Page 47 of A Diamond Deal
‘Why would I want to talk abouther?’
‘Because she is the woman you believe I was unfaithful with.’ His whole body radiated with a barely contained energy. ‘And are you now sick to your stomach, Poppy, that you let me put my treacherous fingers on your body?’ He took a step closer. ‘Does it make you ill? How such a cruel man, a lyingbastard, could make you come so sweetly?’
‘I…’ she almost choked. So consumed had she been by protecting herself. Safeguarding herself with contracts and rules… She’d thought it, but she hadn’t told him she believed him.
‘I know you weren’t unfaithful.’
‘You know—’ his face twisted ‘—what?’
‘Isabella—she’s your PA—’
‘Was,’ he corrected. ‘I let her go the day my father died.’
He’d let her go? She shook it off. It didn’t matter.
‘You were working together…’ she continued, picking up her train of thought. ‘She may have wanted you—who doesn’t want you?’
‘My wife,’ he countered too quickly.
Her throat constricted. Shedidwant him. Physically, at least.
‘I know you pushed her away… I believe you.’
He didn’t reply, but his eyes were shuttered.
There was just…nothing.
‘I’m sorry about your dad, Konstantinos. I’m sorry he died and—’
‘I do not need your condolences,’ he said, his voice flat. ‘I require you to get dressed.’
‘I will.’ She swallowed. Her body was too tight.Too conflicted.This wasn’t how she’d imagined this conversation would go. She didn’t want it to be likethis. ‘After you tell me how long he was sick for.’
‘My father?’
Neck stiff, she nodded.
‘What does it matter?’
‘I want to know.’
‘Months. Pancreatic cancer.’
‘I’m so sorry,’ she breathed, because she was. ‘I know you hated him,’ she said, because they both hated their fathers…this she knew.
They hadn’t swapped stories of trauma before bed, but they knew the facts that mattered to each other. The bits that had brokered the terms of their marriage. She understood his relationship was complicated with his father. So was hers. Her father was unfaithful. His was a cruel tyrant. But still, she’d grieved for her father.
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ she asked quietly, because she needed to know—to understand why he kept a secret from her he hadn’t needed to.
His jaw firmed to a shadowed line. ‘Your behaviour—you were sick. You didn’t need to know. What would it have achieved to tell you a man you cared nothing for was dying? I needed closure from his death.Youwould have gained nothing from the knowledge of his passing.’
‘Did you get it?’ she asked. ‘Closure?’
He shook his head. A single swipe.
She sighed. Whatever his reasons were for not telling her about his father, he had no justifiable excuse for withdrawing from her over Isaak’s death. His decision to dothat, it would hurt her for ever.
‘Were you ever going to tell me he was ill?’
