Читать книгу Manhattan Boss, Diamond Proposal - Trish Wylie - Страница 7

‘HE’S NOT COMING.’

‘What do you mean he’s not coming?’

Clare O’Connor turned away from the floor-length mirror, her chin lifting so she could search his eyes. Not that she knew him well enough to be able to read anything there. Tall, dark and brooding she’d named him after their first meeting. And despite the fact she’d since had glimpses of a wicked sense of humour, when he chose to use it, she still thought her initial impression was on the money.

She shook her head. ‘What do you mean he’s not coming? Did something happen to him?’

A muscle jumped in his jaw. And it was the first indication she had that he was telling the truth. She shook her head again, nervous laughter escaping her parted lips. No way. There was no way Jamie had done this to her. Not now.

‘I’m sorry, Clare.’

When one long arm lifted towards her she stepped back, the world tilting a little beneath her feet. ‘Where is he?’

‘He’s gone.’

‘Gone?’

Gone where? Why? What had happened? This kind of thing didn’t happen in real life! She tried to form a coherent thought rather than parroting everything she was told. Why now? Why not yesterday or the day before that or the day before that? When there’d been time to cancel everything and let everyone know. Why let her follow him all the way across the Atlantic if—?

‘He didn’t have the guts to face you.’

Clare laughed a little more manically. ‘So he sent you to tell me?’ Of all the people Jamie knew he had felt this guy was the one to send? It was almost funny. ‘No phone call? No note? Is this a joke?’

‘No joke. He’s gone and he’s not coming back.’

The determined tone to his voice made the edges of her vision go dark. When she felt herself swaying, two large hands grasped her elbows to steady her while she blinked furiously.

‘You need to sit down.’

Clare yanked her arms free, her gaze focusing on a smudge of dirt on his jacket before sliding over the dark material and noticing several other smudges along the way. But she wasn’t interested in how they’d got there, she just needed to think. She needed to—

When her chin jerked towards the door and her eyes widened with horror, his husky voice sounded above her head. ‘I’ll go.’

Dear God. All the people beyond that door, waiting for her—how was she supposed to face them? But she couldn’t let him go out there and do her dirty work for her. Not that the offer wasn’t tempting, but they were waiting for her. And some of them had flown thousands of miles—for her. So it was her responsibility to tell them…

Swallowing down a wave of nausea, she reached for his arm. ‘Wait. Just give me a second here.’

Taking several deep breaths of cool air, she tightened her fingers around his forearm, as if the part of her that was drowning naturally sought out something solid to keep her from going under.

From somewhere she found the strength to keep her voice calm. ‘Did he leave with her?’

‘Clare—’

She flexed her fingers as she looked up. ‘Did he? I want to know.’

‘How long have you known?’

Up until he’d asked that question she’d never really known for sure. But she had her answer now, didn’t she? So much for telling herself it was paranoia…

Letting go of his arm, she nodded firmly while biting down on her lower lip to stop it from trembling. If the price of naïveté was the death of the starry-eyed dreamer then the job was done. And she was about to receive her punishment on a grand scale, wasn’t she?

‘I’ll tell them. It’s because of me they’re out there in the first place.’

‘You don’t have to.’

‘Yes, I do.’ An inward breath caught on a hint of a sob so she closed her eyes and willed it away, promising it: later. Later when no one could see. ‘Jamie might not care about them but I do. They’ll hear it from me.’

When she opened her eyes and glanced up, she saw what looked like respect in his eyes. And for some unfathomable reason she felt laughter bubbling up in her chest again—hysteria, probably. Possibly a hint of irony that it took something so completely degrading to earn respect from the man who had never approved of her in the first place.

When she lifted the front of her long skirt in both hands, he stepped back and opened the door for her, towering over her as she took a deep breath and hovered in the gap.

‘I’m here if you need me.’

She smiled at him through shimmering eyes and then stepped forwards, her gaze focused on the flower-decked arch at the top of the room instead of the sea of faces turning her way.

It was the most humiliating day of her life.

‘I’m afraid there won’t be a wedding today…’