Read Online To Wear His Ring Again by Chantelle Shaw - Free Book Online

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    Isobel’s words came uncomfortably close to the truth for Constantin. His jaw hardened. ‘I didn’t hear you object when I kissed you,
cara
.’
    Sickening shame swept through her at his soft taunt. Without another word she spun round and marched off the dance floor, but her high heels and long dress hampered her progress and Constantin’s long stride easily kept pace with her as she walked out of the ballroom.
    â€˜Go away,’ she demanded in a fierce undertone as she crossed the lobby. She was desperate to escape the curious glances of the other guests, and as she hurried down the hotel steps she prayed for a taxi to appear.
    â€˜My car is over there.’ Constantin nodded towards the sports car parked a little way down the street. ‘I’ll drive you home.’
    â€˜I’d rather wait for a taxi.’ She was furious with him, but even more so with herself for allowing him to think she was a pushover. The bitter truth was that she did not dare risk being alone with him, she acknowledged.
    The glare of a flashbulb momentarily blinded her, and her heart sank as a reporter whom she recognised from one of the tabloids thrust a microphone at her. ‘Izzy, what’s the story about you and Constantin De Severino?’ The reporter looked curiously at Constantin. ‘Have you split with Ryan Fellows, and, if so, what does it mean for the future of the Stone Ladies?’
    How was it that a taxi never appeared when you wanted one? she thought, frustrated.
    â€˜Do you want to stand here and talk to this jerk, or do you want to go home?’ Constantin spoke in her ear.
    The arrival of two more reporters decided the matter for her and she quickly followed him over to his car and slid into the passenger seat. Seconds later, the powerful engine roared into life and Constantin accelerated away from the kerb.
    â€˜Is your address still the apartment block near Tower Bridge?’ When she had left him, Constantin had offered to buy her a place of her own to live, but stubborn Isobel had refused his help and had proudly told him that she was able to pay for a flat with money she had earned from the Stone Ladies’ first hit record. She had often accused him of being remote and cold during their marriage, but whenever he
had
tried to build bridges, her prickly independence had come to the fore and she had seemed reluctant to accept anything from him.
    Isobel gave a nod of confirmation. She looked over her shoulder as a camera flashbulb shone through the car’s rear window. ‘See what you’ve done?’ she rounded on him angrily. ‘Our so-called relationship is going to feature in all the gossip columns. I’ll have to warn Ryan,’ she muttered. ‘It might make things awkward.’
    Constantin frowned. ‘You mean it will be awkward when the press report that you are married to me at the same time as you’ve been carrying on with Fellows? My heart bleeds for you
, cara
,’ he said sarcastically.
    â€˜I haven’t been
carrying on
with Ryan. I’ve told you a hundred times that he and I are just friends.’
    â€˜You have never denied in interviews that the two of you are having an affair.’ Constantin’s hands tightened on the steering wheel as he recalled how Isobel had been glued to the guitarist’s side at the party. ‘It’s obvious that you have a close relationship with him.’
    Isobel’s temper boiled over and she threw her hands up in the air in a gesture of angry frustration. ‘
Yes
, I admit I’m close to him. I love Ryan—but as a brother, not a lover. And he...he has tried to fill the place of the brother I lost.’ She could not control the tremor in her voice.
    Constantin shot her a puzzled look. ‘I didn’t know you had a brother. You’ve never spoken of him before. Your parents made no mention that they had a son when we visited them in