Читать книгу Modern Romance Collection: August 2017 Books 5 -8 - Шантель Шоу, Jennie Lucas - Страница 18

CHAPTER EIGHT

‘WHAT MAKES YOU think I’d marry you after you have kidnapped me, insulted me and accused me among other things of being a drug addict?’

Elin’s chest heaved as she struggled to control her overwrought emotions. When Cortez had announced to his party guests and the press that Harry was his son, she had felt a sense of being trapped and powerless. ‘This ridiculous situation has gone on long enough,’ she said forcefully. ‘I don’t know why you told the journalist that Harry will live in Spain. His home is in England with me.’

Instead of replying, Cortez picked up a crystal decanter and poured a generous measure of pale gold liquid into a glass. ‘Do you want a drink?’ he asked her. ‘This is F&C’s finest fifteen-year-old cask-aged sherry.’ When Elin shook her head he lifted the glass to his lips and swallowed half its contents in one gulp, almost as if he had needed the hit of alcohol. He looked at her with an unfathomable expression in his eyes. ‘So how do you think it will work if we share custody of Harry?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Will we each have him living with us for a week or a month at a time? That might work while he is a baby, but when he’s older don’t you think he will find it unsettling to be shipped between England and Spain like he is a parcel? Is that what you want for our son?’

‘Of course not.’ A memory flashed into Elin’s mind of herself as a little girl, walking up the front steps of Cuckmere Hall for the first time after Ralph and Lorna Saunderson had adopted her and taken her to England. She had only known the orphanage in war-torn Sarajevo, but even though it had not been a happy place she had been scared to leave. Moving away from familiar surroundings was unnerving for a child. She remembered how she had clung to her brother’s hand for reassurance. How would Harry feel when he was a bit older and he was separated from one of his parents and taken to live with his other parent in a different country every few weeks? Not having a permanent home would be unsettling for him.

‘What about Christmases and birthdays?’ Cortez went on relentlessly. ‘How much do you think he will enjoy those special occasions if he has to choose which of his parents to spend them with?’

‘Plenty of parents manage to lead separate lives and successfully share custody of their children,’ Elin argued. ‘We don’t have to get married for Harry’s sake.’

‘No, we don’t have to,’ Cortez agreed flatly. ‘But why wouldn’t we choose to give our son stability, security and the consistency of growing up with both his parents? Harry needs to be part of a family and surely his needs are paramount?’

‘This is crazy!’ Elin’s frustration bubbled over. Everything Cortez had said made sense, but marry him...really? ‘You are the last man on earth I’d choose to marry.’

‘Yet, if I am to believe what you told me, I am the first and possibly only man you’ve had sex with,’ he drawled.

She flushed. ‘I explained why I slept with you on my birthday night. I certainly wasn’t tempted to sleep with anyone else after I’d found out that I was pregnant by a stranger who had gatecrashed my party.’

Cortez finished his drink and set his glass down on the desk. ‘I hired a private investigator in England, who checked police records and confirmed that a male guest at your birthday party was accused of tampering with several of the women’s drinks. Tom Wilson was charged with administering a substance which is a well-known date-rape drug.’

Elin gave a deep sigh. ‘There is the proof that I behaved out of character when I went to bed with you. The drug that had been slipped into my drink without my knowledge had the effect of lowering my inhibitions.’ Deep down, she knew she could not only blame the date-rape drug for the way she had responded to Cortez’s smouldering sensuality. She had taken one look at him and been blown away by his handsome looks, but she wasn’t about to admit that to him.

She became aware that he had moved closer to her without her noticing him doing so. He possessed the stealth and predatory instincts of a wolf stalking its prey. The thought unnerved her even as her body reacted to the evocative scent of his cologne. He was always impossibly handsome, but tonight, wearing an impeccably tailored black dinner suit, he took her breath away. It hurt her to look at him and she wanted to turn her head away, but he trapped her gaze and the sultry heat in his gold-flecked eyes sent a sizzle of electricity through her.

‘You can tell yourself that it was a drugged drink that made you desire me a year ago, but it doesn’t explain your response when I kissed you at Cuckmere Hall,’ he drawled.

‘You took me by surprise.’ She was quick to defend her actions but she flushed guiltily as she remembered how she had melted in his arms. She held up her hand to ward Cortez off when he stepped even closer to her. He was so tall that she had to tilt her head to look at his face and the implacable expression stamped on his chiselled features caused her heart to miss a beat.

‘What are you doing? Leave me alone.’ Her panicky plea was muffled against his mouth as his head swooped down and he crushed her lips beneath his in a kiss designed to prove that he was her master.

She must not succumb to his sensual magic, Elin told herself frantically. But she felt boneless as Cortez pulled her into the heat and strength of his big body, making her aware of his powerful abdominal muscles and, lower down, the shockingly hard ridge of his arousal that pressed insistently against her pelvis.

He deepened the kiss, exploring the moist interior of her mouth with his tongue while he slid one hand into her hair and clamped her skull so that escape was impossible. His other hand skimmed down her bare back, his touch setting her skin alight before he spread his fingers over the swell of her buttocks. Her silk dress was a frustrating barrier and Elin longed to feel his hands on her naked bottom. Heat coursed through her veins, evoking a carnal craving that mocked her belief that she was not a sensual person.

He continued his exploration of her feminine curves and stroked his way up her body to her breasts. She caught her breath when he pushed the top of her dress aside and played with one nipple, rolling the hard peak between his fingers. Pleasure arced down to the sweet spot between her legs and multiplied a thousand times when he unfastened the halter straps on her dress and bared her breasts to the mercy of his mouth. She felt his warm breath on her skin before he took her nipple into his mouth and sucked hard until she whimpered with pleasure and he transferred his lips to her other breast.

The last vestiges of Elin’s resistance crumbled and she gave a low moan of surrender as she wound her arms around his neck. He lifted his head to plunder her mouth with his wicked tongue. In a distant recess of her mind she acknowledged that Cortez had given a masterclass in domination which had rendered her helpless against the onslaught of his passion. A warning voice in her head whispered that she would pay a heavy price in humiliation for these moments of pleasure.

She was right. He suddenly released her and she swayed on her feet, feeling utterly bereft. She lifted her fingers to her mouth and touched its swollen contours. God knew what she looked like. She could feel that her hair had half fallen out of its chignon, and her hands shook as she pulled the top of her dress up over her breasts to hide her swollen, reddened nipples that were still damp from Cortez’s tongue. She might as well have shouted from the rooftop that she was his for the taking, she thought in self-disgust.

‘Our marriage will provide our son with the security of growing up with both his parents, which is something we know from our childhood experiences is important.’ Cortez’s voice was coolly unemotional and Elin’s stomach gave a sickening lurch as she realised that he was unaffected by what had just happened. Why didn’t she learn? A year ago he had left her after they’d had sex, and he had only kissed her now to prove that she couldn’t resist him.

‘You can’t possibly want me for your wife,’ she said desperately.

‘I have just demonstrated what I want.’ He dropped his gaze to the betraying hard peaks of her breasts and smiled cynically. ‘What we both want. And there will be other compensations to our marriage of expediency in addition to our sexual compatibility.’

He made it sound so clinical, Elin thought bleakly. ‘Your knowledge of viticulture and your ability to walk into a room and instantly charm every person present will be useful when you act as my hostess at social and business functions. My shareholders will love you,’ Cortez said drily.

‘I don’t actually care what your shareholders think of me. What concerns me is how could we possibly create a happy home and family life for Harry when there is so much antipathy between us?’ She bit her lip. ‘We hardly know each other.’

‘Then we had better go on a crash course to learn about each other, hadn’t we, querida?’ His softer tone was unexpected and made Elin wish that the situation was different. If only Cortez loved her.

Shock jolted through her and she told herself not to be stupid. It was bad enough that he made her body feel out of control, and she was not going to lose control of her heart too. She stiffened when he lifted his hand and traced his thumb across her kiss-stung lips.

‘Our son was conceived by mistake,’ he said quietly, ‘but although we may not know each other very well yet, I am confident we agree on one thing. Neither of us regrets for one second that we have been blessed with Harry. For his sake, let us endeavour not to make any more mistakes.’

Perhaps her doubts showed in her expression because he stepped away from her and said coolly, ‘Don’t forget that by marrying me you’ll fulfil the terms of Ralph’s will, which stipulates that you can only inherit fifty per cent of Saunderson’s Wines if you marry within a year. I have decided not to sell the Cuckmere estate because, as you pointed out, it is Harry’s heritage. If you marry me you will be able to continue the work your adoptive mother started when she planted the vineyards, and hopefully produce a top quality English sparkling wine.’

Owning a share of the winery would give her financial security and independence, Elin brooded. Cortez had played his trump card. He knew how much Saunderson’s Wines meant to her, and her desire to fulfil Mama’s dream. It made sense to agree to marry him to secure her position as Harry’s mother and also to take part-ownership of the winery that she had invested so much of her time and energy in.

‘All right,’ she said abruptly, before she could change her mind. ‘I’ll marry you for the reasons you have mentioned. I agree that it will be better for our son if we bring him up together. And I am determined to make Saunderson’s Wines a successful business.’

Cortez nodded and poured himself another drink, which he swallowed in one gulp. ‘I’ll make the necessary arrangements for us to marry as soon as possible,’ he told her in a crisp tone which indicated that he regarded their marriage as purely a matter of convenience, which of course it was for her too, Elin assured herself.

* * *

The bureaucratic process of applying to marry in Spain was fairly long-winded, and it was three weeks later before Cortez was able to book the wedding ceremony at the local Town Hall.

Although he was impatient at the delay in becoming his son’s legal parent, he had nevertheless found it fascinating to watch Harry develop. It was astonishing how much the baby had grown and changed in a few short weeks, he said to Elin at Harry’s bathtime one evening. The hours they spent together with their son had given Cortez an opportunity to prove his desire to be a good father and he had noticed a gradual thaw in Elin’s attitude towards him. He knew he had hurt her with his accusations, and it would take time to win her trust, but he was determined to do so, and show her that they could have a successful marriage.

Now it was the day before their wedding and they were on their way to Seville to have lunch with his married friends, Nicolás and Teresa García. The couple had a one-year-old son, and Cortez hoped that Elin would enjoy spending time with other parents after she’d complained that she felt cut off from her friends in Sussex while she was living in Spain.

He briefly took his eyes from the road and glanced at her sitting beside him in the front of the car. ‘What kind of man was Ralph Saunderson?’ he asked her. ‘It feels strange that I know nothing about my father.’ He thought of the man he had met once a year ago. He had not seen Ralph Saunderson after that first visit to Cuckmere Hall and Ralph had not been in contact again before his death. ‘You were his adopted daughter and you must have known him well.’

Cortez focused back on the highway, which was bordered on both sides by acres of vineyards stretching to the horizon, and tried unsuccessfully to ignore his fierce awareness of Elin. The light floral perfume she wore stirred his senses, and the expanse of slender thigh exposed by her skirt, that had ridden up when she’d climbed into the car, made him wish that he could pull over by the side of the road and make love to her. But relieving his sexual frustration was not possible for many reasons, not least because Harry was asleep in his baby seat in the back of the car.

Their wedding could not come soon enough, he brooded. Sometimes he had caught Elin looking at him in a way that made him wonder if she was as desperate as he was for them to share a bed. He certainly hoped she was. But he’d heard genuine concern in her voice when she had said that they hardly knew one another, and for that reason he had forced himself to suppress his desire while he concentrated on making her feel at ease with him. He’d never taken as many cold showers as he had recently, he thought wryly.

Elin shifted in her seat and the pretty, floral-patterned dress she was wearing rode a little further up her thighs. She had lost the gaunt look she’d had when Cortez had brought her to Spain, and her unhealthy pallor had been replaced with a light golden tan. Her long hair was tied in a braid that fell over one shoulder and she looked utterly lovely and wholesome and at the same time incredibly sexy. His fingers itched to undo the buttons running down the front of her dress and discover if she was wearing a bra.

‘I didn’t really know Ralph very well,’ she said. ‘I wasn’t close to him like I was to my adoptive mother. He had a tendency to start many projects with plenty of enthusiasm but he became bored quickly. I think he only agreed to adopt me and my brother because Mama wanted us. She couldn’t have children of her own, and when she saw news coverage of the devastation in Sarajevo she was keen to give a home to orphaned children.’ Elin grimaced. ‘Jarek said that we were another of Ralph’s projects and he soon lost interest in us.’

She turned her head to look over her shoulder and check on Harry and Cortez breathed in the lemony scent of her hair. ‘On the surface we appeared to be the perfect family, but the truth was that Ralph had affairs with other women,’ Elin said flatly. ‘I’m sure Mama chose to ignore his infidelities because she did not want Jarek and me to suffer more upheaval if she and Ralph divorced.’

Elin fell silent when they reached the centre of Seville and Cortez needed to concentrate on driving in heavy traffic. Finally he turned the car onto a driveway in front of the Garcías’ elegant villa.

‘Don’t be nervous,’ he said softly when he saw her tense expression. ‘This is an informal occasion, and Teresa and Nic are charming people.’ He climbed out of the car and carried Harry in his baby seat up the front steps of the house. A maid opened the door and Cortez slipped his arm around Elin’s waist as they stepped out of the bright sunshine into the cool hallway. ‘Our wedding is tomorrow, and we need to put on a convincing act in front of people that we are a happily engaged couple,’ he murmured when she stiffened.

‘Why does it matter what other people think about our relationship?’ she muttered.

‘I don’t want rumours to spread that we are marrying for practicality so that we can both bring up our son. Harry is only a baby now, but when he is older he might be teased by other kids at school. How do you think he would feel if he learned that his parents had only married for his sake?’ Memories of when he had been taunted by the other boys at school because he did not have a father made Cortez determined that his son would never have reason to feel embarrassed about his parentage.

The maid showed them into a large salon with glass doors that opened onto an attractive courtyard garden. A man and woman came towards them, smiling warmly, and Cortez introduced Elin to Teresa and Nicolás before proudly showing off his son. Harry looked adorable in his blue and white striped outfit and seemed quite happy to be the centre of attention when the other guests crowded around to make a fuss of him. Elin visibly relaxed after a few minutes as she chatted to Teresa and admired the Garcías’ son Luiz, who had recently learned to walk.

‘Hola, cariño,’ a woman’s seductive voice murmured close to Cortez.

‘Sancha.’ He greeted his ex-mistress with a cool smile and tried to suppress his irritation when she linked her arm possessively through his. ‘I did not realise you would be here today.’

‘I wouldn’t have missed my sister’s party for the world when Teresa told me that you would be coming,’ she assured him softly. She leaned forwards so that her breasts were in danger of spilling out of her low-cut dress. ‘I was surprised you did not mention that you had accepted an invitation to the party when we met in Madrid a few weeks ago.’

Fortunately, Nic came over to ask Cortez what he and Elin would like to drink, and Sancha sashayed across the room back to her latest lover, who, Cortez happened to know, was some twenty years older than her and a multimillionaire. He almost felt sorry for the guy.

Would Sancha have turned down a mansion and estate worth thirty-five million pounds? It was unlikely, he thought cynically. He turned his head towards Elin and watched her carefully lift Harry out of the baby carrier. Her face was soft with love for her baby. She glanced over and returned Cortez’s smile and he felt his heart kick in his chest.

In twenty-four hours she would be his wife and he was surprised by how relaxed he felt at the prospect. He had not planned to marry, certainly not at this stage of his life. But discovering that he had a child had changed everything. He would not allow his son to be illegitimate. Elin had shown herself to be a devoted mother, and perhaps it was time that he let go of the past, and Alandra’s terrible betrayal, and learned to trust his soon-to-be wife.

* * *

The Garcías’ party was the first occasion that Elin had taken Harry out in public. She had hidden away at Cuckmere Hall after his birth, partly because she had needed to recover her strength following the postpartum haemorrhage, but mainly because she could not bear the idea of the tabloids branding her an irresponsible single mother and all the speculation there was bound to be about the identity of her baby’s father.

Cortez looked shocked when she admitted that she had kept Harry’s birth a secret. ‘Are you ashamed of our son?’

‘Of course not.’ She looked over to where Teresa was holding Harry while she and Cortez helped themselves to lunch from the buffet table. ‘I am ashamed of myself,’ she said in a low tone, ‘and my behaviour when I met you at my birthday party. You probably don’t believe me, but I had never slept with any man before that night.’

Cortez speared a king prawn viciously with a fork and transferred it to his plate. ‘I wish I had realised you were a virgin,’ he said in a taut voice that Elin had never heard him use before. She could almost believe he cared about her feelings until she reminded herself that he was being attentive to her at the party because they were pretending to be in love. She should not read anything into the way he smiled whenever their eyes met, as if she were the only woman in the room.

She glanced down at the sparkling engagement ring on her finger, a square-cut sapphire surrounded by white diamonds. It was the most exquisite ring Elin had ever seen and she could only guess how much it was worth. When Cortez had slipped it onto her finger a few days after she’d agreed to marry him she had protested that she could not accept a valuable piece of jewellery from him. He’d replied that the engagement ring would prove to people that their relationship was genuine, but then he had made her heart leap when he’d said he had chosen the sapphire because it matched the colour of her eyes.

The party was a relaxed affair and Elin found she was enjoying the good food and wine and the chance to socialise with Cortez’s friends. A few other couples had young children, and she began to think that living at La Casa Jazmín would not be as isolating as she’d feared. Although she would have to learn to speak Spanish quickly, Elin decided. The other guests all spoke to her in English but they slipped back into speaking Spanish among themselves. She and Cortez had already agreed that Harry would be brought up to be bilingual but she was worried that if she did not master Spanish she would feel alienated from her son and husband.

Husband! Her heart lurched when she thought of her wedding tomorrow. Since she had woken up at La Casa Jazmín nearly a month ago and discovered that Cortez had brought her to Spain while she’d been ill with a kidney infection, her life had seemed unreal. And her sense of unreality had increased over the past weeks as Cortez’s attitude towards her had changed radically.

He was no longer cold and stern, and it was hard to believe he had made those horrible accusations that she was a drug-user and an unfit mother. It was as if he was now determined to charm her, and he did not have to try very hard, she acknowledged ruefully as she looked across the room to where he was standing by the glass doors that opened onto the garden. Late afternoon sunshine filled the courtyard garden and danced over his hair so that it gleamed as black as a raven’s wing. His black jeans moulded his powerful thighs, and his cream shirt was open at the throat, showing his tanned skin and a sprinkling of black hairs that Elin knew, from when she had watched him swimming in the pool at home, grew thickly over his chest.

She realised with a jolt that she had mentally thought of La Casa Jazmín as home. Tomorrow night would she and Cortez consummate their marriage in the master bedroom? Anticipation coiled in the pit of her stomach. They had not discussed the terms of their marriage, but the hungry gleam in his gold-flecked eyes told her that he desired her, and she had decided that she wasn’t going to hide behind her pride and deny that she craved physical intimacy with him. He was her only lover. But he was more than that, for his charm offensive these past weeks had captured her heart and deep down she knew she was falling in love with him.

Harry behaved beautifully for the entire afternoon, but by early evening he became fractious and Elin took him into a small sitting room away from everyone so that she could feed him in peace. She changed his nappy and had just placed him in his baby carrier, ready for Cortez to put him in the car for the drive home, when the door opened and a woman walked into the sitting room.

Elin had met Teresa’s sister Sancha earlier in the day. She smiled, trying to ignore a little flicker of feminine jealousy of the Spanish woman’s stunning looks. It was no surprise that Sancha worked as a presenter for a national television station in Madrid, she mused. Sancha’s gorgeous figure looked as if it had been poured into her tight-fitting white dress, and the colour was a perfect foil for her smooth olive-gold skin. Her jet black hair had been cut into an asymmetric bob that showed off her high cheekbones and flashing dark eyes.

Sancha closed the door and strolled over to sit down on a chair opposite Elin. ‘I’m glad to have a few moments alone with you,’ she murmured. ‘I must congratulate you.’

Despite the other woman’s apparently friendly tone, Elin was aware of undercurrents swirling in the room. She looked at Harry, who had fallen asleep in the baby carrier. ‘Thank you. I feel very lucky to have a beautiful son and so does Cortez.’

‘Mmm...’ Sancha did not glance at the baby. ‘It was clever of you to turn up and present Cortez with his son. I suppose you had guessed that, having suffered the stigma of being born to an unmarried mother himself, he would not allow his child to be illegitimate. That is the reason he is marrying you, isn’t it?’

‘I really think that is between me and Cortez,’ Elin said politely, but her insides were knotted with tension as she waited for Sancha to get to the point. She did not have to wait long.

‘It’s all right; he explained it all to me.’ The Spanish woman gave a little feigned laugh when she saw Elin’s expression. ‘Oh, didn’t you know that Cortez and I were lovers?’

She hadn’t known for sure, but Elin had suspected. Several times during the afternoon she had noticed Sancha and Cortez standing apart from the other guests, their dark heads bent close as they spoke intently. There had been an incident when Sancha had asked Cortez to get her a drink and he hadn’t had to ask what she wanted; he’d simply brought her a glass of white wine. The seemingly insignificant event had revealed an intimacy to their relationship that went far beyond that of casual acquaintances. But Elin was not going to let Sancha know that she felt as if she had been stabbed through her heart.

‘Cortez is a very attractive man, and I’d be surprised if he hadn’t had other lovers in his past.’

Sancha gave her a speculative look. ‘It’s good that you have a sensible attitude to his relationship with me. He often has business in Madrid and he always stays at the apartment he bought for us. Would you like to see a picture of it?’ She took her mobile phone from her purse and held it out. Elin didn’t want to look at the photo on the screen but her eyes were drawn to the image of a bare-chested Cortez lying on a bed with a sheet draped over his hips.

‘The apartment only has one bedroom, but it has a very big bed,’ Sancha said coyly, twisting the knife into Elin’s heart. ‘I took this photo the last time Cortez was in Madrid three weeks ago.’

Elin almost choked on the bile that rose in her throat. Three weeks ago, Cortez had told her he was going to Madrid for business, and he’d stayed away for the night. When he had returned to La Casa Jazmín he had suggested that they get married so that they could both be full-time parents to Harry. But he must have told Sancha of his intention to marry the mother of his child. How else would the Spanish woman have known that it was a marriage of convenience? Elin thought grimly.

She stood up and busied herself with packing Harry’s bottle, bib and other paraphernalia into the changing bag while she stifled the hurt that ripped through her. Pride came to her aid and she gave Sancha a bland smile.

‘I can guarantee that in future if Cortez has business in Madrid he will come home the same day because he won’t want to be apart from his wife and son for even one night.’ She held out her hand to Sancha and took a small triumph from the Spanish woman’s look of surprise. ‘It was nice to meet you,’ she murmured before she picked up Harry in the baby carrier and forced herself to walk unhurriedly out of the room.

But Sancha’s poison drip-fed into Elin’s mind on the journey back to La Casa Jazmín. Cortez seemed convinced by her explanation that she was tired after he’d remarked that she was very quiet. She closed her eyes to shut out his handsome profile while her thoughts went round and round in her head.

She accepted that he must have had countless affairs with beautiful women in his past. Elin could even accept that Sancha had been his mistress. But three weeks ago he had vowed to fight for custody of his son and he had even offered her Cuckmere Hall if she signed custody of Harry over to him. Despite being desperately hurt by his accusation that she was a drug addict, in a strange way she had felt reassured by Cortez’s determination to take care of his son. But now she knew that on the same day he had vowed to fight to keep Harry he had visited Sancha in Madrid and spent the night with her. So much for Cortez’s promise that he would be a devoted father. He hadn’t given Harry a thought when he’d rushed off to have sex with his lover, Elin thought bitterly.

She recalled their conversation when they had been driving to the Garcías’ house and Cortez had asked her what kind of man his father had been. Ralph Saunderson had had a low boredom threshold, which presumably was the reason why he’d had numerous extra-marital affairs and why he had lost interest in his adopted children. Elin remembered how, as a child, she had studied hard at school, hoping to impress her adoptive father, but his disinterest had decimated her self-confidence and left her feeling worthless.

What if Cortez grew bored of fatherhood? She couldn’t bear to think of Harry when he was older, trying to please his father and make him proud, but then feeling a failure if Cortez rejected him. Cortez had never had a chance to know Ralph but it was likely that he had inherited some of his father’s traits. And perhaps, like his father, he did not consider fidelity important in marriage. Elin had a sudden flash of insight to a future where she was tormented by jealousy and suspicion every time they attended a social event and she wondered which beautiful woman was her husband’s latest mistress.

She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t go through with the wedding when she knew that Cortez was only marrying her out of duty. He had stated that marriage was the best option to give Harry a settled upbringing. But how could a childhood marred by his parents’ rows and recriminations be good for Harry?

Cortez’s phone rang as they walked into La Casa Jazmín. He frowned when he checked the name of the caller. ‘I need to speak to the head of the Japanese branch of Saunderson’s Bank,’ he told Elin. ‘Can you manage Harry on your own?’

‘Of course I can.’ Was he implying that he didn’t think she had been capable of looking after her baby before he’d arrived on the scene like some knight on a white charger to take up his role as Harry’s father? she thought irritably. She had managed perfectly well for the past couple of days while the nanny had taken annual leave to do some sightseeing in nearby Cadiz.

She took Harry up to the nursery. He was fast asleep and looked so comfortable in the baby carrier that she decided not to risk waking him by moving him into his cot. But there was another reason to leave him in the baby seat. A crazy plan was forming in her mind, which, the more she thought about it, seemed to be her only option. She did not want to marry Cortez tomorrow. Too much was at stake, not least her heart. But if she refused he had threatened to fight her in court for custody of Harry.

In her bedroom she opened the bedside drawer and took out her and Harry’s passports, which Cortez had returned to her a week ago. She had regarded the gesture as a sign that he trusted her not to take their son away. But perhaps he believed that she had fallen under his spell and was too besotted with him to consider leaving, she thought grimly.

She knotted her fingers together, wishing she knew what to do. As far back as she could remember she had been able to ask her brother for advice, but when she had phoned him in Japan to tell him that Cortez was Harry’s father and she was going to marry him, Jarek had sounded terse and distracted and had said she should do whatever was best for her and her baby.

Would a loveless marriage to Cortez be best for her and for their son? An image flashed into Elin’s mind of stunning Sancha, and she wondered how she could have believed that Cortez desired her when he had an exotic mistress in Madrid, and quite possibly several other mistresses dotted around Europe. She had spent her childhood trying, and failing, to please her adoptive father and she was not going to spend her adult life feeling a failure as Cortez’s convenient wife.