The Price of Seduction (19 page)

“Bree, what are you talking about?”

Suddenly, it came to her.

She had to make him hate her.

“Conrad, there’s something you should know. I’ve never trusted you. Right from the beginning.” He shot her an evil look, then she continued. “When Trevor said you were involved in the stolen rock art, I didn’t believe him at first but he put that seed into my mind.”

“I told you I had nothing to do with it.”

“Yes, but I didn’t believe it coming from your mouth. Stephanie was working on the story for the paper and I got her to report back to me about it. I know you spent the whole day with the police at some teleconference.”

“Yes, I was helping them with their investigations. They needed someone who knew a bit about Aboriginal art, someone who knew the business side of how it works. That was me.”

“But at the time I didn’t believe you. I asked you about it and you wouldn’t tell me you’d spent the whole day with them.”

“They told me not to discuss it with anyone. That it would compromise the investigation.”

“I didn’t believe you.”

“But surely Stephanie told you Trevor’s client has been ch
arged and he’s out on bail. Trevor will probably get disbarred because of it. Maybe you didn’t know that part.”

“I know
about the client. But Trevor… disbarred?”

“He kept his hands as clean as he could. He hasn’t actually been caught committing a criminal act but there’s enough evidence to stop him from practicing.”

She was shocked but she didn’t care about Trevor any more. She had to focus on what was important.

“None of that matters,” she
said.

“I’m innocent. Of course that matters.”

“Conrad, you just don’t get it. I didn’t believe you. I couldn’t just take your word for it. It’s not about who stole the rock art. It’s about trust. I didn’t
trust
you then and I don’t trust you now.”

He grabbed her shoulders again. This time his fingers dug in deep. “
What’s going on?”

She jerked
herself of his grasp. “Don’t touch me. You can’t manhandle me like that. Who do you think you are?”

His
face reddened, his fists clenched. This was the second time he’d shouted at her. She didn’t know this man. She’d never seen him before.

“Do you think you can play games with me?”
he said.

Bree delivered her final blow. “Don’t threaten me. We’re through, Conrad. There’s nothing left.”

She stepped back slowly, not willing to risk any sudden movement.

His pale eyes gripped her like a vice. “I’m not going to let you go. Not just like that.”

Bree turned and walked away. If he didn’t want to let her go, if the horrible words she had thrown at him tonight weren’t enough, she’d make sure it was over.

She knew what she had to do.

*          *          *

Four days later, Conrad slammed the door of
his Porsche and looked up at the art deco apartment building in which Bree lived.

It had only been a few days since their argument and he still didn’t understand what had happened, why she’d been so angry. She’d been spiteful as though she
intentionally wanted to turn him against her.

She was a strong-
willed woman so he reasoned there must be some explanation for her behaviour, something driving her, some reason for her anger. Despite the vitriol she’d shown him, he knew in his heart that she wasn’t wanton and if she’d been hurtful she must have had her reasons. Many people had nasty tempers and he was sure there was more to it in this case.

There was one thing of which he was certain. If he could talk to h
er they’d make it, they’d find a way.

She was worth more to him than any business deal. There wouldn’t be another Bree around the corner.

It had taken an argument to make him see that and he regretted it but he’d been stubborn himself, assuming he could have it all his way. He wasn’t the only male in the world who was content to take the individual elements of their relationship – companionship, friendship and of course hot steamy sex – without offering commitment in return.

Now he knew his way wasn’t the right way for them and
that their relationship deserved to be taken more seriously.

Conrad strode to the leadlight double doors of the building and pressed the buzzer for her apartment.

He smiled as he looked down at the large white box he was carefully balancing. He’d ordered the cake that morning from the pastry chef at Chez Jean-Louis, the best in the city.

The San Honore torte was a masterpiece. Cointreau custard filled profiteroles were scattered around the outside of the cake which consisted of layers of delicate sponge, custard and the chocolate mousse he’d specifically requested because it was Bree’s favourite.

He waited a minute and pressed the buzzer again but there was still no answer. It struck him as odd as it was seven in the evening and she was usually home at that time.

Still, t
here might be another way. He pressed the buzzer for Gwen, Bree’s neighbour. He’d met her a couple of times.

“Hello
, this is Conrad Savage,” he said into the intercom. “Bree’s friend.”

“Yes, dear, I know who you are.” There was
a pause and the buzz of the door release. “Come on up.”

He
flew up the stairs two at a time, holding the cake box securely in both hands. Bree’s silver-haired neighbour stood on the landing between the two apartments, her door ajar.

“Thanks for letting me up,” he said. “I was after Bree but she’s not in.”

Gwen shook her head. “No, she’s not.”

“I might wait on t
he landing for a while. Just until she gets back.”

“You might not want to do that. You’ll be waiting a while, dear.”

Conrad looked at her expectantly. “Why’s that?”

“Didn’t she tell you?
She’s gone to Melbourne.”

“She didn’t mention it,” Conrad said.
“I haven’t seen her in the last couple of days.”

“It was all so sudden. It certainly took me by surprise, but then that’s young people today. Very career minded, she is.”

“So she’s gone for work. Did she say when she’d be back?”

“Oh, she won’t be back. She’s got a new job at some big firm over there.”

He felt as if a knife had been thrust into his stomach. Bree had taken a new job in Melbourne without even telling him. He was coming here to tell her he loved her, to find ways of overcoming their differences. He was laying himself bare, coming to her with open arms and, damn it, he would have done anything it took. Anything.

But
she had simply left. Moved to another city, no less. She could have moved further away, that was true, but the message was the same either way. She wanted to get away from him.

“Didn’t she tell you?”
Gwen asked.

He shook his head. “No.”

“I’m a little surprised. You seemed like such a nice couple. I told her so but she just said that if she was going to take the job, she had to leave right away. They needed her to start immediately and it was a big promotion.”

“I’m sure she had
her reasons for going so quickly.” Conrad looked down at the cake box in his hands and passed it to her. “This was for Bree but I’d like you to have it.”

“T
hank you. I’ve got the grandchildren coming tomorrow and they’ll love it.”

Gwen slowly lifted the lid off the box and a shard of regret cut into Conrad. The words ‘I love you’ were spelt out in icing on top of the cake. The words Conrad had found so hard to say because he’d been denying it to himself. The words he was going to say tonight.

The old lady’s eyes opened wide as she saw the message, then as she lifted her gaze her expression told him she understood everything.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

He smiled reassuringly. “So am I but I wouldn’t want the cake to go to waste. You can scrape the icing off. I hope your grandchildren enjoy it.”

Conrad walked down the stairs, thrust the door open and strode towards the
car. He slipped into the Porsche and slumped onto the front seat, his hands resting on the steering wheel. The keys were in the ignition but he wasn’t going anywhere.

For the first time in his life,
he had no direction, no aim.

Ho
w useless it all was. The car, the properties, the stocks and shares.

Bree was the one thing that’
d make him happy and she’d left without even saying goodbye.

Wasn’t he worth that much? Did she despise him so much she refused him even a phone call, one final goodbye?
Did she think so little of him?

He
closed his eyes and let his head fall to the steering wheel, tapping his forehead against it in frustration before looking back up at the road ahead.

What had she done
? How could it have come to this?

Damn her, it wouldn’t hurt so much if he didn’t love her but she wasn’t just another fling. Heaven knows he’d had plenty of women
and none of them made him feel like his life depended on it, as if nothing else mattered. Bree had driven him to the brink in a way no woman ever had.

Damn her again. She’d left without saying goodbye
. Made sure there were no two ways of interpreting her actions.

She’d left him with nothing. No hope.

Conrad turned the key in the ignition and sped away.

There was no looking back.

Three months later…

Bree looked down at the crisp white page before her, its whiteness star
ing back at her as she contemplated the task ahead.

That wasn’t much but it was as much as she’d written.

There’s something very important I have to tell you….

Did those first lines capture the magnitude of what she was about to divulge?

She reached across the desk for an envelope and addressed it neatly b
ut that only took a few moments. She returned to the letter.

How on earth was she going to tell him she was five months pregnant with his child?

She knew she had to tell him. She’d always known. No matter what kind of man he was,
he was still the father and he had a right to know.

He also had a right to take part in raising his child and she was well aware that could cause many proble
ms. Still, nothing gave her the right to hide the news from him any longer, regardless of anything that had happened in the past.

She’d always planned on telling him as soon as the pregnancy had progressed far enough so it was publicly known. Now it was impossible for Conrad or anyone else to tamper with it.

It was strange it was only three months since she left Sydney but it felt like a life time ago. In truth, it was all a bit of a blur. All she remembered was the overwhelming feeling that she had to protect her child and that’s exactly what she’d done.

The main reason she’d taken
on the new job was because it was in Melbourne. They’d needed her to start right away and nothing could have suited her better. She’d been happy to leave Kelly Communications and, more importantly, desperate to put as much distance as possible between her and Conrad. If she was in Melbourne he wouldn’t see her, wouldn’t find out she was pregnant and work out he was the father.

Sydney lacked one thing that Melbourne held and that was her family. Bree had put so much space between them to pursue her career but now nothing meant more to her than her family and the support they provided.

Her poor conservative parents, she thought they’d be mortified to find she was pregnant but after they got over the shock they were happy for her. She wished she’d been able to tell them about the baby’s father but didn’t think that was right until she’d told Conrad.

Now the time had come. The letter. She looked down at the page and shook her head.

The repeated thunk of the door knocker brought her back to the present. She didn’t get many visitors, certainly not unexpected ones. Bree strode to the front door of the Fitzroy semi she was renting. She wasn’t so heavily pregnant that she couldn’t still move quickly.

Looking through the peephole,
she called out through the closed door. “Who is it?”

But she knew the answer. She knew the face. One she would never forget.

“It’s me, Bree. It’s Conrad.”

Sh
e leaned against the door, her head in her hands, the pain of a sudden headache shooting up the back of her neck, the child inside her rolling around causing a fluttering sensation deep in her belly. Her whole body was in revolt.

“Hold on,” she yelled out.