his insolent scrutiny—and isn’t there a kind of soft, aching pool where the denim is rubbing against the fork of your thighs?
‘Finished?’ echoed Carlos. ‘Why, querida—I haven’t even started.’
Kat’s heart thumped, but she was damned if she would show even a trace of nerves. This man was nothing to her. Nothing. Fearlessly, she lifted her chin and iced him a look. ‘Would you mind telling me what the hell is going on?’
Black eyes regarded her. ‘You don’t know anything?’
‘Would I be asking if I did?’ But then Kat remembered her father’s strange reticence to disclose any details about her proposed boat trip, and now as she stared into the hard, cold face of the Spaniard her misgivings began to grow. ‘This is something…something which has been cooked up between you and my father, isn’t it?’
‘Bravo,’ he mocked softly, curious to see how she would react.
Kat’s hands curled into two fists by the sides of her bare thighs. ‘Well, I want to speak to him. Now!’
‘Didn’t anyone ever teach you to say please?’
‘I don’t really think that you’re in a position to give me a lesson in manners when you’re the one keeping me prisoner! I want some sort of explanation about why I’ve been…kidnapped by some wretched brute of a man like you!’
Carlos saw the icy blue fire of defiance spitting from her eyes and he felt a sudden rush of blood heating his veins. Oh, but he was going to enjoy taming her. To teach her that she could not just waltz through life, relying on her blindingly beautiful looks and her limitless bank account, taking exactly what she wanted, without a thought as to what the consequences might be.
‘Just lose the hysteria—’
‘But I—’
‘I said lose it,’ he snapped. ‘And come with me.’ He walked straight past her into the stilluntidy cabin, his eyes narrowing with anger as he registered that she hadn’t lifted a finger to clear anything away as he had expressly instructed she do. But he would deal with that. Later. Turning to face her, he pulled a cream envelope from the back pocket of his jeans and handed it to her. ‘From your father,’ he said.
Snatching the envelope from him, Kat was trembling as she ripped it open and withdrew a large sheet of paper, her eyes scanning over it quickly as she recognised her father’s handwriting. My dearest Kat, it began.
It was the most bizarre document she had ever seen. Words flew off the page as if determined to grab her attention and she read them in rapidly mounting disbelief.
Words such as powerful, proud and loyal—and they were written in Latin too. Validus, Superbus quod Fidelis.
Kat’s head was spinning as she read on.
These are the words of our family motto, which for many years used to guide the Balfours. But something else used to guide us too—a set of principles which were known in the family as the rules.
Kat’s frown deepened. What on earth was her father going on about? The letter continued.
Of late, these principles have become wilfully neglected and our name has become a laughing stock—both at home and abroad. In many ways, I blame myself. The example I have set to my children over the years has been a poor one, but I am determined that my daughters will not replicate my chequered lifestyle.
Then came the paragraph which made Kat’s blood run cold.
Which is why I am cutting off your allowance, Kat, and forcing you to earn your keep for the first time in your life. It will also ensure that you embrace the concept of the word commitment—which is rule 6: run away from your problems once and you will run for ever.
You have spent your whole life running from your problems, Kat, but it is time that you learned to look them in the face. By facing problems, you defeat them. Running away is what cowards do, not Balfours. You need to figure out a direction for your life, instead of just drifting aimlessly. A little hard work might help focus your mind.
This is why I have arranged for you to work your passage on the yacht of Carlos Guerrero. He is a man I know and trust to set you on the right path. He is the only man I have ever seen stand up to you, and you cannot run away while you are at sea! Forgive me for what must seem like an extreme measure, my dearest Kat, but I am confident that one day you will be grateful that I took it.
Your loving father, Oscar
Kat’s manicured nails dug into the expensive cream velour paper and it took a moment or two for her to compose herself enough to risk looking Carlos in the face. And when she did, it only increased her ire, for his black eyes were glittering with what looked like pleasure, and a smile of satisfaction was curving his lips.
‘You knew about this!’ she accused.
‘Of course I did.’
‘Rules? Rules,’ she spluttered. ‘It’s outrageous.’
‘I quite agree,’ he said unexpectedly, and then his accented voice grew harsh. ‘Completely outrageous that a woman of twenty-two has never done an honest day’s work in her life!’
Kat swallowed. ‘That’s none of your business!’
‘Oh, but it is, querida. Your father has made it my business by electing me as the poor unfortunate who has been forced to employ you—because I doubt that anyone else would!’
‘I can’t believe that Daddy would willingly subject me to…’
The black eyes challenged her. ‘To what, exactamente?’
‘To be holed up with a man who’s world famous for his womanising!’
For a moment, Carlos didn’t respond. The slur was an oft-repeated one which infuriated the hell out of him, and it was made by the press and the public at large simply because women had a terrible tendency to fall in love with him. And then to talk about it to whoever would listen—the way women always loved to talk when their hearts were smitten. But if he could have a euro for every woman he was supposed to have slept with, then his already-generous bank accounts would be overflowing.
He stared at the stunning brunette—almost marvelling at her gall and wondering how she, of all people, had the nerve to level such an accusation at him.
‘But I’m extremely picky where women are concerned—you of all people should know that,’ he drawled. ‘After all, I turned you down, didn’t I, querida? Even though you were pretty much begging me to make love to you.’
Kat flushed. Of all the most hateful…hateful things he could have said.
But it was true, wasn’t it? That was the painful reality of it. She had thrown herself at him. Behaved in a way which had been completely foreign to her. Because despite her worldly appearance and air of sophistication, Kat was a disaster where men were concerned.
Sometimes her sisters teased her about her
