‘Even my own father quite happily gave up our home at your instigation, and I, poor fool, was so ashamed, so confused. I let you all get away with it. But not any more. I’m finished with the lot of you.’ It was true; she had had more than she could stand of lies and deceit. ‘From now on it’s going to be just me and my child, and the rest of you can go to hell!’
‘Josie, stop. Do
n’t get upset.’ With his own temper firmly under control, Conan was trying to calm her down. ‘You’ll make yourself ill again.’
‘And that would suit you just fine, because then you could lie to me some more, play the caring husband!’ she raged.
‘You’re being ridiculous. I would never intentionally hurt you, you must know that!’ he reasoned, once again reaching out to her.
She stepped back. ‘I suppose pretending you and I had a normal marriage, when you knew I would find out the truth eventually, wasn’t designed to hurt me,’ she scoffed. ‘Pretending to be the father of my child!’
Her last comment finally cracked his iron control. ‘No, damn it. I never told you the truth.’ He caught her arm and held her, his dark eyes blazing down into hers. ‘But can you blame me? Before your accident you had cut me out of your life and, God help me, I wanted you. I love you. You must know I do!’ He swore in exasperation.
Josie laughed in his face. Yesterday she would have exulted in his declaration of love, but today she knew better.
‘No. The only thing you ever loved was the Beeches estate.’ She stood only inches away from him, her body quivering with righteous indignation. ‘Please don’t insult my intelligence any further.’ She watched a myriad of emotions flicker and fade in his eyes: anger, passion, humiliation. No, nothing could humiliate Conan; he was far too arrogantly male, overwhelmingly male. She must have imagined it, she thought dryly as his lips twisted in a cynical smile.
‘You never believed me before your amnesia; why should I expect you to believe me now? But it was worth a try,’ he drawled, and, letting go of her arm, he added, ‘Go to bed; you look shattered. I’ll sleep in the guest room, and we can discuss our future arrangements in the morning.’
Josie should have felt elated; she had won the argument. Conan was gone, and she was left with the anguish of her thoughts. She cringed with humiliation when she thought of the way she had abandoned herself to his lovemaking, and all the time he had been using her while waiting for Angela to return. Never again, she vowed silently. She would never forgive his betrayal.
CHAPTER TEN
SHE opened her eyes. Conan was standing by the bed, wearing only a navy blue towelling robe and holding a tray with a pot of tea and some toast on it. A smile parted her lips. ‘For me?’ Then she remembered.
‘Get out of my room!’ she snapped, sitting up in bed and eyeing Conan with disgust.
‘No.’ His gaze narrowed angrily on her mutinous face. ‘You and I need to talk.’
‘I have nothing to say to you, and I intend to leave here as soon as possible.’
‘No, you’re not. In the eyes of the world, we are a married couple expecting a baby, and that’s the way it’s going to stay.’
‘Says who?’ she taunted. ‘The lying swine who pretended to be the father of my child, my lover?’ It incensed her anew to think how he had tricked her.
‘There was no pretence in our lovemaking; you enjoyed it as much as I did, and I never lied to you. I might have been economical with the truth, but I never lied.’
‘You’re unbelievable,’ she fumed. ‘I asked you straight out, if you were the only man I’d known, and you said yes.’
‘Cast your mind back, Josie. I said you were a virgin when we first met, and you were. As I discovered the second time we met, when I found you in my bed,’ Conan drawled sardonically.
Josie went red, then white at his reminder. ‘Sophistry is obviously your strong point.’
‘Maybe, but I’m not about to discuss my character with you.’ He was furious and it showed in his eyes as they raked over her pale features. ‘All you need to remember is you are my wife, and you will behave as such. Hopefully, when you get over your childish resentment at what you see as my deceiving you, you will realise it’s the best for everyone concerned. Until then we’ll carry on as before.’
‘No way!’ Josie exclaimed. ‘You are not sharing my bed, ever again. I’ll sleep in the street before I’ll let you touch me.’
‘And this from the woman who declared I was her soul mate.’ His mouth curled cynically. ‘Don’t worry, Josie, you have nothing to fear from me; my only intention is to fulfil my side of the bargain and look after you and the baby. And if you use your head for a moment instead of your hormones you’ll realise you have to stay here with me. You have nowhere else to go,’ he ended scathingly, and walked out.
He was right in one respect. She did not have anywhere else to live. Josie faced up to the truth, and the last of her illusions vanished. She was heavily pregnant, her father, who might have helped her, was halfway around the world, and Conan was powerful and determined enough to make her stay, whether she wanted to or not...
The weeks dragged past. Josie avoided Conan as much as she could, but he insisted on accompanying her to the doctor, and sat there displaying all the concerns of an expectant father, much to Josie’s chagrin. They were coolly polite over dinner every evening, the only meal they shared. Josie spent most of her time reading in her bedroom. Pamela and Belinda called and they went shopping a couple of times, but basically Josie was trapped in Conan’s home.
When she looked at Conan, tall and handsome, and aloof, she tormented herself with thoughts of him in bed with Angela, and then lashed out at him with scathing insults on his character, or lack of it. Her anger only intensified when he took all her snide remarks without comment.
Easter came and went, and with the arrival of the warmer weather Josie’s frustration grew, as did her stomach. She felt like a duck waddling around.
Over dinner one night her frustration boiled over. ‘I want to go to Beeches,’ she declared. ‘The renovations must be finished by now.’