believes we are in love, Raul,’ she said and walked away from him, needing to create some space around her. She needed to think and find a way to hide the ever-increasing attraction that had far more to do with a genuine interest in him than the spark of lust-filled desire he had referred to. ‘She just wanted to wish us well and make sure I knew how happy she was that you’d found someone to love.’
His eyes narrowed and he said something under his breath in Spanish. Something she understood.
She thinks I love you?
Lydia ignored the stab of hurt that rushed through her. ‘Of course, I didn’t enlighten her to the fact that neither of us believes in love at all.’
‘This is going to hurt her, when we don’t go through with the marriage.’ He dragged his fingers through his hair, distracting her for a moment from her misgivings, and she tried to focus her mind as he continued in that sexy accent. ‘I didn’t want that.’
‘Then perhaps you should tell her the truth and ask outright if she knows just who her husband was seeing, who the mother of his other son is?’
He turned to glare at her. ‘My father kept another woman’s presence and that of his child from my mother. I do not think she will tell us anything.’
‘But she might know something.’ Lydia tried to keep the desperation from her voice. She had to find his brother. The alternative was just too much to contemplate.
‘No. My father deceived her in the worst possible way—and me.’
‘Maybe this clause in his will is his way of making amends.’ Lydia clutched at futile straws of hope, trying to smooth the roughened waters they were now on. ‘Maybe he’s trying to force you together, to accept one another.’
‘It is a last chance of having a stab at the son he never really wanted.’ Raul’s voice became a growl as he tried to keep his anger in check and deep down she knew his pain. She’d been the daughter her mother and father had not wanted and the only child her mother had carried to term. She knew all about not being wanted.
Despite this she knew he was thinking out loud and for a moment she wanted to tell him about the envelope in her bag. Wouldn’t he want to know its contents? She almost relented, but if she gave it to him wouldn’t that give him all the power once more, when all she wanted to do was get out of the farce of an engagement and back to her life—as a single woman?
‘Well, whatever it is, it’s a mess I intend to get myself out of.’ She spoke forcibly, trying to instil confidence into herself. She had to find a way out of this engagement. She couldn’t risk ending up married to such a cold, unemotional man and, if this was it, she wasn’t prepared to tell him yet.
‘As do I. If you haven’t come up with something within the next few days, then we will have to build on our show of an engagement. Start making more definite plans.’
‘Won’t that give your mother false hope? After all, neither of us plans to go through with this marriage.’
‘Right now I would rather she discover that we are not in love and not getting married than discover the true extent of my father’s treachery.’
‘What is it you have in mind?’ she asked suspiciously, not liking the calculated way his mind worked.
‘We will be seen out in Madrid next week, but the best opportunity to bring a flourishing affair to the attention of the board will be at a thirtieth wedding anniversary party being given by one of them and, knowing the couple concerned, it will be a lavish affair, attended by the elite of Madrid’s society. A chance for you to indulge in your favoured pastime of shopping.’
‘I see, so I am to be paraded around like one of your conquests.’
‘No. You will be on my arm as my intended bride. A very different thing from a conquest.’ There was smugness in his voice. Damn the man. He knew exactly how to get the upper hand.
‘As you wish. I will, as always, do my job to the best of my ability.’ The haughty words flew from her lips and she glared challengingly at him, daring him to disagree.
‘That is all I ask for, Lydia.’
‘Is it?’ She looked hard at him, trying to forget that all-consuming kiss they’d shared in Madrid, the kiss that, if she hadn’t put a stop to it, would have become something they both wanted but couldn’t have. There was no place in their so-called engagement for desire or passion. None whatsoever.
He moved towards her, making her heart leap. ‘Sí, Lydia, it is.’
She sidestepped him. ‘Then I will say goodnight.’
For a moment she thought he was going to say something else, but instead he just smiled, that soft, seductive smile he’d used in his office just hours before she’d all but begged him to kiss her. ‘Goodnight, Lydia.’
Before she could change her mind, she grabbed her purse from the table and went to her room. She closed the door and sat on her bed, taking out the old, yellowed envelope and looking at it for a few moments.
Finally, she opened it, the paper crinkling as she did so. It was in Spanish and she was thankful of her studies. His mother had hired a private investigator and his typewritten reports of Raul’s father’s whereabouts contained all she needed to track Max down.
She was free. They were free. She should tell Raul.
She walked to the door and was about to open it, but paused. What would he think when she went to look for him after the underlying tension in all he’d said before she’d come to her room? Would he think that she wanted to carry on from their kiss? No, she couldn’t risk that, not after the way she had all but begged him to kiss her, to hold her close. A fierce blush rushed over her cheeks as she recalled the way she’d clung to him, pressing her body against his so wantonly.
She couldn’t risk a repeat of that kiss. She had to hold on to the fact that she had all she needed to free herself of Raul Valdez and, if she wanted to, blow his controlled world apart.
THE INFORMATION RAUL’S mother had handed to her had been a shock, but exactly what she needed. For the last five days Lydia had kept it to herself as she’d completed her search. Now she was finally ready to tell Raul, but with the anniversary party only a few hours away she didn’t know if it was the right time. She should be elated, overjoyed that the fake engagement they had entered into was not going to end with an alarmingly real two-year marriage, but the thought of coldly delivering all she now knew and walking away didn’t feel right.
What was the matter with her? Two weeks ago she would have willingly hurled abuse at the hard and tough exterior that was Raul Valdez. At first, her intention had been to find out where his brother was, then deliver the information coldly. She’d wanted to make him feel as insignificant as he’d made her feel all those years ago when they’d first met. That evening had haunted her ever since, making her squirm with embarrassment each time she recalled it. Despite her desire to make him feel as insignificant, it wasn’t what she wanted to do now.
Something had changed. She’d glimpsed briefly beneath that hardness and seen a very different
