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“Of course,” Tia said, indignation colouring the words. “Absolutely awful.”
“I’m actually very private,” he said, with a lift of his shoulders. “I’m aware that my business leads to a certain profile, that people are interested in my life, but I prefer to keep to myself as much as possible. It was my worst nightmare. What should have been a small, intimate weekend turned into a circus, thanks to my own mother.”
“You deserved so much better.”
“It was the press that found out Cressida was cheating. They caught her going into another man’s apartment, in London, and leaving a few hours later, looking distinctly dishevelled. I read about it even before she could tell me.”
Tia cursed, then swallowed the word on a burst of champagne.
“I was hounded, afterward.” His eyes met hers with a look of shame. She shook her head, wishing she could clear it. Wishing she could snap her fingers and take all of this away for him. “They followed me mercilessly. It was worse for her, though.”
“You actually sound like you were sorry for her?”
“I was,” he answered, lips forming a grim line. “I loved her. Those feelings didn’t just get switched off when she strayed.”
Tia’s lips parted in comprehension. Strangely, she hadn’t really thought of Hamish as having been in love, even though of course he had. His proposal to Cressida hadn’t come about like this—desperation had driven him to this, whereas with Cressida it had been a deep, abiding, forgiving love.
“I mean, I was furious, too. Disbelieving.”
“Did you want to move past it?”
A muscle to the side of his jaw ticked as he ground his teeth. “Impossible.”
Tia silently agreed. She wouldn’t be able to forgive that kind of betrayal either.
“The press called me The Jilted Heir, Lord Ditched-comb, all sorts of ridiculous things.”
“Mature,” she drawled acerbically.
“Standard.” He lifted one shoulder. “Anyway. If we’d involved my parents, I suspect our wedding would have become front-page news, and I know neither of us wants that.”
A shudder of revulsion ran through her. “God, Hamish. I’m really sorry.” And finally she gave in to the tingly-fingered temptation, reaching over to put her hand on his, then immediately regretting it when the air around them seemed to tighten and throb with a deep, low hum. His gaze fell to their fingers, rested there so long she felt heat bursting from him to her. She cleared her throat. “So you left the UK?”
“About a month later.” He paused, eyes raking over her face. “There’s something else you should know.”
She squeezed his hand, knew that would have been a good point to remove hers yet didn’t. Instead, she waited, head tilted slightly to the side, for him to continue.
“The man she left me for—,”
“Bastard,” Tia ground out.
He winced. “Was my brother.”
Chapter Six
HE HADN’T TOLD ANYONE BEFORE, mainly because he hadn’t needed to. The affair was splashed all over the UK tabloids, then the internet; his parents’ social circle had become enlivened by the gossip. In the weeks that followed, while his heart had been breaking, he hadn’t been able to go anywhere without people whispering and smirking, or throwing him sympathetic glances. He’d had women offer to go to bed with him to ‘get back’ at Cressida, but he’d turned them down. Even though the idea had held rich appeal.
But it wasn’t the solution.
Revenge wouldn’t have helped.
Strangely, it didn’t feel wrong to tell Tia. Saying the words, though hard, also made something inside of him shift. A heavy, aching pain he’d carried for a really long time.
“I’m sorry. Did I hear you properly? Your brother and your fiancée…”
“Now his wife,” Hamish confirmed with a nod, his gaze moving back to their hands. Her fingernails were painted a perfect cream colour that matched the simple dress she’d chosen to wear for their ceremony.
“Your ex-fiancée is your sister-in-law.”
