had done with his inheritance, to question whether his brother had had the right to spend it as he’d wished. Was that what all this antagonism was about—money?
Her eyes rose to his face and she made no attempt to hide her scorn. ‘Your brother knew exactly what he wanted to do with his inheritance, Dr Valdez. It was his decision.’
‘And you’re prepared to swear that you didn’t try to influence him in any way? That you didn’t take advantage of the fact that he was sick? That you never, ever, thought to yourself how wonderful it would be to have all that money at your disposal?’
He laughed when she gasped, deliberately closing his mind to how shocked she looked because he didn’t want to have to consider whether or not he was hurting her. ‘Or that it would be so much better if Antonio died sooner rather than later so that you wouldn’t have to wait quite so long to get your hands on it?’
‘No! I can’t believe you’re saying such things. I never wanted Antonio’s money! I never tried to influence him to name me in his will. It was his decision, and his alone!’
Becky could feel the bile rushing into her throat and turned away when she realised that she was going to be sick. Stumbling to the flower-bed, she bent over and retched, but she’d had nothing to eat since the previous night so her stomach was mercifully empty.
‘Here.’
A tanned hand suddenly appeared, offering her a clean white handkerchief, but she shook her head. She wanted nothing from this man, nothing at all. What a fool she’d been to consider asking him for help. Hadn’t Antonio told her that everything had to be on Felipe’s terms, that he always had to be in control? Was she really prepared to run the risk of him taking charge of Josh, taking Josh away from her?
The thought steadied her and she stood up straight. Felipe Valdez was watching her and she saw the oddest expression cross his face before the mask of indifference slid back into place.
‘Are you feeling better?’
‘I’m fine.’ She turned and walked towards the path, but he stepped in front of her, putting out a detaining hand when she tried to step around him.
Becky shivered when she felt his cool fingers fastening around her wrist, but she refused to let him think she was afraid by snatching her hand away. She looked up at him with steady eyes and was surprised when she saw a thin line of colour run along his angular cheekbones.
‘It would be better if you came into the clinic and rested for a while,’ he said shortly.
‘I’m fine,’ she repeated. She tilted her head so that she could look him straight in the eyes. ‘Thank you for the offer, but I have a plane to catch. I shall go straight to the airport. I apologise for disrupting your morning, Dr Valdez.’
She gently withdrew her arm and this time he made no attempt to stop her. Becky walked back along the path and she could feel him watching her every step of the way. She paused when she reached the corner, but the desire to look back was too strong to resist.
He was standing exactly where she’d left him and she felt her heart curl up when she saw the expression on his face. Even from that distance she could see the contempt in his eyes, the disdain.
Her eyes filled with tears but she refused to let him see that he’d upset her. She raised her hand in a mocking salute then carried on, waiting until she was out of sight before finding a tissue and wiping her eyes.
As luck would have it there was a taxi dropping off a fare outside the clinic. Becky flagged it down and asked the driver to take her to the airport. She caught a glimpse of Felipe Valdez as the taxi headed back down the drive, and quickly averted her eyes when he glanced her way.
This would be the first and the last time they ever met because she certainly wouldn’t come here again after what had happened today. She was only grateful that she hadn’t made the mistake of telling him why she’d come.
Becky sighed as she thought back to that dreadful day when Antonio had told her that his former girlfriend, Tara Lewis, was pregnant with his child and that she intended to get rid of it. It had been a shock for her as well as for him.
Antonio’s affair with Tara had been over for some time by then, and he had made no secret of the fact that he regretted having got involved with her. Becky had been a little concerned that he might have been rushing into their own relationship too soon, and had insisted on them taking things slowly at first.
Antonio had had no such reservations, however. He had told Becky that he loved her and that he hoped one day that she might grow to love him in return. Becky had appreciated the fact that he hadn’t tried to rush her. She had sensed that she’d been falling in love with him and that all it had needed was a little more time for her own feelings to become clear. Then, just six weeks after they’d started going out together, Antonio had discovered that he had cancer and everything had changed. Time had been the one thing they’d no longer had.
Becky had known from the outset that she wanted to be there for him and had never once wavered in her decision. Antonio had been the sweetest, gentlest man she’d ever known and she’d loved him dearly. When Tara had dropped her bombshell it couldn’t have come at a worse time. Antonio had just been told that the treatment he’d needed so desperately would make him sterile, and there Tara had been, telling him that she wanted to abort his child.
He had been close to despair as he’d poured out the whole story to Becky, and that had been when she’d come up with the plan to pay Tara to have the baby. Antonio had inherited a large sum of money on his birthday, so she’d suggested that he use some of that. And then she’d told him that, no matter what happened, she would always take care of the child. It had been that which had convinced him to go ahead.
He and Tara had struck a deal. He would pay her fifty thousand pounds immediately with another fifty thousand when the baby was born, plus an allowance of five thousand pounds each month she was pregnant. If Tara had only stuck to their bargain there wouldn’t have been a problem, but there had been constant demands for more money. Becky had hoped that once Tara had received her final payment, that would have been the end of it. But two weeks earlier Tara had turned up at her flat and demanded a further twenty thousand pounds.
Becky simply didn’t have that kind of money and had told her so, but Tara had refused to believe her. She’d issued Becky with an ultimatum—either find the money or she would take her to court and claim that she’d been coerced into signing over custody of the baby.
Horrified by the thought of what might happen, Becky had tried to make her see sense. However, Tara had just laughed and told Becky that the courts would probably take Josh into care and then neither one of them would end up with custody of him. As Tara had pointed out, she didn’t care what happened to him. She never had. She’d only agreed to give birth to him because Antonio had paid her not to have an abortion.
Becky took a deep breath. She had promised Antonio she would take care of Josh and she wouldn’t let him down. Somehow, some way she would find the money she needed without asking Felipe Valdez for help.
‘Everything looks fine, Miss Prentice. There will be some tenderness for a few days, but once the drainage tube has been removed I am confident that you won’t have any further problems.’
Felipe stepped back as a nurse drew the sheet over the young woman. Lisa Prentice had been rushed into the Clinica Valdez with a seriously inflamed appendix. Felipe’s colleague, Silvia Ramirez, had performed the operation, and now he turned
