Lucky Stars (Ghosts and Reincarnation #5)(95)

“He’d be furious at you,” Jack returned.

“I know,” Miles whispered, shut his eyes then opened them and focussed on Jack, “Okay, not halfway, Jack. You win, I apologise. I’ll apologise to Belle.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Jack cut in.

“You can be there,” Miles put in quickly and repeated, “You can be there, Jack. And I’ll try to…” He hesitated then carried on, “Figure out why I do the things I do and I’ll control it.”

Jack’s eyes narrowed and he remarked, “Yes, I guess you will. A nice reunion of the Bennett Brothers to show the press that you aren’t a sore loser and we’re one big happy family.”

“That’s not what this is,” Miles informed him.

“That’s what you led with the minute I entered this room,” Jack retorted.

“It’s eating me. I’ve admitted that but it’s more and you know it.” He paused then reminded Jack, “We used to be close.”

“We haven’t been close since Yasmin,” Jack reminded Miles.

“We can get that back, if you’ll let it happen. Mum would be thrilled and you know Dad would have been.”

Jack’s body went solid, his patience vanished and his voice went low when he warned, “Don’t use Dad in your games, Miles. Don’t you f**king dare use Dad in your games.”

“It isn’t a game,” Miles asserted.

“I’m afraid you’re going to have to prove that to me,” Jack replied.

Miles leaned forward in supplication and vowed, “I will. I promise I will.”

“Good luck with that,” Jack returned, disbelief evident in his tone.

“You’ll see,” Miles stated.

Jack leaned against his desk again, his posture back to casual, his voice anything but when he spoke again. “This turns out to be a game, Miles, that’s it. We’re through. You’ll never return to The Point and I won’t want to see your face again. If I do, you won’t like what happens.”

“It isn’t a game,” Miles declared fiercely.

Jack took in a breath and, upon letting it out, he said softly, but his voice was vibrating with meaning, “It better not be.”

* * * * *

Jack watched the bathroom door open, Belle took two steps out, looked at him where he was lying on his side and up on an elbow in bed and she stopped dead.

“Poppet, come here,” Jack said quietly.

When he spoke, she jerked out of her freeze and walked to him, looking nervous.

He knew this was difficult for her. Everything was happening quickly even if some of it was by her own design.

If he had been in the same situation with any other woman, Jack would give her some space. He would give her an opportunity to get her thoughts together, get used to her changed living arrangements, the changes in her body, the media intrusion, a new employee, him.

With Belle, he was absolutely not going to do any of that.

Instinctively he knew space and Belle was not a good thing.

Firstly, and most importantly, because it was likely she’d use it to question his commitment to her, her trust in him and, in the end, to retreat.

Secondly, she’d been dealing with a great deal for some months on her own, traumatic memories and misguided guilt, all with the media breathing down her neck. She had, to appearances, handled it beautifully on her own.

However, she was not on her own anymore.

There was only so much one person could take and Jack decided she’d had enough.

Therefore, she had, indeed, had enough.

Belle going it alone was a memory.

Although it started well, it had not turned out to be a good day.

After Jack’s discussion with Miles, Jack had gone to talk privately to Belle to ascertain if she was willing to listen to an apology from his brother.

After he told her he would be with her, Belle had agreed.

It all fell apart when they were waylaid on the way back to the study by the other three women living in his house.

This meant that his mother and her mother and grandmother were all in attendance when Miles apologised to Belle.

Jack didn’t mind this but Miles did. He tried to hide it but he failed.

Therefore, Miles’s apology came out stilted and sounded unconvincing.

This did not go over well.

Although Belle accepted his apology, Rachel and Lila clearly didn’t and Joy was looking less than impressed with her son.

Regardless, Miles, as usual, pushed his advantage and stayed for dinner. Jack did not want this neither did Belle nor, by appearances, did Rachel and Lila. They all acquiesced to Miles’s request mainly because everyone was attempting to accommodate Joy who, it was not hard to read, wanted reconciliation between her sons.

Dinner, also, didn’t go well.

Belle retreated completely. Jack didn’t know why but it was likely due to acute embarrassment because of her past relationship with Miles, her current one with Jack mingled with Miles’s past treatment of her. Through dinner, she barely even glanced at Miles much less anyone else at the table.

Lila and Rachel, in an obvious attempt to behave themselves and not cause Joy distress, were practically silent.

Jack’s mother was nervous and therefore chattered uncontrollably.

Luckily, Olive had come back to the castle after successfully browbeating some innocent cottage owner who wanted to charge summer rates for Dirk’s extended residence in his property (she convinced him to charge winter rates regardless of the fact that Jack could afford double the summer fees until Dirk found more permanent accommodation in St. Ives).