Gini hesitated; there was a silence, and that silence, he read. He released her hands and stepped back from her at once.

“You won’t do that?”

“Pascal—in a day or two, yes. I want that too—I want it more than anything else. But I can’t leave now, not today, it would be wrong of me to do that. I have to see this story through. I told you—a young girl is missing. I—I have to find her. I have to find the man she’s with. Two people have died as a result of him. I cannot walk away from this.”

There was a silence, a silence that terrified Gini. She could feel an ocean of words welling up inside her, some huge, deafening weight of emotion that had been too long dammed up. She could feel Pascal’s anger now; the tenderness and concern of a moment before had been wiped from his face.

“I see.” He gave her one long, cold, appraising look. “You cannot walk away from this story—or you cannot walk away from that man? Which is it, Gini? I’d like to be clear—very clear—about this.”

“It’s the story,” she replied quickly. “Nothing to do with Rowland McGuire. In fact, if I asked him, I’m sure he would leave, return to London—”

“You think so? I wouldn’t agree. I would say he’d be very reluctant to leave you. I very much doubt he’d return to London so obligingly. Judging from the way he looked and behaved this morning. Judging from the expression on his face.”

“Pascal—please. I’m sure you’re wrong. He’ll be regretting what’s happened. He’ll want to extricate himself.”

“Do you think I’m a complete fool?” He gave her a furious glance. “You think I don’t know what a man looks like in that situation? Don’t lie to me. You’d been making love all night—I knew that the instant he opened the door. I knew when he lied so gallantly on your behalf—and when you damn well let him do it. Christ…” Gini flinched at his violent gesture. “He is not going to walk away from this. He has no wish to extricate himself—quite the opposite. He made that crystal clear as I left that damn room.”

“Pascal, he did not. He said one word to you then…”

“One word was enough. What he said was irrelevant. I could see it in his face. If he’d hit me, he couldn’t have made it any clearer. And you damn well knew that. You know it now. You can’t meet my eyes. You’re either lying to me or lying to yourself. It wasn’t just some quick, meaningless fuck you both instantly regretted—was it? Was it?”

“I won’t answer that.”

“You already have.” He fought to regain control, turned away, then swung back. “So don’t try to foist the decision on him. It has to be your decision. Your choice.” He paused. “And think hard before you make it, because you won’t be revising it—tomorrow, or next week.” He gave her a look that cut her to the heart, in which anger mixed with the deepest regret. “We’ve been here before,” he went on in a tight voice. “Choose, Gini. Call it choosing between me and this story of yours if you like. There’s a plane in an hour, and I shall be on it. With you or without you. Goddammit!” His control finally snapped. He slammed his fist against the wall. “You think I’m going to plead with you now? You think I’m going to try to remind you of what we were, what we meant? I will not do that. I will not do that. If you love me, you’ll come with me. If you don’t, then this whole last year, most of my past, was a mistake. So choose, Gini, choose now. I won’t wait.”