CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER TEN
E LODIE BIT THE inside of her lip, holding back a million questions. What had Ramon’s aunt been on about? Why was there so much animosity between them? Where was it that Ramon was supposedly taking her tomorrow? And what honeymoon?
He didn’t explain. Didn’t actually speak to her. He was too busy talking with Ashleigh for the entire journey back to London. Light, easy conversation—never mentioning her father or his family and the horrible experience they’d all just endured.
Elodie battled to suppress her rising jealousy because she knew if it were just the two of them travelling, Ramon would have his head in work for the duration. Once they got to his Belgravia house she took Ashleigh to a guest room and settled her in. Piotr then proved his worth again by delivering them snacks, so it was well more than an hour before she left her sister and went in search of Ramon. He was in his home office staring out the window into the dimly lit street. Residual emotion emanated from him, compelling Elodie closer.
‘Ashleigh has everything she needs?’ he asked roughly.
‘Yes, thank you.’
‘She’s very polite,’ he muttered. ‘Hopefully spending some time with you will cure her of a lifetime of mute compliance. She could do with some of your spirit.’ He fidgeted with his cuffs. ‘Did it take long for you to recover yours?’
Elodie stopped moving towards him.
‘You froze when you saw your father.’ He speared her with that intent gaze.
Yeah, she’d gone full ‘rabbit in the headlights’. She was close to that again now as embarrassment—and wariness—surged.
‘Only for a moment,’ he added softly. ‘Then you were back.’
She nodded. Because he’d been beside her and he’d stepped in for that second when she couldn’t speak. She cleared her throat, wanting to move forward. ‘What’s this place your aunt meant?’
His mouth compressed. ‘A private island off the coast of Spain. Lifelong occupancy rights go to the eldest married male of the family. It’s for his personal use. Wider family can only visit upon his invitation.’
‘Sounds exclusive and somewhat unfair.’
‘Life isn’t fair,’ he said briefly.
Okay then. ‘Your father held the previous occupancy rights?’
‘Right.’
‘And now, because you’re married, you do,’ she said. He must have wanted to keep it very much. ‘What’s on the island?’
‘Lizards. Not much else.’
He clearly wanted to talk about the place as little as she wanted to talk about her father, but she hovered, unable to walk away from him.
He sighed heavily. ‘As Cristina pointed out, I haven’t been there in years. There truly hasn’t been the time, but I need to go first thing. You’re welcome to join me but it’s not mandatory.’
‘You told her that we’re going there for our honeymoon.’
He winced. ‘Yes, but—’
‘You need her to believe this marriage is real,’ she said. ‘Otherwise she might contest those rights.’
He looked to the ceiling. A muscle in his jaw flicked. ‘I’d like you to have the choice , Elodie. I don’t have the stomach to be another man who bullies you into doing something you don’t really want.’
Her innards iced.
‘You turned white ,’ he added gruffly. ‘You—’
‘Survived.’ She interrupted because she did not want to go there with him. She did not want to revisit how weak and vulnerable she’d been for all those years under her father’s thumb. She pushed out a tight breath. ‘This island has a nice beach, right?’
He shot her a keen look, then almost smiled.
Warmth flowed back inside her. ‘It’s no hardship to visit a nice beach,’ she added gently.
‘Just for a few days. Five, max. Ashleigh too,’ he invited. ‘She’s only just got here and she needs you. Plus she’ll be good company because I’ll need to—’
‘Work,’ Elodie interrupted with a laugh. ‘Sure, I’ll ask her.’
But Ashleigh looked appalled when Elodie went to her a few minutes later.
‘I am not coming on your honeymoon!’ she whisper-screeched. ‘I shouldn’t have come here now —’
‘Of course you should have. I want you here. Please, Ash—’
But Ashleigh point-blank refused, and in the end Elodie phoned Bethan, who immediately offered for Ashleigh to stay with her. As Phoebe—Bethan’s flatmate and the third member of the FFS club—was still in Italy, she would love the company. Elodie simply loved her friend.
Naturally Ramon retreated into work mode for the entire trip but his expression grew from remote to thunderous the nearer they got to the island and she didn’t think it was because of the report he was supposedly reading. Seeing him so off balance wasn’t just surprising, it was actually upsetting. Elodie would talk to him about it, only he clearly didn’t want to. And why would he—they were ‘married’ but it was a temporary arrangement. He didn’t want compassion from her, nor any other kind of emotion other than sexual attraction. And she didn’t want to feel anything else, either. She was strong and independent and alone and that’s how she intended to stay. Always.
Yet his spiralling mood mattered to her.
At last they got through the final leg of the journey—a short hop from the mainland by helicopter, then Elodie scurried to keep pace with him up the path to the stunning stone house at the top of the hill.
‘I’ll set up a workspace,’ he said tersely. ‘I have things to do before the close of day in the States.’
‘Sure.’
She refused to pry and determinedly explored the house instead. She would keep their affair on the superficial, sexual level it was supposed to be.
The home was smaller than she’d expected—more cottage than mansion. The kitchen was stocked with the healthy, high-quality food he enjoyed. She went out the wide glass doors and took in the views of the sea. It was isolated and utterly beautiful.
There were no staff onsite. Not—she suspected—because he wanted to be alone with her, but because he didn’t want anyone else here. Despite its undeniable beauty, he didn’t want to be here himself . She figured his reasons had to be deeply painful. Had he spent time here as a child? With both his parents now dead, were those memories too much? Or had something horrible happened here?
The guy buried himself in work constantly. It was what he was doing now, in fact—total emotional avoidance mode. But in that argument with his aunt he’d said he’d sacrificed everything to prove himself. What had he meant by that?
She turned back to the house, suddenly needing to check on him.
He was in the lounge, sprawled back in a low-slung chair—a glass dangling from his hand, watching her approach with a moody gaze. For whatever reason he was definitely hurting, and an answering emotion rippled within her. He didn’t appear to have got much work done in the hour since she’d left him to get on with it. Maybe he needed a different ‘escape’ than what his work could offer.
‘Time for a break?’ she said lightly.
‘I don’t need a break,’ he said belligerently. ‘What is it you say? A change is as good as a holiday? I visit a different company property and it is refreshing. I am constantly refreshed.’
But this wasn’t a company property. This was a personal one.
‘Oh, yes,’ she said dryly. ‘Your mood is so revitalised.’
His annoyance visibly deepened. ‘You enjoy the endless creativity of your escape scenarios. We are very similar, no?’ He snaked out a hand as she passed, catching her wrist and tugging her into his lap. ‘We both like this ...’
His glass fell to the floor and he growled as she softened against him.
‘But you’re all bark and no bite,’ he muttered huskily, holding her too tightly for her to slip off his lap. ‘Where’s the seductress who drives men wild?’
He thought she was some amazing lover—that’s what she’d implied, right? But now he was watching her with those very astute eyes and she felt hot and embarrassed because she so wasn’t and had her faking it failed?
‘Most men like to be in charge.’ Her coquettish reply fell flat because she mumbled it.
‘Men who are in charge all the time sometimes like to relinquish the reins,’ he countered. ‘Besides, I thought you liked to be in charge. Isn’t that your everything?’
Elodie didn’t know how to answer him without admitting her inexperience. But she couldn’t stop herself gazing back into his beautiful blue eyes. He looked so tired. So tortured. Her heart rose and she gently cupped his jaw, soothing her fingers over his rough stubble. He worked too hard.
‘Ravish me, Elodie.’ He suddenly groaned. ‘Make me your slave.’
The anguish in his expression made her realise this wasn’t some test. He was hurting and her own heart ached in response.
‘Ramon,’ she reproached him gently. He had—she realised—done everything she’d asked of him. ‘Are you not already?’
‘So do what you want with me,’ he breathed.
He sat like stone, but he was burning hot and he needed this from her. And she needed to give it. She scooted off his lap and moved to kneel on the floor before him. She hadn’t stripped him on their wedding night because she’d been lost to his ministrations but now it was his turn to succumb to the vulnerability of being so intimately exposed. She would strip him entirely—slough off the bitterness until there was nothing but this heat between them. Because it was pure and so good, it couldn’t be wrong. And because at the core of him there was hurt and it echoed within her. He was hurt and alone and she knew exactly how much that sucked. So she would take him to a place where his brain no longer functioned. It wasn’t just a balm...it was absolute bliss. And she would do this because she wanted it too. She wanted him entirely.
His breathing shuddered as she unbuttoned his shirt and traced her hands over his muscled chest, tracking her finger through the light dusting of hair. She battled with his belt and jeans and in the end pulled him so he moved down from the chair to the floor with her. Then she could strip him completely, drawing it out, savouring his strength, his deeply male beauty. She touched him everywhere in all the ways she’d secretly dreamed of for days. She wanted to find out all his most sensitive spots and torment him. To please him. And as he grew restless, and his breathing quickened, and that one part of him strained... Elodie smiled.
He watched her avidly with heavy-lidded eyes. He liked looking, just as she liked looking at him. So she slowly slipped her own dress off, her underwear too. He wanted to look? Well, she would let him. She prowled on all fours, engaging as the animal he reduced her to. Not degraded in any sense, but fully provocative because she wanted to play with him.
‘Don’t turn your back on me.’
His strangled groan made her cringe. Too late she remembered what he’d said when she’d turned from him before. He’d wanted her to face him, to know it was him—as if she would ever be thinking of anyone else?
But when she froze, he suddenly moved. He rose and scooped her into his arms and carried her into another room. But he didn’t put her on a bed; instead it was the floor again.
‘We can do it how you want, but we’ll do it here,’ he growled.
She glanced up and saw he’d put her before a floor-to-ceiling mirror. Elodie burned, hardly wanting to look at herself in this moment but in the same second she met his gaze in the mirror. She saw his muscles flex as he knelt behind her. His hands swept from her shoulders down her waist to rest on her hips and her flush spread.
‘I want to see your face,’ he gritted. ‘Every time I’m inside you.’
‘Why?’ She shouldn’t have asked. She was afraid he’d make another comment about making sure she knew who she was with, and she didn’t want that hurt right now.
‘Because you’re so bloody beautiful.’
He cupped her breast and possessively slid his other hand between her legs. His gaze was pinned to hers as he stroked her—watching her every reaction even as he felt it. She saw the triumphant lift of his chin as she began to quake.
‘Watch,’ he muttered fiercely. ‘Watch how beautiful you are.’
But she dropped to all fours and he took her just as she began to scream and that made her scream even more. He ground her name as he ground deeper into her. It was frantic and hard and relentless and so freaking good she just screamed more as he pounded into her again and again and again. He was fierce and she’d never, ever felt as hot or as wild. She’d never wanted anything as much as she wanted him like this—primal and free—and so she pushed back on him, bucking her hips and tossing her head and he grabbed her hips harder. She adored it, screaming his name until finally he finished with a raw growl and a powerful thrust that almost made her pass out with pleasure. Indeed, she slid completely to the carpet and he slumped right over the top of her.
Together they gasped for air until suddenly he growled and lifted his weight off her.
‘I cannot believe your ex let you go,’ he muttered harshly.
Elodie chilled and turned her head away from him—hating that Ramon had reminded her of him in this moment. Because Callum hadn’t wanted to let her go. Not because they’d been good in bed together but because he’d turned out to be as controlling as her father. Yes, he’d wanted her—but ultimately as a possession, not a person. She hadn’t realised that he’d been interested in her since school days. She hadn’t realised that he’d built up a fantasy of their future that couldn’t ever become real. Hadn’t realised that the chemistry that he’d assured her would develop, hadn’t. When she’d distanced herself from him intimately, he’d insisted she show affection in public so no one would know that there were problems in private. He’d started to insist on more and more and she didn’t want Ramon—or anyone—to know any of that now.
‘I’ve changed,’ she said coldly. ‘I’ve got better at it since then.’
‘Then why didn’t any of your other lovers try to collar you for good?’ Ramon challenged her. ‘You’re an opiate, Elodie. I can’t get enough.’
She glared at him. Apparently he was still angry, and now so was she. Because she couldn’t get enough either.
‘Have at me then,’ she snapped. ‘Because I’m not satisfied.’
His eyes flared. ‘Really?’
‘Yes!’
Ramon was in an even more horrendous mood when he woke. He left Elodie’s warmth and stalked to the kitchen to make coffee. He hated being here. Wouldn’t have come if it weren’t for Cristina’s jibes. But she only wanted this island because she wanted to destroy every last thing her sister had loved and she was using her son to do it. As if what she’d done after his father’s death wasn’t enough? Yet apparently still she sought vengeance for all those years of being in the shadow—wronged, silenced, embittered. He growled in annoyance at the memories that surfaced. He definitely shouldn’t have come here. They’d leave as soon as possible.
He sucked in a breath. Elodie wouldn’t be thrilled. Elodie who he couldn’t get a read on. Elodie who was hot and wild and who he couldn’t resist when her face was flushed and her fiery hair a tumbling mess. She was a tornado and he couldn’t believe she’d been controlled by her own father, that she’d married young to some guy who hadn’t been able to give her what she needed. But she had. Hell, he’d seen her freeze in front of her father. Yet something niggled at him—what she said and how she acted didn’t quite add up and it set him even further on edge.
‘Out of practice, carino ?’ He set the coffee down beside her when she finally stirred. ‘I thought you had no problem partying all night.’
She didn’t answer, merely sipped the coffee and stared back at him.
Yeah, he was being a jerk. He’d been a jerk last night. Then he’d had the most passionate night of his life, and yet here he was, still being a jerk. The sooner they got out of here the better.
‘Pack your bag—wheels up in twenty.’ He backed away from her.
‘We’re leaving ?’ She sat her coffee cup down with a clatter. ‘Already?’
‘I’ve done all I need to here,’ he said roughly.
Cristina would know from the flight records that he’d been here. He could blame the trip’s brevity on work. It would have to do.
‘By turning up for two minutes—just long enough to prove you were here? Well, good for you,’ she said sarcastically. ‘ I haven’t even been down to the beach.’ She scrunched down in the bed. ‘What happened to five days? It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours.’
He saw her slight wince as she moved and realised she was tender from their encounter last night. Fire licked, distracting and tempting. It had been sensational—the most erotic experience ever, and she’d been right with him, pushing him every bit as he’d pushed her. She pushed him differently now.
‘You can’t make me get on another plane,’ she said mutinously. ‘I’ve flown back and forth across the continent this week too many times already. Your carbon footprint must be monstrous. ’
‘I offset it with carbon credits from several forestry plantations,’ he snapped back—adrenaline rippled through him at her challenge.
This was what he needed. Sparring with her stopped the worst memories resurfacing.
Grief. Betrayal. Abandonment.
None of it he wanted to feel ever again. This was why he didn’t come here. Why he didn’t let anyone close. Yet he found safety in Elodie’s sarcasm, heat in the sexual tension that twisted them together.
‘Of course you do.’ She shot him a look from over the sheet. ‘You have answers for everything.’
Not quite. He didn’t really have answers for why the last forty-eight hours had been such a roller-coaster of the most fantastic and freaking awful moments ever.
‘You keep bringing me to beautiful beaches and not giving me a chance to swim.’ She glared at him.
‘I’ll take you to a better beach sometime.’
She shook her head disbelievingly. ‘Promises, promises.’
The bitterness in her answer was more than sarcasm and hit harder than he expected.
‘I haven’t the time to waste here,’ he gritted, battling the bad feeling. ‘I’ve got work to do. Be ready to go in an hour.’
He left her, desperate to pull himself together. He even manned up and stepped outside. A long time ago this place had been a haven. He’d enjoyed summer holidays here with both his parents before he’d realised the betrayal. It was the one place his father never brought any of his lovers. Which eventually made it the one place his mother felt safe. After his father had died and the worst exposed, she’d come here and never left again. Ramon had tried to get her to at least visit other places. Tried to get her to accept help. Never could. He’d stand here and watch her walking down this path towards the dunes and her damned beloved lizards. He’d noticed her thinning frame but she’d denied his concern. Denied him so much. Her time. Her forgiveness. She wouldn’t let him help. Wouldn’t let him care for her. She’d been furious when he’d brought a doctor—another betrayal.
Ramon lasted less than twenty minutes before turning back to the house. Elodie was dressed, sitting on the deck and eating an ice cream.
‘For breakfast?’ A chuckle escaped even though he couldn’t feel less like laughing. ‘Where’d you even find it?’
‘Freezer.’ She offered it to him.
‘I don’t eat sweet things.’
‘Maybe you ought to.’ She blinked oh-so-innocently.
‘Not good for me.’
‘All or nothing?’ Her eyebrows lifted. ‘You’re afraid of losing control.’
He slung himself down beside her and faced the sea, so he didn’t have to look into her eyes.
‘I lost control with you last night,’ he admitted gruffly.
He saw the little raw spots on her knees and knew they were from the plush carpet. He wanted to kiss them.
‘I was too rough.’ He coughed.
‘No, you weren’t. I liked it.’ She licked her ice cream. ‘I incited it.’
Was that why she looked impishly pleased with herself? She’d not had control of her situation for years. It seemed she liked having a little control with him.
He couldn’t resist touching the small wounds. ‘I don’t like to see you hurt.’ Not even a little.
‘I hardly think they’ll scar.’
‘But I bet they sting.’ His words had as well. He’d been rude. He regretted it. He frowned at the sea, unsure how to say any of that—unsure why he even wanted to.
‘This place poisons you,’ she said softly. ‘It’s beautiful but your mood is ugly every second we’re here.’
His whole body felt tight.
‘Do you even want this island?’
He rubbed the back of his neck. ‘It’s an environmentally sound investment.’
‘There are plenty of other ways you could greenwash your financial reports,’ she said sceptically. ‘There’s more to it. Why put so much effort into securing this when you clearly hate it here?’ She reached out and touched his shoulder so he was compelled to meet her concerned gaze. ‘Is it just because you don’t want your aunt to have it?’
Ramon didn’t discuss any of this with anyone. Ever. But Elodie wasn’t anyone. She was...
He didn’t know what she was. But that night in Cornwall he’d been shocked to see her pallor when she’d first faced her father. He’d instinctively stepped forward and spoken first. After a moment she’d joined him. And when Cristina had snapped at him Elodie had slipped her hand into his. For once he’d not been alone. It might’ve only been an act, but they’d felt like a team . He hadn’t had that support before and he couldn’t resist reaching for it again.
‘My mother moved to this island permanently after my father died,’ he admitted.
Elodie’s eyes widened, then softened. ‘She was grieving?’
‘She became a recluse.’
His mother hadn’t just been heartbroken, she’d fallen apart. Unable to stand the brutal betrayals of her husband and her sister. And of Ramon.
‘This place became her life. She worked to restore the environment to pristine status, made it predator free. It’s why there’s no development here aside from the cottage,’ he muttered. ‘It’s literally a lizard habitat.’
She’d banned all visitors—made it difficult for even Ramon to visit. She’d raged at him for keeping silent about his father’s infidelity. Rejected him from the day of his father’s funeral. Told him he was his father’s son—not hers. He’d never won her forgiveness and all those betrayals had been a cancer, slowly destroying her until another cancer had come.
Elodie fiddled with the stick from her ice cream. ‘So she stayed here the whole time until she—’
‘Died. Yeah.’ He snatched a little breath. ‘Cancer. Sudden and unstoppable. Four years ago.’ He didn’t want to see the sympathy in Elodie’s eyes so he kept talking—distracting himself with other detail. ‘She didn’t say she had any symptoms. Didn’t give me a chance to get her help. It was weeks between diagnosis and death.’
‘Ramon, I’m really sorry.’
He shook his head. ‘My dad was a glutton. Food. Alcohol. Work. But especially women. There were lots. Mama was oblivious because he’d carefully have those affairs when travelling for work. Then he’d come back and spoil her. He did all the things a besotted husband should do. Gave her all the gifts . All the attention.’
‘But you knew?’ Elodie asked.
Bitterness enveloped him. ‘From about fifteen I began travelling with him. He was preparing me. And when I walked in on him with an “assistant”, it was a little hard for him to deny. We had a “chat” after. He said I needed to protect my mother in the same way he did—that she didn’t need to know. I thought I’d shielded her from it, but after he died she found out in the cruellest way.’
‘After?’
He nodded, but didn’t elaborate on those awful details. He’d already shared far more than he’d ever thought he would and that last was too awful to utter aloud. ‘That’s when she moved here permanently.’
‘Leaving you alone to take on the company.’
‘I was the heir.’
She looked concerned. ‘But it was a lot. Your dad had just died, your mother retreated here, and that company wasn’t like some small family business. You were alone with all that pressure as well as—’
‘I was fine. The work was good. She didn’t want me here anyway,’ he snapped.
Really, the company had saved him more than he’d saved it. It was one thing he could control and where his energy could be safely expended. He put in time and focus and the rewards were tangible. Numbers were black and white. He’d become addicted to their constant improvement. He couldn’t fix his mother. Couldn’t fix his aunt. Or his cousin. The only guarantee he could give all of them was financial security. And so he had.
‘Ramon—’
‘My work guaranteed that she could stay here and hopefully gave her some peace of mind that her family company was safe.’ He closed his eyes. ‘She could be here and do what she wanted. But she lived a harder life than she had to. She wouldn’t let me make any improvements. Wouldn’t tell me anything she really needed.’
She’d shut him out so completely that she hadn’t even told him she was in physical pain. It had devastated him when he’d finally found out—far too late.
‘It must have been awful to have her so isolated, knowing she was hurting from the loss of your father and finding out that horrible truth,’ Elodie said quietly.
The empathy in her eyes was too much. He jerked free of her touch and swung back to face the sea.
‘I’ve had workers in periodically to keep the place tidy but haven’t been back since. Jose Ramon has drawn up plans to build a hotel here and turn it into a party island. DJs, endless thumping. I guess Cristina wanted to help him secure it.’ He sighed. ‘But my mother put the ecosystem here ahead of everything, including her own life, and I can’t let it be destroyed.’
‘Have you talked to Jose Ramon about that?’
‘He’s not interested in talking to me. All his life he’s been told that I’m the big bad bully who gets everything he wants.’
‘Told that by your aunt?’ Elodie guessed. ‘Why is she so angry with you?’
Ramon couldn’t utter that hideous complication aloud. He bowed his head, clenching his fists as bitterness overwhelmed him.
‘Come on, let’s get out of here.’ Elodie suddenly rose to her feet. ‘You shouldn’t have to stay in a situation that makes you unhappy. You requested the helicopter, right?’
‘Yeah.’ He stood but he was confused. ‘So we’ll go—’
‘Home.’
Home . With her. Right. His breathing stalled.
‘I mean...’ Her gaze dropped from his. ‘Ashleigh’s there.’
Of course. She wanted to see her sister. He frowned, remembering how muted Ashleigh had been, how silent Elodie herself had fallen for those first moments in Cornwall when he’d had the smallest glimpse into her background.
‘Ramon?’ She reached up and smoothed his frown. ‘It will be okay. You’re smart, you’ll come up with a creative solution to resolve this with your family.’
Yeah, well, he hadn’t yet. Not in all these years. ‘Your faith in my problem-solving skills is misplaced.’
‘You forget I watched you figure out my hardest escape room clues in less than half an hour.’ She smiled at him a little sadly. ‘But I think this place holds nothing but bad memories for you. I know you want to protect her work, but it hurts you to be here now. So let’s go.’
His mouth gummed. He couldn’t actually move. He felt like he’d been cracked open and if he moved a muscle, he’d fall apart completely. Because she was right. So right. What was happening ? She was listening. She was seeing. She was caring. And he was drowning in it to the point where he couldn’t seem to function at all.
She cupped his face. ‘It’s not weak. It’s not running away. It’s not avoidance.’
‘No?’ he whispered, devastated. ‘I’ve been avoiding this place for years . I should have pushed for the terms of the trust to be changed. Look at what’s happened because I didn’t.’
‘Nothing all that bad has happened,’ she answered calmly. ‘We stopped that stupid engagement. It’s okay.’ She spoke so softly. ‘It hasn’t been the right time for you to deal with this place. Maybe it’ll never be easy. Maybe you’ll need help with it. That’s okay too. But your earlier instinct to leave was right. You don’t need to suffer more by staying here.’
She sharply inhaled and suddenly spoke low and fast and fierce. ‘What your father did wasn’t your fault. He betrayed your mother and he put you in an impossible position forcing you to choose loyalties and keep his secrets from her. You just wanted to protect her and in the end you couldn’t. But that wasn’t your fault either. She chose to cut herself off—this place is how she did that. And honestly, she abandoned you too. So no wonder you hate it here,’ she whispered harshly. ‘You leaving now is self-care.’
The rush of gratitude was so real and so unfamiliar that he couldn’t speak.
‘Come on.’ She took his hand again and tugged. Hard. He just followed.
Ten minutes later they waited at the helipad.
‘Self-care, huh?’ He mulled. ‘That’s what you did when you left Cornwall?’
‘I guess.’
His gut tightened but he turned to her because he suddenly needed to know. ‘Your father was always domineering?’ He braced. ‘Violent?’
His heart stopped as she paled.
‘Not too bad. Not as we got older,’ she breathed. ‘But he still threatened. Mum was anxious that we please him. She couldn’t stand up to him and we didn’t either. We had to look good, perform, improve the family position. But never actually think for ourselves.’ She shot him a colourless smile. ‘He wasn’t interested in my ideas, but I actually have quite good ideas.’
‘I know you do,’ Ramon muttered helplessly. ‘He should have listened. Valued you for everything else. Never hurt you.’ Impotent fury swept through him. ‘Didn’t your husband see it?’
Her expression pinched. ‘Callum said marrying him would make it better. That he loved me, he’d help push my ideas, stand up to my father and that we’d—’
She broke off and cleared her throat. Ramon knew there was something more she’d left unsaid and wished she’d trust him enough to say it.
‘But he didn’t?’ Ramon pressed. ‘He stayed there even after you left?’
‘Until he accepted that the divorce was inevitable,’ she whispered.
An unbearable tension built inside. ‘He really didn’t want to let you go, huh?’
Elodie shook her head. ‘But Callum made many promises that he didn’t keep long before I left him.’ Her glance skittered from his again. ‘Lots of people don’t deliver on their promises.’
That was true. But Ramon was increasingly bothered by the feeling that his wife Elodie wasn’t one of them.