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And on a hter note, he ruminated abstractedly, shapelyBut where once it had been the icing on the cake, noas the only glue likely to give them a future as a couple Wasn’t that why he had swept her off to bed? That laced with unashamed desire, of course

Why was he even thinking like this? In the past, Chrissie had often enerally struck him as not quite masculine and when they were first ht on a white charger like some character out of the medieval romances she had once adored He had never pretended to be perfect but he had always known that she wanted hiht Chrissie the realist was deeply intertwined with Chrissie the romantic

And noas about to be the bad guy again, he acknowledged grimly He had no choice He had not had a choice from the moment he’d learned of his son’s existence

Chrissie was brushing her hair when she heard the guest-roo down the brush and walking to the bathrooht turquoise tee that clung to his impressive chest and if she felt lacerated by what had occurred, he looked infuriatingly energised, she reflected wretchedly

‘I thought we should talk in here,’ Jaul confided

Less risk of being overheard by his staff, she translated So, as he about to tell her that she ht want to shout and scream about?

‘I still want the divorce,’ she repeated doggedly ‘What happened just happened but it doesn’t change ’

Burnished golden eyes shaded by luxuriant black lashes surveyed her without perceptible surprise ‘We have a link we could still build on—’

‘I don’t think so,’ she argued, waving a pale, slender hand in a disesture ‘Been there, done that I could never trust you again and let’s face ityou wanted a divorce as well until you found out about Tarif I appreciate that Tarif’s birth changes things for you but it doesn’t change them for me’

‘And that’s your final word on this subject?’ Jaul pressed with sudden severity

Chrissie lifted her chin, refusing to let mortification take over She had made a mistake but that didn’t mean she had to live with it and build her entire future around it ‘Yes, I’m sorry, but it is’

‘Then perhaps you should look at this’ Jaul slid a folded document out of his back pocket and held it out to her ‘I didn’t want to be forced toyou is so I would’ve preferred not to do But this particular document would have been produced bytaken place,’ he explained flatly ‘However, I have cancelled that ’

‘What on earth is it?’ Chrissie whispered anxiously

‘It’s the pre-nuptial contract you signed before we got married,’ Jaul informed her levelly ‘I don’t think you read it properly’

The vaguest of , Chrissie wrenched open the sheet of paper and saw the clause in Her heart in herto the custody of any children born of their reed that any child they had would live in Marith Jaul

Herthatthe concept from her mind because it had not seemed remotely relevant to her at the ti to start a family immediately and the prospect of babies and the probleround had seemed as remote as the Andes to her back then They had beenand naive soul that she was, it had not occurred to her that some day in the not too distant future her blithe acceptance of that clause ht come back to haunt her

CHAPTER SIX

HE HAD TRIED to play nice, Jaul reflected grimly, but nice hadn’t panned out too ith Chrissie, as suspicious of his every move and had ensured that they were non to the brutal bare bones of legal agree nice, he acknowledged in exasperation, having ’s as the last word to be heard in serious disputes in Marwan and there was always an aggrieved party, convinced of unjust treatotiation and compromise, someone would always be dissatisfied with his decision