Katy shook her head and swallowed hard. ‘I never knew. I never knew that Dad made her leave. When I came out of hospital she was gone and I was just told that she’d decided to go back to Spain. I’m so sorry.’

He shrugged dismissively. ‘Not your fault and, to be honest, Maria was ready to leave. She wanted to go back home but didn’t really have the means.’ He gave a short laugh. ‘Fortunately, those years working for your father in the bank gave me the means. I bought her this place and she lives here with her other sister and brother-in-law.’

‘And the locals?’

‘They were apparently impressed with the way she sacrificed her homeland to care for a small, vulnerable child. She’s been accepted back into society and lives very happily here.’

Katy was digesting the full implication of his words. ‘No wonder you were so upset when you thought I was having an affair.’

He gave a wry smile. ‘As I said, querida, for me faithfulness is the minimum requirement in a relationship.’

And she could understand why.

He’d grown up with the knowledge that his whole family had been destroyed by the actions of his mother.

For the first time she saw those photographs as he must have seen them.

As the ultimate betrayal.

For a man with such a shocking secret buried in his past, was it really surprising that he’d overreacted?

‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered. ‘I understand now why you reacted so strongly when you saw those photographs.’

He gave a twisted smile. ‘As you pointed out, your father was a master at manipulation. He knew exactly how to extract the maximum response from me.’

Numb with despair, Katy looked around her, aware of the calm beauty of her surroundings and yet barely seeing it. ‘I’m really so very sorry about everything. And I’m sorry about what my father did to your mother.’

She felt mortified. Embarrassed and horrified at this latest example of her father’s utter ruthlessness.

‘Your father was very thorough,’ Jago observed, the expression in his dark eyes veiled by thick lashes. ‘He didn’t want me involved with you and he was prepared to go to any lengths to prevent it.’

‘He succeeded,’ Katy said sadly, reflecting on the utter devastation that his actions had caused.

‘Maybe not. We seem to have found each other again.’ Jago stepped towards her and cupped her face in his hands. ‘You know that you can’t marry Freddie. He is wrong for you, and if you’d loved him you never would have slept with me.’

Katy almost smiled at the irony of that self-satisfied statement. Only a week ago he had believed her capable of exactly that. But now she understood his sensitivity in that area.

‘I’m not going to marry Freddie,’ she said quietly. ‘I ended it that night you came to the flat.’

There was a long silence and when he finally spoke his voice was hoarse. ‘You did end it? But you didn’t tell me—you let me think…’ He broke off and dragged a hand through his dark hair. ‘Why?’