Web of Deception - By Nina Blake Page 0,45
Jane introduced us and I’d trusted her too. Another mistake.”
Kate thought about her parents and how different their lives were from Daniel’s. They were in their sixties and still working because they couldn’t afford to retire. They didn’t have a flash Potts Point penthouse. Neither did rent a suite for the season at a five star hotel so they could go skiing when they wished.
“You weren’t left for broke like my parents,” she said. “They’re stuck working full-time because they’ll never be able to afford to retire.”
Daniel raked a hand through his hair. “You don’t know what happened to me so I’m going to tell you. I lost everything. I’ve already told you that Jane and I broke up because she found someone richer, more successful. That man was Rex Irwin, my ex-business partner. He got it all. The money and my girlfriend. Damn it, she was my fiancée. I was going to marry her. Spend the rest of my life with her. And I ended up with nothing because I stood by my principles.”
“What do you mean?”
“I could have done what Irwin did. He hid behind a loophole in the law and refused to pay back a single cent to the investors. But I couldn’t do it. Simple as that. I could have had it all. If I’d been a different man. If I didn’t have any scruples. My father told me I was crazy but I did it anyway. I paid back the investors as best I could.”
Kate shook her head. “That can’t be right. I know where the money didn’t go. To the little people like my parents.”
“Those people didn’t get all their money back but they got most of it and that came straight out of my pocket. I paid them out everything I had. Irwin didn’t do that. He still had property and assets in the names of other companies but he didn’t sell them off. I did everything I could. I did my best, damn it.”
Kate took to her feet too. It was time someone stood up to Daniel Webb.
“It wasn’t enough,” she said. “My parents were ruined. They went back to square one after decades of working and saving. Innocent people suffered. I can’t be with someone who has done something like that.”
Daniel pleaded with his hands. “Don’t you realise I lost out in every way. I had nothing. I had to get finance and set up a new business. Not to mention losing my fiancée. Talk about rubbing salt into the wound. As if the financial stress and scandal wasn’t enough, I had to lose the woman I loved. Yet you think I’m some kind of thief?”
“I know what happened with Irwin Webb. It doesn’t make any difference if it was ten years ago or ten days. My parents lost everything.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed. “Ask Ray Price if you don’t believe me. He was there when this all happened and he stood by me. Not many people did. My partner was shonky, not me. I paid out as much money as I could. I did my best.”
“You can’t lie to me. I know, Daniel. I’ve always known but I’ve been fooling myself that it didn’t matter.” Shaking her head, she added, “It was never going to work between us. It was never going to be more than a fling. A bit of fun. But it’s not fun any more.”
“Do you really think I’m a liar? A con man? That I have no integrity.” He raised his voice. “Do you have any idea what an insult that is to me?”
“I don’t know. Is it as insulting as asking me to be some second-rate mistress who’ll bear your children?”
Daniel stepped backwards. “Damn it, ten years go I lost my fiancée because I didn’t keep the money for myself. And now I’m paying for it all over again. I’m going to lose you because it wasn’t enough. Nothing I do can be enough.”
Kate lowered her gaze. “You should never have come tonight. You should have just left it.”
His upper lip curled to a sneer. “Then I’d never have known exactly how little you think of me.”
She heard his footsteps as he walked to the door but couldn’t bring herself to look up.
“You were right,” he said. “This will never work.”
Chapter Twelve
“Darling, I haven’t heard from you since you came back from your trip. How did the rest of the skiing go?” It was Kate’s mother on the phone.
Her trip to the mountains with Daniel seemed like