said, taking a generous sip to settle her nerves. ‗Why didn‘t you put your
things in my bedroom as I asked you to?‘ he said. She gripped her wineglass
a little tighter. ‗You can‘t force me to occupy your bed. I need more time.
It‘s a big step for me.‘
‗Didn‘t you like the new decor?‘ he asked. ‗It looks like no expense has been
spared to rid your bedroom of every trace of my previous occupation of it,‘
Gisele said with a touch of asperity. His expression was unreadable as he
raised his glass to his lips. ‗I thought it was time for a change.‘ ‗Out with the old, in with the new?‘ she said with a cynical look. ‗Did all your subsequent
girlfriends like it?‘ A brooding frown appeared between his eyebrows. ‗If
you don‘t like it then we can occupy another room,‘ he said. ‗But you will
share a bed with me, Gisele. I will not have any rumours circulating that this
is not a proper relationship.‘ ‗How soon did you replace me?‘ she asked. A
muscle worked in his jaw. ‗Gisele, this is not going to help matters.‘ ‗How
many?‘ she asked, feeling a lump rise in her throat. ‗I could ask you the
same thing.‘ ‗Go on,‘ she said. ‗Ask me.‘ The muscle in his jaw worked
even harder. ‗All right,‘ he said on an expelled breath. ‗How many lovers
have you had since me?‘ Gisele wished now she hadn‘t provoked him.
Could she lie just to hurt him? Could she play payback with a host of
imaginary lovers, not one of whom would have come close to being as
perfect for her physically as him? What was the point? She suspected he
would see through it
anyway. Hadn‘t the way she‘d responded to him so far given him enough
proof that she hadn‘t moved on? ‗There‘s been no one,‘ she said after a tight
pause. ‗Gisele …‘ ‗Don‘t get me wrong.‘ She cut him off quickly. ‗I‘ve had
plenty of opportunities. I just didn‘t want to rush into anything. You don‘t
have to automatically assume I was waiting for you to take me back because
I wasn‘t.‘ He took his drink and moved over to the windows again, his back
turned towards her. It was a moment or two before he spoke and, when he
did, his voice was rough around the edges, as if it had been dragged up from
a place deep inside him. ‗Would you believe me if I told you I was thinking
of making contact with you even before the press release came out about
Sienna being the one in the tape?‘ Gisele felt her heart give a little hit-and-
miss beat. ‗Why?‘ He turned from the window and faced her with an
inscrutable look. ‗I‘m not sure,‘ he said. ‗I guess I wanted to see if you had
fared any better than me.‘ ‗What do you mean?‘ ‗Anger and bitterness are
pretty corrosive things to be carrying around,‘ he said. ‗I think I got tired of
being angry. For two years I was totally consumed with it. I could think of
nothing else. I finally got to the point where I wanted to move on. I thought
if I contacted you, perhaps met with you face to face to ask you why you‘d
betrayed me, it might‘ve helped.‘ ‗But I hadn‘t betrayed you.‘
He let out a heavy sigh. ‗No,‘ he said. ‗You hadn‘t. And that‘s what I have
to live with. I made a mistake. It‘s new territory for me. I‘m not usually
wrong about anything.‘ Gisele looked at the wine in her glass and thought
about what he had said about carrying around anger. Her anger had burned
like acid inside her. It was still burning, eating away at her, keeping her
awake at night. But she wasn‘t quite ready to relinquish it. Marietta appeared
at that point with the announcement that dinner was ready. Gisele followed
Emilio to the dining room where the long highly polished table had been
beautifully set up for a romantic dinner for two. Flowers from the garden
made a fragrant centrepiece along with the flickering candles in the
candelabra that added to the tone of intimacy. So many times in the past
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley