Passionate Retribution. KIM LAWRENCE

brain recalled fuzzily.

      ‘Hello, Father,’ she said stupidly. The tableau had to be broken at some point and Luke appeared to be savouring each moment too much to be of any assistance. She couldn’t look at Luke—what little dignity she had left he’d managed to rip into shreds. She would murder him, slowly, painfully and with relish! she decided.

      ‘What are you doing with him…?’ His eyes touched Luke with an expression of loathing. He seemed to be noticing details that he hadn’t done previously: the torn, mud-stained dress, her tangled hair. Details that Emily had not until that moment been conscious of herself. The picture must be pretty damning.

      She lifted a trembling hand to her lips, which felt bruised and tender—no doubt as Luke had intended. She felt a small bud of anger blossom dramatically as her breast swelled with a sense of victimisation. Did he imagine for one moment that she’d agree to such a transparently ludicrous ploy to extract her from her engagement and save face? As for his mauling her about in quite such a realistic fashion, she’d never forgive him, ever, even if it was for her father’s benefit.

      Not that she was about to lose any sleep over a kiss, she told herself stubbornly. Lurking in her mind was a growing sense of unease at the devastating response of her normally co-operative senses. With forewarning, she told herself, throwing Luke a fulminating glance, I could have taken the thing in my stride. Luke smiled back at her, allowing the hard lines of his face to dissolve into something more warm, more intimate.

      ‘Emily was putting me out of my misery, Charlie,’ Luke said, a throb of emotion in his voice. Staring into the very blue eyes, Emily felt a twinge of pity for any female he turned the charm on, for it would be awfully difficult not to believe the apparent sincerity he could infuse into his expression.

      ‘I wasn’t talking to you,’ Charles Stapely snarled, his expression growing even uglier as Luke brushed the stray strands of hair from her brow tenderly.

      Emily forced herself to accept his ministrations passively, but she longed to push his fingers away. The sensation was disagreeable; it made the muscles low in her belly clench in objection and she was filled with a restless sense of unease that she was sure was associated with the contact. She was going to stop this farce now—anything was preferable, she thought, shuddering.

      His lips brushed her ear. ‘What do you prefer, infant victim?’ he murmured, his voice low but perfectly distinct. Their eyes met. ‘Or fallen woman,’ he mouthed silently but distinctly.

      The internal battle was violent but brief. Luke had forced her into this absurd charade from the worst of motives, she had no doubt; but he had given her this choice. The sympathy, the knowing glances…

      ‘I realise this must be a shock, Father,’ she said. Luke smiled, complacent and unsurprised. He had known her weakness all along, the pity she couldn’t stomach. He foiled her attempt to move away by encircling her waist with his arm. His hand moved restlessly over her silk-clad midriff and she felt her thoughts telescope together, and her next comment slipped out of reach. It was at the same time a jarring but soothing sensation, Luke’s fingers over the soft fabric. Soothing…I must be mad, she decided as the thought surfaced.

      ‘The fact is, Charles, Emily knew how you would react to—’ his eyes sought hers for a brief moment as if they were exchanging some profound secret. ‘—us,’ he said, his expression sincere as he looked at the older man. Emily silently wondered at the proficient way he lied; the more outrageous the claim, the more convincing he appeared. If she hadn’t been busy loathing him she might almost have admired the talent. ’she got involved with Gavin to forget me, but some things…’

      Emily gasped. That was going just a bit far even for her father to swallow. But, looking at Luke’s profile, she thought perhaps he didn’t want her father to be convinced; he was laying things on with a trowel, deliberately letting the older man know that he had in some way engineered this event—which, of course, he had. Things were slipping from her control like sand through her fingers. Luke was putting an alarming amount of effort into his part, and the malice he was directing at her father was painfully obvious.

      While she wasn’t close to either of her parents, she felt uncomfortable at colluding with Luke to further his campaign.

      ‘In the circumstances, I can’t really continue with my engagement,’ she said softly. The way both men looked at her made her realise they had both forgotten her existence for a split-second. ’so glad to see I have your attention,’ she said sweetly, filled with a revitalising wrath. ’there was nothing intentional in this, Father, and with all due respect I feel I should discuss this with my…with Gavin first. I know you’ve gone to a lot of trouble and expense,’ she added drily, even if she had begged for a simple affair to announce her engagement. The lavish occasion had not been of her seeking. ‘It’s better to discover these things now,’ she said, wincing at the triteness of the phrase that rolled off her lips.

      ‘How true,’ Luke breathed blandly in her ear. ‘You are so deep, infant.’

      Emily matched her expression to his, her features arranged in slavish adoration, a besotted smile on her lips. ’move it or lose it,’ she said, referring to his hand which had strayed to her behind.

      Luke gave a deep growl of laughter and didn’t comply with her hissed command.

      Her father hadn’t had the benefit of hearing the content of this brief interchange, but he had endured the apparent intimacy of the low-voiced murmers. He gave a bitter laugh, his expression a mixture of spite and scorn as he looked at his daughter.

      ‘Unintentional?’ he yelled scornfully. ‘If you believe that you’re even more stupid than I thought. You don’t suppose he—’he flicked Luke a look of abhorrence, ‘—would have wasted his time on you if you weren’t my daughter? A man like Gavin is worth a hundred of him. You’ll live to regret this, Emily, and in the not too distant future,’ he warned. ‘You won’t let the past die, will you?’ he said, his attention once more on the other man.

      ‘I always keep my promises, Charlie,’ Luke said softly. ‘Opportunities arise, and wasn’t it you who always advocated grabbing them with both hands?’

      ‘You admit it, then?’ Charles asked hoarsely.

      ‘Father, calm down, please,’ Emily said urgently. The distended vein that throbbed in his temple made her stomach tighten in alarm. She’d known even without Luke’s contribution just how angry her father was going to be; this had always been a damage-limitation exercise, but it was getting out of hand.

      ‘Shut up!’ He rounded on her. ‘I’ll deal with you, later.’

      ‘Your heart…’ she began anxiously. She had to tell him the truth. Perhaps that wouldn’t seem so bad after this charade. It was selfish of her to save her own pride at the risk of her father’s health, she decided, contemptuous of her own weakness in accepting Luke’s get-out clause.

      ‘There’s nothing wrong with my heart, you idiot,’ he spat back contemptuously.

      Emily was immobilised by a thrust of confused pain. ‘But…’

      ‘I wouldn’t have thought you’d care if I dropped dead at your feet.’

      Emily had seen the swift dart of panic in her father’s eyes, and the truculent observation did nothing to diminish an awful feeling that was solidifying in her head. ‘You just said there was nothing wrong with your heart.’

      ‘Why would you think there was, infant?’ Luke had been watching this interchange with sharp interest.

      ‘He has a heart condition.’

      ‘Don’t you dare discuss family matters with him!’ Was there a hint of desperation in the blustery tone?

      I heard the doctor tell him. It was an accident; I wasn’t meant to. She spoke inaudibly, her lips moving silently. As she tried to unravel the impossibility of her awful suspicion, Emily had the feeling that her mental processes were not as acute as they might have been. ‘I wasn’t supposed to hear.’ She