And you are wearing
odd shoes, Alessio remarked in a curiously flat tone.
A feeling of unreality was starting to enclose Daisy but she also sensed that Alessio was not as in control as he wanted to appear. She surveyed her feet, saw one black court shoe, one navy. It didnt bother her. In the midst of a nightmare encounter, unmatched shoes were a triviality. She drained the brandy in one gulp. It sent fire chasing into the chilled pit of her stomach. She swallowed convulsively. I wasnt supposed to be working today. I came out in a hurry.
Youve cut your hair.
Daisy lifted an uncertain hand halfway to her shoulderlength bob of shining silver-blonde hair, connected with brilliant eyes and wondered why time seemed to be slowing up, why they were now having this curiously stilted conversation when barely a minute ago they had been arguing. Yes. Its easier to manage.
Alessio was running that narrowed, gleaming gaze over her slight figure in a manner which made her feel incredibly hot and uncomfortable. A wolfish smile gradually curved his hard mouth as he lounged back with innate grace in the seat opposite. You dont seem to have much to say to me...
She wasnt about to tell him that he was still gorgeous. Even as a teenager he had known that and had shamelessly utilised that spectacular combination of smouldering dark good looks and animal sex appeal to his own advantage. He had used it on Daisydug his own grave, really, when she thought about it. She had been agonisingly naive and had fallen like a ton of bricks for him, defenceless against that polished seduction routine of his.
Youre still full of yourself, Daisy told him helplessly.
A faint darkening of colour accentuated the slant of his chiselled cheekbones, his tawny eyes flaring with momentary disconcertion.
She loosed a sudden laugh, sharp in its lack of humour. But then why shouldnt you be?
Whats that supposed to mean?
I think it means that you should get me out of this car before I say something we both regret, Daisy admitted tightly, feeling all the volatile emotions she had buried so long ago rising up inside her without warning.
Alessio slung her a knowing look redolent of a male who knew women and prided himself on the fact. You never forget your first love.
Or what a bastard he was... The assurance was out before Daisy could stop it.
Alessios long, lithe frame tenseda reaction which gave her a quite extraordinary surge of satisfaction. Shimmering eyes lanced into her with stark incredulity. How can you say that to me?
Because being married to you was the worst experience of my life, Daisy informed him, throwing her head high.
I beg your pardon?
And, believe me, I didnt require a financial bribe to persuade me into a quick exit! You were domineering, selfish and completely insensitive to what I was going through, Daisy condemned in a shaking voice that steadily crept up in volume in spite of her attempt to control it. You left me at the mercy of your totally monstrous family and allowed them to treat me like dirt! You stopped talking to me but that did not stop you using my body whenever you felt like it!
Alessio was transfixed. There was no other word for his reaction. The Daisy he had married would never have criticised him. In those days, Daisy had crept around being quiet and apologetic while silently, miserably adoring him, no matter what treatment he handed out. Alessio had accepted the adoration as his right. She hadnt had the guts to stand up to him then, not when she had mistakenly blamed herself for the fact that he had had to marry her.
In fact you went into a three-month-long sulk the same day that you married me! And the minute your obnoxious family saw how you were behaving they all jumped on the same bandwagon. I didnt just have one person making my life a living hell, I had a whole crowd! she spelt out fiercely. And I dont care how any of you felt; I was only seventeen and I was pregnant and I did not deserve that kind of punishment!
Daisy fell silent then. She was shattered, genuinely shattered by the bitterness that had surged up in her and overflowed. Until now she had not appreciated how deep her bitterness ran. But then she had not had an opportunity to vent those feelings before. Within forty-eight hours of her miscarriage, Vittorio Leopardi had presented her with divorce papers. And, sick to the heart from all that she had already undergone and Alessios cruel indifference, she had signed without a word of argument.
So, when you took the money and ran, you thought it was your due, Alessio opined grittily.
She stole a dazed glance at him from beneath her feathery lashes. His darkly handsome features
were fiercely taut. I ran but I didnt take any money, she muttered wearily, and then wondered why she was still bothering to defend herself. When it came to a choice between her word and his fathers, she had no doubt about whose Alessio would believe. And it wouldnt be hers.
I despised you for what you did, Alessio admitted with driven emphasis. And to listen now to you abusing my family makes me very angry.