She waited a beat before answering. ‘Yes...’
He frowned so heavily his eyebrows met. ‘And you didn’t think to mention it to me?’
‘I wanted to make sure first.’
‘So you could do what? Announce it to the press? Post a tweet about it? Drop it on me to force me to keep our marriage going indefinitely?’
Angelique pushed past him. ‘That’s just so damn typical of you. You think everyone is going to do the dirty on you.’
‘Do you realise how insulting this is?’ He swung around to follow her. ‘Don’t you think I had the right to know you suspected you were carrying my child? This is something we should’ve been facing together. You had no right to keep that information to yourself.’
‘You seem pretty certain it’s your child,’ Angelique said. ‘ How do you know I wasn’t trying to foist another man’s baby on you? You should watch your back, Remy. You think you’re so smart, but I could have tricked you and you wouldn’t have suspected a thing.’
‘I don’t believe you would sink to that level. You like to act streetwise and tough but that’s not who you really are. Your father might be a double-crossing cheat but you’re not cut from the same cloth.’
‘You don’t know me.’
‘I know you can’t wait to get out of this marriage.’ His jaw was locked tight with tension. ‘Well, guess what? You got your wish. I’m releasing you. You’re free to go as of now. I won’t have anyone tell me I’m exploiting you by sleeping with you or getting you pregnant against your will, or keeping your precious castle just for kicks. Just go. Leave. Tarrantloch is yours. I’ll send you the deeds.’
Angelique had dreamed of this moment, the moment when she would have Tarrantloch back in her possession. Why then did she feel like she was losing something even more valuable? ‘You want me to leave?’
‘That’s what you want, isn’t it?’
Here is your chance.
Tell him what you want.
But the words were stuck behind a wall of pride. What if she told him she loved him and wanted to stay with him for ever? He had never given any sign of being in love with her. Lust was his language. She had made it her own. If he loved her, wouldn’t he have said so?
‘Yes.’ The word felt like a dry stone in her mouth. ‘That’s what I want.’
‘Fine.’ He let out a breath that sounded horribly, distressingly like relief. ‘I won’t make any announcements to the press until after Christmas. I don’t want to compromise your modelling contract.’
That was the least of Angelique’s worries. She was already trying to think of a way out of it. ‘Thank you.’ She pressed her lips together as she gathered up her bag.
She would not cry. She would not beg him to let her stay. She would not tell him she loved him only to have him mock her. ‘Will you say goodbye to the others for me? I don’t want to create a scene.’
He gave a rough-sounding laugh. ‘What? No big dramatic exit? You surprise me. That’s not the Angelique Marchand I know.’
Angelique turned at the door and gave him a glacial look. ‘Then perhaps you don’t know me as well as you thought.’
As exit lines went, it was a good one. The only trouble was she could barely see where she was going for the tears that blurred her vision.
But she resolutely blinked them back and walked out of the villa and out of Remy’s life without anyone stopping her.
And she wouldn’t be coming back.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
‘BUT YOU CAN’T possibly spend Christmas on your own!’ Poppy said. ‘Rafe, darling, will you tell your impossibly stubborn brother he’s got to be with us? He won’t listen to me.’ Her bottom lip quivered as tears shimmered in her eyes. ‘I can’t bear the thought of anyone spending Christmas all alone.’
‘It’s nothing to get upset about,’ Remy said, feeling like a heel for triggering Poppy’s meltdown. ‘I just don’t feel like socialising, that’s all.’
Rafe put his arm around Poppy and drew her close. ‘Poppy’s feeling a bit emotional just now, aren’t you, ma petite?’
‘I think we should tell him,’ Poppy said with a little sniff.
‘Tell me what?’ Remy said, looking between the two of them.
‘We’re having a baby,’ Rafe said with a proud smile. ‘We found out a few weeks ago but didn’t want to overshadow Raoul and Lily’s wedding. We were going to wait until they got back from their honeymoon to announce it at Christmas.’
Remy’s smile pulled on the tight ache in his chest that had been there since he had set Angelique free. ‘Congratulations. I’m happy for you. That’s great news.’ He even managed a short laugh. ‘How about that? I’m going to be an uncle.’