LITMIR.BIZ

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felt strangely safer with Max’s hip and shoulders touching hers, which was ridiculous but it helped her to go on. ‘I tried to make Sol see that marriage wasn’t a power game and I needed to be my own person, but my charming ex-husband, the highly esteemed obstetrician, informed everyone I was a paranoid depressive. That’s not an easy thing to dispute if you have reason to be unhappy.’

      ‘That would explain what Harry said about your marriage getting you down.’

      ‘Harry mentioned it, did he?’

      She saw the look on Max’s face and sighed. ‘This is what I meant about disputing people’s opinions. Sol made it seem I protested too much.’

      Max frowned. ‘It’s OK. I believe you. Go on.’

      ‘I was a professional woman with a career and friends before Sol. But he became more and more demanding. He isolated me from my friends and began to dictate my daily routine. He would change it at a whim.’ She clutched Elsa to her as she remem-bered.

      ‘He cancelled my appointments with my uni, pulled my shifts so that when I turned up, cases had been replaced by another midwife, and that was when I realised people had begun to talk. He’d arranged a visit to a psychiatrist and circulated that I suffered from an anxiety-driven mental illness. The saddest thing was that I almost began to believe him, but I kept telling myself it was his problem, not mine, and refused to take medication. Finally I left him.’

      ‘Leaving was a good thing.’ Max nodded.

      ‘I left him for a year but I had to stay at the hospital because they were paying for my master’s. The day the divorce papers hit Sol’s desk he upped his campaign to win me back but I knew I would never go back to him. That was when he finally realised it wasn’t just another extended game.’

      She laughed without humour. ‘Sol wanted me back, and had everyone at work on his side, and then he threatened my best friend’s credibility over a drug order that he’d tampered with. He’d moved on to blackmail.’

      ‘So prove it.’

      ‘It was her word and mine against Sol’s, and he said he’d drop his case if I went back to him.’

      ‘You went back?’ Max leaned forward incredulously.

      ‘I thought I had it all worked out. I prepared safeguards against any problems. I was going to stay with him until she was safe. Stay only until she couldn’t be charged.’

      She looked away so he couldn’t read her face.

      She didn’t mention the horror of what Sol had forced her to endure and that she doubted she’d ever want to make love with a man again.

      She didn’t mention the fact that she woke up at night in a lather of sweat and a pounding heart. Or that now she had an even bigger fear. ‘Well, in the end, she wasn’t charged. I left again. Later I found out I was pregnant.’

      Max raised his eyebrows. ‘Why didn’t you discredit him?’

      ‘Sol is a powerful man. People believe him.’ Georgia could feel palpitations in her chest and unconsciously she rested her hand there. He’d said he would take her baby at birth. He’d said he would if she didn’t come back.

      All the old fears and uncertainties and even unreasonable guilt that she’d heaped on herself began to surface and she fought to keep them away. She needed to conquer this. Elsa needed her to conquer this. ‘It seemed easier just to leave and never go back.’

      Max muttered an oath under his breath.

      She went on because the sooner she did so, the sooner she could stop thinking about those horrible few weeks.

      ‘Sol had been here to tell Harry I was depressed and paranoid. He covered himself in case I told them what he was really like. He is very plausible and dangerous.

      ‘When Harry suggested I move in with them, I decided it would be good for my baby to know family because she would never know her father if I could help it.’ She kissed the top of her daughter’s head.

      She could see Max was trying to understand and at least he was trying. It was more than a lot of other people did.

      Max squeezed her shoulder. ‘We’ll all help you feel safe again.’

      She looked at him and he read the disbelief in her face. ‘A month ago I received a repeated threat on my mobile phone against my unborn child. He would find a way to take her if I didn’t come back to him,’ she whispered.

      That wiped the smile off Max’s face and he felt his hand tighten protectively over her shoulder. ‘Mongrel.’

      She sighed under his arm. ‘The police said nothing could be proved because Sol had used a public phone to make the call. All I could do was change my number.’

      Max shook his head. ‘He’s put you through hell. I wish I’d known when I had him here.’

      She shuddered. ‘He’s seen her now. I’m losing control of my life again. I left Sol because I needed to get control back.’ She looked at him with determination in her eyes. ‘And I will. I am. Just.

      ‘I decided to move here and start again because I need family for my baby and I can make a good life for myself and my daughter. But now I’m scared again.’

      He could help her. He felt the shift. She needed help and his gut tightened. He barely knew the woman but suddenly it all felt ordained. No doubt there would be flak along the way and the ex-husband sounded like a loony, but suddenly all that was unimportant if he could protect her. There was something about Georgia that he truly admired and was irresistibly drawn to.

      Now their closeness during Elsa’s dramatic birth and today’s near abduction made him realise that she probably needed him more than he needed her.

      Win-win situation.

      It was a strangely satisfying feeling for Max that had nothing to do with suddenly being eligible for the job again if she agreed. That he could protect Georgia was paramount. ‘We could help each other.’

      Georgia looked up at him. ‘How?’

      ‘Your divorce was finalized, wasn’t it?’ He tilted his head hopefully.

      ‘Yes. I made sure that happened.’ She frowned. ‘Why?’ The guy bounced all over the place and she couldn’t keep up. ‘I’m beginning to think Tayla had a lucky escape.’

      He shrugged. ‘Tayla was getting exactly what she wanted. An indulgent life with me to parade every now and then at her charity functions, and I had a wife I needed for my job. Neither of us planned on having children.’

      No children, no living together, all for the sake of a job. What was wrong with these people? ‘Wrong era,’ she said, with barely concealed distaste. ‘Employers can’t make you marry any more.’

      Max shrugged. ‘The directors wanted a married man because they’ve had so many problems with people leaving the role. The last one ran off and eloped when he was most needed. The powers that choose knew of my impending marriage and that gave me the edge.’

      He shrugged. ‘Unfortunately, the idea of living with Tayla just won’t gel any more for me either.’ He said the words as if he he’d decided to change his brand of deodorant.

      ‘And you’re telling me this because…?’ She couldn’t keep the disappointment out of her voice. She’d liked him and he wasn’t worthy of that. Despite everything, she still believed true love was out there for most people, and Max cheapened it when he talked like that.

      He lifted his head and captured her gaze with his own as if he sensed her disapproval and it mattered to him. His golden eyes warmed. ‘I’d been having second thoughts about marrying Tayla earlier. Even before your water broke.’

      Georgia winced at the memory of that time in the church. That certainly wouldn’t go down as a highlight of her life!

      He

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