Oh, Lord, she’d misunderstood.
“I thought for sure you were enamored with Captain Sutherland. How could I be so wrong? I am cross with Uncle Gabriel. He should have told me he was courting you.”
Isabella sighed and bit her lip. No use allowing the misunderstanding to continue.
“Stop. Sit down and let me pour you tea, and I’ll tell you all about it.” Isabella ushered Sorina to the small table in the sitting room and pushed her into a chair. “It was very sudden. We decided to marry at once and did it this morning.”
Sorina choked as she swallowed, and when she finally stopped coughing, blurted, “How can that be? The banns haven’t been read, and the priest in the pueblo church would not be so accommodating as to overlook such an important ritual. Lance and I had to wait several weeks while he joined the church, and then we waited longer for the banns. I don’t understand.”
Isabella studied her hands, noting a broken nail. This was more difficult than she’d imagined. “We weren’t married in the church. We used the alcalde.”
“But . . .”
Isabella reached out, covered Sorina’s hand, and looked her incredulous friend straight in the eye. “There was a need for haste.”
Sorina’s hand flew to her mouth, and she squealed. “I am to have a cousin, too? Oh, I cannot believe this. Now it all makes sense.” She jumped up and hugged Isabella. “I won’t breathe a word of this to anyone—except Lance, of course. What a wonderful surprise it will be. Later you and Uncle Gabriel can have a proper church wedding. Oh, I am so happy.”
Isabella cringed. She had planned to give Sorina a watered-down version of what she meant by “the need to marry,” but her dear friend had jumped to her own conclusions. Perhaps it was for the best. The more she knew about the real situation, the more she would worry. For now, let her think Isabella was enceinte. Miscarriages were the norm. If there was no child, it would not be remarked on.
“Where is that scapegrace uncle of mine? I want to give him a huge scolding and a hug.”
“I’m not sure where he went.” For once she was telling the truth.
“Do you need anything?” Sorina’s anxious face made Isabella want to cry.
“No. Catalina is here.”
“Will I see you later?”
“Of course. We’ll dine together tonight.” If Gabriel returned. “I know you will tell Lance, Sorina, but promise me you won’t breathe a word about . . . you know . . . to anyone else. Gabriel wants to make sure everything is going to be all right before he makes an announcement to the rest of the family.”
“You have my word.”
Sorina left with gentle hugs and promises to be available if needed. Isabella turned toward her bedroom, fighting a sudden headache. Perhaps she’d lie down. Where was Gabriel? She had to tell him about this latest turn of events before he encountered his niece.
As if thinking could conjure him up, he swept into her room without knocking. “Was that Sorina disappearing down the hallway? I called out to her, but she didn’t hear me.”
Thank God.
“Yes, she was just here. I gave her the news.”
His expression softened. “She’s such a dear girl. Sometimes I feel like her brother instead of her uncle. How did she take the news?”
Isabella hesitated, her back still turned to her husband as she folded a shawl. “She was disappointed that we didn’t have a traditional Catholic wedding.”
“But she’s otherwise pleased, isn’t she?”
He sounded so eager, like he wanted his family’s approval. She’d often wondered if the sarcasm he sometimes engaged in was a cover, that deep down he was still a little boy who needed his father’s praise. She didn’t know a lot about Gabriel’s relationship with his father growing up, except that as a young man Gabriel seemed to be a constant disappoint to him. Someday she would ask. Perhaps he would answer honestly.
“She is . . . especially when I told her there was a need for haste.” She placed the folded shawl in the drawer of a bureau and picked up the gown she had worn earlier in the day. Shaking out its folds, she laid it back on the bed, knowing Catalina would want to press it before she packed it back in the portmanteau.
“What did you tell her? Knowing Sorina, she’ll want to postpone their wedding trip until the issue is resolved. Grainger will have my head if that happens. He has business in Monterey before assuming his new duties. Their ship sails in four days.”
Isabella kept her voice very quiet, hoping he wouldn’t overreact when he heard her news. “I told her nothing. She reached her own conclusions.” She hesitated, still facing away. “She thinks I’m with child.”
She’d expected laughter. Instead she was engulfed by Gabriel’s strong arms from behind, his hands resting on her belly, his breath warming her ear. “You could be with child quite easily, you know. I’d love to feel some roundness here.” His fingers pressed against her flat stomach, smoothing downward, sending little waves of pleasure into her woman’s parts. “And I’d relish filling my hands with fullness here.” His hands moved up and cupped her breasts.”
Isabella stopped breathing. She closed her eyes as he continued to massage her breasts. His lips were soft against her neck, and fire threatened to consume her.
Abruptly he dropped his hands and stepped back.
Isabella turned in anticipation, only to see a devilish grin on Gabriel’s face.
“I do beg your pardon, my dear. I nearly forgot our bargain. If you were increasing, there would be no annulment.”
She was nearly limp with need but forced herself to stand upright, returning his grin with a smile of her own “If you had gone further, I would have swatted your hands away.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I felt you melt against me, querida, and I momentarily forgot myself.”
She wanted to wipe that smirk off his face but didn’t want him to have the satisfaction of knowing he was right. Instead she turned and lifted the dress, taking it to the armoire. Her maid could retrieve it later.
“Do you not have anything useful to do? Must you bait me in my own sleeping chamber?”
“Au contraire. I believe this is now our sleeping chamber, my love. At the moment I will heed your request and take myself off. I find I am famished. How about you? Care to join me in the dining room? I know you’re hungry, too.”
She slanted a glance at him and relented. “I wouldn’t want you to starve. Be off, and I’ll join you in half an hour.”
He bowed with a great flourish. “Your wish is my command.”
When the door closed behind him, Isabella collapsed on the bed.
Dear God, how am I going to endure this?
She must or lose everything she’d gained over the years.
It wasn’t over yet. Isabella feared it was just beginning.
Chapter 19
Isabella found Gabriel tucked in a corner of the crowded dining room, his back to a wall. The hotel not only offered a large meal at noon, but also served dinner at six o’clock in deference to the Americans who seemed to prefer eating earlier.
He rose and pulled out her chair. “There you are, my dear. I was beginning to think you chose a siesta over my charming company.”
She picked up the ornate, hand-lettered card announcing the fare for the day. Her stomach rumbled in a most unladylike manner.
“Where did you go this morning?”
Gabriel leered. “Did you miss me?”
“Of course not.”
Gabriel leaned back in his chair, his attention seeming to pause on a group in the far corner. Isabella followed his glance and saw Logan with Morgan Slade and a man who’d sat with him at Sorina’s banquet.
Her breath caught, and she started to rise, but a hand grasped her arm and anchored her in place.
“Let’s not make a scene, my dear. As soon as they notice, they’ll come to us.”
She twisted the napkin in her lap. “What if Logan is responsible for my fire? What if he’s the one who shot at me? Shouldn’t I confront him to see his reaction? Wouldn’t he be surprised to see me?”
“I think whoever shot you knows by now that you survived.” Gabriel gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. “I find the rumor mill in this pueblo to be quite lively.”
Their food arrived, and they ate in silence. What if Gabriel was right and Logan wanted to deal with Tomas’s children? If he knew she had only been wounded, he might assume she was now frightened enough to sell. Or would he try again to have her murdered, and not miss this time?
She shuddered as she devoured her food, aware of Gabriel’s eyes on her.
“What?” She put down her fork and dabbed at her mouth with her napkin.
“I was admiring your appetite, that’s all. I’m glad it has finally returned.” The smile reached his eyes, and her heart thumped. The man was pure, infuriating male. There were times when a single look shot bolts of heat through her body, melting her bones, and he knew it.
“You’re not eating. Are you not hungry?”
“Indeed I am, but I prefer to nibble on you, my love.”
A frisson of lust threaded through her body as she recalled their morning encounter in her bedroom. Correction . . . their bedroom. A flush crept up her neck, and she turned away, afraid she might give away her feelings.
“Brace yourself, querida. You’re getting your wish. We are about to have company.”
She set down her fork as Drake Logan wandered over to their table. He seemed anxious and glanced back over his shoulder at his companions before stopping in front of her.
“Señora Fuentes. What a pleasant surprise. I didn’t know you had returned to town.” He stared pointedly at Gabriel and nodded without acknowledging him. “If you have a few minutes this afternoon, I would like to discuss the business transaction I mentioned last week. Having seen the new offer, I hope you have reconsidered.”
“I . . .”
“What business transaction?” Gabriel looked at Isabella first, then at Logan. He raised his eyebrows and assumed his bored pose. “Must you discuss business at a time like this, dear fellow? Interruptions annoy me when I am trying to dine.”
Ignoring Gabriel, Logan sat down in the empty chair next to Isabella. “Señora Fuentes, I understand there was a fire on your property that destroyed much of your inventory.”
Isabella nodded, wondering how much he would reveal. “How did you know about that?”
“The news was all over town. A band of renegades, no doubt. They’re still out there, you know.”
Sweat beaded on Logan’s forehead, and he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to dab at his face. Again, his eyes slid to the corner table. “I’m prepared to increase my offer one last time, if that is your wish. But I would like to speak to you in private.”
“Please, feel free to speak in front of Señor Vega. He is my—”
“Yes indeed,” interrupted Gabriel. “Feel free to speak in front of me. Isabella and I have no secrets. Why we’ve known each other since we were children.”
Logan scowled. “I thought you’d returned to your ranch after your niece’s wedding festivities, Vega. You seemed anxious for them to be over.”
“I was quite exhausted, I admit. So much drama and so many events.” Gabriel yawned for emphasis. “I’m quite tired now. Come, my dear, let us finish our meal and return to our rooms. I believe I shall retire early.”
Isabella nodded. “I quite agree.”
Logan sputtered and drew his chair closer to Isabella. She could smell wine on his foul breath. “I realize you are a gentle creature, señora, but this man has no right to dictate your activities, even if he is a close friend. Give me a time when we can discuss our business, and I will trouble you no more today.”
Voice gentled, Isabella assumed her meekest pose and batted her eyes at Logan. “You are quite wrong, sir. He has every right to dictate my activities.”
“I don’t understand.”
“How dense you are.” Gabriel’s eyes hardened to steel. “I am her husband now. I married her this morning.”
Laughter bubbled up her throat, but Isabella stifled it. The expression on Logan’s face was worth all of Gabriel’s taunting and temptation. She reached into her reticule and covered her mouth with a lace-edged handkerchief, transforming snorts into a cough.
Logan’s jaw seemed firmly attached to the floor. “But . . .” He looked from Isabella to Gabriel and back again. “I don’t understand.”
“Marriage? Love? Have you not experienced it, my man?”
Gabriel’s grin told her he was enjoying Logan’s discomfort as much as she was.
He slapped his hand over his heart and raised his eyes heavenward. “It comes on so quickly, a man doesn’t always know what to do. For me it was . . . an uplifting experience. My hardened, er, heart softened the moment I knew the lady shared my feelings and this titillating experience could be repeated. Over and over again.” He lowered his hand and shook his finger at Logan. “Marriage is to be recommended, especially if you have a bride such as Isabella.” He gave her a toothy grin, lifted her hand, and kissed it.
Logan sputtered, glancing over his shoulder at his companions once again. He didn’t seem to be able to put two sentences together.
Isabella put away her hanky and smiled sweetly. “Please wish me well, señor. And if you have business to discuss, I’m sure my husband can find time for you.”
“We’ll see about that.” He got up and stalked off.
“That was most entertaining, was it not, my dear?” Gabriel’s eyes sparkled, and he grinned like a child who’d been given his first pony.
“You are a devil, Gabriel.”
“No, querida, I am a fox who is about to set the hens to squawking.”
She watched Logan as he gave his friends the news. Slade stood and started to walk toward their table, but the other man grabbed his shirt, holding him back.
“Now that’s interesting.” Gabriel spoke around a mouthful of turnips, his eyes focused on the same group.
“What?”
“Slade seems to be the one who’s most concerned. I thought it would be the banker.”
“Why Slade?”
“He’s the one I warned you about at Rancho Los Feliz. Memorize his face, querida. He’s a very dangerous man. I want you to avoid him at all costs.”
They finished their meal, and Isabella rose. “I think I’ll have my siesta now.”
“Good, because I have to go out again.”
A stab of regret surprised her. To her knowledge, Gabriel did not engage in the practice of short afternoon naps, even though it was the custom. Today she thought he might take one with her.
“Where are you going?” She hoped her tone sounded indifferent.
“I hired Sean Mitchell this morning. He has unusual skills and contacts in many places. If anyone can find out what it is about your property that’s so appealing, he will do it.”
Your property. He used those words again. It was heartening.
Or was it? Now that Logan knew she had a protector, he might move on to some other unsuspecting widow. The danger could be over.
The news should make her sigh with relief. The need for the sham marriage would subside, and in a few months, they could dissolve it with little fuss.
Isabella stood and made her way back to her room . . . alone. Fatigue suddenly overcame her. Or was it an emotion she dared not put a name to? She needed to think. And she needed to plan her future.
A future without Gabriel.
Chapter 20
Changing into his western clothes, Gabriel b
uckled his gun belt and grabbed his hat, pulling it low over his forehead. Even in midafternoon, he would blend better on the street if he looked like the Americans, and right now he didn’t want to call attention to himself.
Staying back in the shadow of a livery stable, he pretended to watch a horse being shoed, but his focus was on the front door of the hotel as he waiting for the three men to appear. When they did, they parted company. Gabriel chose to follow the banker, who headed down the dusty street where makeshift wooden buildings with false fronts were crammed between tile-roofed adobes. He’d figured out the men’s roles long ago. Logan was a front man. Slade was the enforcer. But the banker had the money and held the cards. He was the one Gabriel was most interested in.
The man hunched his shoulders as he walked, as though he carried a burden with every step. When he reached an apothecary shop, he stepped inside. Gabriel peeked through the dirty window but could only see shelves lined with jars and baskets. The banker must have gone into the back room.
Circling around the back, he entered an alley and found the back door. Loud voices were coming from behind the thin wood.
“You’ve mucked this one up, haven’t you?” The voice was deep, and the clipped tones sounded British. “I’ve invested a fortune in this scheme, and what do I have for my time and my money? Nothing. The equipment should arrive within the month, and we don’t have the rights to the property. Now you say the chit is married? Who is the husband?”
“His name is Vega. The fop hasn’t a penny to his name. His father holds the title to the family ranch. I’m sure he married the girl for her property. I doubt he’ll let her sell.”
“Everyone has his price. Find out what Vega’s is.”
“I tell you, he ain’t going to let her sell.”
A loud crash followed by splintering glass told him the Englishman was not happy.
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