“This is Sara Woodville, my fiancée,” Reynard responded smoothly.
“It’s about time she came back. I was beginning to think she was a figment of your imagination. The governess, she won’t wait, you know. You mark my words. This accident of Benedict’s,” he stated as he waved a mottled hand through the air, “it is no accident, I tell you.”
“Abuelo, enough!” Alex’s voice was sharp. “Benedict endangered his own life every time he got behind the wheel of a car. It was bound to catch up with him sooner or later. It had nothing to do with—”
“You can deny it all you wish, my boy, but the facts remain in front of your face as clear as your nose. Now, where is my grandson? I wish to see him.”
He imperiously stamped the cane he clutched in one gnarled hand on the vinyl floor, and Rina suddenly realized why the brothers had not wanted him at the hospital. He had no idea just how seriously hurt Benedict was.
She looked from the elderly man to his two grandsons, especially Reynard. His face was a mask of concern, his hazel eyes clouded. Clearly Benedict’s injuries were life threatening. Why else would he and Alex be so determined to keep the information from their grandfather? And now, with him demanding to see his youngest grandson, and with the obvious respect they had for him so apparent in their demeanor, how could they tell him the truth?
Without a second thought, Rina stepped forward and tucked her hand in the crook of the older man’s arm.
“Mr. del Castillo, I’ve been traveling all day and I’m exhausted. I need to sit down. Why don’t you come and sit with me over here on one of these chairs and we’ll get to know one another a little better?”
It wasn’t an exaggeration. She was exhausted, and she’d been traveling, or on her feet now, for the better part of two days.
“What is this?” he bristled.
Rina immediately threw a worried glance toward Reynard who merely lifted his eyebrows a fraction.
“I’m sorry. Did I say something wrong?” she apologized.
“Rey, explain the meaning of this. Why does your fiancée call me Meester del Castillo?”
A small smile pulled at the sensual curve of Reynard’s lips, giving Rina little insight into what had upset his grandfather.
“Should I have said señor? I’m sorry, my Spanish is—” she broke off. What if Sara’s Spanish had improved past the basic minimum they’d both learned in their late teens on their big overseas experience?
“It is my mistake—I should have introduced the two of you properly instead of only doing half a job. Sara, this is my grandfather, Aston del Castillo,” Reynard interjected.
“You must call me Abuelo,” the old man replied, with a sudden twinkle in his eye. “If you’re serious about marrying my grandson, that is.”
Across the room Rey watched Sara blanch at his grandfather’s words, and felt a brief surge of panic. Surely she wouldn’t expose the capricious nature of their engagement now. He knew they’d entered into the thing as a bit of a lark, neither of them serious about it for now. Even Sara had said they should see where the wind blew them.
Her attitude had been what had made her perfect for the role as his fiancée. He’d needed an engagement that would require little true commitment from him while still keeping his grandfather off his back about getting married. He doubted that Sara had any more intention of them actually getting married right now than he did, himself. If Abuelo would just stop harping on about that wretched curse, they could all get back to normal again. And then, in a few months, he and Sara could part ways gracefully and without any hard feelings. Of course, Abuelo was arguing even harder in favor of the curse now in light of the success of Alex and Loren’s marriage. There was no denying that things had improved financially for the family business and economically on Isla Sagrado as a whole, even in the short time since the two had married, supporting Abuelo’s claims that marriage for all three of the brothers would break the curse, and bring prosperity back to the family.
Reynard still had his doubts though, about the curse of the governess. Abuelo had become unhealthily obsessed with the subject in recent months, even claiming to see her ghost. If the old man were to be believed, the scorned woman’s final words to her del Castillo lover were solely responsible for every sudden death in the family, not to mention the downturn in the economy of Isla Sagrado. In itself, the thought was ridiculous, but Reynard and his brothers loved their grandfather deeply and had been prepared to do whatever it took to ensure his final years remained happy. Even if, on Reynard’s part, it meant faking an engagement.
Suddenly Rey became aware of the extended silence in the room. He stepped forward to Sara’s other side and kissed the tip of her lightly freckled nose, and was amused to see a faint flush of color flood her cheeks.
“Of course she’s serious about marrying me, Abuelo. Who wouldn’t want to be a del Castillo bride?”
“Bueno,” the old man said then nodded and allowed himself to be drawn over to a bank of chairs in the room where he pulled Sara down alongside him.
Before long, their heads were together and Rey felt a sense of reprieve that his grandfather was distracted, at least for now. He moved over to Alex and Loren.
“She did that well,” Alex commented, nodding to where Sara and their grandfather were conversing in a combination of Spanish and English.
Rey nodded, “Thank goodness. What were you going to tell him?”
Alex’s face grew bleak. “The truth?”
“No,” Loren murmured. “You can’t. Not while he’s still recovering from his stroke. He’s not even well enough to be back home at the castillo yet. I’d be terrified he’d suffer a setback and never be allowed home—and you know what that would do to him.”
“You’re right,” Rey agreed. “We don’t want a repeat of that night.”
“So what then? Keep him waiting with us until the surgeons are finished?”
“Surgeons?”
Rey felt ill. So there was more than one surgeon working on his brother. Working to save his life. The deep hollow ache that had manifested in his chest during Alex’s first call sharpened and ached that little bit harder. He sent a silent prayer that his brother’s strength and health would be enough to see him through this and that the skill of Isla Sagrado’s best doctors would ensure his return to his family fold, where he belonged.
He gathered his fears in a tight knot and thrust them to the back of his mind.
“Did they say how long?”
Alex shook his head. “Could be hours yet.”
Rey looked back toward Sara. “Maybe if Sara takes him, Abuelo will agree to go back to the home. Javier can drive them both and then take her back to the cottage.”
“It’s a good idea, but,” Alex suggested as he curled his arm just that little bit tighter around his wife’s slender waist, “are you sure you don’t need her here?”
Need her here? Rey’s mind was fogged for a moment but then he realized what his brother was getting at. Of course, under normal circumstances, if his had been a normal engagement, he’d want his fiancée here with him. But would Sara agree to play along? The one time she’d needed medical attention during the event trials where he’d met her, she’d all but run screaming from the first aid tent. All because they’d wanted to examine her when she’d bumped her head after fainting in the heat. He’d have guessed that, under any circumstances, a hospital was the last place on earth she’d choose to be. Besides, their relationship was hardly one where he would expect her emotional support at a time like this.
He quickly recovered his scattered thoughts. “Perhaps later. She’s tired, just returned from Perpignan.” And God only knows where else judging by the exhaustion dragging at her lithe body. “I didn’t even give her time to say hello before we were on our way here. I’ll suggest it to them after Javier has brought coffee.”
It must have taken a minor miracle but Javier eventually returned with a series of steaming hot paper cups in varying sizes and handed each to
its recipient, the shortest and darkest brew going to Abuelo.
“Ah, thank goodness. Finally, a decent cup of coffee.” The old man sighed his pleasure as he savored the aromatic beverage.
“I thought it would be okay, just this once,” Javier said by way of explanation to the brothers. “What they serve him in the convalescent home is…” Javier’s expression left nothing to the imagination.
“That’s fine,” Rey replied and watched as Sara lifted the top off her cup and blew on the milky contents before taking a sip. Abuelo had distracted him when she’d given Javier her coffee order earlier, but now Rey looked at her in surprise. He knew for a fact that she took her coffee black, when she drank it. In the past couple of weeks, though, she hadn’t touched any, saying she was on a health kick or something like that. Looked like the health kick was over, if the way she obviously enjoyed the coffee now was any indicator.
Rey watched as her throat slowly swallowed, the muscles moving sinuously beneath her pale skin, and suddenly he was jolted with a burst of sexual awareness that completely blindsided him.
Their relationship to date had been more platonic than passionate. Sure, they’d exchanged a few kisses in the moonlight, but overall he hadn’t been fixated on getting her into his bed. They had fun together—kept things light and carefree—and that was the way he’d planned on keeping it before eventually carefully deconstructing the engagement and withdrawing with no hurt feelings. Right now, though, he wanted nothing more than to lose himself, and what was happening to his family, in the soft scents of her skin and the sensations of being entwined with her body.
She looked up at him over the rim of her cup, her gray eyes widening at what he could only assume was the burning hunger reflected in his own. Her hand shook slightly as she tipped her cup straight again and lowered it onto the table next to her. Her pink tongue swept away the trace of moisture left behind by the coffee on her lips.
Inside, whatever had taken hold of him tightened and sharpened into something totally inappropriate for a hospital waiting room. Remembering that somewhere on this floor his younger brother fought for his life beneath a surgeon’s blade brought Rey painfully back into the here and now. “Querida, you look weary. Perhaps you should go back to the cottage. I can call you there—let you know when we hear any news.” Before she could answer he turned to his grandfather. “Would you escort her back for me, Abuelo? I promise, we will let you know every ten minutes, if necessary, if there are any updates, but for now, I would prefer it if Sara was taken home. Clearly she’s worn out and needs rest.”
He looked at Sara, his eyes locking with hers and willing her to agree, as he waited for his grandfather’s blustering refusal. He saw the instant she understood his intention and watched as she turned to the old man.
“Would you? I always feel better if someone sees me to the door, and I’m really drooping here,” she said, clasping his grandfather’s hand between both of hers.
“I see what you are doing,” the old man grumbled at Rey, “but for this young woman, I will do the gentlemanly thing and escort her home.”
He slowly rose to his feet, slapping away at Rey’s hand as he reached to support him.
“I’m not completely incapable yet.”
He straightened to his full height and stared Rey straight in the eye. “You will tell me. The minute you hear anything.”
“Sí, Abuelo. I promise.”
Rey turned to Sara and took both her hands in his. “Go home, rest, I will call you when I hear anything.”
“I’ll be back in the morning,” she promised, reaching up to kiss him lightly on the cheek.
It was a butterfly-light touch but every nerve in his body centered on that one spot. As she left the room with his grandfather and Javier, he pressed his fingers to the exact place her lips had touched.
“You’ve got it bad, mi hermano. If I hadn’t seen it myself, I wouldn’t have believed it. I was worried when you announced your engagement to us and implied you weren’t serious about it. I’m pleased to see you were only joking.” Alex’s voice broke the brief spell that had captured him in its net.
Rey was momentarily lost for words. Of course he and Sara had kissed before, kissed but nothing more. The engagement was a smoke screen only. A ruse to keep Abuelo from getting even more upset about the three-hundred-year-old legend that had become his obsession. At least that’s all it was supposed to be. Maybe it was just the extreme situation they found themselves in with Benedict’s accident, some age-old instinct to survive at all costs, but right now he wanted a whole lot more than kisses from Sara.
He pushed aside his reaction with a laugh. It was merely the tension of the situation—the worry over Benedict—and very probably, the length of time since he’d last taken a woman to his bed. It couldn’t be anything more than that. Could it?
Three
Rina sat in the backseat of the sleek dark limousine next to the eldest del Castillo, yet her mind was filled with the image of her sister’s fiancé. She fully understood the attraction. In fact, she was left fighting it herself.
It was all wrong. She and Sara had never been attracted to the same kind of guy before. Ever. While physically, both Rina and Sara’s tastes had run to the tall, dark and handsome guys, Sara was all about presence. She fell for men with as much charisma as swagger. Rina’s men had always been quiet achievers. The kind of guys who were strong and successful but not necessarily right up there on the podium announcing their achievements—the sort you might not look at twice, but if you did, you didn’t regret it. Men like Jacob, although his quiet achievements hadn’t exactly led them along the path she’d expected. Especially not when he’d told her the woman he now loved was his boss.
“It’s the curse, you know,” Aston del Castillo’s voice interrupted her reverie.
“The curse?”
“I see he hasn’t told you about it yet. Of course, he doesn’t believe in it, but it’s real.”
Her curiosity piqued, Rina started to ask what the curse was, exactly, but instead the old man muttered something in Spanish and seemed to doze off.
Rina leaned forward and tapped Javier on the shoulder. “Is he okay? He just fell asleep.”
She saw Javier’s eyes in the rearview mirror and then a smile split his face. “Sí, the señor is fine. He is tired and refuses to admit he is not as strong as he used to be.”
At the cottage, Javier saw her to the front door and waited until she was inside and had turned the iron key in the large black lock before returning to the car. Rina turned around and faced the main room, this time really seeing it properly.
Uneven beams ran the length of the cottage ceiling. Rather than being dark or daunting, the warmth of the wooden spines that gave the structure its strength was friendly and welcoming combined with the pale creamy apricot-tinted plaster between each. The low rays of the last of the evening sun speared in through the multipaned, deep-set windows. The simple wooden dining suite, and the chintz-covered sofas in the sitting room area, were clearly not new, but retained the patina of time and wear like badges of honor.
Shelves were built into a recess along one wall, and beneath them a modern television cabinet and stereo unit lounged side-by-side. Rina flicked on the TV, suddenly anxious to disperse the silence of being alone.
She dropped her bag onto the wooden tabletop and made her way through the open-plan living area to the small kitchen. A gas stove, with a shiny new chrome kettle on one of the burners caught her attention. She filled it and set it on the stove to boil. An old-fashioned coal range dominated the space beside the stove.
Her stomach growled as she opened the small refrigerator tucked in beneath the bench and was relieved to see her sister had left some food behind. Cheese, some slightly limp vegetables, eggs and a little leftover milk. The expiry date on the milk bottle suggested it was well overdue.
Rina’s brow furrowed. Her sister could be erratic but she’d always been very particular about food safety after a serio
us bout of food poisoning when they were first flatting together in their late teens. It wasn’t like Sara not to clean out perishables before going somewhere—she was a stickler for observing expiry dates. This whole situation just got more and more confusing. Had Sara first gone to France in a bit of a rush, expecting to return sooner than today? But then why would she have gone back again? Just trying to make sense of it was making Rina’s head hurt.
Another rumble from the pit of her belly reminded her it had been a good eight or more hours since her last meal. As slender as she was, Rina had a high metabolism and usually ate regularly.
She grabbed the eggs and the best of all the vegetables from the fridge and whipped up a frittata for her supper. Tomorrow she’d have to find some way of gathering more groceries to replenish Sara’s supply—especially if there would be the two of them here soon.
Rina had not long finished her meal and had cleaned up her dishes when she heard a car approach on the road to the cottage. She had the door open as the now familiar Ferrari pulled to a stop outside.
Her heart hammered in her chest as Reynard unfolded from the driver’s seat and walked through the gate. The suit coat was gone, as well as the immaculately knotted rich burgundy silk tie he’d worn earlier in the day. With his face cast in relief by the setting sun, she couldn’t make out his expression but weariness and dejection pulled at every line of his body. Each step was slow and deliberate. Rina felt unexpected tears prick at her eyes. Clearly the news about his brother was not good.
“Benedict? Is he going to be okay?” she asked softly as he reached the front porch.
“He’s made it through surgery and he’s in intensive care. Only one of us is allowed in at a time, and only for short periods. Alex and Loren will stay at the hospital tonight and I’ll head in first thing in the morning.”
His voice was flat, as if he couldn’t believe the day his family had endured. Instantly, the urge to provide comfort flooded through Rina’s veins. She opened her arms to him as he entered the cottage and without hesitation he clasped her to him.
Stand-In Bride's Seduction Page 3