Act of Betrayal Read Free

that.
    And she also had him to thank for the fact that these
    kitchen walls seemed to be closing in on her like a prison. She
    was almost counting the tiles, when the girls came bustling back.
    'There's a funny atmosphere in there,' one of them informed her,
    jerking a head in the direction of the | dining room. 'Important
    meeting is it?' 'AH orders are important these days.' Laura
    scraped the pheasant bones into the waste disposal. There were J
    enough rumours flying round Caswells already about the company's
    difficulties, without her adding to them; but it was no secret
    the sales department had had long faces for months. Uncle Martin
    had great hopes of I Tristan Construction—until now. She saw
    the waitresses back to the dining room with their final loads,
    and relaxed slightly. It was nearly j over. The coffee was
    filling the room with its fragrance, when she heard the slight
    squeak of the kitchen door as it opened. Without looking round,
    she said, 'I'm going now, but I've left everything else ready.'
    'So I see,' Jason remarked. 'You're a domestic paragon, my sweet,
    but then you always were.' Laura had been reaching for her bag.
    Shock made her jerk nervously at the strap, and the bag fell,
    disgorging its contents at her feet. For a moment, she stared
    down at them blank-faced, as if she'd never seen them before,
    then moving like an automaton, she turned to face him. He was
    lounging in the doorway, hands thrust into the pockets of an
    expensively cut dark suit. It occurred to her as she stared at
    him that she'd never seen Jason in a suit before—not even on
    their wedding day. He'd always dressed casually in the extremes-
    denims and sweaters usually. This new conventionality was a
    shock, until she looked more closely, and saw that the silk tie
    had been loosened impatiently, and the top button of the pristine
    white shirt left unbuttoned. The thick unruly mane of dark hair
    had been trimmed, but not tamed, and still hung nearly to his
    collar. The lines of the thin, clever, arrogant face were deeper
    and more harsh, and the eyes which met hers were as bleak and
    inimical as they had been at their last confrontation. No, she
    thought. He might wear the trappings of convention, but
    underneath he was still as dangerous as ever. He said silkily,
    'Are you going to tell me I've changed?' ' I don't think it would
    be true.' She was amazed to hear how normal her voice sounded.
    'What are you doing here?' 'I'm here on business. Don't pretend
    you didn't know.' His mouth curled sardonically. T saw all the
    agitated fluttering when I walked in. And I don't need to ask why
    you're here, of course. You're still a superlative cook, Laura,
    even though kind Uncle Martin is reaping the benefit now instead
    of me.' She went down on one knee, and began to shovel her things
    back into her bag, her fingers clumsy with haste. 'You've missed
    this.' Jason bent too and handed her a slender gilt scent spray.
    'Thanks.' She almost snatched it from him. 'Relax, Laura.' There
    was a note of warning in his voice, steely and implacable. 'Our
    paths are bound to cross during the next few months, so the best
    thing you can do is accept it.' ^. 'And if I'm not prepared to do
    that?' She gave him a bitter look. T meant what I said,
    Jason—that I never wanted to see you again. I still mean it. So
    why are you tormenting me like this?' 'Had it been left to me,'
    he said gently, T would not have come within a hundred miles of
    this bloody place. But these are hard times, darling, and most
    companies get work where they can and are glad of it. Tristans is
    no exception. Under the circumstances, the risk of offending your
    delicate sensibilities had to be discounted. I hope that precious
    little ego of yours will survive?' She took a deep breath.
    'So—it's all a coincidence. But the carpeting for all these
    units you plan to build didn't have to come from Caswells. You
    could have stayed away from here.' 'And we