Читать книгу His Inherited Bride - JACQUELINE BAIRD, Jacqueline Baird - Страница 6

JULIA DIEZ—Jules to her friends—glanced up at the ornate carved gargoyles that decorated the outside of the old stone building and shivered, not with cold but with nerves. She had exchanged the freezing January weather in England for mid-summer in Chile, and the temperature was a sunny eighty degrees. She had arrived in Santiago late last night, and right at this moment it was the last place she wanted to be. The land of her late father, a father she had hardly known!

She had barely slept, and, getting up at the crack of dawn, she had called her mother, Liz. Reassured she was fine, Jules had spent the past few hours in a state of nervous anticipation. Unable to eat breakfast, she had consumed numerous cups of coffee, her whole attention focused on the appointment she had to keep at twelve.

She glanced at the slim gold watch on her wrist—almost noon. Time to keep her appointment with Randolfo Carducci. The name alone was enough to make her nervous, but realistically she knew as the executor of her father’s will he was her last hope.

Personally she would rather live in abject poverty than take a penny from her father’s estate, she thought, straightening her slender shoulders and walking into the marble foyer of the building. But she was not prepared to risk the chances of her mother making a full recovery from her breast cancer operation for the sake of a few thousand pounds.

In Jules’ mind her father owed her mum that much. It had been the age-old story. Liz, as a naive eighteen-year-old, had met and fallen madly in love with Carlos Diez at a polo match in the Cotswolds; he had been a visiting Chilean polo player and a much older man. Liz had been pregnant and married within months, and Jules, born in England, was the result. Carlos had continued on the polo circuit and when he had finally returned to take mother and baby back to his ranch in Chile, the marriage had not lasted six months.

Her mum had confided in Jules, when her own youthful engagement had broken up, that her charming husband had freely admitted he’d had a mistress in Santiago, and he’d had no intention of remaining celibate while travelling the world playing polo. Liz had returned to England with her baby. She had basically run away and a quick divorce had followed.

Jules did not blame her mum. Her own experience with her father had been a disaster. Offered a holiday in Chile at the age of fourteen, she had leapt at the chance of meeting a dad she had never seen since she was a baby, and had no memory of. Immediately she had developed an enormous crush on the neighbouring rancher’s son, twenty-year-old Enrique Eiga. Encouraged by her father, she had visited Chile each summer and had been engaged at seventeen and set to marry Enrique at eighteen before she had woken up to reality and broken the whole thing off. She had never been back to Chile or spoken to her father in the seven years since, and she would not be here now if it weren’t for her mother.

Reception lay through a set of wide glass doors, and she caught a glimpse of her reflection as she passed through them, and held her head a little higher. Not bad, she told herself. Jules had opted to wear a cream knee-length linen skirt, with a loosely tailored short-sleeved linen jacket to match. She had woven her long hair into a French braid, and with the addition of fine-heeled sandals lending height to her average five feet five she thought she looked smart and businesslike.

The receptionist was a young man, and his appreciative glance swept over her as she stated her business.

‘Señor Carducci is expecting you.’ He smiled and added in Spanish, ‘Lucky dog,’ unaware Jules understood, and her lips twitched as he ushered her into an elevator adding, ‘His secretary will meet you and escort you to his office suite.’

Jules said, ‘Thank you,’ with a smile. It never ceased to puzzle her why men seemed to find her attractive. After all, because she was a chef and with her mother ran a successful bakery, her figure was more lush than lean, and so she dressed to disguise the fact. Her features were even, and she had inherited her mother’s pale complexion, and large, unusually brilliant green eyes, but her hair revealed her mixed parentage, a dark auburn with a tendency to curl wildly unless strictly controlled.

It was a short journey, two floors, but long enough for Jules suddenly to be stricken with another attack of nerves. The elevator door slid open and she stepped into a deeply carpeted hall, and utter silence.

Jules looked around. There was no secretary in sight, and only one door as far as she could see, directly opposite the elevator. She waited, minutes passed and another glance at her watch showed it was past twelve. Was Carducci playing some kind of diabolic mind game? She wouldn’t put it past him, and in a way she didn’t blame him. He had called her out of the blue five months ago and proposed she reconcile with her father; three more calls had followed and she had ignored his every suggestion.

Mainly because, by an appalling coincidence, it had been at the same time as her mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Jules had received the first call from Randolfo Carducci the week before her mother’s operation had been scheduled. A call telling her that her father had had a slight heart attack, nothing serious, he was not in hospital, but Randolfo thought Jules should maybe visit, or at least call her father. In his opinion it was time father and daughter buried their grievances and made up.

She had been so surprised at hearing a voice from the past that she had said she would try, and the call had ended amicably.

The next call had been on the eve of her mother’s operation. Carducci had told her that her father had had another much more serious attack, and was hospitalised, and he had arranged a flight for her from Heathrow to Santiago at ten the following morning. The ticket was waiting for her at the airport.

Jules had abruptly turned his offer down, as she had wanted to be at her mother’s side when she had her operation. The conversation had ended far from amicably. The third call had been over a week later, to inform her her father was dead, and the date of the funeral had been brutally blunt. Still Jules had declined to attend, more worried about her mother’s recovery…

Jules knew how it must look to Carducci, a daughter not speaking to nor visiting her father and not turning up to his funeral! But perhaps when she explained the circumstances he would be reasonable.

Still the thought of seeing him again filled her with unease. Randolfo had been staying at the ranch when she had arrived as a teenager visiting her father for the first time. An Italian with business interests in South America, apparently he had visited the ranch the previous year at the request of his stepmother Ester. Ester was the sister of Jules’ father and technically she supposed Rand was her cousin but no blood relation.

At twenty-seven he had already been a highly successful businessman, and engaged to a Chilean girl—the stunningly beautiful Maria. He had met Maria in Santiago when she had been singing in a nightclub and trying to make a name for herself in the music business. Coincidentally it had turned out that her mother had lived and worked as the cook on the Eiga ranch, next door to the Diez ranch that Randolfo visited.

To the young Jules he had seemed a different generation altogether, too uptight to be a friend—an acquaintance at best, and a disapproving adult at worst. Personally she had been unable to imagine what the young, trendy Maria had seen in him. But later she had found out…

Jules grimaced. Knowing what she knew, meeting the pompous Randolfo Carducci again was not going to be easy. Still, she would brave a lion’s den for her mother, and with that thought in mind she gave up standing in the hall, ‘like patience on a monument’, and briskly opened the door in front of her.

A quick glance around and she realised she was still alone. The room was elegant, a mixture of soft creams and beige contrasted with deep-cushioned sofas in taupe leather, and the artwork on the walls looked genuine. The whole ambience was one of understated elegance and serious money, but the room was empty.

She walked over and sank down on one of the sofas, a sense of anticlimax making her shoulders slump dispiritedly. Geared up to do battle at twelve, she found it very deflating to be still waiting at quarter past. What now? she wondered. And looked around again.

At that moment a door opened and Jules automatically glanced across to the man who walked into the room. Randolfo Carducci…

Her eyes widened in shock, and for a moment she was stunned by the sheer masculine power of his presence. He was over six feet tall, with black hair slightly silvered at the temples and cut expertly to his arrogant head; his sculptured features were not classically handsome. Striking was a better description, with high cheekbones, a typical Roman nose that proclaimed his Italian ancestry, and a determined jaw. He was certainly the most impressive specimen of manhood she had encountered in quite a while. But then she was no expert, Jules ruefully acknowledged. She had had very little to do with men since her broken engagement. And this one was almost certainly married anyway.

The light grey suit he was wearing was tailored perfectly over broad, powerful shoulders and a white shirt open at the neck contrasted sharply with his olive-toned skin. The jacket was open and a grey leather belt supported softly pleated trousers that hugged lean hips, powerful thighs and long legs. He was awesomely male and Jules suddenly wondered how she had never noticed the fact as a teenager. As she tilted her head back her green eyes clashed with hard black, and thick arched brows came together in a frown. Nothing had changed there then, Jules thought dryly.

Jules had always felt uncomfortable around the man in the past. At thirteen years older he had seemed so commandingly superior. When he had frowned disapprovingly at her, especially when she had been with Enrique, she had felt somehow threatened.

But with hindsight she realised she had been equally disapproving of him. She had resented the easy relationship he had shared with her father, a father she had only just been beginning to know. Also his friendship with Enrique Eiga, who at the time Jules had thought was the love of her life.

Squashing the unwanted memories, she rose to her feet, and her heart gave a sudden jolt as his lips, perfectly moulded and sensuous, parted in a brief social smile. Jules shivered without knowing why… She was wrong; he had changed. He appeared even more arrogantly aloof than ever.

Stay cool, calm and in control, it is business, nothing else, Jules told herself. She had the confidence to handle any situation, and politely she held out her hand.

‘Mr Carducci, nice to see you again.’

‘Rand, please; after all we are almost family,’ he said smoothly, his dark eyes widening speculatively on the woman before him. A lustrous mass of red hair was swept back in a braid and revealed the exquisite oval of her face. Large, thick-lashed dark green eyes looked up at him, but avoided direct contact with his. Add a small straight nose and a luscious pink mouth that begged to be kissed and the woman was dynamite! His gaze dropped lower to a hint of cleavage exposed by the vee neckline of her jacket. His body tensed. The picture of a red-headed beanpole-type teenager he had carried in his head for years blasted into oblivion by the physicality of the woman before him. Julia Diez had developed into one very sexy lady.

He watched as she looked at him, noted the flare of recognition in her brilliant eyes, and the flicker of something very like fear. She had good right to be afraid, he thought cynically, the heartless little tart. He had not seen the woman in eight years, her shape had changed, but he would have recognised those eyes anywhere.

‘Sorry for the delay, Julia, my secretary should have been here. I hope you have not been waiting long.’ And he grasped her still-outstretched hand.

Jules swallowed hard. His handshake was firm and warm and did very odd things to her pulse rate. ‘No, not long,’ she managed to respond steadily. ‘And please call me Jules, everyone else does,’ she said, but when she tried to pull her hand free of his he simply tightened his grip.

‘Please, sit down.’ Leading her back to the sofa, he waited until she sat down before freeing her hand, adding, ‘It’s been a long time since we met. It must have been your engagement party when you were what? Seventeen, eighteen.’

‘Seventeen,’ she confirmed shortly; the last thing she needed was to be reminded of her engagement party, especially not by this man. Jules hadn’t seen him since, but, lifting her head, she stared at him, and for a fleeting moment she sensed something dangerous in the unfathomable black eyes and his wide-legged stance. Rand was a man to be wary of, her every instinct cried, and, remembering his fourth and final call some days after her father’s funeral, she shivered slightly.

Rand Carducci had informed her with mocking cynicism evident in his tone, that he was the sole executor of her father’s estate, and her father had added a codicil to his will the week before he died, the gist of it being if she agreed to return to Chile within six months of his demise she would receive something of value.

Jules had bluntly informed him she was not interested, and she had never intended taking Rand up on the offer, but now five months later she needed money. Strictly speaking it was her mother who needed the money. Her consultant had recommended a new three-year course of treatment from America as her best chance of a full recovery after her operation, but it was only available privately in England, and Liz was scheduled to start the treatment in ten days’ time. Jules had assured her mother they could afford the extra expense as only the best was good enough for her beloved mum.

Jules had taken over the running of the bakery a year ago from her mum and she had embarked on an expansion scheme to provide corporate catering. At Jules’ instigation they had moved from the flat above the shop, and bought a new house six months ago. The flat had been converted into another kitchen and office space with the help of a loan from the bank, plus the addition of a new catering vehicle. Unfortunately for Jules by the time the new treatment had been mentioned their finances had been stretched to the limit.

Jules had kept the information to herself, not wanting to worry her mother. She had approached the bank but they would not lend her more money so soon after the original investment, and suggested perhaps in another six months when her business plan showed a profit. Her mother could not wait six months, and Jules had tried every avenue but could not raise the cash. Finally in desperation she had contacted Rand Carducci’s office in Italy. Courtesy of his secretary a flight ticket and a hotel booking had arrived two days later for Jules to travel to Chile as instructed. From the man himself she had heard not one word.

But now that she was face to face with Rand, asking what her father had left her, and demanding if whatever it was could be converted into cash, seemed a hundred times more daunting then it had yesterday.

‘I was sorry to hear your engagement to Enrique did not work out.’ Startled out of her troublesome thoughts by his deep, mocking voice, she tensed warily as he continued, ‘I arrived at Carlos’ home the day before your wedding only to discover you had called it off, according to your very disappointed father, because you thought you were too young, and you wanted to have some fun before you settled down. Rather sudden, wasn’t it?’

Fun… It had been the worst time of her life and yet, according to Rand, her father had made her sound like some flighty bimbo. Her green eyes cautiously searched his, and for a second she thought she saw a flicker of some emotion in the dark depths—sympathy or censure? She wasn’t sure. Did he know the real truth about her broken engagement?

‘Yes, well. I had my reasons.’ She lowered her long lashes, avoiding the question in his too astute gaze. It wasn’t up to her to tell Rand the truth. If her late father had chosen to tell everyone it was because she had thought she was too young for marriage, so be it.

The reality was different. Three days before her marriage, when most of the household had been taking a siesta, she had been too strung up with excitement at her approaching wedding to rest. Instead she had decided to walk across to the neighbouring ranch where Enrique had lived and surprise him…

The two haciendas were situated either side of the river not a mile apart, the river being the border of the two ranches. She had crossed the water not by the bridge, but by the old stepping-stones set a few hundred yards downstream hidden by the trees.

She had only gone a few yards through the trees when she had stopped dead, and to this day she could not forget the sight that had met her eyes.

Enrique her fiancé, stark naked, with an equally naked Maria, Rand’s fiancée, and completely oblivious to her presence! There was not the slightest doubt about what they had been doing, and with nausea rising in her stomach she had run away.

Jules had made it back to the other side of the river before she’d collapsed on the bank crying her eyes out. That was how Maria had found her. Jules had slapped Maria’s hand away when she’d reached out to comfort her, and Maria had instantly guessed what had happened. ‘You saw us.’ Jules had not needed to confirm it. Maria had been able to see it in her face.

What had followed had been a painfully succinct lesson in life for Jules. Maria had informed her that she and Enrique had been lovers since the age of fourteen until her mother had found out and sent her to live in Santiago with an aunt. No one else knew of her relationship with Enrique, and no way did she want Jules revealing the truth to anyone, especially not her fiancé, Rand Carducci. He had financed her singing career and she had fully intended to marry him eventually, when she’d become tired of the music scene.

When Jules had said that was disgraceful, and if Maria married anyone it should be Enrique, because Jules certainly wasn’t going to marry him now, her teenage view of love had been killed stone-dead and the very thought of Enrique touching her turned her stomach.

Maria’s response had been a shake of her black head. ‘God, you are such an innocent. Surely you must have realised no hot-blooded Chilean male would be content to see his girlfriend for one month a year, and even then Enrique barely kissed you. Do you really think he is marrying you for anything other than your father’s ranch? Look around you—your father and Enrique’s have agreed between them you will inherit this and consequently, as your husband, Enrique. Two good properties amalgamated into one great one and the two families united. Grow up, girl, and face reality. Why do you think your father waited so many years before sending for you? Because he waited until you were of an age to be used,’ she told Jules cynically. ‘As for Enrique, he loves me, and he would marry me tomorrow if I agreed, but no way do I want to be stuck out in the country for the rest of my life. Rand is a much better bet, and I’ll get to travel the world in the lap of luxury.’

With the veil of innocence so brutally torn from her eyes Jules had been forced to face the fact that what Maria had told her made a horrible kind of sense. When they had finally parted Maria had elicited a promise from Jules that she would not mention her name in connection with Enrique.

Later Jules had told her father she was calling off the wedding because she had caught Enrique with another woman. He had told her not to be so silly, sex was not the same as the love between a married couple, and she would soon learn.

Jules had tried to argue, but had been finally silenced when her father had lost his temper and told her the truth. It had all been arranged with Señor Eiga that the two ranches would amalgamate when Jules married his son. As his only child and a female, it was her duty to do as she was told. If not he would cut her off without a penny.

It was then that she had finally seen her father for what he had been.

Remembering the episode again now still made Jules wince, mortified at her own blind innocence.

Rand saw the tightening of her full lips, but stared down at her making no effort to break the lengthening silence. He wasn’t surprised Jules was lost for words with what she had on her conscience. Idly he speculated what excuse she would come up with for her callous disregard of her father, but as she continued to avoid looking at him he found his anger rising. ‘I suppose you heard Enrique died in a car crash a few months later,’ he prompted with barely veiled contempt.

At the sound of Rand’s voice Jules blinked, banishing the hurtful memories to the back of her mind. ‘Enrique’s father sent me a note,’ she confirmed shortly. It had arrived via a solicitor, and it had been a shock. She recalled the hatred in the short one-liner, the gist of it being that it was her fault his son was dead. Enrique had been driving recklessly because Julia had broken his heart and his father hoped she rotted in hell!

A flash of rage sparkled in Rand’s black eyes. She knew about the car crash, the crash that had killed his fiancée as well as her ex, and yet she had the nerve to face him. God, she was hard, but, controlling his temper, he said, ‘Even though you had parted, it must have come as quite a shock to you.’

His large hand reached and squeezed her shoulder for a moment, and Jules felt the pressure of his fingers right through to the bone. ‘Yes,’ she murmured, surprised by his apparent if somewhat fierce gesture of comfort.

‘I am sorry. Forgive me for reminding you of your grief,’ he drawled softly.

From her sitting position she felt at a distinct disadvantage, his great frame towering over her, crowding her, and, lifting her chin, she looked up into his dark face. Was that sincerity in the night-black eyes that held hers? She wasn’t sure. He had the ‘sorry’ and the ‘forgive me’ in there—so why did she have the uneasy feeling she had just been insulted?

‘Yes, well, thank you,’ she murmured, feeling more of a hypocrite by the second, ‘but I prefer not to talk about it.’ She lowered her eyes from his intent gaze, her mind in a state of flux. He must know why she was here, so why was he being so nice? Perhaps marriage and a few children had mellowed him, she thought.