her hiked chin quivering. “I wish I’d never met you.”
“I don’t blame you,” he said.
“Then why are you doing this?” she bit out, swiping a knuckle beneath her eye. “Because—”
“Forget it,” she snapped. “I’m angry as hell and I don’t want to talk about it!”
If his brain had been functioning properly he’d have stepped back and tried to deal with her rationally. He’d have donned a mantle of dignity and control. But for some reason his body wouldn’t move away from hers. He was acutely aware of everything about his wife, so close and yet still so damnably far away. Her golden hair, swept up in a glorious, glossy mass. Her breasts, displayed to perfection within the tight bodice of her designer gown. Her mouth, glossed a kissable pink and slightly parted despite her fury.
Damning her for putting him in this position, and himself for not being able to keep her safe, he couldn’t force himself to back away. He couldn’t force himself to act reasonable and calm.
“You said you wanted the truth,” he said, “and that’s what I’m going to give you. But not with the whole of England watching.”
“You’re incapable of telling the truth,” she snapped. “And I wish I’d never married you.”
The words clawed at his chest, scoring deep wounds he doubted would ever heal. “I’m sure you do.” The elevator chimed and the doors slid open, revealing the muted darkness of his vacant office. “Shall we?” he asked, sweeping his arm toward the empty space where she’d rejected him so long ago.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
COLETTE stalked into his office, her legs trembling with fury. Tears hovered so close to the surface she could taste their salt in the back of her throat. She’d never been so humiliated in her life. After the way that awful, awful old man had looked at her when she’d told him about her marriage to Stephen, she’d wanted to crawl into a hole and simply die. And to have Stephen witness it while she pretended not to notice their obvious rejection of her? It was too much.
“I can’t do this anymore,” she said, the moment Stephen touched her. “I want a divorce.”
He withdrew as if he’d been stung, but then braced his shoulders before stepping toward her again. “All right,” he said with a grim nod. “I’ll grant you your divorce. After you hear me out.”
She sucked in an inhale that felt like shards of glass, her heart clamoring for her to recant the rash words. But she couldn’t. It was what she needed to survive. Like ripping off a bandage, it had to be done. Short and swift was better than the agony of seeing his resentment grow by slow, cancerous degrees.
Stephen hadn’t turned on the lights, and she was glad of it. She was glad the mellow moonlight slanting through the wide windows cast her in shadow and him in a pale white glow. It illuminated his skin and the startling white edges of cuff and collar, painting him in a wash of silver and glittering blue within his black hair. He was beautiful and she loved him. But tonight had taught her that she could never have him.
“I took you away from my family for a reason,” he said, inching close enough for her to catch his scent.
Her body reacted on a visceral level. Wanting. Yearning. She wanted him to touch her, to trail his fingertips over her flushed skin and to taste the seeking warmth of her mouth. She wanted him to make her forget. But she was done dreaming for things she could never have.
“Oh? And what reason’s that?”
“It’s not what you think,” he said. “It’s not that you aren’t good enough for me.” He stepped closer, until his face tipped mere inches over hers. Until his dark mouth hovered so, so close over hers. “Or that you aren’t good enough to be a Whitfield.”
She gulped a shallow breath while her pulse thudded in the hollow of her throat. Hearing her fears put to words, true though they might be, didn’t make them any easier to accept. “I don’t care. I never wanted to be a Whitfield anyway.”
“I know.” He tucked a stray tendril of hair behind her ear, his fingers grazing the skin along the side of her neck. “And I knew it would be even harder to convince you to change your mind after you met my family. I knew they’d make you hate us all.”
She stiffened beneath his fingers, though she didn’t withdraw. She couldn’t