Kinga’s eyes were wide and fearful as Cash waved for her to sit. Dark circles framed her eyes. Evidently, she hadn’t slept much. She seemed unable to focus properly, her gaze flitting from one object to another, looking anywhere except at him. She kept smoothing her hair, the bangles on her wrist making an annoying tinkling sound every time she lifted her hand.

As Cash glared at her, she dropped her hands into her lap. Silence hung heavy in the air, like that moment before a glass shatters on the ground. Cash kept it going—a little cruel, maybe, but he had no intention of making this remotely comfortable for her.

“I’m glad you called,” she finally said, breaking the silence between them.

He turned a cold, impassive stare on her. “I want to know two things. First, when did you tell Natalia it was you?”

She wrung her hands. “After you got knocked out of Monte Carlo. I met her in Belfast for a coffee.”

At least she didn’t lie about the timeframe.

“And whose idea was it to keep it from me?”

She slowly blinked. “Tally was worried you had enough on your plate. She thought if you found out, it would affect your tennis just as you were getting your career back on track.”

And she didn’t lie about her reasoning for keeping it from me.

“That’s all I wanted to know. You can go now.” He turned away.

“Cash, please. Let’s talk this through.”

“No.” He spoke over his shoulder. “You’re gone, Kinga. Out of my life. For good.”

She clambered to her feet. “Please, give me another chance. Everything’s different.”

Cash expelled a curt breath. “I seem to remember the same argument when I reluctantly agreed to one more chance after you hit Natalia.”

“But Tally and I have grown so close these last few months. And you––”

Cash spun around and swiped his hand through the air. “I will never be able to forgive the fact you purposely set out to split up Natalia and me—and kept lying about it. We’re finished.”

Kinga’s chin lowered to her chest, and hands that hadn’t been able to keep still earlier now lay limp in her lap. Eventually, her eyes sought his, and she offered a faint smile.

“I expected the worst but hoped for the best,” she said, rising unsteadily to her feet. Cash said nothing. She was almost past him when she stopped. “Working for you these past years has been the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I’m sorrier than you’ll ever know. Please give Tally my love, and pass on my heartfelt apologies to her too.”

She laid a hand on his arm. Cash stepped to the side, the movement making her hand fall away. She winced, but he was beyond caring about her feelings.

He opened the drawing room door. “You can see yourself out. My lawyer will be in touch.”

Kinga began to make one final plea then closed her mouth, turned around, and stepped into the hallway.

Cash kicked the door shut and heaved a sigh. First problem sorted. Now he just had to decide what to do about the second.

* * *

When he arrived back at the house, his mother met him at the front door, arms folded, eyes narrowed, pissed-off attitude coming off her in waves.

He raised his eyebrows. “Something wrong?”

“Seriously?” She shook her head in disbelief. “Follow me.” She set off down the hallway.

A bolt of fear shot into his bloodstream. “Is Natalia okay?”

She ignored him, which ratcheted up his worry. He might be furious with Natalia at that moment, but the thought of something happening to her…

When they entered the living room, his mum pointed to a chair. “Sit.”

Cash did as he was told. “Where’s Natalia?”

His mother stiffened her jaw. “She is upstairs. I asked her to stay out of the way because I think certain things between a mother and a son should be said in private.”

“O-kay,” Cash said as a sudden sense of unease made him stiffen.

“I realise you grew up without a mother, Cash, and that is something I will spend the rest of my life feeling guilty for—no, don’t interrupt me,” she said as he opened his mouth to disagree. “But I’m here now, and I plan to make up for lost time, which also means calling you out when you are being a complete and unreasonable idiot.”

Cash’s head jerked back. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“That girl,” she said, flicking her head towards the ceiling, “is extremely upset. She made a decision, and yes, you could argue she should have done it differently, but everything she did was with you in mind.” Rachael pointed at him. “You. She knew she was taking a risk, but she took it anyway because she loves you and wants you to be happy. And this is how you repay her? Cold shoulder, flat stares, sleeping in separate rooms? I expected better from you.”

He winced and stared at the floor. Wow, his mother certainly knew how to deliver a bollocking with impact.

“I understand you feel hurt and betrayed,” she said in a softer tone. “And Tally understands too, but behaving like a child and refusing to discuss things is going to get you precisely nowhere.”

He scrubbed his face with his hands before wearily getting to his feet. “I’ll go and talk to her.”

“Good. Oh, and Cash,” she said as he reached the door. “Make sure you think before you open your mouth.”

His lips twitched, and he was still smiling as he reached the top of the stairs. He’d always thought of himself as a guy who understood women. His mother and Natalia taught him that he didn’t have a clue.

When he entered their room, Natalia was sitting on the side of the bed, her legs dangling over the edge. She looked up, and his heart twisted. Her eyes were red-rimmed with dark smudges underneath, and she looked so forlorn that he couldn’t stop himself from sitting beside her and tugging her onto his lap. He cradled her in his arms as tremors wracked her body.

“I’m sorry, sweetness.” He buried his nose in her hair, the scent of her strawberry shampoo tickling his nostrils.

She sniffed. “I am too. I should have told you, but I thought I was doing the right thing.”

He lifted her head, cradling her face between his palms. “I know.” He brushed his lips over hers. “I hated being apart from you last night.”

When she sniffed again, he reached over to the bedside table and plucked a tissue from a box of Kleenex. After she blew her nose, he kissed her again, a little deeper this time.

“How’s Kinga?” Natalia asked.

Cash shook his head. “We’re done.”

She nodded. “I guessed that’s what you’d do. She did want to tell you, but I persuaded her my way was better.”

“It wouldn’t have made a difference either way. I don’t care whether she maintains she was ill or not. The fact is she did a cruel and hurtful thing, and I can’t forgive that.”

“I still feel bad.”

Cash clipped her under the chin. “No more Kinga talk. I don’t want her ruining our holiday.”

Natalia tilted her head to the side. “I thought you might have changed your mind about us going away.”

Cash laughed. “No chance. We had a row, that’s all. And you know what the best thing about rows is?”

“What?”

Cash eased her onto her back and gave her a wicked grin. “Make-up sex.”