He flinched at that but his fingers tightened on her wrists. He needed answers. ‘Why would your father do that to you? To us?’

‘Surely that’s obvious. He didn’t want us together.’ She lifted her eyes to his. ‘He found out and he wanted to end it so he bided his time until he found the most effective way. I warned you that we should keep our relationship a secret, but you insisted that you wouldn’t creep around.’

Jago’s broad shoulders tensed. ‘I wasn’t afraid of your father.’

‘No,’ she said quietly. ‘But I was. And I was the one left to deal with him after you walked off, Jago. My father didn’t know that you had no intention of committing to anyone. For some unfathomable reason he thought you were serious about me and that was the last thing he wanted.’

Jago almost groaned aloud. He had been serious.

And he’d made the fatal mistake of telling her father.

Understanding just what had caused her father to take such dramatic steps, Jago ran a hand over his face, lost for words for the first time in his life.

Katy watched him for a long moment and then, with a final pitying look, she tugged her wrist away from his grip, picked up the photographs and left the room without a backward glance.

* * *

‘Oh, my God.’ Libby stared at the photographs in horror. ‘Dad gave him these? Well, no wonder the guy walked out. They’re very incriminating.’

‘I can’t believe you just said that!’ Katy stared at her in disbelief. ‘You’re supposed to be on my side.’

‘Oh, come on, Katy!’ Libby held one of the photographs up and shook her head. ‘For crying out loud, you’re naked in bed with a man and you’re laughing.’

‘So? I always liked Aiden,’ Katy mumbled, and Libby shook her head.

‘Sweetheart, I’m always on your side, you know that, but for a man as fiercely proud as Jago, these would have seemed like the ultimate insult to his manhood. It’s the male ego thing. Can’t you see that?’ She narrowed her eyes. ‘I must admit they’re bloody good. You look stunning in this one.’

Katy ignored her. ‘But I wouldn’t do a thing like that. He should have known I wouldn’t do a thing like that. Instead, he assumed I went from virgin to slut faster than you could say broken heart.’

‘I know, and deep down I suspect Jago knows, but love must have clouded his judgement.’

Katy stiffened. She was singularly unimpressed by Jago’s judgement. Or rather lack of it. ‘We both know that Jago never loved me.’

If he’d loved her, he wouldn’t have been so quick to believe the worst of her.

‘I certainly didn’t think he did,’ Libby mused, still leafing through the photographs, ‘but now I’m changing my mind.’

‘Based on what?’

‘Think about it. Think about the way he’s been behaving since you walked back into his life—or rather since you arrived on a stretcher. He is seriously bothered by you. Also, we both know that Jago is Mr Super-Bright. Nothing gets past him in the intellectual stakes, which can only mean one thing…’