she’d booked to Greece. Would you like me to pack some things for her and Harry, Mr Ramos?’
‘Thank you. And Barbara, please call me Cortez, as all my friends do,’ he murmured. The nanny could be a useful ally in his bid to win custody of his son, he decided. He was a master strategist and he knew the benefits of making a friend in the enemy’s camp.
* * *
‘Harry.’ Elin sat bolt upright and took a shuddering breath when she realised she’d been having a nightmare. In her dream she had been running down a long corridor and at the end of it was Harry’s pram. But when she finally reached the pram and looked inside, it was empty and she had no idea where her son was.
She looked around her bedroom still with a sense of shock. Yesterday, or was it the day before?—she’d lost track of time—her fever had abated and her head no longer felt as if someone was boring into her skull with a pneumatic drill. But her relief had turned to astonishment when she’d found herself in unfamiliar surroundings and Barbara had told her that they were in Cortez’s home in Andalucía.
The nanny had explained that Cortez had arranged for them to fly to Spain on his private jet. He had carried Elin into the plane’s bedroom and she had been in a deep sleep for the entire journey. A car had collected them from the airport at Jerez and brought them to his mansion, La Casa Jazmín.
‘Cortez had to return to Spain urgently, but he did not want to be separated from you and Harry,’ Barbara had told Elin. ‘I think it is so romantic that the two of you have got back together. Cortez is devoted to his son. He insists on giving Harry his bottle and he has learned how to change nappies.’
Elin had masked her anger because she did not want Barbara to feel guilty that she had been tricked by Cortez into helping him in effect kidnap her and Harry. She hadn’t yet seen him to demand an explanation. Barbara said he had visited her room a few times, but on each occasion she had been feverish and she hadn’t recognised him.
Worry gnawed in the pit of Elin’s stomach as she slid out of bed and went into an adjoining room which Barbara had explained had formerly been a dressing room. Cortez had instructed his staff to transform it into a nursery. Apparently no expense had been spared to equip the nursery and Harry slept in a magnificent hand-carved cot. She walked past the latest addition to the nursery, an enormous wooden rocking horse, and hurried over to the cot.
Her heart missed a beat when she found it empty. For a few seconds she was back in her nightmare, searching desperately for her baby who had disappeared. She spun round at the sound of footsteps and stared frantically at the nanny, who walked into the room carrying a pile of baby clothes. ‘Where’s Harry?’
‘Cortez took him downstairs.’ Barbara seemed unaware of Elin’s tension. ‘He keeps the pram in his study so that he can be near to Harry while he is working.’ She looked closely at Elin. ‘I told Cortez that you were feeling much better this morning and he asked me to give you a message that he wants you to meet him in his study at eleven o’clock.’
Elin was desperate to immediately go and find her son. She had been ill for a week but it felt like a lifetime since she had held Harry in her arms and smelled his delicious baby scent. But she acknowledged that she could not walk around Cortez’s house wearing her nightdress. When she met him in an hour from now she was determined to appear calm and in control, even though her insides were churning as she wondered what, if any, input he intended to have in his son’s life now he must have proof from the paternity test clinic that he was Harry’s father.
Although she was feeling better, the effort of showering and getting dressed sapped her energy. She was grateful to Barbara for packing some clothes for her before they’d left London. It was unfortunate that the new outfits she’d bought to take to Rhodes for Virginia’s wedding were designed to be worn at beach or pool parties, and the short skirts and skimpy tops were more daring than she usually wore.
She chose a pale blue chiffon dress that did at least have sleeves, but when she checked her appearance in the mirror she was dismayed that the floaty skirt was almost see-through. There was no time to change her outfit when a maid came to her room to escort her to Cortez’s study, but Elin reminded herself that he would not be interested in how she looked. He’d had sex with her once and had disappeared immediately afterwards. She was just another notch on his bedpost.
As she followed the maid downstairs she could not help but admire the design and décor of the house. The white marble floors and neutral-coloured walls could have made the rooms feel cold, but patterned rugs and brightly coloured cushions and artwork lent interest and a homely feel to the elegant villa. She walked into the study and her eyes were immediately drawn to the large and very regal-looking pram. With a low cry she sped across the room. Her arms were literally aching to hold her baby.
‘Harry has just dropped off to sleep and it would be best if you did not disturb him.’
Cortez’s peremptory voice made her halt, and she turned her head to see him leaning against his desk. He was wearing a superbly tailored grey suit, a crisp white shirt and dark grey tie and the formality of his clothes made Elin conscious of her insubstantial summer dress. She lifted her eyes up to his face and felt her heart crash against her ribs as she absorbed the perfection of his sculpted features. His lips were curved in a cynical expression but nothing could detract from the sensual impact of his mouth, and she hated herself for the quiver that ran through her.
Anger was her only defence against her awareness of him. ‘You had no right to abduct me and my son. It’s outrageous that you brought us to Spain without my agreement,’ she said heatedly.
‘You were not in a fit state to agree or disagree to coming here,’ he responded coolly. ‘And you are forgetting that Harry is my son too.’
Elin cast a yearning look at her baby sleeping peacefully in the pram before she marched over to the desk, determined to show that she was not intimidated by Cortez. ‘I have never forgotten that Harry was conceived as a result of the most shameful night of my life.’
Her attention had been riveted on Cortez, but she was suddenly aware that there was someone else in the room and a frisson of unease ran down her spine as she saw an older man with grey hair and a stern face standing by the window.
‘This is Señor Fernandez,’ Cortez introduced the man. ‘He is a lawyer specialising in family law, particularly in cases when there is a dispute between parents over custody of a child.’
Custody! Elin’s legs almost gave way but she fought against the dizzy sensation that swept over her, determined she wouldn’t faint. ‘There is no dispute.’ She was pleased she sounded forceful rather than scared. ‘I am going to take Harry back home to England as soon as possible. I’ve already told you that I don’t intend to ask you for financial help towards the cost of his upbringing.’
‘Harry does not have a home with you in England. If you think I would allow you to take him to live in a partly derelict cottage which, under the terms of Ralph Saunderson’s will, is your only asset, think again,’ Cortez said in a hard tone.
‘You can’t keep me a prisoner here.’ Panic gripped her as she remembered that he was in possession of her and Harry’s passports.
‘I prefer the term guest to prisoner,’ he drawled. ‘You can leave whenever you wish.’ His meaning was sickeningly clear; she could leave, but he would not allow her to take her baby. Elin was tempted to grab Harry and run out of the study with him, but her common sense reminded her that she had nowhere to run to.
‘Sit down,’ Cortez ordered.
