His Inconvenient Wife by MELANIE MILBURNE

Author:MELANIE MILBURNE
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2003-03-13T16:00:00+00:00

Two days later Emily was just sitting down to a snack of cheese on toast when the doorbell rang. She left her scanty evening meal and opened the front door.

‘Danny! What are you doing here?’

‘This is my brother’s house,’ Danny said, stooping to kiss her briefly on the mouth. ‘While the cat’s away and all that.’

Emily stepped aside as he came in, her forehead creasing into a worried frown. ‘I’m not sure Damien would appreciate your sense of humour. Where’s Louise?’

Danny shrugged and bent his head to smell the huge bouquet of flowers she’d put on the hall table only that morning. ‘Mmm, nice.’ He turned back to face her. ‘Louise is visiting her mother.’

‘So while the cat’s away and all that?’ Emily quipped darkly.

‘Come on, Em, have pity on me. Let’s have a drink and a chat. We’re supposed to be mates, aren’t we?’

‘You’re my brother-in-law now,’ she pointed out as he strode off towards the sitting room, where the well-stocked bar was located.

‘Even better,’ he said, reaching for the whisky decanter. ‘Damien won’t mind sharing. He’s used to it by now. Linda Janssen is his latest—apart from you, of course.’

Emily found his comments intensely irritating. She hated being referred to in the same sentence as Damien’s mistress—it made her feel used and cheap.

Danny looked at her as he lifted his glass to his lips. ‘You’re not falling in love with him, are you?’ he asked when she didn’t speak.

Emily felt the flush rise like a tide along her cheeks. ‘Of course not! You know why I married him.’

Danny’s laugh was mocking. ‘Yes, you married him for his money, didn’t you, my sweet?’

Emily’s mouth tightened. ‘I wouldn’t have put it quite that way,’ she said.

‘How would you have put it, Emily?’

Emily turned in shock at the deep sardonic sound of Damien’s voice at the doorway. ‘Damien!’ she gasped.

Damien’s brow lifted ironically. ‘Surprised to see me? How touching.’ He turned to his brother. ‘What brings you here, Danny—apart from my wife?’

Danny finished his whisky in one mouthful. ‘I thought I’d do the brotherly thing and entertain Emily for you. But since you’re home now I wonder if I could speak to you about something.’ He glanced briefly at Emily before adding, ‘In private.’

Emily swung away to leave the room, her face set in lines of tension. She didn’t trust Danny. She wondered why she hadn’t seen it before, the way he inveigled himself, got what he wanted and then turned away without remorse.

‘What is it this time?’ she heard Damien ask as she closed the door behind her. ‘Money?’

She wouldn’t listen through the keyhole, but how she wanted to! Instead she went back to her abandoned meal and sat down and stared at the cold cheese and limp toast. Very few minutes had passed before she heard the front door slam and the roar of a car soon after.

Damien’s unmistakable tread came towards the kitchen and Emily pushed her untouched food away.

‘I want to talk to you,’ he said as he entered the room.

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