CHAPTER NINE

      TETSUYA’S, a Japanese-French fusion eatery many times listed amongst the top fifty restaurants in the world, was Jake’s choice for his last night with Laura. It had the longest waiting time to secure a table—two months—and he’d actually held back his own agenda, just to have this very special dinner together before he took her father down.

      He checked his watch as he waited for her to arrive, conscious of not wanting her to be late, not wanting to have a minute of this final encounter wasted. It wasn’t quite seven o’clock. The hell of it was he would miss the pleasure of her company, miss the fantastic sex they had shared even more, but knew it was stupid to try spinning out their time with each other any further.

      It had been good. Great. But she was her father’s daughter and once the axe fell on Costarella he would come out fighting for blood in return and the first casualty would be any personal association with his accuser. Laura would be turned out of the Mosman mansion if she didn’t toe that line. Even if she chose not to and fled to her brother’s apartment… No, she wouldn’t do that. She would stay by her mother to deflect as much of her father’s venom as she could.

      Tonight was it—the end.

      No point in looking for any way around it.

      Besides, once he’d achieved the objective he’d set for himself he wanted to move on, find the kind of relationship he’d seen between his mother and step-father, have a family of his own, hopefully sharing good times with his wife and children. Regardless of how powerfully drawn he was to Laura Costarella, he couldn’t fit her into that picture.

      As hot she was in bed, she kept a cool head out of it, content to go about her own life without trying to get him involved in it. This was confirmation to Jake that marriage had no appeal to her—understandable given her family background. Part-time lovers was as far as any man would get with Laura. It made the end of their affair easier in so far as he knew it carried no deep importance to her. He’d given her pleasure. He hoped the memory of it would not get too tainted by the angst his actions would inevitably cause in the Costarella household.

      All this past week he’d been tossing up whether to tell her, warn her what was about to happen, explain why. Somehow that smacked too much of justifying himself and he didn’t need to do that, not when he was meting out justice, which would eventually be evident to everyone. Besides, he’d told Laura right from the beginning he didn’t want to want to her. Understanding would come soon enough. Better for them both to enjoy this one last night.

      Laura was smiling, aglow with excited anticipation as she entered Tetsuya’s. She was ten minutes late, due to the public transport connections needed to get to Kent Street in the inner city—where the restaurant was located—but she was finally here for another night with Jake. And there he was, rising from the table where he’d been seated.

      Her heart skipped a beat. Every time he had this impact. And his smile of pleasure on seeing her…it was like a fountain of joy bursting through her. She loved this man, loved being with him, fiercely wished they could be sharing much more than one night a week.

      Though she told herself it was sensible not to get too involved, not when she still had to earn her university degree. It was halfway through the year now. In a few more months… Was Jake waiting for her to be fully qualified before inviting her into more of his life? There was quite an age gap between them. Maybe he was conscious of that, too. Whatever his reasons for keeping their relationship so strictly limited, Laura felt sure they would wear out eventually. They were too good together—great together—for this journey to ever end.

      She couldn’t resist planting a greeting kiss on his cheek before sitting down. ‘Sorry I’m a bit late. The bus trip was slow. Lots of people getting on and off.’

      ‘No problem,’ he assured her, his deep rich voice curling around her heart, warming it with pleasure. ‘You’re here. And I’ve been perusing the menu. This promises to be a fantastic dining experience.’

      ‘Oh, wow! I’ve been so looking forward to it.’

      He laughed at her excitement as they both took their seats. Laura loved his laugh, the sexy male rumble of it, the way it lit up his handsome face, the dancing twinkles in his eyes.

      ‘I want us to do the gustatory menu—all eight courses of it. Are you up for it?’ he asked.

      Laura goggled at him. ‘Eight courses!’

      ‘They won’t be big. Just a marvelous range of tastes.’

      ‘Let me see.’ She held out her hand for the menu and he passed it over. The list of dishes Jake wanted proved irresistible. ‘I’m up for it,’ she said decisively.

      It would obviously cost Jake another small fortune, but also obviously he didn’t care so Laura refused to feel guilty about the expense. It was his choice. He grinned at her, knowing she was happy to succumb to temptation.

      She sighed. ‘You’re spoiling me rotten with all this, Jake.’

      An oddly rueful expression twisted his grin. ‘You’ve given me more than money can buy, Laura. I should probably thank you for being you.’

      Why did that sound…almost as if he was saying goodbye to her? Laura frowned over the uncomfortable niggle. Surely he was just trying to balance out what they had together, make it feel okay to her. ‘It’s no big deal being me,’ she said critically.

      He shook his head, his eyes gently mocking her. ‘I can’t imagine enjoying our dinners so much with anyone else.’

      She relaxed into a relieved smile. ‘Then I should thank you for being you because I can’t imagine it, either.’

      ‘Good to be in accord on that point.’

      She laughed. ‘I think we’re in accord on many points.’

      ‘True. Shall we order now?’

      He signalled their readiness to a waiter while Laura happily assured herself that everything was fine between them.

      Again it was another brilliant evening with Jake. The dinner was sensational. It was great fun enjoying and discussing the various tastes, comparing it to what they’d eaten in other restaurants. Laura visited the ladies’ room just before they were about to leave and on her way back to their table, she was struck by another little stab of uncertainty.

      Jake was not looking for her return. He sat in pensive mode, a dark, bleak expression wiping out all the sparkles he’d shot her way during dinner. It didn’t take much intuition to realise something was wrong—something in the private life he didn’t share with her. Wasn’t it time that he did? They’d been seeing each other on a very intimate basis for almost three months now. Surely he knew her well enough to trust her with what was in his mind.

      He brightened as she reached the table, pulling himself back from the place he’d travelled to without her, but Laura’s fighting spirit had been