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you, would collapse like a pack of cards,' he concluded dismissively.
He had made his point, crystal-clear. 'And Bethany; what would
happen to her?' After all, he had made it obvious he thought she
would try to cheat her own child; what good would he be doing
Bethany if he ruined the company and there was no inheritance for
her, especially when her mother's company was on the point of
collapse too?
His mouth tightened at the gibe. 'I would take care of Bethany,' he
ground out savagely. 'In my own way. On my own terms,' he added
hardly.
Cassandra felt a shiver of apprehension down her spine, not even
wanting to contemplate what his 'terms' would be. What she did
know, didn't doubt for a moment, was that Jonas was more than
capable of carrying out his threat.
She swallowed hard. 'You were wrong about me, Jonas --Oh, yes,
you were,' she insisted heavily at his derisive snort. 'And about so
many more things than I could ever hope to convince you of. But they
weren't what I was talking about when I said you were wrong about
me.' She straightened determinedly, feeling as if she had a heavy
weight on her shoulders that was slowly trying to drag her down. 'I
am going to say "this is so sudden, Jonas",' she sighed wearily,
running a not quite steady hand across her furrowed brow. 'I need
time to to think about all that you've said to me today.'
'Time to consider your options?' he scorned knowing she couldn't
have any, or she would have used them by now!
'Yes,' Cassandra said defensively, tears clouding her vision at how
vulnerable she felt.
Damn Charles, for leaving her like this, for not providing for his
daughter at least! Oh, God, she groaned inwardly, what good was
blaming Charles going to do? He was dead; she was the one who
would have to take care of Bethany now. But she couldn't just meekly
agree to marry Jonas, had to at least think about what she would be
letting herself in for by becoming his wife.
His eyes were narrowed, his expression implacable. 'How much
time?'
As much time as it took, she wanted to scream at him! This was the
rest of her life they were talking about here. She hadn't expected it to
be ecstatically happy, but she had at least thought she would be left in
peace to enjoy Bethany and her career. Her career had already gone,
and if she married Jonas he would infiltrate every part of her life with
his dominating presence, wouldn't allow her any peace at all with his
constantly mocking remarks. But, at the same time, what choice did
she have...?
She might know she was being inescapably drawn into a living
nightmare, but she certainly didn't have to leap into it without at least
trying to find other options first!
'I'm not sure,' she dismissed awkwardly, having trouble thinking at all
at the moment. 'At least until after Christmas --'
'I'll give you until Christmas Eve to give me your answer,' Jonas cut
in determinedly. 'I want to announce our engagement at Christmas,
and the wedding to take place by special licence by the New Year --'
'So soon?' she gasped, eyes wide with horror. A week he was only
giving her a week to decide on the rest of her life, two weeks before
she would have to become his wife!
His mouth twisted as he easily read her motion. 'A big society
wedding wouldn't be appropriate in the circumstances thank God!
And if I straighten out the company accounts before we're actually
married you may just decide to call off the wedding in the hope that I
won't do anything about those discrepancies then!' he said knowingly.
Colour flooded her cheeks at the ease with which he was able to read
her thoughts; she had frantically been searching for some way she
could agree to his proposal and then delay things until she could find
a way out of this mess. Although she already knew there wasn't a
way; hadn't she been having the same desperate thoughts about
repaying that money for almost a year now, growing angry with
Charles once the shock of his death had worn off? It might have been
all too easy to love the charmingly irresponsible man he was, but it
wasn't helping to provide for Bethany and herself now. And she knew
she just didn't have the resources to do it herself either.
And this man did...
The first she had learnt of the misappropriation of funds from Hunter
and Kyle had been when Charles told her of it shortly after her
father's death. She had been dumbfounded, totally at a loss to know
what to do, but, with his usual optimism, Charles had been confident
that they could weather the storm given time. But he hadn't been
given time, had been dead himself two months later. And Cassandra
had been living in fear ever since, desperately afraid that Jonas would
discover what had been going on, while at the same time knowing
someone would have to in the end. There was just too much money
involved for it to have passed undetected for much longer...!
Maybe she should have gone to Jonas in the beginning, not let it get to
the stage where he could blackmail her like this; she should have
appealed to him to help her find some way out of the mess before the
other shareholders had to be told. But without Charles beside her, his
certainty always that things would work out, she hadn't known what
to do. And now it was too late to do anything...
'Charles knew, didn't he?' Jonas suddenly rasped harshly, his
narrowed gaze levelled on the paleness of her face. 'My God, of
course he knew,' he said in sudden realisation. 'That was what killed
him, wasn't it?' he accused incredulously. 'Wasn't it, Cassandra?' he
repeated with savage intent, grasping the tops of her arms now as he
attempted to shake an answer out of her. 'Answer me, damn you!' He
shook her roughly.
His hands were painful on her arms, but in a way she welcomed the
pain, the tears that flooded her eyes but remained unshed, blinding
her now to the savage anger in his harshly etched face.
Charles had known. Of course Charles had known; how could he not
know? He and her father were partners. And they had remained so
even after the confession had been made, the two men having come to
a decision that they would sort out over the festive holidays what
could be done to salvage the loss. In fact, they had been working on it
in this very house during the evening before Cassandra's father was
killed on his drive home. Cassandra had been numbed by the tragedy,
but Charles had been devastated, not knowing where to turn now to
look for a way out of the mess. Which was when he had confided in
Cassandra. Like a confused little boy, he had come to her to help find
a solution, looking for answers she didn't have either.
'Answer me!' Jonas demanded fiercely, black eyes glittering as he
shook her once again.
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