Page 44 of Betrayal

“Loyalty always matters.”She threaded her fingers through his.“Anyway, I’m taking a long time getting to the point.I was getting wilder, angrier.When I was eighteen, and new to Sydney, a bloke I knew said he’d get me and a friend good money for an hour’s work.”She paused, staring into her chocolate.

“Drink it while it’s hot, Anna.”

She took a fortifying sip before continuing.“I was a naked cake surprise.”She paused briefly to give him time to respond.“What?No questions?”

“You’re talking, I’m listening.”

“The deal was burst out of the cake, circulate a bit, smile.The bloke promised no touching.No serious touching.Maybe a boob squeeze, a crotch against my butt, a kiss, but that was the limit.There were rules.He specified them.The punters knew them.The bloke organising it would be with us all the time.”

“It didn’t work out as he promised?”Hunter had witnessed parties like that in his family home.

“Later he told me he kept the bond.For damages.Offered to split it between us.I gave my share to my friend.Blood money.”Her hand fisted on the table, her anger barely contained.

“Why are you telling me this now?”He had a second to guess.

“Nick Richardson was at the party.”She lifted her head to meet his gaze.

Hunter’s stomach wanted to rebel at Nick seeing her naked.Maybe touching her.Briefly, he closed his eyes, and his heart stopped.

“You think he recognised you?”

“No.I was eighteen, wore a wig, and had enough makeup on for vaudeville.But I did that, and you need to know before we go any further.You need to decide if you can live with that.”

She was so solemn.What was the religious crap—hate the sin, love the sinner.Hell, his plan had been a brief fling with Anna.It was still his plan.He wasn’t made for permanence.And why would she want anything to do with the son of a “dirty old man” anyway?

“I don’t know where we’re going.”I didn’t just say that.

“Fair enough.”

He blamed himself for the caution that had replaced the fearlessness in her voice.

The waiter approached with fresh drinks and took his time removing the empty cups, and all the while Anna sat silently beside him.

“You don’t use his name.”She was assembling facts, and she’d need theI’s dotted andT’s crossed before she’d begin to trust him again.“Did you reject your father’s name?”

Anna had told him about her encounter with Nick when she didn’t have to.She deserved honesty in return.

“When I turned eighteen, I took my mother’s family name.One of my easier decisions, although I copped a lot of ragging adding Thompson to Hunter S.It was Mum’s joke when the surname was Richardson.I played it up.By that time, I rarely saw my mum but was close to her brother.I was proud to take his name, whereas I was ashamed of my own.”

He hadn’t revealed that reason to anyone other than his uncle and aunt.

“Nick joined the wrong dots.He thought I did it to become the beneficiary of her will.Her final demand to pay Nick back for divorcing her.”

“Did she influence you?”

“She was as angry at me as Nick was.”His mother had accused him of trying to kill her chances of reconciliation.

“You said she was dead?”

“Yes.”Hunter liked the directness of Anna’s questions.Non-judgemental.Maybe her misspent youth gave her that ability?“She died in a car crash.Drunk, driving away from Nick after a fight.”

Nick Richardson had always won.

“Why did you wear that dress to the party, Anna?”

“It’s battle camouflage.You know all about camouflage.You use it yourself.”

“I know what it’s for.Why did you decide you needed to protect and distract tonight?”