Chapter 214

• He looked at her steadily for a lengthy pause, the dark intensity of his gaze unravelling her more than he could have imagined as she sat rigidly before him, every muscle in her face twitching under the tight control she was trying to maintain on her features. Her pulse was racing, her skin breaking out in a fine sweat, and her stomach was feeling as if a giant hole had been carved into it with a sharp implement.
• ‘As I said before, the picture he painted of you does not quite fit the frame I see before me now,’ he said, raising his glass to his lips again. ‘I wonder why that is?’
• Ally swallowed against the restriction in her throat. ‘Your brother-in-law is hardly someone I’d be putting my money on to trust,’ she said. ‘He openly cheated on his pregnant wife. What sort of man does that?’