One Night with His Wife(32)

‘You were brilliant, absolutely brilliant,’ she assured him softly, her eyes full of warmth.

‘Non…I was lousy this time around, but next time I’ll be better.’

A lot of other men would have been in a bad mood after more than five hours of childcare, and most rich men would have suggested that perhaps leaving Bertille behind had been a major mistake. But Luc wanted to be a hands-on father, not a distant one, and she was impressed that he wanted to rise to that challenge when he didn’t have to.

While Luc was in the shower, Star started getting dressed. Her mobile phone buzzed. Realising it might be her mother calling, she lunged for it like a maniac.

‘Star?’ Juno gasped.

‘Yes, it’s me. Where on—?’

‘I am so sorry that you’ve been forced to go back to Luc. This is all my fault. I feel so dreadful, but, darling, you don’t need to stand one more day of that womanising rat! I’m coming to rescue you…OK?’

‘I don’t want to be rescued, Mum.’

‘But—’

‘I still love Luc, and we’re together again, and you really must stop talking like he’s Public Enemy Number One just because he’s Roland Sarrazin’s son,’ Star spelled out steadily. ‘And that wedding night stuff? I was wrong. He wasn’t with Gabrielle.’

‘Surely you don’t believe that, just on his say so? It’s a good thing I’m flying into France this afternoon!’

Star stiffened in dismay, feeling that the last thing her marriage required right now was her mother’s enervating presence, and then feeling instantly guilty at even thinking that. ‘But we’re not at Chateau Fontaine. Luc and I are on our honeymoon, and although I very much want to see you, and hear your side of what happened with that loan Emilie gave you—’

‘Star…I’ve already sent Emilie a cheque in full repayment of that loan.’

‘How on earth have you managed to do that?’ Star asked weakly. ‘Have you borrowed the money from someone—?’

‘When will you be back from this honeymoon?’ her mother cut in impatiently.

‘In two weeks.’

‘Well, if you’re prepared to wait another two weeks to meet my new husband, I expect I can wait another two weeks to meet my son-in-law again…Luc’s got more lives than a cat with you, hasn’t he?’

‘Mum…did you say what I think you just said?’

‘You’re just going to have to wait for the exciting details,’ Juno pointed out with satisfaction. ‘But I can tell you that I am blissfully happy. So I’ll see you in a fortnight and you can meet Bruno then too. Bye, darling!’

Star sank down on the bed in shock while the twins crawled round her feet.

She was still staring into space when Luc emerged from the bathroom, just a towel between him and six foot three inches of immodest but gorgeous display. But for once Star had something to deflect her attention from his devastating presence, and couldn’t even raise a smile when at first glimpse of Venus and Mars Luc yanked up a dressing robe and hurriedly pulled it round him.

‘What’s wrong?’ Luc demanded the instant he saw her face.

‘Mum phoned. She’s gone off and got married to some guy she could only have known about two weeks.’ Star gazed at Luc in weary apology, her eyes anxious. ‘Well, you know it’s sure to end in tears.’

Star went on to add that Juno had sent Emilie a cheque in full repayment of the loan.

‘This new husband has money…either that or he’s parted with his life savings. Not much we can do about this in the short term. Stop being such a pessimist!’ His lean, dark features concerned, Luc tugged her up into his arms. ‘Why should it be a disaster?’

Star sighed ruefully and rested her troubled brow against his warm bare chest. The tenderness of her mother’s too often broken heart did not bear thinking of. ‘Luc, you know as well as I do that maybe one man in a thousand could stand Juno’s fits and starts…and to get married so quickly she must’ve fallen head over heels, and she’ll be devastated if this Bruno character lets her down—’

‘Bruno…and Juno?’ Luc strung the two names together and a slight shudder rippled through his powerful frame. ‘Seriously?’

‘He sounds like a big thug.’

‘Mon ange…’ Luc pushed up her chin, dark eyes bold and level. ‘Whatever happens, we will both support her. It’s just a little unfortunate that she hates the sight of me.’

‘Mostly because she too thinks you went off to Gabrielle on our wedding night,’ Star admitted reluctantly.

Luc dealt her a riveted glance.

‘And Emilie thinks that too, which is the only reason why she agreed not to tell you about Venus and Mars being born,’ Star added in a craven undertone. ‘Now I don’t have a single secret left that you don’t know about…isn’t that good?’

Luc had the appearance of a male being torn in two different directions. Between strangling her fast and strangling her slowly. Then a muscle jerked at the corner of his hard, compressed mouth and suddenly he gave vent to a grudging groan of grim appreciation.

‘You vented your grief liberally…every where with every possible person?’

She nodded apologetically. ‘Talking helped.’

‘But from now on you have to be discreet…you only allow your feelings to overflow in my direction.’

‘Of course,’ Star hastened to assure him, very grateful to have got over that last embarrassing revelation without an explosion.

‘You talk to me about personal things. Only me,’ he stressed.

‘I get the message,’ she swore. ‘I’ll try—’

‘Trying isn’t good enough. J’insiste,’ Luc laid down with awesome authority.



‘How much do you know about your real father?’ Luc enquired casually that evening as they strolled back to the car after dining at a quayside restaurant in Calvi.

Star glanced up at him in surprise. ‘Not much, but he really broke Mum’s heart. Even eighteen months ago, when I finally got the chance to ask about him, she dissolved into floods of tears. She met him when she was working as a chalet girl in Gstaad. She was only nineteen. He asked her to marry him while neglecting to admit that he was already engaged,’ she shared with a grimace. ‘Then his fiancée turned up and Juno fled back to London without ever seeing him again.’

‘What was his name?’ Luc drawled lazily.

‘I never asked…it didn’t seem important, not when talking about him was upsetting her so much. He really did mess up her life.’ Star sighed. ‘Mum was brought up by her grandparents, and when they died she inherited nearly half a million pounds—’

‘I never knew that.’ Luc lifted her up into the four-wheel drive as if she couldn’t possibly manage to clamber up on that big step all on her own. But Star was smiling, revelling in the manner in which Luc had been treating her since their first night in Corsica. As if she was spun glass, and so precious. She just loved it.

‘Why should you have done? Phillipe had gambled away the lot by the time I was three years old. Mum only married him because she was pregnant with me, and I expect he was tempted by her inheritance.’

‘I’m starting to see why Emilie believes your mother has had more than her fair share of bad luck.’

Delighted by that new tolerance, Star gave him a glowing smile in reward.



Two weeks later, Star lay in Luc’s arms at dawn.

She was wide awake. They were flying home in a few hours. Wherever Luc was would be home, she acknowledged with complete contentment. Corsica was where they had grown closer than she had ever dreamt possible. It was a gorgeous island, full of spectacular scenery and forests and picturesque villages. This villa would always be a very special place for them.

Deciding to surprise him with breakfast in bed, she eased out of Luc’s embrace. She watched his hand move across the bed, as if he was seeking her, as if he could feel her absence even when he was asleep. He would sleep late. He deserved to, she conceded with a grin, admiring the long sweep of his golden back in the soft light filtering through the curtains. He was a wonderful lover, a fabulous father, and shaping up really well as a soulmate. And last night he had spoken heresy…he was planning to cut his working hours and reorganise his schedule so that he travelled less.

Over dinner last night she had shared with him the details of the twins’ premature birth and the subsequent months of frantic worry and stress. He had been so shocked. He honestly hadn’t realised how at risk Venus and Mars had once been. He wished very much that he had been there to support them all, but he didn’t blame her for not contacting him. He accepted that what he had said the morning after their son and daughter’s conception had convinced Star that he really wouldn’t want to know that he was a father.

I love him, I love him, I love him, Star reflected as she thought of that generous understanding and acceptance which had so relieved her. Perhaps tonight she would tell him that she loved him again. While she waited for the kettle in the kitchen, she lifted a glossy magazine which the maid must have been skimming through the evening before. On the front page she saw Luc’s distinctive script. A note he had jotted down? Naturally nosy, she turned it upside down to read what he had written. A name and a date. A name that still had the power to drain Star of oxygen and turn her pale.