Constantinou's Mistress Read Online Free PDF

you would never have…’ Thesilence, fraught with the unspoken, stretched between them.
    â€˜No,’ Lucy blurted out.
    â€˜Which brings me to something that I have been turning over and over in my mind all weekend.’
    She knew exactly what he was going to say. He was going to ask her why she had ever allowed herself to have sex with him and she frantically sought in her head for the answer that would be furthest away from the humiliating truth, which was that she had simply been unable to resist, that all her pent-up yearning had broken down her usual powers of reason and common sense and left her mindlessly drifting in a sea of sensuality. He had touched her and she had been lost, totally and shamelessly lost.
    â€˜What’s that?’ she asked faintly.
    â€˜Why?’
    For a few desperate seconds, Lucy pretended to be bewildered by his question.
    â€˜Why…what?’ she asked finally, buying time.
    â€˜Why did you? You were working peacefully here, albeit at an extraordinarily peculiar time, and I lurched in… I confess I am surprised that you did not flee the building in terror.’
    â€˜I…I’m not the fleeing-buildings type of girl,’ she answered in a high-pitched voice. ‘Besides, I knew who you were and I could see that you had been drinking. I only thought to make sure that you didn’t pass out, to be honest.’ All the truth so far.
    â€˜And…?’ He couldn’t find the words to phrase the question but it was vitally important that he knew the truth, that he had not coerced her into a situation against her will. He could not seriously believe that he was capable of any such thing, but the demon drink could workin a thousand ways, and he was not accustomed to consuming large amounts of it.
    â€˜Look,’ he said impatiently, ‘I need to find out whether I…took advantage of you in any way…’
    â€˜Took advantage?’
    â€˜And stop repeating every phrase I utter. You know precisely what I mean. Did I force you to do something against your will?’ His body went still as he waited for her to reply. If his memory served him right…but he couldn’t rely on his memory.
    â€˜No,’ Lucy told him quietly.
    â€˜Then did I somehow use my position to influence you in any way?’ His razor-sharp memory was failing him just when he needed it most. ‘Did I hint that you might…I don’t know…lose your job if…?’
    â€˜No. Don’t you think I have a mind of my own?’ she flared, insulted by the insinuation that she would either do something against her will or else yield to something simply for the sake of a job.
    â€˜Of course I do,’ Nick grated harshly. ‘I am merely trying to establish what precisely happened.’
    â€˜What for?’ Lucy blurted out, her face reddening. She could feel tears pricking the backs of her eyelids and swallowed them down. ‘What’s the point in performing a post-mortem on what happened? I was perfectly prepared to…to pretend…’
    â€˜That nothing had happened? Be an ostrich that sticks its head in the sand? I needed to talk to you about this because you happen to be my secretary and if either of us felt that we no longer had a tenable working situation then I would be obliged to transfer you to another position within the company.’
    Just like that, Lucy thought bitterly. If he thought that he had done something dishonourable, then he wouldhave given her the push. Their act of making love, the memory of which could still turn her bones to water, whatever she felt about herself for doing what she had done, was less than nothing to him. He might call her an ostrich, but she wasn’t. Far from it. She could feel the impact of reality crashing into her like an avalanche.
    â€˜I’m perfectly happy to resign if you don’t think you can work with me,’ she said coolly.
    â€˜That is not what