The Silver Bride

"Thank you for being that honest.' Startled, Joshua laughed and rested his arms down on her narrow shoulders. He lowered his head to murmur with recovering good humor, 'Take it from me, you missed a hell of an experience!' A split second later, the tall blond was wrenched away from her. Stella stumbled back a step in bewilderment.

She was just in time to see Dior throw Joshua up against the wall with a snarled Greek expletive and punch him. 'Stop it!' Stella screeched, absolutely appalled. Joshua doubled up, groaning.

'You stay away from her!' Dior roared, hauling him up again. 'You hear me? You stay away from my woman or I'll rip you apart!' Joshua focused on his assailant with enlarged eyes full of incredulous recognition.

'You're behaving like an animal, Dior!' Stella gasped, shattered by his violent intervention. Dior released Joshua with a volatile gesture of savage derision. He studied Stella, dark golden eyes blazing condemnation. 'And you ask yourself, whose fault is that? I saw you kissing him—'

'On the cheek,' Joshua grunted as he struggled to try and recover his breath. 'You know, I could make a real killing if I charged you with assault' 'You do what you like,' Dior ground out with magnificent unconcern, still glowering at Stella full force. 'And an even bigger killing if I went to the tabloids with this extraordinary little set-up,' Joshua mused.

'You deserved a good thump for flogging that tip-off you overheard!' Stella told him roundly. Dior froze. His arrogant dark head turned slowly, 'This...this is Joshua Clark ?' 'Yeah, you're right, we even...' Joshua decided out loud, and displayed his innate survival skills by hurriedly backing into his car.

He was gone within a minute. Stella shivered in the night air. But even though she was shaken and furious her eyes clung to Dior. His black hair gleamed beneath the street light, accentuating the hard edges of his taut bone structure.

'Joshua Clark !' Dior suddenly seethed through gritted white teeth. 'What the hell was he doing here?' 'Oh, please!' she m.o.a.n.e.d. 'He just called by. And I don't care what you think you saw. You had no business acting like a thug!' 'Skylar! How do you think I felt, seeing you wrapped round another man?' Dior growled.

'You told me to stay away. You're treating me like a leper. I've had just about all I can take!' Perhaps for the first time since she had learned that she was carrying his baby, Stella faced the fact that Dior was under stress as well.

Dior had made instant decisions when her pregnancy had been confirmed. Without hesitation Dior had asked her to marry him and had flown over to Paris to explain the situation to Aria.

But Stella had then rejected his matrimonial solution, refused to see him or speak to him and had withdrawn to wallow in her bitterness. But now she felt guilty. Dior had a right to know where he stood and what was going to happen next. 'I just don't know what's going to happen next,' Stella confided raggedly.