Society Weddings by Sharon Kendrick, Kate Walker Page B

explain the meaning of this unwarranted intrusion?’ he hissed.
    Intrusion! ‘And would you care to explain just where you have been until this hour?’ she retorted furiously.
    ‘I’ll tell you where I have been, you little fool—I have been at the British Embassy in an attempt to find out your whereabouts!’ he stormed. ‘I have had half the police force in London scouring the city. And your sister—who I gather you were supposed to be meeting—is nowhere to be found either! What the hell are you doing here , Jenna? And where the hell are your bodyguards?’
    ‘I gave them the slip!’ she boasted, blithely ignoring the look of dark menace on his face. ‘I dressed as Nadia and took the shuttle from London!’
    ‘You did what ?’
    ‘You heard!’
    He was almost beside himself with fury as he strode over to confront her, and he very nearly hauled her angrily into his arms—until he reminded himself what would happen if he did that . ‘You fool,’ he grated again. ‘Didn’t you stop to think about the danger you were placing yourself in?’
    ‘I can take care of myself, Rashid! I did without bodyguardsfor most of my life and I can function perfectly well without them!’
    ‘Not as my wife , you can’t!’
    ‘Oh, your wife!’ she scorned. ‘What’s in a name? What kind of a wife am I, Rashid? And, more importantly, what kind of a husband are you?’
    He went very still. ‘And just what is that supposed to mean?’
    ‘Think about it!’ she stormed, but at least she felt alive again. At least the tiptoeing around his feelings and trying to guess at his needs had been replaced by a vivid but liberating honesty . ‘What have you been doing since you’ve been in Paris?’
    The black eyes glittered dangerously. ‘What do you think I’ve been doing, Jenna?’
    The bitter words came tumbling out before she could stop them. ‘Making love to your mistress, I expect! Chantal ! I expect it’s nearly killed you to be faithful to me for six long months, hasn’t it, Rashid? Assuming, of course, that you have been faithful?’
    His dark skin paled. ‘How dare you speak to me this way?’
    ‘But I’m your wife now, Rashid! Aren’t I entitled to my opinions—?’
    ‘Not if they are a complete fabrication!’ he snapped.
    ‘Well, how about a few answers, then?’
    He controlled his breathing with difficulty. ‘You really think that I’ve spent the evening making love to Chantal?’ he questioned incredulously.
    ‘Don’t ever speak her name in front of me!’ She shot him a blistering look, conveniently forgetting that she had been the one to bring the woman’s name up. ‘Were you?’
    ‘Of course I was not. I told you—I’ve been at the damned embassy!’
    ‘There’s no “of course” about it, Rashid. You haven’t spent the last two days at the embassy, have you? What else am I to think? You could easily have made love to her! And don’t try to tell me that she wouldn’t still want you to—because what woman wouldn’t?’
    He very nearly thanked her for the compliment, but resisted. He had never seen her in such a rage! ‘But you are the woman I make love to. You are my wife, Jenna,’ he stated softly.
    ‘Except that I’m not—not really. Am I?’ she finished in a small, broken question.
    He saw all the fight and the anger leave her, to be replaced by a sadness which smote him like a blow from a sword. ‘You want the truth?’ he questioned huskily.
    She shook her head. ‘I don’t know !’
    ‘Well, whether you want it or not—you need to know it, Jenna.’
    ‘Rashid—’
    ‘The day after I asked you to marry me, yes, I did come to Paris—’
    ‘Don’t!’ She shuddered, but he did not heed her plea.
    ‘I told Chantal that it was over, that you were to be my bride and yes, she wanted me to make love to her—’
    ‘Oh, don’t !’ she begged again, but he shook his dark head resolutely.
    ‘I told her no,’ he continued inexorably. ‘I have not spoken to her since