Page 60 of Barging In

The corner of Victoria’s mouth twitched. “He’s never been Drew’s biggest fan. I assumed it was because they’re two men at very different ends of the moral spectrum.”

“Quite possibly.” Clem suspected Jasper disliked Drew’s treatment of Victoria as much as she did. Knowing she couldn’t keep a lid on what she really wanted to say for much longer, she asked, “Can I tell you the truth?”

“Of course,” Victoria answered with a tight frown. “I will put aside my annoyance that you haven’t already.”

Clem gave her an apologetic half smile. “The reason I left is that I couldn’t watch the two of you any longer. All the fake smiles, the masquerade, it made me feel a bit sick. He left soon after me. I saw he had a passenger — the same one from your house. You know, the pixie.”

Victoria nodded. “Jasper mentioned someone was waiting for him. I assumed it was Hannah.”

“Hannah?”

“His secretary. He couldn’t get away quick enough.”

Clem turned to face her. “Why put up with it?”

“I agreed to it,” she stated.

“What? You’re kidding,” Clem said, her heart sinking as she realised Victoria’s situation was exactly as she feared. At Victoria’s raised eyebrow, she hurried to add, “Sorry, of course you’re not. Not sure why I said that.”

“Mmm,” Victoria muttered. “It’s not something people joke about. We live apart. It’s only natural.”

Clem leaned back, shaking her head. “No, it’s not. People can live on opposite sides of the world and still keep it in their pants if they want to. I get polyamory and open marriages where everyone is on the same page, but this sounds like an excuse for him to sleep with his secretary. Especially if you’re not really on board with it, which I can tell you’re not.”

Victoria gave a nonchalant shrug and took a slow sip from her glass.

“Why did you even agree?” Clem asked quietly.

Setting her glass down, Victoria leaned back in her chair and let out a long breath. “I knew what he wanted… her. I didn’t want her to be me, to take my place. I’m happy here. I love my house; I love the wharf. They are me, my visions, my creations. I don’t want to lose them. It’s a small price to pay to keep what means so much to me. If I can keep the wharf open, of course.”

“Would he really close it?”

“I don’t know. Selling up assets here would mean me living back with him, and I’m sure I would cramp his style. But it’s not something I want to test. I want the wharf to succeed, to give it a new lease of life, so I can educate and feed people. What else have I got?” She paused, then added softly, “With him, I have everything I need.”

Clem hesitated before asking, “What about love?”

“Love is overrated. It’s a young person’s game. They’rethe only ones naive enough to believe in it. Sometimes convenience has to come first.”

Seriously?Victoria had given up on love. Clem didn’t even know how to respond to that. Victoria deserved to be fulfilled in every way. Damn it, Clem wanted to be the one to fulfil her. The thought made her insides ache. That arsehole treated her like shit, but she was still his, and she was loyal to him. Pain radiated from her clenched fists. She loosened them and took a quiet, deep breath.

“How long have you been together?”

“Fifteen years, married for almost twelve. We met when I was assigned to design his house in Primrose Hill, and later it became my home.” Victoria fell into silence for a moment, then took a sip of wine and continued. “Historic architecture is my speciality, and Drew had plenty of other historic projects lined up around London, so they all came my way. I’ve worked on old police stations, train depots, chocolate factories, print works — you name it.”

Clem’s lips tightened into a smile at Victoria’s sudden enthusiasm. It suited her.

“Impressive. Sounds like you were too busy to have kids. Probably a good thing, considering?—”

“Drew is infertile.”

“Shit. I’m sorry.”Fuck!

Victoria gently shook her head. “You weren’t to know. It broke him, and it became all abouthim. No one stopped to think how it impacted me. His family, I mean. No one ever asked me howIfelt. It was all, ‘Oh, you can’t have kids. Poor Drew.’”

Clem’s voice softened. “I guess, to them, you could still have kids.”

“I could. But I couldn’t. And I think he decided if he couldn’t have a family, he was going to live young, free?—”

“—and single?”