The Failed Marriage

‘No!’ she looked up at him with wild eyes. ‘I don’t want to!’ She pushed his hands away from her.

Joshua was breathing heavily as he raised his head, refusing to be pushed off as he pinned her down to the bed. ‘You never do,’ he ground out. ‘But I do,’ he told her fiercely.

Her eyes glittered her rejection of him. ‘Then go and see your little receptionist. But don’t come to me!’

His eyes narrowed as he slowly moved up and away from her. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ he rasped.

Her mouth twisted, she pulled herself up the pillow now that the danger had passed, straightening the bedclothes about her with a calm she was far from feeling. It was a long time since she and Joshua had discussed anything on such a personal level, and she wasn’t sure she was ready for it yet.

‘Joanna!’ he prompted hardly at her silence.

She sighed, her head back defiantly. ‘You know exactly what I mean, Joshua, so let’s not play games. If you choose to have an affair with your receptionist then that’s your business, but don’t come to me after you’ve been with her.’

‘I’ve been working—–’

‘I think the whole of London is aware of the “work” you’ve been doing in the evenings lately,’ she said contemptuously.

He breathed angrily, his mouth tight. ‘In other words, your mother has been listening to one of her cronies again,’ he derided harshly. ‘No wonder she was concerned about you! When will you learn not to listen to gossip, Joanna?’

She flushed at the rebuke. ‘This wasn’t gossip, and you know it. And my mother actually defended you,’ she told him angrily. ‘She thinks a man is entitled to “stray”, as long as his wife finds out in time and puts a stop to it,’ she added disgustedly.

‘But you don’t want to do that, do you, Joanna?’ he taunted hardly. ‘Because if you did that you would have to share a bed with me yourself.’

‘Does this mean you admit to having an affair with Angela Hailey?’

‘I admit nothing—but I’m not denying it either,’ he added softly, too softly. ‘Does that give you an excuse to keep denying me access to your bed, and your body?’

‘I don’t need an excuse!’ she snapped, two bright spots of colour in her cheeks.

‘No,’ he agreed heavily, beginning to pace the room. ‘I realise that.’ He stopped his pacing to glare down at her. ‘Just why the hell did you marry me, Joanna?’ he asked wearily.

She looked down at her hands. ‘You know why,’ she mumbled.

‘Tell me!’ he ordered tightly.

Her head went back at the aggression in his tone, throwing back the bedclothes to stand up, her body tense with anger as she faced him across the room. ‘Because I was eighteen, terrified, and carrying your child!’

CHAPTER THREE (#u284efc99-b017-54ac-a8be-9dd73e8294b1)

AS she watched him his face became a shuttered mask, all emotion erased, his eyes the only part of him that showed he hadn’t turned to stone, fires leaping and dying amidst the stormy sea.