White Lies by Sara Wood

penitence, and it sat incongruously on someone so deeply cynical. 'Don't overdo the gush,' she said drily.
    'How can I convince you?' he said earnestly. 'I felt so bad that I knew I'd never get a moment's sleep unless I made you feel better. You know how it is when you have something on your mind and it goes round and round your head,' he said, fixing Mandy with his startling blue eyes.
    'Yes,' she acknowledged warily. He was very persuasive. The charm just oozed out of him like juice from a mango.
    'Then you understand! I couldn't rest. I came hoping you'd still be awake and I brought the supper as a peace- offering.' He smiled hopefully and, try as she might to resist it, Mandy felt her hostility melting. 'Please accept my apology. I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you. My father's the swine. I'll concentrate all my rage on him and not the people he's involved with,' he said quietly.
    'I accept your apology,' she said stiffly. 'But your father's ill. You shouldn't talk about him like that—'
    'You haven't taken in anything I've said about him, have you? You think he can give you what you want. I suppose it's not for me to disillusion you.' He hesitated, giving her an odd look. 'It's clear that I'm not going to succeed in dissuading you from seeing him. OK. Go ahead. Don't get hurt, that's all. For God's sake take care. Watch your back.' He grimaced. 'And your front.' And he spun on his heel, striding quickly across the floor to the open doorway and the steps leading to the deck.
    'Wait! What on earth do you mean?' she cried, scrambling to her knees in alarm.
    Slowly he turned to face her again, standing stiff and unapproachable while the background noise of the tree frogs deepened and intensified till it seemed to be whirring insistently inside her head.
    'I can't explain. Not here. Not now,' he said, his voice tight and controlled. He looked so harrowed that she was finally convinced. And she felt certain that he was keeping some vital information from her.
    'You warned me not to get hurt. Who by?' she demanded shakily. 'Am I in danger?' Her parents? she thought. A jealous relative? How the mind invented horrors when given the chance! 'Tell me! You can't go without telling me!' she insisted in agitation. 'Put me out of my misery!' she begged.
    'I can't. You are determined to stay so all I can say is that you must be careful. Goodbye,' he muttered, and he walked without another word from the bedroom. As he went down the steps the outline of his high, tense shoulders were clear against the dark night sky.
    'Stop!' she yelled in exasperation. 'Ten more minutes won't hurt! You've been here half the night, for heaven's sake! Stop, please!'
    Rapidly she gathered the sheet up and fumbled with the mosquito net, yanking it loose from where it had been tucked under the mattress. And then she swung her bare legs to the floor and ran out, across the deck to where he had paused in the hallway. Goodbye! He wasn't going to see her again—and he knew things about her life, knew his father's contacts...
    'Pascal!' she screamed hysterically. He was at the door of the villa. He didn't turn! 'Don't go. Please don't go!' she sobbed. 'You can't leave it like that!' His shoulders gave a little shrug and he walked out, slamming the door behind him. Stunned, Mandy dashed over and flung the door open again. 'Come back!' she yelled as his figure retreated down the steep path. 'For God's sake come back! I need you! You know I need you!'
    He paused and she gave a shuddering sob of relief when he swung around, his guarded expression clear in the illumination from the small lamp above his head. 'Are you sure about this?' he called gruffly.
    'Yes! Yes, I'm sure!' she jerked out, trying to keep the sheet in place over her heaving bosom. 'Come back. Please!'
    Pascal began to walk towards her. She let out a shaky breath and opened the door wide for him. He gave her a long, thoughtful look and strode back into the hall. 'You really are desperate,