"Pardon?"
Zach's bouncing leg stilled and his eyes narrowed. "You have declined everything my staff has offered you and your face looks green with disgust."
Natalie sighed and turned her gaze to the small window. He was right, she was very close to dispelling the contents of her stomach, but not because she disliked his, very fancy plane, but because of nerves–a whole lot of nerves. "Your plane is just fine, Zach. I'm not hungry or thirsty for that matter." He opened his mouth to say something, but Natalie spoke again before a sound left his lips. "You still haven't told me where we are going."
His lips pulled into a thin line and his answer was delivered dryly, "You will find out soon enough." And just like that their short colloquy was over when he picked up his paper again. Natalie couldn't help but stare at him with a gaped mouth, the man really did not like her. With his personnel, he was that friendly, approachable man she had read about countless times, but with her, he was curt and dismissive. Normally she welcomed it when people held her at a distance and treated her like a spoiled brat, but for some reason she wanted Zach de la Fuente to see the truth beyond the saucy headlines that sold magazines.
"I can feel your eyes on me, wife," the last word was said with so much acid she was sure it left a sour taste in his mouth. "Was there something you needed?" He didn't even bother looking up from his paper.
Natalie shook her head and breathed out a barely audible "No," before closing her eyes in an effort to shut the whole world out. Time passed so tediously slow that hours felt like days, weeks even and by the time the plane had landed, Natalie still had no idea where they were. The hatch opened and she was immediately hit with hot, humid weather.
Once outside she noticed that they were not at the airport, but presumably a private airstrip. With her head down, she followed Zach as he strode toward a waiting black SUV with blacked-out windows. The moment they reached the vehicle, a sharply dressed man emerged from the driver side and opened the back door for them. When the driver re-entered the vehicle he and Zach exchanged words in rapid Spanish that Natalie had no hope of understanding. Although she didn't need to understand the language to know that the driver clearly held Zach in high regard, she picked that up from the soft tone of his elderly voice to the smile on his face.
As they leisurely cruised along Natalie figured they had to be in Spain somewhere. After his quick conversation with the driver, Zach had pulled out his phone and made numerous phone calls, all of them in his mother tongue. She got the distinct impression he only did that because he didn't want her hearing anything he was discussing. She pulled her phone from her purse and sent a quick text to her friend, Bridget. Bridget was the only one, besides her dad and Zach that knew the marriage was one big, fat lie. Bridget was also the only one who knew the real reason why Natalie agreed to a fake marriage in the first place. Right after she hit send, her phone buzzed in her hand, but instead of a reply from Bridget, it was a message from her dad.
Dad: Don't disappoint me like you always do.
Natalie blinked away the sudden sting behind her eyes, she powered off the phone and dropped it back in her purse. She didn't have the strength to deal with her dad right now and she really didn't want to be reminded of what he expected of her.
As they moved along all she could see were rows and rows of brown and green with hints of dark purple, it was plain but also really beautiful at the same time. "Is this a vineyard?" She turned to find Zach studying her, whatever he was thinking was known only to him, his face was expressionless.
He inclined his head slightly and then added, "Mine."
Before she had time to say anything else, the car rolled to a stop. Not one to wait, Natalie opened her own door and stepped out. She had a hard time hiding her amazement, everything around her, from the paving beneath her sandal-clad feet to the castle-like building in front of her, mesmerized her. The house was clearly old but well maintained, pale yellow colored stuccoed walls and an ebony tiled roof topped it. A large wooden door was flanked by stone pots containing flowers the color of sunshine and dusk.
A ghost of a touch above her elbow snapped her out of her daze, she realized then that she was shadowed by Zach's large frame and he was speaking to two elderly ladies who she had not noticed until now. Their exchange was in Spanish–again - and by the way the two women were glancing at her and nodding, Natalie knew she was the topic of their discussion.
"I have to speak to my estate manager," Zach said when he turned to face her. "Renata and Martina will help you get settled." Then he startled her by pressing his lips to her cheek, the action was stiff and she didn't imagine for one second that he enjoyed doing it. He turned abruptly and without another word, he stalked off, back rigid and his hands shoved in his pockets.
The elderly women gestured for her to follow them into the house and, as she suspected, it was even more glorious inside. The pale yellow walls added a certain warmth and were in perfect contrast with the dark hardwood floors. Natalie was led up the wooden staircase and down a long hallway to the room at the very end. Once inside her breath caught again, in stark contrast with the light walls and dark floors of the rest of the house, this room was all dark. Dark mahogany walls, the same dark hardwood floors, and a dark four-poster bed, covered in black silk sheets, demanded you stand up straight and pay attention. The far side of the room housed a desk and a plum-colored settee, as well as a set of double doors that led to a balcony overlooking the Olympic sized pool and the vast estate.
Natalie didn't know much about Zach, but one thing was certain, the man had exquisite taste. She dragged her eyes away from the view long enough to see Renata and Martina unpack both her and Zach's clothing. Of course, they would be sharing a room, no one but the two of them knew they weren't in love. After the clothes had been put away and the women left her alone Natalie pulled out her phone, powered it back on and punched in the familiar number. Bridget answered on the second ring.
"I'm so jealous of you right now. That man is sex on legs?"
"Hello to you too, Bridget."
"Sorry," came Bridget's reply, immediately followed with, "Hello, Nat. Were you okay during the flight?"
"It was awful."
"At least you had a spectacular view, and I'm not talking about the one outside your window."
Natalie couldn't help but smile, the moment she had told Bridget that she was to marry the enigmatic Zach de la Fuente, Bridget had taken it upon herself to find out as much she could about the man. She didn't find much information, but she did find a few good photos online–she had been drooling ever since.
Natalie closed her eyes and sighed, "If only his personality matched his good looks."
"What? Is he an ass?"
"Yes, he is being a jerk. But only to me. Bridget, there is no way this man is going to believe me if I tell him the truth, let alone help me."
"Oh no, Nat. What are you going to do?"
Just then the door opened and Zach strolled inside, he gave her a quick once-over before disappearing into the en-suite bathroom.
"Listen," Natalie whispered into the phone, "I have to go. I'll talk to you soon." Without waiting she stabbed the big red button with her thumb and powered down the phone, in case her dad decided he wanted to chat. Unbidden, she remembered the last time she gave her dad the cold shoulder, a cold shiver ran down her spine. She splayed her hands on the desk and hung her head, reminding herself that there were thousands of miles between them right now.
"Who were you speaking to just now?" Zach's voice pulled her out of her unpleasant reverie and she turned to face him. He had swapped his Armani suit for a pair of beige shorts and a black short-sleeved button down.
"No one."
Zach took a step forward and didn't bother to hide the anger mixed with disgust he clearly felt. "You expect me to believe you held your phone against your ear and spoke into thin air?" He took another step forward and Natalie had to fight the urge to take a step back. "I will not be made a fool of."
"I'm not making a fool of you."
"Then tell me, dear wife, who were you speaking to? Was it one of your many lovers calling to arrange a rendezvous? Did you forget to inform them that you are now a taken woman? For the next six months, at least."
His open disgust with her shouldn't hurt, it shouldn't matter. Everything he believed her to be was, after all, what she wanted people to believe. Why the words stung now, she didn't know. Why she suddenly, for the first time in her life, wanted to set the record straight, she didn't know. But what she did know was that if she had any hope of starting her new life-with or without Zach's help–she had to keep her cards close to her chest.
"I have no Spanish lovers, so clearly I could not have been arranging a meet. If you must know, I was checking in with my friend, Bridget."
He regarded her for a moment and then nodded brusquely. "Dinner is in an hour." He turned to leave but there was one thing still bugging Natalie.
"Zach," when he turned her eyes darted to the bed and then back to him. "There's only one bed. What are our sleeping arrangements?"
Zach looked at the bed and then pinned her with a dark stare. "You did fine on the couch last night." With that he turned and strode out of the room, leaving Natalie to stare at his retreating back.
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Shattered (Willow Creek Book 1) Page 18