out of the air why she couldn’t go, but she couldn’t afford to risk offending the prince. There was no escape, she concluded. ‘I would consider it a great honour to assist you in any way I can, Sir.’
‘Excellent. I’m glad that’s settled,’ the prince said, beaming. ‘And now… If you will both excuse me?’
‘Of course.’ At last she could look at Nero. His expression was exactly what she had expected. And she hoped hers left Nero in no doubt that she would do this, but only because the prince had asked her. Working as an adviser for Nero’s charitable scheme was a privilege; she was too polite to even think of the word to describe working alongside a man who challenged every sensible boundary she had ever put in place.
‘You’ll be my guest, of course,’ Nero explained, all business now his triumph was in the bag. ‘Working and living on the pampas will be very different to anything you are used to here, but I am confident that in time you will grow to love it.’
In time? Bella swallowed deep. There were so many undertones to that apparently innocent statement she could only be glad the well-meaning prince hadn’t stayed to hear them. ‘I wouldn’t be able to stay very long…’
‘But long enough for the project to be established. The children need you, Bella.’
‘As does my yard and my horses. I have my own scheme, Nero.’
He checked her at every turn. ‘You’d break your word to the prince?’
‘Had you already decided this plan between the two of you? Was my agreement to the prince’s proposal merely a formality?’
Nero smiled faintly. ‘You’re so suspicious, Bella.’
‘With good reason, I think,’ she flashed.
‘I will hold myself personally responsible for maintaining the high standards you have set at your yard in the UK. As I told both you and the prince, I will send my most trusted team to ensure you have nothing to worry about—financially, or otherwise.’
Was he serious? The systems she had set in place to take care of things should she be incapacitated by illness, or be taken out of the picture in some other way, would ensure the yard ran smoothly. If she chose to do this, it was Nero she was worried about, working in close proximity to him being the major problem. ‘I have made enough money to keep everything ticking over nicely, thank you. I don’t need any help from you!’
‘Your reputation does you much credit, Bella,’ Nero snapped. ‘It seems you are your father’s daughter, after all.’
Bella blenched. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
Nero’s powerful shoulders eased in a shrug. ‘You can’t make a decision and stick to it.’
‘How dare you—’
‘How dare I speak the truth?’ Nero’s eyes drilled into her. ‘If you break your word as easily as this, Bella Wheeler, I’m not sure I want you as part of my scheme.’
For a moment she didn’t trust herself to speak. Nero had blatantly manipulated her, but if she lost her temper and blackened her father’s memory even more she would never forgive herself. Taking a deep steadying breath, she buried her pride. ‘You give me your word that my work in England wouldn’t suffer?’
‘I do,’ Nero assured her in a clipped voice.
‘And my visit to Argentina would be conditional on coming home as soon as the scheme is set up.’
‘I can’t imagine why I would want you to stay beyond that.’
Her heart beat with outrage. Nero really knew how to cut her with words, she realised, smiling prettily for the prince as Nero escorted her out of the royal presence.
‘This is a win-win situation, Bella,’ Nero insisted as they strolled across the room. ‘I’m surprised you can’t see it.’
‘How do you reach that conclusion?’
‘The prince secures you as his representative. My project secures your experience. And you get to keep your pony.’
‘In spite of your scare tactics, my ownership of Misty has never been in doubt. So what do you get out of it?’ Bella demanded suspiciously.
‘I get to keep Misty on my yard—and even ride her—if you will allow me to?’
Nero’s tongue was firmly planted in his cheek, Bella suspected. And his face was close enough to make her lips tingle. ‘Do you really need my permission?’ she countered. And would she be able to resist seeing the world’s best polo player mounted on the best pony? Nero’s laughing eyes and the curve of his sensuous mouth reflected his confidence that this would be the case.
‘Most important of all, Bella, the children benefit,’ Nero said, turning serious.
And that was the one thing she couldn’t argue with. ‘Believe me, your project is the only reason I’m saying yes to Argentina.’
‘But of course,’ Nero agreed smoothly. ‘What other reason could there be for a respectable woman to visit my estancia?’
‘I can’t imagine,’ Bella said frostily, smiling her thanks as a royal footman opened the outer doors for them.
‘And where will you go now?’ Nero asked her as a driver brought his ink-black four-wheel-drive up to the foot of the steps for him.
‘Back to the stables for one last check on the horses.’
‘As I’m going there myself, why don’t I give you a lift?’
‘I prefer to walk, thank you.’
‘In an evening dress?’
‘It’s a pleasant evening, and I need the fresh air.’
‘Well, if you’re sure?’
‘I am.’ Her mind was still whirling with the fact that she had agreed of her own free will to walk into the lion’s den—and not here on familiar turf, but Argentina, and the wild, untamed pampas, where she would be staying on Nero’s estancia. She needed some fresh air to come to terms with that alone—lots of it.
‘Then good night,’ Nero murmured, his eyes glittering with triumph. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow when we will firm up your travel arrangements.’
Life had suddenly become very interesting, Nero reflected as he gunned the engine and drove away from the castle. Word had it that Isabella Wheeler lived in an ivory tower whose walls had never been breached, but he’d caught flashes of internal fires raging out of control. She reminded him of one of his spirited mares. They took their time to trust and were always looking for trouble, but that was because they had lost the freedom of the pampas, something they would never forget. What had Bella Wheeler lost that caused her such torment? Rumour said there was some mystery surrounding her. He could confirm that. Bella said one thing and her eyes, the mirror of Bella’s soul, said something different. She was lying by omission. She was hiding something big. Bella’s outwardly contained manner intrigued him almost as much as her unnaturally well-groomed appearance irritated him.
