Rebekah blew her nose and sniffed once or twice to get herself back in control. "I'm sorry, Ted. This is not what you paid in terms of company."

"No but you and I both know it is only a matter of time before we both get what we want." He said with arrogant confidence. "How is your boss by the way?"

"He's doing well. I called his wife this afternoon. He came through the angioplasty well but it will be a week or two before he's ready to return to work."

"He spoke very highly of you. In all of my correspondence with him over the last few months, he has been glowing in his praise." He turned looked at her. "I found it hard to believe we were speaking about the same person."

"I told you before I haven't changed, Ted."

"No, that is something I am very sure of." He said his gaze hardening with bitterness. "You still the same person you were when you came to London."

"I did not steal those sculptures or anything else from your mother."

"So you keep saying but you were the only one who could have done so." He said. "If you remember, you were given on that day and the ones preceding it, the total responsibility of the gallery. My mother trusted you implicitly. You betrayed that trust."

"I don't know how that sculpture came to be in my bag, but I swear to God I didn't put it there. As for the other things found in my room at the hostel. I wasn't responsible."

"Are you forgetting the surveillance cameras we had placed strategically in the gallery? You were caught on film putting something in your bag on the day in question."

She blew out a breath of frustration. She had told him all his before. Why wouldn't he believe her? "I was putting my phone away! My mother had texted me and I heard the phone beeping. I checked my messages but then a customer came into the gallery and I had to wait to put my phone back. That's what you saw on your stupid cameras. Why don't you run a check on the customer? Maybe they did."

"The customer in question was a tourist from Scotland. I have already done the necessary checks. She is a grandmother from Fife who attends church every Sunday. She didn't steal the statue, Rebekah."

Rebekah felt her shoulders drop in defeat. There was no way of proving her innocence. It hurt unbearably that he thought her capable of such a betrayal of trust. She had loved working at the gallery; some of the items were so exquisite it had made her feel so privileged to have been left with the responsibility of looking after them. The collection of ancient and modern works Ted's father had gathered over a lifetime had been a wonderful opportunity for her to complete her study. The thought of stealing any item from such an amazing collection was against everything she believed in. She had no idea how and why such precious items had turned up in her bag and in her room. As far as she knew, she'd made no enemies while staying in London. Even the two young men at the hostel were the last people she would have expected to show that level of malice. Everyone had been so friendly and welcoming, especially Ted's mother whom Rebekah had considered a friend virtually from the word go.

"I don't care what you think Ted. I honored your mother's trust in me. I would never have betrayed her or you. I was there to do some research for my degree. When I met you in that restaurant that night I had no idea who you were. At first I thought you were one of the archaeologists working."

"Which is why you set about charming me, was it not? You were on a mission. You had a goal in sight and nothing was going to stop you from achieving it. You were systematically removing items from the collection to sell on the black market. It has been done before and much money made out of it. All you had to do was get into my family's good books and your task was made all the easier."

"I can't make you believe anything other than what you want to believe. I know you think I'm guilty, but the only thing I'm guilty of is trusting you too much. I thought we had a solid relationship. I thought that even though we had met and developed strong feelings for each other in a short time it would be enough to withstand anything. I was wrong."

He gave her a disgusted look. "You were not in love with me. You pretended with the skill of an accomplished actor but I know now what wool you pulled over my eyes."

She looked at him in despair, her voice unable to rise above a distraught whisper. "You really hate me don't you, Ted?"

His eyes burned into hers. "What else do you expect me to feel for you? Love?"

"No…." she lowered her gaze. "No, of course not…but hating me for something I didn't do is so unjust."

"It might interest you to know that I was close to falling in love with you four years ago—the closet I had ever been with anyone before or since. I was even prepared to go against the tradition of my family and offer you marriage but you showed your true colors just in time."

Rebekah had been well aware of the expectation that he would marry from within his own culture when the time was right. His mother had hinted at it gently from time to time, although she had seemed quite happy for him to indulge his passion with Rebekah and had even at times encouraged it. Melanie had told her that a man in his late twenties needed his freedom to prepare for the long road of commitment ahead. Her husband, Ted had been several years older than her and had enjoyed his playboy lifestyle to the fullest before finally settling down.

Ted's sister, Kelly had been slightly less than enthusiastic about Rebekah's affair with her brother, but to her credit she had still always reminded friendly and polite. Rebekah had realized that Kelly was used to having her brother's attention. He clearly adored her and lavished her with attention whenever he could. However when his affair with Rebekah became more intense, as his sister she'd had to take a back seat in his affections. But, as for her showing any sort of spite, Rebekah had never once seen or heard anything that would make her believe that Kelly was anything other than a lovely young woman who worshipped her older brother.

It was hard to believe that the young girl was now dead. As soon as Rebekah had heard Ted had set up the DiBiase Foundation in her memory, she had been totally shocked. Kelly DiBiase had been so vibrant, so full of life. It didn't seem possible that she was lying now in a cold grave.

It was equally heartbreaking now to realize that Ted had been close to falling in love with her and had intended to ask her to marry him, but instead she had been accused of theft. She had not even had time to protest her innocence with any degree of conviction as Ted had made it clear she was to leave London immediately or face the authorities. He hadn't even listened when she had told him she thought she might be pregnant. He had dismissed her callously, claiming he never wanted to see her again and that any child she was expecting couldn't possibly be his. His anger had been monumental and his threats so terrifying that she had decided against going through the harrowing process of facing the police and the deportment authorities. Instead she had boarded the next available flight to New York, her heart shattered and the course of her life changed forever when the following month it had been confirmed that she had not left empty-handed after all. She had taken a part of Ted with her…

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