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“Thanks,” Rebecca mumbled as she headed for the door. She had to get out.
She’d barely managed to push through the door when she bumped into a woman trying to enter. A woman Rebecca had never met but knew on sight.
They stopped inches from each other. Staring. Rebecca’s sense of unease grew until she was afraid she was going to throw up.
“Ariel,” she said, stepping away from the door, wishing she had her car parked in front so she could jump inside and drive away. She had to run, had to be anywhere but here.
“Rebecca.”
Nigel’s wife looked tall and elegant in a beaded designer gown. Ariel, a former model, had long auburn hair that tumbled to her waist, green eyes, and a mouth that had once been named the sexiest on three continents.
Now those green eyes filled with tears, and that famous mouth trembled. “I came here to see you.”
The last thing she wanted to hear, Rebecca thought, pressing a hand to her midsection. “I’m really busy now. I have to go.”
“This will take just a second. It’s about Nigel.”
Rebecca had already guessed that. There were only a handful of reasons a bride followed her new husband to a different country, and very few of them were good.
Ariel straightened and squared her shoulders. “Is he still in love with you?”
Pain joined the tears. Rebecca watched the other woman brace herself for the inevitable. It would take only a second to pay back Nigel for the crap he’d tried to pull. A matter of a word or two to shatter both their lives. Saying yes was the easiest thing in the world. God knows Nigel had earned it.
She could tell Ariel about the blue diamond that Nigel had not only stolen but given to her. She could ruin them all and walk away without looking back.
“You can say it,” Ariel told her. “I know something’s wrong, and you’re not the kind of woman men forget.”
“True,” Rebecca said slowly.
The need to hurt someone else was powerful. All that stopped her was the realization that if Nigel was free, he would come after her again. She would probably fall for his lines and then be stuck with him. He wasn’t anyone she could trust. He could never make her happy. Better to leave him where he was—safely out of reach.
“He’s not in love with me. I don’t think he ever was. We had fun, but our relationship was never serious. He likes the connection with the family. Rubbing elbows with the rich and famous.”
Ariel looked as if she desperately wanted to believe.
Rebecca took pity on her. “You’re the one he married. Not me.”
“Because you wouldn’t say yes.”
“Does it matter? You have him now. Are you going to fight for him, or are you going to become some whiny, clingy doormat who begs for attention? Nigel always wants what he can’t have. Bethatwoman. You already know how—you wouldn’t be married to him if you didn’t.”
Ariel wiped the tears from her cheeks. “You’re right. He picked me, not you. I have to remember that. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
Ariel sniffed. “Any cute guys I can flirt with inside?”
“Cute? Not so much. But there are plenty of rich ones.”
Ariel smiled briefly, then went into the party. Rebecca leaned against the building and wondered what she was supposed to do next. Fate answered that question in the form of her mother, who stepped out onto the sidewalk.
“There you are. Everyone’s asking about you. I went to all this trouble to invite these people. The least you can do is mingle.”
“Fine. Sure. I’ll mingle.”
Elizabeth studied her. “Are you all right?”
“Never better.”
