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Ashley stiffened 'The connection is pretty obvious fro!'

'Then ould appear to be seated in very different positions,' Vito draith biting sarcasm 'I fail to see the smallest connection'

'You're not prepared to allow , are you?' she snapped back at hi

A chilling smile formed on his lips 'But then, in your place, I would have coy I could for such conduct Your sole reason for being here appears to be a blind determination to foist some irl,' he delineated with sardonic emphasis 'If that were not so contemptible, I would be entertained by your efforts to excuse the inexcusable'

A red-hot flush climbed with painful slowness beneath her translucent skin Her approach had been all wrong She didn't need him to tell her that Vito, hatefully polished veteran ofthis office had taken every shred of courage in her armoury Under threat, Ashley went on the offensive If Vito had been decent enough to see her earlier, she could have controlled that flaw in her ownto her stress and strain Vito had successfully smashed her composure before she even walked into this room

'I was… I am very upset,' Ashley reasoned tautly 'Tim's been under considerable pressure recently with his exams so close I simply wanted you to have a clearer picture of his state of mind'

'But I have not the remotest interest in his state of mind,' Vito said without a flicker of emotion 'He is neither a child nor a mental incompetent He is responsible for his own actions'

She focused on a point safely to the left of him This was it This was her cue to explain why Tim had reacted so violently to Pietro's taunts This was her cue to tell Vito that their relationship had, in the messy aftermath of their break-up, extracted a heavy toll froe to tell Vito about her pregnancy? Vito, of all people? How on earth could she discuss sorief that she had never yet ed to discuss it with anyone?

In a weakVito's child She had trusted Susan to be careful with that information She should have known better Her father had overheard Susan and Arnold talking about her pregnancy and the secret had been out with a vengeance!

Hunt Forrester had always been the first to sneer when other people's children got into trouble He would boast of the rigid discipline within his own ho over the unlikelihood of any of his childrenthe same mistakes

The discovery that she was pregnant had outraged her father The fear of his own loss of face in the local business coh to make him disown her The further news that the father of her child was already married to someone else had been the last straw

She had been four h most of her family had assumed that the loss of her baby was not a natural event She had been hoist with her own petard In her teens she had been very outspoken about her determination never to marry or have children Everyone knew that abortions were relatively easily available and everyone had assumed that she had finally chosen that option No, she could not tell Vito… Vito, as so exceptionally fond of children, Vito, hom she had once enjoyed several heated debates on the subject of a woht to choose Vito would not believe her either and, if he thought for one moment that she had chosen that option, he would despise her even more than he did now

'Ti back the bitter pain of her memories 'And some of this isabout what happened between us He made certain incorrect assumptions but I had no idea how he felt until this happened'

The silence dragged on Vito could use silence like a weapon She had never been able to understand how he achieved that effect but he did He sat there, supremely at ease, cool, calm and immensely self-assured He intihtly round the bag on her lap 'Look, I' to excuse him-'

'But that is precisely what you are guilty of,' he countered

The word 'guilt' sent spectral fingers of alarid spinal cord 'If Tim receives a prison sentence, his whole life will be destroyed He lost his head, Vito He's very sorry for what he's done'

His gaze was unwaveringly direct 'Then where is he?'

'He doesn't know that I'm here' She floundered wildly for a second 'And I don't knohy you're even asking me that It's unfair You've stirred up the police so much, he'd probably be arrested if he ca!'