A Night With Consequences (17 page)

‘Move in with you?’ For just a moment hope bloomed in Kara’s chest. Hadn’t she wanted this all along? To live with Blake? To have a future with him? But as she looked at the coldness in his eyes now she saw that he was not offering her a future. He was offering her a prison. He would own her in return for the money. Would men always be in control of her life? First her father, then the loan shark and now Blake. If she accepted Blake’s offer of the money she might be free of one shackle around her neck, but she would simply be replacing it with another one. She knew what her answer must be. ‘I can’t do that, Blake.’

Blake thought for a moment. Her answer had confused him. If she moved in with him then she would be given exactly the kind of lifestyle she wanted—one far removed from the life she had now. So why was she turning his offer down? Did she need the money for another purpose than funding her lifestyle? What was she keeping from him?

He couldn’t help wondering whether her mother was in on the act too. The moment the thought entered his mind he put it into words. ‘Does your mother know about this request for money? Is she a part of this
let’s see what we can get out of Blake
plan?’ And the way Kara flinched, the way she averted her eyes, looking anywhere but at him, the way hot colour came rushing back into her face, told him exactly what he wanted to know.

Disappointment flooded him in cruel waves. He felt
as though someone had taken a knife to his heart and sliced it in two. The once innocent Kara, his PA who had served him in a quietly efficient way, had turned into a carbon copy of every other woman he had dated.

If it wasn’t for the fact that she was carrying his baby he would send her packing right here and now. He might be many things but he wasn’t cruel enough to do that. He would tell her, though, that she would not get a penny more out of him than was necessary for the upbringing of his child—not until he found out exactly why she wanted so much money.

‘I’m sorry I asked.’ Kara had never felt so humiliated in her life. The look in Blake’s eyes made her want to turn and run and never see him again. She had known all along that it would be a bad idea asking him for money, but foolishly she had never expected it to turn out like this. She had naively hoped that Blake would simply hand over the cash, no questions asked. But this was Blake Benedict, businessman extraordinaire! Once again Kara realised how badly she had misjudged his feelings towards her.

‘And I am sorry you asked too,’ he said, the quietness in his voice more deadly than when he had raised it. ‘Shall we start work?’

Kara would have liked nothing more than to turn around and run. She had demeaned herself for nothing. She wanted to walk out of the office and never see Blake again. But that would mean losing her job, and she could ill afford that—especially now. She was not sure, though, how she was going to get through the rest of the day. At least it was Friday, so she would have the weekend to come to terms with her humiliation.

The atmosphere between them was decidedly icy, and it was a relief when Blake was called away early.

When she got home and told her mother that he had refused to lend them the money, deliberately omitting the fact that he had suggested she move in with him, Lynne broke down in tears. ‘What are we going to do now?’

Fearing for her parent’s health, Kara put her arms around her and held her close. ‘We’re going to forget about it for the time being. I’ll make us a nice cup of tea, and we’ll watch TV and push Blake and the loan shark and everyone else right out of our minds.’

It was easier said than done, but at least Lynne calmed down, and on Saturday Kara suggested some retail therapy. ‘Even if we only window shop,’ she added, ‘it will do you good to get out of the house.’

They had a good day—Kara even managed to forget about Blake. She had spent the whole night tossing and turning, reliving her humiliation at his expense. Deep down inside she knew she couldn’t blame him for refusing her the money, since she hadn’t told him the truth about what it was for. It was ridiculous to have expected him to believe that it was all for the baby.

But her mother’s sanity meant more to her than anything else. Lynne was a very private woman who kept herself very much to herself. She had always hidden from her neighbours the way her husband treated both her and her daughter, and over the years they had learned not to ask questions.

And so Kara felt that it was only right that she respect her mother’s privacy, even though it had made it hard asking Blake for help. She could still feel the deep
humiliation. She had wanted to turn tail and run and never see him again. What they would do when she finally had to leave work because of the baby Kara did not know—how would she ever repay the debt then? But she refused to think about it. Her main concern was her mother, and for her sake she needed to keep bright and cheerful.

Except ‘bright and cheerful’ flew out of the window when the loan shark decided to pay them yet another visit. They’d had a good day at the shops, even buying only the very cheapest of baby clothes had lifted their spirits and they had been in a good mood when they arrived home.

It was early evening when the doorbell rang, and unsuspectingly Kara went to open the door—only to be confronted by the man who held a tight grip over their lives. Quickly Kara stepped outside and closed the door behind her, so that her mother would not know who stood there.

‘Do you have the money?’ he growled.

‘If you mean can I give you any more than we are already doing, then the answer is no,’ said Kara bravely, even though inside she was quaking with fear. She knew that this man was not averse to using force to get what he wanted. ‘And if you do not stop harassing us I shall call the police.’

Her brave words had no effect. His top lip rose scornfully, his narrow eyes ugly and condemning. ‘This is a legitimate loan. There is nothing they can do.’

‘But you cannot keep upping the payments or threatening us in this way.’ She felt that her protest was in
vain, but she had to try something. ‘We can’t pay you money we haven’t got.’

‘You’re forgetting the rich boyfriend,’ he jeered, his breath smelling of tobacco and something as unpleasant as the man himself. ‘Don’t think I haven’t seen you with him. What I’m asking for would be a pittance in his eyes. Ask him for it.’

‘I can’t do that,’ she declared, surprised to hear her voice still coming out strong and steady when all hell was still breaking out in her body. Her heart was thumping like a mad thing and every pulse stampeded. ‘I refuse to involve someone else in your fraud. The only people I’m prepared to go to are the police.’

Strong hands gripped her shoulders and he thrust his face up close. ‘I want my money.’

And she wanted him to leave her alone. She pushed as hard as she could against his chest and he let her go—but not before he had made a further threat. ‘I’ll come back every day until I get what I want. You’d better believe it.’

‘And if you do that I will definitely go to the police.
You’d
better believe
that.’

Not until the door was safely shut behind her did Kara feel safe. She leaned back against it, breathing deeply, forcing herself to calm down before she faced her mother again.

A
SLEEPLESS
night had left Blake tired and out of sorts. He could not shut Kara out of his mind. Deep down inside he did not want to believe that she was capable of feathering her own nest at his expense. He couldn’t help wondering whether there was some other reason why she had asked him for such a large amount of money. But what? He paid her a good wage, she and her mother lived comfortably, so why the need for more? It was puzzling in the extreme.

When Kara had changed from a mouse into a beautiful woman she had delighted him. She had tugged at a corner of his heart. She had almost made it her own. Almost! Thank goodness he hadn’t got to the point of asking her to marry him. Wouldn’t that have been a grave error of judgement? He’d thought he had learned his lesson when Melanie deceived him. Now he realised that he was still vulnerable. And vulnerability meant mistakes.

Over and over he asked himself the question whether he knew Kara at all. Whether he had ever really got to know her. Discovering her avaricious side was not a pleasant thing. It had angered and dismayed him. Nevertheless he felt disquiet about the way he had handled
the situation. Maybe he should go and see her, talk to her in her own surroundings, try to find out exactly why she wanted so much money.

He had been due to go out to dinner with a banker friend, but at the last minute he cancelled, deciding that a visit to Kara was more important. If he left it until tomorrow he would have another night without sleep. He needed to sort this matter out once and for all.

Even so he felt an unexpected quickening of his senses as he neared her house. Whatever he might think of Kara now, there was no getting away from the fact that she was expecting his baby. It was the hardest thing he had ever had to accept—and it still gave him nightmares. He had never seen himself as a family man—never wanted to be a family man. Which was why he found it hard to believe that it was happening to him now.

Because he did not want her to see him coming, to give her time to decide what she would say to him, he parked in an adjoining street. But as he rounded the corner he could not believe what he saw. Kara in the arms of that man again!

His blood began to boil—until he looked more closely and saw that this was no cosy clinch, as he had first imagined. The man was hostile. It looked as though he was actually threatening Kara!

Blake hastened his step, but before he got close the man let her go, sliding into his car and driving swiftly away. And while he watched the man leave, making a mental note of his number plate, Kara disappeared inside the house.

He wasn’t going to let this go, though. And he wasn’t
going to be satisfied until Kara told him exactly what was going on. He strode along the street and banged on the door. He wasn’t surprised when no one opened it. She was probably scared that the man, whoever he was, had returned.

So he phoned her. ‘Kara, it’s me. I’m outside. Let me in.’

A moment’s silence before she spoke. ‘What are you doing here?’ she asked, and he thought he heard tears in her voice.

‘I need to speak to you.’

‘I don’t want to speak to you. Go away.’

‘I’m going nowhere,’ he declared firmly. ‘Open the door, Kara, before I break it down.’ He wouldn’t have done that, of course, but it worked. He heard the key being turned in the lock, heard a bolt being withdrawn, and the thought that she needed to lock and bolt herself in turned his stomach. Who was this man, and why was he harassing her?

Kara’s white and drawn face shocked him. He immediately wanted to pull her into his arms and tell her that whatever it was that was happening in her life he would take care of it. But he guessed that she wouldn’t let him.

‘What are you doing here?’ she asked again.

‘I came to talk about the money you asked me for. But it has begun to look as though there are far more important things to talk about. Who was that man?’

If Kara’s face could have gone any paler then it did. Her eyelids closed for a few seconds, and when she clutched the wall for support he put an arm about her shoulders and led her into the sitting room, where her
mother also looked as though she was on the verge of collapse.

Once Kara was seated he sat down himself, looking from her to her mother and back again. ‘Are you going to answer my question?’

Kara closed her eyes for a moment before looking at her mother. ‘Can we have a little privacy, please?’

‘Kara, are you sure this is for the best?’

‘Mum, we can’t go on like this any longer. I have the baby to think of now, and things are only going to get harder for us. I have to tell Blake.’

Lynne actually looked relieved as she nodded and left the room.

Once they were alone Kara told Blake the whole story—about the loan her father had taken out in her mother’s name, about the payments constantly rising. ‘It’s a never-ending nightmare,’ she added, once she had finished.

‘And this is why you wanted all that money?’

She nodded, her arms folded across her chest, her eyes sadder than he had ever seen them.

‘Why didn’t you tell me before, Kara? I could have sorted all this mess out for you!’

‘Because my mother did not want anyone to know,’ she answered with a wry twist to her lips. ‘It’s very shameful to have been duped by the man she once loved, the man she married. She would have been deeply embarrassed. She’s not the sort of person to share her problems with strangers.’

Blake wanted to take her into his arms and comfort her, but he felt that was not the right thing to do considering
the way he had spoken to her yesterday. She would probably push him away, and he did not want that.

His deepest concern at the moment was the degenerate who was doing this to them. Anger had risen in him as she spoke—anger that any man could prey on two helpless females the way this man did. He played on their fear, driven by greed, uncaring that he was making their lives a living hell. And they probably weren’t the only people he was harassing.

Neither had he helped by parking his Bentley outside their house! In fact he was the one who had exacerbated their problem. He curled his fingers into his palms. ‘Do you know where this guy lives?’

Kara shook her head, at the same time looking quite alarmed. ‘You’re not thinking of confronting him?’

‘Someone has to,’ he growled. ‘He cannot be allowed to get away with this. What he is doing is unlawful.’

‘It doesn’t stop him.’

‘Of course not. There are plenty of con men like him around. But they usually get their just desserts in the end. He’ll come unstuck—you’ll see. Meantime, I definitely think you should come and live with me. You
and
your mother. He’ll soon give up when he realises that you no longer live here.’

‘It’s not the answer,’ said Kara, although her heartbeats had hastened at the thought. The loan shark would find them wherever they were. The only way they would get this man off their backs was to pay him in full the amount he claimed they owed.