The Gold Collection: A Bride For The Taking: Distracted by her Virtue / The Lost Wife / The Brooding Stranger. Maggie Cox

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СКАЧАТЬ and he didn’t care who he contaminated—certainly not his wife and son. His death was a blessing, not just to me and Charlie … but to him too. I’m sure.’

      ‘Why didn’t you leave him long before it got so bad?’

      Sensing an excruciating throb of guilty heat surge through her, Sophia abruptly left her seat and walked across the kitchen. There was an elegant glass wall cupboard full of pristine white crockery and, catching sight of her ghostly pale reflection in it, she quickly looked back to the dark-haired man whose uncomprehending and furious gaze seemed to burn right through to the very core of her vulnerability. He was clearly waiting for her explanation.

      ‘I did leave him once. I went to a women’s shelter in a nearby town. It was only meant to be a temporary measure. I’d planned to move further away, but Charlie and I had only been there barely a fortnight when Tom’s father turned up and demanded we leave. As well as being a top QC, he comes from landed gentry … he’s a very powerful and influential man. He must have brought the full weight of his powers down on the women who ran the shelter, because by the time they regretfully asked me to leave they looked quite shaken. They told me he’d threatened to have the shelter shut down if they didn’t let me go, and that was the last thing that any of us wanted. So I went back with him … back to my husband. I wouldn’t jeopardise the other women’s security by staying, no matter how desperate I was. Back at home, things didn’t improve. And the situation wasn’t helped by Tom’s father. Whenever he visited us they had the most terrifying rows. He regularly accused Tom of being a disgrace to the family name, but worse than that he threatened to take Charlie away if he didn’t pull himself together and change his behaviour. Ironic, really, when the man was even more of a bully than his son.’

      She crossed her arms over her chest to contain the icy shudder that ran through her. ‘It didn’t even seem to cross his mind that I was Charlie’s mother and would fight him tooth and nail on that. He believed that his son had married beneath him, so consequently he had very little regard for me. Tom’s behaviour didn’t change. He warned me he would take Charlie away from me himself if I told his father that his drinking, drug-taking and womanising had got worse. He was spending every penny we had on his destructive habits. He was pinning all his hopes on his inheritance. He said if I jeopardised his birthright by trying to leave then he would find me, come hell or high water. And then I would really see what he was capable of.’

      Shaking her head in despair, Sophia lifted her now brimming eyes to Jarrett, incapable of holding back the emotional tide that swamped her. ‘Both my husband and his father made it impossible for me to turn to anyone for help—even my brother. They blocked every avenue I could take. They didn’t want me to talk to anyone. My father-in-law feared losing his reputation if anyone found out the truth about what was going on, and my husband was terrified he’d lose his inheritance. His debts escalated wildly—as I found out when he died. Because of their threats, because of my terrible fear that somehow they would snatch Charlie away from me if I did manage to escape—that was why I stayed in the marriage longer than I should have … Not because I wanted to, or because I had no self-respect, but because I honestly believed I had no choice.’

      ‘You should have gone to the police … told them everything.’

      ‘If I’d filed a report then they would have conducted an investigation. If Tom hadn’t hurt me even more because I’d dared to do such a thing, then I’ve no doubt that his father would have done everything in his power to take Charlie away from me and make me pay for disgracing him and his son. Can you see why I couldn’t do that? My son means everything to me … everything!’

      ‘Don’t cry, sweetheart … please don’t cry.’

      On his feet, Jarrett was by her side in an instant. Enfolding her in his arms, he pulled her head down onto his broad muscular chest. In the midst of her distress, a jolt of surprise ricocheted through Sophia. The wonderful sensation of being held so tenderly instantly made her feel warm and protected. She hadn’t experienced such a feeling since she’d lived at home with her dad—before she’d met and married Tom Abingdon. But what surprised her most of all was the realisation that Jarrett’s heart was beating as wild and as fast as her own beneath the soft wool of his luxurious cashmere sweater.

      She lifted her face up towards him. ‘Before my husband died I vowed to myself that I would find a way to get Charlie and me out of that horrendous situation. I’d even started making discreet enquiries about going abroad … somewhere far-flung where Tom’s father’s influence carried no weight. But then Tom died in his sleep … just like that. When I found him he looked almost peaceful. It doesn’t seem right somehow, does it? That a man can put his family through such hell and then abdicate all responsibility by simply dying?’

      ‘I don’t want to make you feel even more upset—but why did you marry such a man in the first place?’

      Jarrett’s big warm hand cupped her cheek as he glanced intently down into her eyes. The guilt she still suffered made Sophia struggle to find adequate words to explain. ‘I was young and naive and flattered by his attention. He was good-looking, funny and clever, and because he’d been given everything on a silver spoon he was supremely confident too. When it came to getting what he wanted he knew exactly how to go about it, and when he decided that he wanted me I was too young and stupid to see that I might be walking into a trap. I was so dazzled by him that I relinquished every ounce of common sense I may have had. When he asked me to marry him I didn’t even hesitate. Even when I started to hear rumours about his drinking and chasing women I told myself not to worry … that he would soon learn he’d made the right choice in making me his lifelong partner. I thought I could reform him, make him change some of his less attractive qualities when he saw what a good life we could have together.’

      ‘How did you meet him?’

      ‘I went to school with his younger cousin, and I met him at a party at her house.’ Feeling suddenly uncomfortable beneath Jarrett’s intense scrutiny, she removed his hand from her cheek and glanced away. ‘No doubt I was easy prey. I was only eighteen—hardly a woman of the world. I’d just got into studying photography, and I wanted to go on to university. Meeting Tom put a stop to all that. It wasn’t as though nobody warned me. My dad told me early on to cool things off and not rush into anything. But I was deaf to his advice. My husband-to-be even managed to fool him into thinking his intentions were good … that he loved me and wanted to take care of me. In the beginning I believed it, too. But it didn’t take long for my fiancé’s true nature to surface. I thank God that my dad didn’t live to see what he put me through.’

      The silence that pervaded the room after she’d finished speaking felt like a smothering blanket, and Sophia wanted to escape into the open air. Moving out of the intimate circle of Jarrett’s protection, she lifted her glance to stare forlornly out of the window at the still pounding rain. She shivered.

      ‘I’d better go. I’m trying to convert one of the downstairs rooms into a darkroom, and there’s a lot to do. I have to get on. Thanks for the tea … and for listening.’

      ‘Don’t go. It can’t have been easy to share what you’ve just told me. It was very brave. It’s only natural that you might be feeling vulnerable and exposed. I made you a promise that I wouldn’t share your confidences with anyone, remember? I want you to know that you can trust me, Sophia. I would never harm you or Charlie.’ Catching her hand, Jarrett gently impelled her towards him. ‘You’ve been through a terrible ordeal,’ he acknowledged huskily, ‘but given time things will slowly but surely get better—believe me. This is a new start for you and your son. Your husband is dead, Sophia … he can’t hurt you or Charlie any more.’

      ‘What about his father? Why do you think I reacted the way I did СКАЧАТЬ