Page 164 of Kiss Heaven Goodbye

He picked up a remote control and clicked a button. The wide-screen television flickered into life, showing a single shot of two people making love. Chrissy’s face flushed with embarrassment and anger.

‘You and Bill seem to have had a particularly good time at the party,’ he said, turning down the volume as the orgasmic groans grew particularly loud. His wife looked shell-shocked.

‘I’m in love with him,’ said Chrissy finally.

‘How touching,’ sneered Miles, clicking off the picture. ‘Shame it can’t go on.’

‘Don’t blame Bill,’ she snapped.‘This is your fault. If you’d shown the slightest interest in me over the last few years, maybe I wouldn’t have had to go to another man. And Bill is a man, Miles.’

The colour drained from his face.‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

She shook her head. ‘Don’t you think I know, Miles? You’re gay.’

He looked at her scornfully. ‘You’re being ridiculous.’

‘How many dicks have you had in your mouth? Is that how you like it? Or do you prefer to give? Pretend that you’re still a man that way?’

He smiled callously. ‘I really don’t think you should be throwing stones in this particular glass house, Chrissy. You’ve built yourself a very comfortable life here, but it doesn’t take much to destroy someone’s reputation. The Hastings past, the junkie brother, the sordid little lesbian shows in Phuket. I could go on.’

She looked pale. ‘I’ve told you before, I was just a dancer . . .’

‘Don’t be so bloody naïve!’ he snapped. ‘Do you think any of those girls you worked with – who you performed with – would keep quiet for you? All it took was a few baht.’

‘It’s lies!’ she cried. ‘I never did anything like that.’

‘I know everything, Chrissy,’ he said fiercely. ‘You fuck people for money. That’s what you’ve been doing since the second I laid eyes on you.’

She stuck her chin out defiantly. ‘I want a divorce.’

Miles laughed in her face. ‘Divorce is out of the question. I can’t have that sort of distraction when we’re at such a delicate stage of our expansion. It wouldn’t go down well here. Dubai is a very moral country.’

She snorted. ‘What would you know about morals?’

His expression softened and he raised his hand to touch her face. He’d known she wouldn’t take this lying down.

‘I do love you, Chrissy,’ he said. ‘We’re good together. Look what we’ve built.’

She glared at him. ‘You really expect me to go along with this? Play happy families with you?’

‘Think of it as playing a role, pretending to be something you’re not. You’ve always been good at that.’

‘You really are a bastard, aren’t you?’

Miles gave a small smile. ‘It has been said. Oh, and one other thing, Chrissy.’ He walked over to the desk and picked up a document.

‘What’s this?’

‘A post-nuptial agreement.’ He put the paper on the table next to her and twisted his Montblanc fountain pen open. ‘You see, my father was right about protecting the family interests, and, well, it was the exuberance of youth getting married without doing that.’

Chrissy picked the document up, scanning it, her eyes growing wider as she read.

‘Take my word, it’s a fair agreement,’ said Miles. ‘In the unlikely event of a divorce, you will receive a ten per cent share in Globe Holdings with a ten million ceiling. Don’t let anyone ever say I haven’t appreciated all your input into the business.’

‘You are kidding me?’ she gasped. ‘Ash Corp. is worth billions!’

‘Yes, it is, but I think ten million pounds is a fortune for a hooker from Hastings, don’t you?’

‘You can’t do this.’