CHAPTER FIVE

      ‘YOU’RE WRONG.’ SHE gave a firm shake of her head.

      Gregorio had watched the play of emotions on Lia’s face. Puzzlement. Dawning realisation. Shock. Doubt. Followed seconds later by this outright denial.

      ‘Are you saying that because you know I’m wrong or because you hope that I am...?’

      She looked at him blankly for several seconds. ‘I’ll admit David ultimately proved not to be the man I thought he was when I agreed to marry him, but he isn’t the thief you’re implying he is either.’

      ‘Again, I ask—is that because you know for certain I’m wrong or because you don’t want to believe I’m right?’

      She straightened her shoulders defensively. ‘David comes from a wealthy family. He’s a partner in one of the most prestigious law firms in London. His father owns that law firm, for goodness’ sake.’

      ‘And you consider that proof of his innocence?’

      ‘Well. No. Of course it isn’t proof.’ She shot Gregorio an impatient glance. ‘But there is absolutely no reason why he would have stolen from my father.’ Her chin rose in stubborn denial. ‘David is a wealthy man in his own right.’

      ‘My sources tell me that Richardson has a serious gambling habit.’

      ‘Then your sources are wrong.’ She gave a disgusted shake of her head. ‘I went out with David for a year, was engaged to him for three months. David doesn’t gamble.’

      ‘I’m afraid he does. Excessively so. I am reliably informed that he lost over sixty thousand pounds in one casino alone last month.’

      She gave a pained frown. ‘But I never saw... There was never any hint... Can I really have been so wrong about him?’

      Gregorio had known this was going to be a difficult conversation, and that was the reason he had delayed having it for as long as he could. He had known Lia would have a problem believing her ex-fiancé was guilty of theft on a grand scale, despite the other man having deserted her when she’d needed him. It was for this reason that Gregorio had been skirting around the edges of the subject for the past three days. He had known that once his suspicion was out in the open he would have no way of retracting it. That Lia would hate him all the more because of it.

      Gregorio had no doubt the FSA would eventually find the missing funds, and the offshore bank account, but that would be the end of their investigation. They would have absolutely no jurisdiction in another country.

      Gregorio wasn’t hampered by such legalities. His own security people were even now following the money trail to the offshore bank account in the name of Madras Enterprises. He had no doubt they would eventually unravel the maze surrounding this mysterious company, and when they did Gregorio was sure they would be able to identify the owner of that company as being David Richardson.

      If Richardson was involved, then he had probably considered it prudent to distance himself from the Fairbanks family after Jacob’s death—starting with breaking his engagement to Lia. There was also the fact Lia was no longer wealthy, and Richardson was going to need a very wealthy wife with his obsessive gambling habit to satisfy.

      ‘If—Whoever is responsible... My father died because of the strain he was put under!’ Tears glistened in her eyes.

      Gregorio’s mouth thinned. ‘I will get to the bottom of who is responsible, Lia, this I promise you,’ he assured her grimly. ‘And when I do they will be made to pay for what they did.’

      ‘It won’t bring my father back.’

      ‘No.’ What else could he say to a statement like that?

      She dropped down into one of the armchairs. ‘Then it really doesn’t matter who’s to blame, does it?’

      She leaned her head back, closed her eyes.

      It mattered to Gregorio. If David Richardson was responsible for the embezzlement then he couldn’t be allowed to get away with what he’d done to the Fairbanks family. Nor could he be left in a position of power where he could do the same thing to other clients who put their trust him as their lawyer.

      ‘Did you tell me these things so that I won’t hate you any more?’

      Gregorio’s eyes narrowed as he looked across to see Lia now watching him guardedly. He could read nothing from her expression.

      ‘I told you so that you would know the truth,’ he said cautiously.

      ‘But also so that I don’t hate you any more?’

      ‘Is this a trick question?’ He eyed her warily. ‘Do I damn myself whichever way I answer it?’

      ‘Probably.’ She gave a humourless smile as she stood. ‘I think you should leave now. My head is buzzing with all that you’ve just told me, and I need to get my things ready for work in the morning.’

      His gaze became searching. ‘Are you going to be okay?’

      ‘Yes.’

      Lia wished she felt as positive as she sounded. The things Gregorio had told her tonight were disturbing, to say the least. She still didn’t believe David was involved, but if her father really had discovered that someone was embezzling funds from Fairbanks Industries, and had withdrawn from the de la Cruz offer because of it, then she very much doubted that both men could be wrong in their suspicions.

      She had only just started to put her life back together, and now she felt exposed and vulnerable again.

      Moving in to her apartment and starting a new job had been positive things. A fresh start. Moving forward after weeks of feeling as if she were stuck in a quagmire of emotions with no way out.

      Gregorio had given her a lot of information to think about tonight. Information about David that, if true, meant he was responsible to driving her father to his death. It also seriously brought into question the reason he had pursued her and asked her to marry him.

      And her own ability to know if a person was trustworthy or not.

      She had trusted David, and even if it turned out that he was innocent of Gregorio’s accusations, David had still let her down by leaving her to deal with her father’s death alone.

      She had distrusted Gregorio the first timeshe met him, and yet he had done nothing but try to help her. Albeit for reasons of his own, he had apparently been protecting her this whole