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return to them. The door on that part of her life had just
closed...forever.
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Autumn McCullah
The lights blended together to form a radiant blur. The
lights were filmy images she watched as the tears she could
no longer contain ran unheeded down her ashen cheeks.
CHAPTER 6
Rafe was about as angry as he d ever been in his life as
he drove away from the house. He knew he had to get
away before he did something he might regret. How dare
Dani try to deceive him with those false papers? Just how
gullible did she think he was? He had the proof of her
devious actions in the safe in his office. There was the
contract from the magazine with her signature and a copy
of the cancelled check along with the bank statement
showing the deposit into her account. What could she
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possibly have come up with to refute that evidence? Rafe
shook his head trying to calm himself.
Dani had proven herself quite resourceful and he d left
her on her own for several weeks. She d had plenty of free
time to come up with some scheme to supposedly clear her
name. Rafe laughed but it had a hollow ring to it. He didn t
understand why he should be so upset over this whole
mess. He d known what Dani was when he married her.
But she had seemed so real, so loving, so genuine.
Rafe drove around for over an hour before heading for
his office. He didn t want company right now and his
office would be empty. He had to think about his next step.
He d have to see his attorney first thing in the morning to
get divorce proceedings started. The building was deserted
this time of night so his footsteps sounded unusually loud
as he made his way to his office. The only person he d
seen had been the night guard who had waved as Rafe
entered the elevator.
His office was dark but rather than turn on the main
lights Rafe just turned on the small desk light before
shrugging out of his jacket. He went to look out the
window behind his desk, at the small amount of traffic on
the street below. It was late and most people were at home
or in clubs or with friends. Rafe sighed running his large
hands through his hair.
Dani& she had almost fooled him with her false air of
innocence and act of being the loving devoted wife. All the
time with Adrian in the background enjoying the same
benefits as Rafe had in his marriage but without having to
pay any price for it. Rafe s hands clenched into fists. The
thought of Dani with Adrian or any other man made him
want to hit something.
Damn, but she had been his and his alone. Or so he d
thought. What a fool he d been! Well, he wasn t the only
one. Diego had been taken in as well and Rafe didn t know
how his uncle would take the news that he d been wrong
about Dani. That was another battle he wasn t looking
forward to. And then there was Kate and Demetrio. But
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Autumn McCullah
first he had to take care of Dani and get the state of their
marriage rectified. But still, a small voice in the back of
his mind cautioned that what if Dani is exactly what she
appears to be? What if she didn t write that article? Yeah,
right! he thought without humor. But that spark of doubt
wouldn t be extinguished.
Rafe kicked off his shoes and stretched out on the
leather sofa on the far side of his office. He wouldn t be
used again. Lenore had almost taken him for a complete
fool and he d vowed no woman would ever do that to him
again. Not Dani. Not anyone. He was mentally listing the
calls he would have to make tomorrow when he drifted off
into a restless sleep.
It felt like he d only been asleep for a few minutes but a
quick look at his watch showed him that he d been asleep
for over three hours. It was three in the morning. Rafe
quickly dressed and left for home. Without the usual traffic
he made it back to the house in record time. He quietly
entered the house, not wanting to wake anyone at this time
of the morning. As he made his way up the stairs, he hoped
Dani wouldn t be waiting for him. He needed to make
some phone calls before he confronted her again.
As he climbed the stairs, a strange empty feeling seemed
to engulf him. He halted halfway up and looked around.
Something just didn t feel right. The only sound he could
hear was the grandfather clock in the foyer.
When he reached the top of the stairs he noticed that the
door to the master suite was standing ajar. Well, if Dani
was in there waiting for him she would just have to wait.
He was too tired and in no mood for another confrontation.
But when he stepped into the room it was quiet, too quiet.
Rafe turned on the light. The room was immaculate, the
bed empty and not turned down. He turned towards the
large walk-in closet, that empty feeling getting stronger
with each step he took across the carpet. His momentary
relief was short lived when he realized that most of Dani s
clothes were gone. He was quick to note that all that
remained was what she d bought since their marriage. Her
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old suitcase she d stored in the back of the closet was also
missing.
Rafe retraced his steps to the center of the room looking
for some sign that she was still there. Then he saw
something lying on the dresser where he usually put his
watch at night. There was a house key and Dani s wedding
rings. He just stared at them for several minutes. Maybe
this was just her way of making him squirm. She d call
tomorrow to let him know where she was expecting him to
demand that she return home. Or maybe she was with
Adrian. This thought made him almost sick to his stomach.
He grabbed up the rings and the key thrusting them into the
case with his cuff links. He wouldn t play her game. Now
that Dani was out of his home, he could get her out of his
life completely.
With this thought he lay down on the bed but sleep was
a long time coming. Memories of Dani naked under him in
this very bed tormented him. He d been her first lover, of
that he had no doubt. And she d been an eager student as
they d made love to night after night. She d even gotten
over her shyness and joined him in the shower on occasion
much to their mutual delight. The last thing Rafe thought
about before he drifted off to sleep for the second time that
night was the feel of Dani s hair draped over his chest
when she d curl up next to him to sleep.
As luck would have it, Kate and Demetrio returned one
day early from a short spur of the moment holiday showing
up at the house early the next evening. Diego was in the
library to greet them. Well, hello you two lovebirds.
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