Betrayal by Danielle Steel Page B

to know who I can trust. And even if he’s not stealing from me, Hunt could be cheating on me.” They both knew that was true.
    “I hope he isn’t,” Sam said unhappily. “I like him a lot. I always have.” And he thought he was good for Tallie. Or had been until now.
    “Yeah, me too,” Tallie said glumly, and it was going to be really difficult to act as though nothing was happening now while she waited to find out. “Have you had dinner yet?” she asked her father with a look of concern, and he nodded.
    “I want you to take care of yourself,” he admonished her with a fatherly look. “This is very hard on you.”
    “No kidding.” She smiled ruefully. “I feel like my whole life went down the tubes this week. I’ve been avoiding Max. I don’t want to tell her about any of this yet. She loves Hunt too.” And she had had so few male role models in her life that Tallie didn’t want to spoil their relationship, at least not yet, until she knew if he was cheating on her or not. She hoped that the story Brigitte had told her wasn’t true. Maybe he was just concerned about the girl in his office and had been kind to her, without it being an affair. For the moment, it was a slim hope, but she was clinging to it until she knew more.
    Tallie and her father chatted for a little while, and then she went home. Hunt was out and had left her a note. He was having drinks with Mr. Nakamura’s lawyers. They were getting the last details of the contract worked out, and he said he wouldn’t be home late. He got home shortly after she did and was tired. Tallie looked exhausted and was lying on the bed.
    “You look beat,” he commented, as he took his jacket off and threw it on a chair.
    “I am,” she said without moving from their bed. “It’s been a tough week.”
    “At least you’ll be home from location soon. I miss you when you’re gone,” he said with a smile and sat down on the bed next to her. She didn’t know whether to hit him or cry, or take him in her arms and hold on for dear life. She didn’t want to lose him, but maybe she already had.
    “Do you?” she asked, her voice small and muffled in his chest.
    “Of course I do, silly. Do you want to go out to dinner?” She shook her head. She was too tired and down to want to go out.
    “Not really.”
    “I can rustle something up here.” She nodded, wondering how many more nights like this she would have with him, how many home-cooked dinners and sharing the same bed. If Meg told her that he was involved with someone else, this was all going to be over, and she realized that it was possible their days were numbered. The very thought of it wore her out, and made her immeasurably sad. She already felt as though she had lost him. In her gut, she believed what Brigitte had said, and feared it might be true. It had happened to her before, though not after four years. This time she had thought she was safe and home free. Maybe not.
    He went downstairs then and made an omelette and a salad for both of them. He opened a bottle of her favorite wine, and they sat quietly in the kitchen and ate dinner. Tallie was very quiet, and he put some music on. But she couldn’t think of anything to say to him. He asked how the last two days of shooting had gone, and told her about his meetings with their investor’s lawyers, and he said everything was going well. And after dinner, Tallie took a shower and went to bed. She had hardly said a word all night.
    “Are you okay?” he asked, looking worried about her. She was painfully subdued.
    “I think I might be coming down with something,” she said vaguely. “I’ve been feeling weird since yesterday.”
    “Then get some sleep,” he said, tucking her in, and he went downstairs to his office to look over some papers the lawyers had given him to read. And she pretended to be asleep when he came back upstairs. She felt like she was living a nightmare with him. It was a lonely feeling, and when he turned off the