page16 (2/2)

‘Thank you’

A truce, then, of sorts Laurel glanced down at her plate and then, her chin tilted at a haughty, proud angle, she sat down and started to eat again It seemed Laurel Forrester knehich side her bread was buttered as well

‘How did you feel betrayed by led at him

Laurel looked up warily ‘Because onehappy families, and the next my mother and I were on the plane back to Illinois, and I never even saw hiain Not so much as a text’

‘And your mother had two million euros in her private bank account,’ Cristiano reminded her flatly

‘Two ot back,’ Laurel retorted ‘Thanks to his water-tight pre-nup agreement She didn’t see a penny of it’

‘That ht?’

Laurel had the grace to look away ‘Caught doing what, exactly?’ she hedged Did she think he didn’t know?

‘Caught stealing from my father,’ he snapped, annoyed that she was practically defending herhisit away’

‘Is it stealing, when they were married?’ Laurel asked quietly ‘She took money from a joint bank account Technically it was hers too’

‘Technically,’ Cristiano agreed, the word bitten off and spit out ‘Fortunately the law did not consider it a technicality’

‘Still,’ Laurel persisted ‘What’s yours is ht? Or do you not believe in e vows?’