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He was willing to spend however long it took to make their marriage work with her, here, in London.
He'd followed her across the globe, had made the effort he hadn't made before—had he really changed?
But rather than blurt the truth, her first instinct, she stalled, searching for the right words, humiliated at the thought of the man she loved seeing her anything less than capable.
'Why did you run and leave the ring behind?'
'Because this job is everything to me.'
Nick glared at her, his toffee eyes turning icy in the wan light filtering through the tattered velvet drapes. 'I see.'
From his rigid posture to his clenched hands, tension radiated off him and she knew she'd have to tell him the truth to salvage their relationship.
'Actually, you don't.' Weariness seeped through her as she slumped into a stuffy armchair, waving away the puff of dust that arose like a mushroom cloud. ‘This job is all important because I need the money. Desperately.'
Realisation dawned as he sat opposite and leaned forward by bracing his elbows on his knees. 'But if you need cash I could—'
'That's exactly why I left.' She shook her head, twisting her hair into a loose knot before releasing it. 'I need to do this on my own. It's my problem, I'll take care of it.'
'What problem?'
Wincing, she rubbed the bridge of her nose, a futile gesture to ward off the headache building between her eyes. 'My father.'
Nick stiffened as she knew he would. 'What's he done now?'
She sighed, toying with the frayed edge of the chair's arm before folding her fingers to stop fiddling. 'You know about him giving me money when I left Australia to start here a decade ago?’
'Yeah.’
She stood and started pacing. 'He knew I didn't want a cent of his money. He knew I wanted nothing to do with him, so he said the money I got was from my mother. He’s all about the control, so thinking it came from her, my mum’s legacy, meant everything to me. But when I tried to make peace with him recently, I learned the truth.’
Suspicion clouded his eyes. 'Why did you need to make peace? Haven't you kept in touch?'
She shook her head, hating the direction their conversation had taken, knowing it could only lead to one destination: full disclosure.
'When I left ten years ago, I severed all ties.'
'Why?'
'For freedom.'
Freedom from fear, from tyranny, from a father who'd morphed into a monster.
Nick frowned in confusion. 'You moved to London to be free of him and—'
'But I'm not free. I'll never be free until I've paid back every cent.'
Nick shook his head. 'You're not telling me everything.'
He stood, reaching out to her, but she stubbornly backed away. 'Tell me.'
'I can't.' Her whisper faded into silence, broken by his exasperated sigh.
'I'm your husband. I love you. I'm here for you, always.'
His concern and sincerity in that last word broke through her emotional barriers and she sagged against the window sill.
'He hit me.'
