Sweet Revenge

remembers.”
    “He understood, Addy. And he’ll remember.”
    “Philip.” She touched his hand, then drew back. “We have to talk.”
    “Am I going to need more brandy?”
    “I want you to know how grateful I am for everything you’ve done.”
    “Mmm-hmm.” He decided it best to sit again.
    “Don’t take it lightly. You helped me turn the most important corner in my life. Without you I might have accomplished it, but it wouldn’t have meant the same thing.”
    “Oh, I doubt it. Doubt that you could have pulled it offwithout me,” he explained. “But if it makes you feel better to think so, go ahead.”
    “I knew exactly what—” She caught herself. “Never mind. The point is that I want to thank you for everything.”
    “Before you walk me to the door?”
    “Before we each get back to our own lives,” she corrected him. “Are you trying to annoy me?”
    “Not at all. I’m only trying to be certain I know exactly what you want. Have you finished thanking me yet?”
    “Yes.” She turned to kick at a broken vase. “Quite finished.”
    “Well, you might have gushed a bit more, but I’ll have to settle. Now, if I have this right, you’d like me to stroll out the door and out of your life.”
    “I’d like you to do what’s best for both of us.”
    “In that case.” When his hands came to her shoulders she pulled away.
    “It’s over, Philip, I’ve got plans I’ve got to start in motion. The clinic, my retirement, my—social life.”
    He decided he could wait a day or two to tell her she would be working for Interpol. When the time was right, he’d add the fact that Abdu was going to have to answer some tricky questions about possession of a stolen painting. But they had other business, personal business, first.
    “And you don’t have room for a husband.”
    “The wedding was part of the act.” She turned back. This was supposed to be easy, she thought. Something they should have been able to laugh over before they went their separate ways. “It may be a bit awkward dealing with the press and well-meaning friends, but between us, the entire thing can be dissolved very simply. There’s no reason why either of us should be bound by a—”
    “Promise?” he finished. “There were a few promises tossed about in there, I believe.”
    “Don’t make this difficult.”
    “All right, then. We’ve played it your way until now. We’ll finish it your way. How do I go about it again?”
    Her mouth was dry. Adrianne picked up his brandy and took a gulp. “It’s easy. You only have to say I divorce you’ three times.”
    “Just like that? I don’t have to stand on one foot and say it under the light of a full moon?”
    She set the snifter down with a click. “That’s not funny.”
    “No, it’s ridiculous.” He took her hand, curling his fingers tight around hers when she would have pulled away. He knew how to figure the odds, had always known. This time he couldn’t be sure they were in his favor. “I divorce you,” he said, then leaned down to touch his mouth to hers. Her lips trembled. Her own fingers tightened. “I divorce you.” With his free arm he pulled her closer and deepened the lass. “I—”
    “No.” Swearing, Adrianne threw her arms around him and clung. “No, dammit.”
    Relief made his knees weak. For a moment, just a moment, he buried his face in her hair. “You’ve interrupted me, Addy. Now I’ll have to start all over again. In about fifty years.”
    “Philip—”
    “My way now.” He drew her back so that he could look at her face. She was pale again. Good. He hoped he’d scared the life out of her. “We’re married, for better or worse. If necessary we’ll have another ceremony here or in London. The kind that requires solicitors, a great deal of money, and a great deal of trouble to dissolve.”
    “I never said I’d—”
    “Too late.” He nipped at her lower lip. “You blew your chance.”
    She closed her eyes. “I don’t know why.”
    “Yes, you do. Say it put loud, Addy. Your tongue won’t fall out.” When she pulled back he tightened his grip. “Come now, darling, you’ve never been a coward.”
    That had her eyes opening. He watched them spit at him and grinned. “Maybe I love you.”
    “Maybe?”
    She let out a huff of breath. “I think I love you.”
    “Try one more time. You’ll get it right.”
    “I love you.” Now her breath came out in a rush. “There. Satisfied?”
    “No, but I intend to be.” He