the urgent matter you wish to discuss with me has to do with your brother and my nephew,’ he said. ‘I was just speaking with the headmaster of their school, who informed me of what has been going on.’
Keira rolled her lips together in agitation. ‘Yes…I had no idea things had gone that far. I thought they were best friends…in spite of what…what happened…’
His dark brows snapped together. ‘How could you think your behaviour would not affect my nephew or indeed your own brother?’ he asked incredulously. ‘Your salacious affair with Garth Merrick has made me a laughing stock amongst my colleagues and associates, not to mention my family. There is a lot I am prepared to forgive, but not that.’
‘I know…’ she said, fighting back tears. ‘I’m so sorry…’
‘Do not waste your breath pretending you are sorry,’ he said. ‘I am not going to take you back and I am not going to give you the amount of money you are vying for.’
‘But I don’t want—’
‘Forget it, Keira,’ he said, cutting her off. ‘Right now, you and I need to discuss this situation between the boys like two rational adults, although, having said that, I am very much aware of your limitations in that area.’
‘You just can’t help yourself, can you?’ she asked bitterly. ‘You have to have a dig at me every chance you can.’
‘This is not the time to discuss my behaviour, Keira, or indeed even yours,’ he said with implacable force. ‘There is the very real danger of one or both of the boys being expelled during these last critical weeks of school. That is what we need to concentrate on at this point.’
Keira felt ashamed of her outburst; it seemed so petty when he put it like that. ‘All right then,’ she said, lowering her gaze from the laser strength of his. ‘Let’s discuss it.’
‘Come into my office,’ he said. ‘I have some coffee brewing.’
She followed him down the wide hall, the fragrant aroma drawing her like a magnet. She had missed breakfast and lunch and, after she had received the call from her mother informing her of Jamie’s problems at school, she hadn’t had time to grab a snack to tide her over till dinner time. She felt light-headed and faint but somehow she sensed it wasn’t just to do with lack of food. Being in Patrizio’s presence made her feel out of her depth and desperately vulnerable.
‘Do you still have milk and three sugars?’ he asked as he took the pot from the stand.
‘Do you have artificial sweetener?’ she asked.
He turned to look at her, a quizzical expression on his face. ‘You are not dieting, are you?’
‘Not really…’
She was conscious of his dark eyes assessing her figure and had to fight with herself not to fidget under his scrutiny.
‘My secretary has some in the staff room,’ he said into the silence. ‘I won’t be a minute.’
Keira let out her breath in a ragged stream as he left the room. She sat in one of the leather chairs that faced his massive desk, her legs feeling as if the bones had been removed. Her head felt tight with the beginnings of a headache and her stomach was fluttering with a combination of nerves and uncertainty.
Her eyes went to a silver photograph frame on his desk and, leaning forward, she slowly turned it around…
It physically hurt to see the love he’d had for her on their wedding day. His dark eyes had shone with it, his smile tender as he had looked down at her upturned radiant face.
‘I keep that as a reminder of what can happen when you marry in haste,’ he said as he came back into the room.
Keira turned the frame back around, her chest tightening painfully as she met his black diamond gaze. ‘I sort of guessed you wouldn’t have it there for sentimental reasons,’ she said. ‘Will you have a ritual burning of it or will you just toss it out with the garbage once we’re finally divorced?’
He handed her the coffee, his fingers briefly touching hers. ‘I am glad you brought that topic up,’ he said with an enigmatic look.
She put the coffee on the desk, frightened she might spill it. ‘I thought we were here to discuss Jamie and Bruno,’ she said. ‘Not our divorce.’
He sat in his chair behind the desk, his eyes never once leaving hers. ‘I am withdrawing my request for a divorce.’
Her eyes widened. ‘What?’
He gave her a cool little smile. ‘Do not get too excited, Keira. I am not interested in taking you back permanently.’
‘I didn’t think for a moment you were suggesting—’
‘However—’ he cut across her as if she hadn’t spoken ‘—I do think we should temporarily suspend proceedings in an effort to communicate to your brother and my nephew that we are reconciled.’
She gaped at him incredulously. ‘Reconciled?’
‘You are unfamiliar with the word?’ He leaned back in his chair indolently and explained, ‘It means to restore opposing factions to a state of harmony or friendship.’
She threw him a suspicious glance. ‘What’s all this about, Patrizio?’ she asked. ‘Why don’t you get straight to the point instead of playing these stupid little dictionary games with me?’
‘All right,’ he said, putting his coffee cup down on the desk as he leaned forward once more. ‘As you have no doubt heard, my nephew Bruno has been making life pretty miserable for your brother. I am deeply ashamed of his behaviour, which, I suspect, has come out of his loyalty to me, which of course does not excuse it, but rather explains it.’
Keira remained silent as her hands twisted into tight knots in her lap. It had always amazed her how gracious and forgiving he was towards his own flesh and blood, and yet when it came to her behaviour he could not find it in himself to overlook her one fall from grace.
‘I have come to the conclusion that the only way to settle this war between them is for us to get back together,’ he continued.
She jerked upright in her seat. ‘You mean…for real?’
‘No, Keira, I do not mean for real.’ His tone yet again mimicked that of an adult speaking to a particularly obtuse and inattentive child. ‘We will pretend to be back together until the boys have safely completed their schooling.’
‘Pretend?’ She frowned at him. ‘How do you propose we do that?’
His gaze was unblinking as it held hers. ‘You will move back into my house immediately.’
Keira swallowed back her dread. ‘You’re surely not serious?’
‘I am, indeed, very serious, Keira,’ he said. ‘The boys are not stupid. If we go out on the occasional date in the hope they will think we have settled our differences they will immediately know something is amiss. Living together again as man and wife is the best way to convince them it is for real.’
‘Define what you mean by living together as man and wife,’ she said, watching him guardedly. ‘You’re not expecting me to sleep with you, are you?’
‘You will have to share my bed due to the regular presence of the household staff,’ he said. ‘If anyone reported to the press that we were not sharing a bedroom it would blow our cover. However,’ he continued, ‘I have no intention of sharing my body with you. That is something I no longer have any desire to do.’
His statement hurt far more than he could ever have realised, Keira thought. She felt the pain of his rejection in every nerve and cell in her body. He had desired her so passionately in the past, his body driving into hers with such urgency and potency she had sobbed his name in ecstasy each and every time. Her mind filled with the erotic images of their rocking bodies in every position imaginable. He had taught