AMANDA BROWNING – The Millionaire's Marriage Revenge (страница 2)

Her stomach heaved then and she scrambled to the toilet just in time. Afterwards she wiped her face with tissue and sank back weakly against the tiled wall. The shaking had stopped, thankfully, and probably wouldn’t return now the first shock was over.

Her heart ached. She had dared to be happy. Had dared to look forward, not back. To what end? Nothing had changed. Gary Benson was still there. And to think she had once thought him sweet and kind!

She had been nineteen when they’d met, and they had been photography students at the same college. He had seemed normal enough, but before long she had discovered he wasn’t. He was an ill man who was fixated on her. She had ended their relationship after only a few dates because he had smothered her with feelings she didn’t share. He had been convinced she had to love him because he loved her, and so he wouldn’t take no for an answer. He would ring her at all times of the day or night, or turned up at her house and simply stood outside, waiting until she was compelled to come out to tell him to go away.

She had thought he had finally got the message when he’d stopped ringing her, but instead he had started following her. Of course her family had called the police and obtained a restraining order, but that hadn’t stopped him stalking her. Nothing had, because he’d vanished before he could be caught, only to turn up on another day in another place.

Life had been a nightmare for almost two years, and then it had stopped. She had never known why. Over time she had come to believe that he had given up on her and transferred his ‘affections’ to some other poor woman. She was just grateful that her life had returned to normal.

Except normal wasn’t the normal it had once been. The experience had shredded her confidence. She could no longer trust any man, for fear that they would turn into another Gary Benson. She had become reserved and cautious, preferring to concentrate on her work, and it had been a very long time before she had been able to stop looking over her shoulder to check if ‘he’ was there.

Time had been the healer, and the appearance of Lucas in her life. With him she had finally dared to trust again. So much so that she had forgotten about Gary Benson completely—until that photograph had turned up. She knew now that whatever had kept him from her had been temporary. He hadn’t forgotten her. He still thought of her as his.

The presumption angered her as never before. How dared he think he could do this to her again? She wouldn’t allow it! She would tell the police. Even if they had been unable to stop him before, that didn’t mean they would fail her this time. Yet Gary Benson had done nothing except appear in a photograph where he shouldn’t have been. That could hardly be described as stalking.

What should she do? Instinct said she ought to tell Lucas, but he had so much on his mind at the moment, with the planned takeover of another company, that she didn’t want to bother him. She could wait a few days. Just knowing Lucas was here gave her the confidence to do that. He was the exact opposite of Gary Benson—upright, honourable. He had never given her a moment’s doubt, and she was slowly but surely coming to believe he never would.

Yes, that was what she would do. Nevertheless, it sent chills through her to know that Benson must be around, watching her. She knew he was probably biding his time. The photograph was a reminder. He would crawl out of the woodwork when he was ready, and come knocking on her door. However, this time she wasn’t the defenceless young woman of before. She had a strong man to protect her now.

As she thought it, Lucas knocked on the bathroom door. ‘Hey! Have you fallen asleep in there?’

Having jumped a mile, Sofie shot to her feet, hand pressed to her heart. ‘I’m almost ready,’ she lied, stripping off her robe and stepping into the shower. ‘Put some toast on for me.’ She didn’t think she could force even a bite down, but she knew she had to behave as if everything was normal. Just for a little while, until the pressure was off Lucas.

After she had washed and dressed in record time, Sofie went down to the kitchen, where Lucas was sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal. Her heart turned over, for he was so very precious to her.

Lucas looked up, frowning a little when he saw her standing watching him. ‘What’s up, caro?’

Smiling to hide her worries, she shook her head. ‘Nothing. I was just thinking how much I love you,’ she told him, and he immediately held out his hand invitingly.

‘Come over here and tell me that.’

She went, allowing him to pull her down on to his lap. Combing her hand through his hair, she looked deeply into his eyes. ‘I love you, Lucas. Nothing will ever stop me loving you.’

He smiled. ‘I’m glad you feel that way, because it’s how I feel, too. I couldn’t imagine life without you now. I’d show you, if I didn’t have that meeting in an hour.’

How Sofie wished they could simply go back to bed and shut out the world, but they couldn’t. So she cocked her head flirtatiously and smiled back. ‘Well, you can give me a little something on account, couldn’t you?’

Laughing, he moved so that she was lying back with only his arm to support her. ‘Oh, yes, I could most certainly do that,’ he growled sexily and kissed her.

It was the kind of kiss that raised their temperatures to boiling point and took their breath away at the same time. When Lucas raised his head again, they were both left wanting more.

‘Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea. Remember where we were and we’ll take it from there later,’ he told her in a gruff voice, and Sofie hopped off his lap with a groan.

‘It’s going to be a long day.’

He grinned wolfishly and stood up. ‘Yes, but keep your thoughts on the night,’ he advised as he took his jacket off the back of the chair and slipped it on. ‘I have to go, caro. Think of me toiling away at the mill whilst you’re having fun snapping photos.’

She would. She always did. He was never far from her thoughts.

Sofie walked him to the door of their Hampstead home and waved him off in his car as she did most mornings. However, as she turned away to close the door, a movement across the road caught her eye and she looked back. Immediately her blood ran cold when she recognised the man standing in the shade of a tree. As she stood, transfixed, he started to walk across the road towards her. Though he was the very last person she wanted to talk to, she had to face him. Had to know why he had come back. Descending the steps, she walked to the gate and waited, arms folded defensively.

Gary Benson stopped on the other side. He was a nondescript man, who was already running to seed. ‘Hello, Sofie,’ he greeted her as if only days had passed, not years, and she looked at him coldly.

‘What do you want, Gary?’ she asked abruptly, but her coldness, as ever, went unheeded.

‘You. Only you.’

She knew from before that anger got her nowhere, so she strove to remain calm. ‘You can’t have me. I’m spoken for, remember.’ The broad hint made him laugh delightedly.

‘You saw me in the photo. I hoped you would. You looked lovely in white.’

Sofie drew in an angry breath. ‘You had no right to be there. It was a private wedding.’

Gary did as he always did and ignored what he didn’t want to hear. ‘How could you marry him? You belong to me! You love me!’

She shook her head, heart quailing as she heard the same old words. ‘No, I don’t. I love my husband, not you.’

‘You think you do, but once he’s gone you’ll realise you made a mistake. Things will be better then. You’ll see,’ he informed her complacently.

To Sofie he was making no sense at all. ‘He’s not going anywhere. You’re the one who’s going to go away. Go away and stay away,’ she commanded him, in as firm a voice as she could muster. Gary merely smiled.

‘You know you don’t mean that, Sofie.’

There was no getting through to him, and that made her want to scream with frustration. ‘I do mean it and, if you don’t stop bothering me, I shall call the police.’

He grinned, with the supreme confidence of the sick mind. ‘They’re useless. Besides, I haven’t done anything. You know I’d never hurt you. I adore you. I just want us to be together.’

She laughed in his face. ‘You can’t be serious!’ she derided and for perhaps the first time she really saw him angry.

‘Don’t laugh at me, Sofie. I don’t like people laughing at me!’ he berated her, then turned and stomped away, anger in every step.

Sofie watched him go down the road and around the corner. Her mind was seething. Somehow she had got through his thick skin and hurt him. Maybe that would be enough to make him stay away. A seed of hope started to germinate inside her. Maybe this time she had actually won. Smiling to herself, she ran up the steps and into the house, feeling more hopeful than she had been an hour ago.

That evening Sofie prepared one of Lucas’s favourite meals, as this was to be their last evening together for at least a week. He had to go away on business and she wanted to make tonight special. Whilst the dinner was cooking in the oven, she slipped upstairs to take a long, relaxing bath, leaving her skin soft and delicately scented. Then she changed into cream lounging trousers and a silky vest top. Glancing at her wrist-watch, she saw time was getting on and, humming to herself, she skipped down the stairs and went into the lounge to mix a pair of fancy cocktails.