her. No one had any idea that they were involved, and he could have her whenever he wanted. She had been his willing plaything for nine months. The anniversary of her parents’ death was in a month, by which time, he had said, he wanted to marry her. She was beginning to think he was playing her for a fool, with Marielle’s “health issues,” which made it a bad time to file for divorce, and a house in Tuscany for two months, where his wife would be too. Coco stared at him and he didn’t flinch or falter.
“The only one I love is you. How can you doubt that?”
“I don’t. But I think you are still very married, and possibly intend to stay that way. You’ve had plenty of time to do something about it since September, and you haven’t.”
“I’ll do it in the fall,” he promised.
“I don’t believe you,” she said bravely. Everything about him was exciting. He lived a jet-set life, but he shared that life with Marielle, not with her. Maybe Sam was right and he was a player. If so, the joke was on her, and he had taken advantage of the fact that he was her trustee, and she was a naïve twenty-two-year-old girl. She was not in his league. But she was not a fool.
“I’m not so sure my father would have liked this,” she said quietly and firmly. “Or that you’d have done this if he were alive. You were his partner. He trusted you.”
“I think you’re being unfair,” he said, looking sullen, as he got out of bed, walked across the room, and reached for his clothes.
“I don’t think I’m the one being unfair here, or dishonest. I’m not married and staying that way. You are. If you loved me and were honest, you’d have seen a lawyer by now.” She was very clear about it. It had been troubling her for a while, and she had finally said it.
“I have seen a lawyer,” he insisted, but he looked like he was lying now, even to her. “He advised me to wait.” When he said that, she could see what he was, and what he was doing. It was all a game to him, and who knew how many others there were, the women he was in the papers with, whom he claimed were only decoys. She suddenly felt like an idiot and realized that he had treated her like one. He dressed and she didn’t stop him. Then he came toward her, and tried to caress her and she moved away.
“I think we need to stop until you get your life in order. I love you. But I’m not stupid, Ed. This has been easy for you.” She had been constantly available to him for almost a year.
“And you had something better to do?” he said sarcastically, and it hit her like a slap. “Like movie nights with your little friend Sam? I’ve wined and dined and entertained you for the last year, with the best sex you’ll ever have.” There was a mean look in his eyes she hadn’t seen before, and what he said was rude and disrespectful.
“Is that all it is? You abused my father’s trust and mine, and took advantage of the fact that I have no family and no father to defend me now. I trusted you, but maybe I was wrong.” She seemed suddenly very grown up and felt it as she faced him. She was shaking, but he didn’t know. It took courage to challenge him, and she loved him now.
“You’re not a child, Coco. You’re a woman. We’re both adults. You knew I was married, you always did. You decided to break the rules with me. You can’t blame me for that now.”
“You said you wanted to get divorced and marry me, right from the beginning.”
“Maybe I will someday, when I want to, not when you tell me to. That’s up to me. For now, this suits me the way it is.” He was suddenly cold and arrogant, and almost cruel.
“It doesn’t suit me,” she said in a trembling voice, realizing now who he was. Sam was right. He had played her like a harp. She had been the fool here, imagining that he loved her, and believing everything he said.
He turned in the bedroom doorway then and looked at her with contempt. “You need to grow up, Coco. Your innocence is charming, for a while. But if you want to