' she said. 'I'm—ready.'
There hadn't been much to collect. A few pens, a picture one of the children had painted for her, and a paperweight that Mrs Hartley had given her when Cally had inadvertently revealed it was her birthday the previous day. It was a lovely thing, in shades of azure and emerald flecked with gold, like a dive into a sunlit tropical sea, and she could not have left it behind. She'd brought nothing at all from the flat, which would be cleared out by the landlord—whose protests Nick had silenced with a month's rent in lieu of notice.