Somewhere I'll Find You (Capital Theatre #1)(56)

Julia's blood turned cold with fury and humiliation. She kept her face blank. “Certainly,” she replied in a controlled voice. “I'd like to get as far away from both of you as possible.”

“Wait,” Damon said, reaching for her arm, but she jerked away.

A satisfied smile crept across Pauline's face. It appeared that she couldn't resist one parting shot. “Mrs. Wentworth…perhaps you think you're becoming quite close to Lord Savage, but there's much about him you don't know. I suspect that among the things he has omitted to tell you is one very relevant fact—he is already married.”

Julia paused at the front door. “Yes, I know that,” she said calmly.

Pauline seemed surprised, and then her face wrinkled with disdain. “My God, you have the morals of a cat in heat. To throw yourself at a man who is married to one woman and has made another pregnant…you're the most shameless creature I've ever encountered.”

“Pauline—” Damon said in a murderous tone, but Julia interrupted evenly.

“Shameless? You're the one parading around a married man's home dressed in nothing but a peignoir.” She burned to tell the other woman the truth, that she was the wife in question, and that Pauline certainly had no right to pass judgment on anyone.

Somehow managing to hold her tongue, Julia strode to the front door and tugged it open. She paused to give Damon a backward glance, but he appeared to be ignoring her, all his attention focused on Pauline. Jealousy shot through her. She couldn't decide if she was more angry with him or with herself.

Hurrying outside, Julia called to the footman. “Tell the driver to bring back the carriage immediately. I wish to leave now.” As he hurried to obey, she rubbed her bare arms and began to shiver from the cool breeze. She thought of going home, but rejected the idea at once. There was someone she needed to see right now, the only person in the world who could restore her sanity and anchor her in reality.

Damon was silent for a long time, staring hard at Pauline until her victorious smile dimmed and she began to look uncomfortable. She spoke smoothly, making an effort to seem at ease. “I suppose I can't blame you for your dalliance with her, darling. She is rather attractive, albeit in a cheap, obvious way—”

“You shouldn't have come here.” Until this moment he had never actively disliked Pauline. He had been suspicious, exasperated, angry with her, but he had never felt anything that bordered on hatred before. She seemed like a millstone around his neck, clinging with ruthless determination, dragging him down to a very dark, cold place. She brought out the absolute worst in him. He stiffened as she came to him, pressing her perfumed body against his.

“I couldn't stay away from you,” Pauline murmured. “I've missed you so.”

“Have you spoken to Dr. Chambers yet?”

Her elusive gaze darted from his. “Not yet, I but I plan to very soon.” Her silky arms began to wind around his shoulders. “In the meanwhile—”

“Then I'll make the arrangements.” He pushed her back a step or two, breaking her hold on him. His handling of her was not rough, but neither was it gentle.

Pauline looked annoyed and alarmed. “You can't do that!”

“Why not?”

“Dr. Chambers is a very busy man—you can't order him about like a servant. And he won't discuss my condition with you unless I give my consent.”

“You're playing games with me,” he said with dangerous quietness. “I won't tolerate it.”

She drew back, looking offended. “There's no need to be so threatening. I've never seen this side of you before, and I find it quite disagreeable.”

“Disagreeable?” he repeated thickly. “There aren't words to describe the side of me you're going to see if I discover you've been lying.”

She met his gaze directly. “I've told you the truth.”

“Then produce a doctor for me soon, Pauline—one who'll stake his reputation on the fact that you're breeding. That's the only chance you have of keeping me from wringing your neck.”

“You're in an ugly mood because I've thwarted your plans to bed that little theater whore tonight—”

“Not one word against her.” A bolt of fury caused his voice to shake.

Although enraged, Pauline recognized the sincerity of his unspoken threat. For several moments she struggled to control her emotions.

“I understand that you want her,” she finally said. “Perhaps as much as you once wanted me. But I will not step aside to make things easy for you. I will have what I want, what I am owed.” She stared into his granite-hard face and softened her voice, her expression changing from sullen to cajoling. “It's not exactly a torment to be with me, is it? You've enjoyed my company in the past—that doesn't have to change. If our games in bed have begun to bore you, I'll invent new ones. I'll satisfy you in ways that most women would never dare—”

“It's over,” he said coldly.

Her dark eyes widened. “Exactly what is over?”

“Our relationship—at least the way it has been.”

“What about the child?”

“If you produce a baby within the next nine months, I'll decide what my responsibility is. If not, there will be no doubt that I'm not the father—because I'm not going to bed you, I'm not going to touch you, and God willing, I won't even have to see you.”