Lucky Stars (41 page)

“And
you
can’t believe for one second that, if the same thing happened to you, and a woman you cared about spent the night with me, that you wouldn’t be livid,” Miles shot back and Jack’s patience slipped another considerable notch at his brother’s very selective memory.

“If a woman I cared about spent the night in your bed, my first thought would be that you could have her,” Jack returned with complete honesty and the look on Miles’s face showed he knew it.
As he would.
As it had happened before and, even though Jack didn’t need to remind him, he did, “For instance, when you fucked Yasmin.”

Miles looked away and muttered, “That was a long time ago and you two weren’t exactly together.”

“It was a long time ago. That doesn’t change the fact that, years ago, you discovered Yasmin and I were having difficulties because of a ridiculous argument she blew out of proportion. We’d grown up with her. You knew the way Yasmin behaved. How she’d take any opportunity to screw up her life. You also knew how I felt about her. You purposefully got her pissed out of her skull and took her to your bed. When she admitted it to me, she was a fucking mess because she knew it was over. And it was, irrevocably. I shouldn’t have forgiven you, or Yasmin for that matter, but I did. That’s
two
women in my life you’ve toyed with because of this ridiculous compulsion to best me and, if I didn’t make it clear in the stables, I will now. I’m done, Miles. This is finished.”

Miles stared at Jack and Jack returned his stare.

This went on for quite some time.

Finally, and quietly, Miles said, “I’m done too, Jack.”

“I’m supposed to believe that?”

Miles nodded and repeated, “I’m done.”

Jack shook his head but Miles took a step forward, Jack pushed away from the desk and Miles stopped.

“This is my family we’re talking about,” Miles went on, still quietly and, when Jack didn’t speak, Miles continued, “Not just you, but Mum, even Yasmin isn’t talking to me and now Belle’s expecting. That’s my niece or nephew she’s carrying, Jack. And I’m banished from my own fucking house.”

“You brought it on yourself,” Jack retorted ruthlessly.

“I know!” Miles shouted, “God damn it, I know,” Jack watched his brother swallow and then he said, “Dad would be so pissed off, Jack, if he saw us now. He’d be furious.”

“He’d be furious at you,” Jack returned.

“I know,” Miles whispered, shut his eyes then opened them and focussed on Jack, “Okay, not halfway, Jack. You win, I apologise. I’ll apologise to Belle.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Jack cut in.

“You can be there,” Miles put in quickly and repeated, “You can be there, Jack. And I’ll try to…” He hesitated then carried on, “Figure out why I do the things I do and I’ll control it.”

Jack’s eyes narrowed and he remarked, “Yes, I guess you will.
A nice reunion of the Bennett Brothers to show the press that you aren’t a sore loser and we’re one big happy family.”

“That’s not what this is,” Miles informed him.

“That’s what you led with the minute I entered this room,” Jack retorted.

“It’s eating me. I’ve admitted that but it’s more and you know it.” He paused then reminded Jack, “We used to be close.”

“We haven’t been close since Yasmin,” Jack reminded Miles.

“We can get that back, if you’ll let it happen. Mum would be thrilled and you know Dad would have been.”

Jack’s body went solid, his patience vanished and his voice went low when he warned, “Don’t use Dad in your games, Miles. Don’t you fucking dare use Dad in your
games.
”

“It isn’t a game,” Miles asserted.

“I’m afraid you’re going to have to prove that to me,” Jack replied.

Miles leaned forward in supplication and vowed, “I will. I promise I will.”

“Good luck with that,” Jack
returned,
disbelief evident in his tone.

“You’ll see,” Miles stated.

Jack leaned against his desk again, his posture back to casual, his voice anything but when he spoke again. “This turns out to be a game, Miles, that’s it. We’re through. You’ll never return to The Point and I won’t want to see your face again. If I do, you won’t like what happens.”

“It isn’t a game,” Miles declared fiercely.

Jack took in a breath and, upon letting it out, he said softly, but his voice was vibrating with meaning, “It better not be.”

* * * * *

Jack watched the bathroom door open, Belle took two steps out, looked at him where he was lying on his side and up on an elbow in bed and she stopped dead.

“Poppet, come here,” Jack said quietly.

When he spoke, she jerked out of her freeze and walked to him, looking nervous.

He knew this was difficult for her. Everything was happening quickly even if some of it was by her own design.

If he had been in the same situation with any other woman, Jack would give her some space. He would give her an opportunity to get her thoughts together, get used to her changed living arrangements, the changes in her body, the media intrusion, a new employee, him.

With Belle, he was absolutely not going to do any of that.

Instinctively he knew space and Belle was not a good thing.

Firstly, and most importantly, because it was likely she’d use it to question his commitment to her, her trust in him and, in the end, to retreat.

Secondly, she’d been dealing with a great deal for some months on her own, traumatic memories and misguided guilt, all with the media breathing down her neck. She had, to appearances, handled it beautifully on her own.

However, she was not on her own anymore.

There was only so much one person could take and Jack decided she’d had enough.

Therefore, she had, indeed, had enough.

Belle going it alone was a memory.

Although it started well, it had not turned out to be a good day.

After Jack’s discussion with Miles, Jack had gone to talk privately to Belle to ascertain if she was willing to listen to an apology from his brother.

After he told her he would be with her, Belle had agreed.

It all fell apart when they were waylaid on the way back to the study by the other three women living in his house.

This meant that his mother and her mother and grandmother were all in attendance when Miles apologised to Belle.

Jack didn’t mind this but Miles did. He tried to hide it but he failed.

Therefore, Miles’s apology came out stilted and sounded unconvincing.

This did not go over well.

Although Belle accepted his apology, Rachel and Lila clearly didn’t and Joy was looking less than impressed with her son.

Regardless, Miles, as usual, pushed his advantage and stayed for dinner. Jack did not want this neither did Belle nor, by appearances, did Rachel and Lila. They all acquiesced to Miles’s request mainly because everyone was attempting to accommodate Joy who, it was not hard to read, wanted reconciliation between her sons.

Dinner, also, didn’t go well.

Belle retreated completely. Jack didn’t know why but it was likely due to acute embarrassment because of her past relationship with Miles, her current one with Jack mingled with Miles’s past treatment of her. Through dinner, she barely even glanced at Miles much less anyone else at the table.

Lila and Rachel, in an obvious attempt to behave
themselves
and not cause Joy distress, were practically silent.

Jack’s mother was nervous and therefore chattered uncontrollably.

Luckily, Olive had come back to the castle after successfully browbeating some innocent cottage owner who wanted to charge summer rates for Dirk’s extended residence in his property (she convinced him to charge winter rates regardless of the fact that Jack could afford double the summer fees until Dirk found more permanent accommodation in St. Ives).

Olive joined them for dinner and would intervene, often hilariously, when Joy’s chattering started to become frantic. Although Belle never laughed, Rachel and Lila did.

Miles had switched from being wooden to being overtly charming which was, unfortunately for him, just as unconvincing as his apology had been.

Jack noticed all this vaguely. His attention was devoted to alleviating Belle’s obvious discomfort. This he did by holding her hand on the table between courses and engaging her in quiet, private but short conversations.

He also touched her face once, when, even at his request, she didn’t meet his eyes. Gently, he put his fingers to her jaw and turned her to face him as she continued to speak to his shoulder.

When he did this last, Jack caught Miles looking at them. He clearly saw Miles’s irate glare before his brother gained control of his expression.

At any other time, seeing that, Jack would have thrown him out.

With everyone on edge and his mother desperate for a brotherly reunion, Jack did not.

However, he did escort Miles to the door directly after coffee.

“I hardly need to be shown the door as I’ve been using it since I could walk,” Miles informed him as Jack pulled open the door.

Jack, having already lost his patience, ignored his comment and replied, “It’s only fair to warn you, Miles, you aren’t doing very well proving you wish to change.”

At Jack’s words, Miles’s mouth went tight. Without speaking, Miles lifted his chin to Jack and walked out the door.

Jack immediately put his brother out of his mind and went in search of Belle so they could walk the dogs.

Belle’s attitude altered the minute she knew Miles was gone. Their walk was long, and for the most part, comfortably silent. They held hands the entirety of it and Jack found it an immensely pleasant excursion.

Upon their return, however, Joy informed Jack that Yasmin was on the phone saying she urgently needed to speak to him.

Jack left Belle with Joy and spent the next half hour listening to Yasmin who had apparently been informed of the evening’s activities by Rachel, unnecessarily warning him that Miles couldn’t be trusted.

He knew that. He knew his brother was planning something.

And he hated it.

He hated it that their relationship had deteriorated to this point and he hated knowing Miles intended to use Belle to destroy it beyond repair.

He hated that his hands were tied for, with Miles’s current submissive behaviour, Jack had no choice but to let it play out or he ran the risk of upsetting his mother. Thus, considering how Joy was accepting Belle and her family into the fold, this meant that eventually, when Miles made his play, Miles and his mother’s relationship would also be destroyed beyond repair.

Jack was making quick and immensely satisfying progress in winning Belle but he knew he had to take care not to do anything to damage her fragile trust.

Further, she was pregnant with his child but hell bent on helping Myrtle and Lewis all the while coping with significant life changes.

Therefore, with recent events, he hated it that he also had to protect her from his fucking brother.

Jack watched as she stopped beside the bed. He leaned forward and took her hand, gently pulling her into their bed and his arms. He rolled to his back, taking her with him so that her torso was resting mostly on top of his.

When she lifted up on an elbow and looked down at him, his hand came up and he tucked her hair behind her ear.

When he did this, her eyes slid to the pillow beside his head and she asked, “What did Yasmin have to say?”

Jack ignored the direction of her gaze and answered honestly, his words bringing Belle’s eyes quickly back to his and they’d grown wide.

“She told me not to trust Miles.”

“She did?”

“She did,” Jack replied and he saw her head tilt in confused enquiry.

“I thought you were all close,” Belle said.

“We were, once,” Jack answered. “Yasmin’s mother was a good friend of Mum’s. They were here often. When Yasmin’s Mum divorced her Dad, Yasmin was still very young. Her Mum moved them from London down here, a few miles away. We grew up together.”

“What happened to make you not close?” Belle asked.

Jack didn’t want to talk about what happened. Not at that moment. Not when Belle’s clothes were hanging in his wardrobe, her tubes and bottles were in his bathroom and her warm, soft body was in his bed.

Instead, he slid a hand up her spine and into her hair. He cupped the back of her head and put pressure there until her lips where on his. Softly, he touched her mouth with his own then rolled so she was on the bottom and his torso was mostly on hers.

He lifted his head and told her, “It’s a long story, poppet, but it’s not for tonight. I’ll tell you some other time.”

“Why don’t you tell me now?” she queried and he smiled before he dipped his face closer to hers.

“Because, now, I’d rather welcome you to your new room.”
He gave her another brief kiss before continuing, “We started the day well and it went to hell. I intend to salvage the night.”