The Wade Dynasty. Кэрол Мортимер

isn't every day I'm accused of being a whore!'

      ‘I never called you that!’ he rasped.

      ‘As good as.’ She flushed in her anger.

      He gave a deep, ragged sigh. ‘Okay, what was your relationship to those two?'

      ‘I told you, Carolyn writes the books, and I illustrate them.'

      ‘And Nick Bancroft?'

      ‘Shares Carolyn's room,’ she told him resentfully. ‘The two of them go everywhere together.'

      ‘That wasn't the impression I got,’ Nathan bit out contemptuously.

      ‘Appearances can be deceptive.’ Although Carolyn had been very sexually active before meeting and falling in love with Nick, to her knowledge, for all her friend's talk, Carolyn had been faithful to him since they first fell in love. The habit of flirting with every man she met was obviously a hard one for Carolyn to break. ‘Carolyn writes children's books, not sex manuals!'

      ‘Okay,’ Nathan sighed. ‘If I was wrong, I'm sorry.'

      The words were so quietly spoken Brenna couldn't help wondering if she had imagined them; Nathan never apologised for anything, none of the Wade men did. But this time Nathan had, she could tell that by the angry set of his mouth, the stiff way he sat behind the wheel of the car, as if he deeply resented having to apologise. And Brenna was sure that he did.

      She neither accepted nor denied the apology, turning so that she was looking out of the side window, her face stiffly averted all the way back to London.

      It was late afternoon by the time they reached London and the top floor of the Victorian building which Brenna occupied, one of the rooms having been converted into a studio for her, the light up there being excellent for her work. She had lived in the flat only a year, moving from the one she had shared with two other girls through college, so that Nathan shouldn't find her if he came looking. It seemed she could have saved herself the trouble, she thought ruefully; Nathan didn't give a damn about reading other people's personal mail to obtain what he wanted.

      He carried her two suitcases up the six flights of stairs, putting them down outside her door while Brenna searched for her key in her bag.

      She turned to him. ‘If you tell me the name of your hotel I'll call you if I hear from Lesli—–'

      ‘I booked out of my hotel this morning.’ Nathan took the key out of her hand and deftly turned it in the lock. ‘If Lesli calls or comes here, I'll be waiting for her.’ He gently urged Brenna inside the flat before he followed with the two suitcases.

      ‘Here?’ Brenna finally managed to gasp. ‘You mean here?’ She came to an abrupt halt just inside the lounge when she saw the brown suitcase standing in the middle of the room. ‘Yours?’ she squeaked at Nathan.

      His mouth quirked. ‘When I explained to your landlady that I'm your brother, and flashed Lesli's and Grant's wedding photograph at her with the four of us standing together, she was kind enough to unlock your door and let me leave my case here. So you see, Brenna, I'm here for the duration.'