THE FINAL FALSON SAYS I DO by Lucy Gordon Read Free Book Online Page B

spiteful, contemptible.’
    ‘Freya—’ He reached out for her hand but she snatched it away.
    ‘No, don’t touch me. I can’t bear the sight of you.’
    ‘Please don’t let this spoil our friendship.’
    ‘There never was a friendship,’ she whispered. ‘There never could be.’
    ‘Freya—’
    He reached out for her again but she darted away. After a moment he heard her bedroom door shut and the key turn in the lock.

CHAPTER FOUR
    A LONE IN HER room Freya slammed her fist down on the dressing table again and again. A storm had invaded her. Rage, bitterness, disillusion and misery fought for supremacy. They all won. She was trapped in their prison and inside her there was no escape.
    But outside she could put distance between herself and Jackson. She hurriedly dressed, slipped quietly into the corridor, down the stairs and out of the door. She had no idea where she was going, except that a million miles away from him would not be far enough.
    Once before the world had turned upside down, and she’d survived because of Jackson’s comfort and support. But that had been only an illusion. Instead there was a bleak, arid desert where the rest of her life must be lived.
    She lost track of time but she must have walked for hours, because when she finally turned back the dawn was breaking.
    Nearing the house, she saw her mother, standing at a downstairs window. As soon as she saw Freya she came to the front door.
    ‘Come along in,’ she said. ‘I saw you leave. You were running as though the fiends of hell were after you. I was worried.’
    ‘Sorry, Mum. That was inconsiderate of me, but I was ready to murder someone.’
    ‘Ah, yes, Jackson got Dan on a video link, didn’t he? I heard his voice. You still want to murder Dan?’
    ‘No, Jackson,’ Freya growled.
    ‘What? Did I hear that right? But Jackson’s been so nice to you.’
    ‘Jackson is a lying, scheming, deceitful louse. And, yes, you heard that right. I said it and I mean it.’
    ‘But he can’t possibly have done anything to justify that. He’s a fine, decent young man.’
    ‘I thought so too. That’s why I never realised what he’d really done.’
    ‘Whatever do you mean?’
    ‘It was because of him that Dan ran for it. He never wanted to marry me, and when they were heading for the church Jackson urged him to dump me then rather than later. So Dan got out of the car.’
    ‘Darling, I don’t believe this. Jackson would never do such a thing.’
    ‘He as good as admitted it. He says it was a mistake, but he doesn’t deny Dan left me because of what he said.’
    ‘Maybe that’s why he’s been so kind and helpful to you since then.’
    ‘Don’t try to defend him,’ Freya flashed. ‘He’s deceived me.’
    ‘But I don’t understand. Why did Dan propose if he didn’t want to marry you?’
    ‘Because Amos forced his hand,’ Freya said bitterly.
    ‘Never! He was against that wedding. There’s no way he ordered Dan to marry you.’
    ‘Of course not. He ordered him not to marry me. Dan proposed just to show Amos that he couldn’t be bullied. Then he regretted it, but he couldn’t find a way out. When he and Jackson were in the car Dan told Jackson what had happened, and my brilliantly stupid stepbrother said the one thing that could make it worse. Dan seized his chance and vanished.’
    ‘Amos ordered Dan to keep his distance from you? Surely not.’
    ‘Why do you say that? Isn’t it typical of Amos?’
    ‘Darling, I’ve got no illusions about him. He goes through life doing what he wants. But he’s too shrewd to do something so pathetically stupid. And he does have a nicer side. He’s always been fond of you and he wanted to take you into the family—’
    ‘No, it’s more like claiming property. He doesn’t have a daughter of his own, and he wanted me to “complete the set”, because he can’t bear not to have everything other people have. He didn’t care which one of his sons he tied me to as long as he put his