Giselle's Choice by Penny Jordan Read Free Book Online Page B

Saul admitted, but he wasn’t going to let her antagonism towards it come between them. As a successful businessman he knew that sometimes plans had to be changed at a moment’s notice, and that in order to survive in a modern and highly competitive business market a person needed to adapt, to see opportunities and not problems, and to change any problems into opportunities. He had believed that Giselle shared that mindset, but now her refusal to take on board the opportunities for the greater good that lay in this change in their circumstances was creating a barrier between them, and Giselle, with her angry accusations, seemed determined to enforce it. He was a man who was usedto taking control and exercising that control—and he was determined to do that now.
    â€˜This isn’t helping either of us,’ he told her firmly. ‘I accept that I made an error of judgement in believing that you had already guessed what had happened and were with me in this change to our lives and the way forward. I should have checked that I was right instead of simply assuming I was. I acknowledge that you’ve every right to be angry with me about that, but accusing me of not considering our relationship—our marriage—and not putting it first is neither fair nor honest. Nothing about what we share has changed or can be changed by outside circumstances. Only you and I have the power to do that.
    â€˜Think about it. Giselle,’ he pleaded with her, getting up and coming towards her. ‘Think about how much good we could do here together, working for the people. Think about how fate brought us together—two people who shared the damage done to them by the deaths of their parents and all that went with that—and ask yourself if fate isn’t once again at work here, bringing us both together again to a place and a time where we can do so much for people who have so little. You of all people can surely understand the sense of responsibility I feel towards these people through my blood? I admit that I did not feel or think like this in the past, and that it has taken Aldo’s death to make me aware of my duty, but now that I am aware of it I cannot walk away from that duty—’ He broke off and shook his head.
    â€˜I have to go. I’ve got an appointment with the senior members of Aldo’s government in ten minutes. We’llhave to finish talking about this later, but whilst I am gone please try to think positively about the future. You mean everything to me, Giselle. Without you I have and am nothing. Your love sustains me and supports me. You are my life.’
    He was gone before she could say anything.
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    After Saul had gone Giselle paced the courtyard, her heart pounding, her thoughts in chaotic panic. She was oblivious to the sunshine and the tranquil symmetry of the elegantly designed outside living space that had so pleased her less than an hour earlier.
    Saul had been at pains to reassure her over and over again that the fact that he was stepping into Aldo’s shoes did not and could not in any way alter their relationship, but he was wrong. Very wrong. Because what he had done would destroy it. What Saul had done? Giselle’s body shook with the force of her emotions. This was her punishment for deceiving him—for not telling him the full truth about her past and the dark and dangerous secret that lay there. She had gambled with fate and she had lost. Just as she would now lose Saul.
    Grief and despair filled her, seizing her body and her mind. Was it selfish of her to wish that Aldo had not died? To wish that she could turn back the clock—to where? To the day of their marriage, when her great-aunt had asked her if she had told Saul everything and she had replied yes? To before then? To her own childhood? Before that? Did she wish that she herself had never been given life?
    Yes, when the price of that life was the burden she was forced to