All the Romance You Need This Christmas: 5-Book Festive Collection. Romy Sommer

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       Chapter 9

      Dory’s throat tightened, her eyes burning. How had this happened? She’d been so sure she’d found a way out, a way to keep everything perfect. Unable to bring herself to speak, Dory nodded miserably.

      Anger settled on to Lucas’s face like a mask, hard and unyielding. ‘I trusted you. Hell, I slept with you! I thought we were starting something. And you were lying to me the whole time.’ He kept his voice low, but Dory knew there was no way anyone had missed what he said.

      ‘Not the whole time!’ Dory forced the words out. She had to make him understand. ‘Lucas, you have to let me explain.’

      ‘I don’t… Has anything you told me been the truth? God, I don’t even know who you are.’

      ‘That’s what I’ve been asking,’ Cheryl put in, but no one seemed to be listening.

      ‘Just let me tell you my side,’ Dory pleaded, but Lucas shook his head.

      ‘I don’t want to hear it. Not now. I need to fix this. Figure it out.’ He turned to Tyler and Cheryl and seemed to notice, for the first time, the true extent of their audience. Every single one of the Alexanders’ party guests had crowded into the hallway to witness the spectacle. Glaring at his brother, he said, ‘Let’s take this into the library.’

      Tyler nodded and, holding Cheryl’s hand, led her towards the library, murmuring reassurances as he went. But when Dory made to follow, Lucas stopped her with a look. ‘Not you,’ he said, voice cold. ‘This is between me and my brother.’

      And then he was gone, the library door shut behind him, leaving Dory alone with the crowd of fascinated socialites, and Felicia and Patrick Alexander.

      After a moment of stunned silence, Felicia clapped her hands. ‘I think nibbles are being served in the dining room, everyone!’ A few people moved, but many stayed, eyes still on Dory. Could they see the way her heart thumped? As if it were making the most of its last few beats before it broke. Any moment now, her whole body might just fall apart, and all she could do was stare at the library door, hoping against hope that Lucas might suddenly appear through it and rescue her.

      But he didn’t.

      Felicia sidled close, while still smiling and ushering people towards the dining room. ‘I don’t know who you really are, or what your intentions were in being here, but I suggest that you go and pack your bags.’ Her voice was a whisper, but there was no mistaking the edge in it. ‘I’ll have a taxi waiting for you when you return.’

      Dory nodded. ‘I’m Tyler’s assistant,’ she offered, but Felicia shook her head.

      ‘I don’t care. You’re never going to visit here again. It doesn’t matter who you are.’

      It was true, Dory realised. It didn’t matter who she was. Not to these people – they’d hate her regardless. And in a way… it felt strangely freeing.

      Any hopes and dreams she’d had about her and Lucas were over now, as much as it hurt to think it. Even if he could forgive her, she would never live this down. Never be welcome at Midfield House again. Never move past this moment. Not while she was in the States.

      But that wasn’t all. She couldn’t work for Tyler now – how could she go back to the office and face him? And that meant that she couldn’t keep up the illusion of her perfect Manhattan life any longer.

      A weight lifted from her shoulders at the realisation. She’d had enough of pretending, anyway.

      She thought of her emergency credit card, tucked in the pocket of her suitcase. This, even her father would have to agree, definitely qualified as an emergency.

      It was time to go home.

      ***

      Lucas slammed the library door behind him. ‘What the hell, Tyler?’

      ‘Don’t you be mad at him,’ Cheryl snapped. ‘We’re not married anymore, remember?’

      ‘Trust me, I know.’ And he gave thanks for it everyday. He wasn’t the same man who’d married Cheryl, and he never wanted to be that person again. ‘So why the charade? Why rope Dory into our family mess?’ God, he couldn’t think about Dory now. He was still too angry, too confused. He needed to get things straight with his brother, first. Then he’d deal with her.

      ‘Dory?’ Cheryl asked. ‘You were kissing your assistant?’

      ‘I didn’t know you were going to be here!’ Tyler said, which Lucas thought probably wasn’t going to help his case.

      ‘Let me see if I’ve got this right,’ Lucas said, keen to understand what the hell was going on before Cheryl СКАЧАТЬ