‘A child stays with his mother. That’s the tradition isn’t it? She told me we were going on holiday.’ Each word was another beat of agony. ‘It was only when we arrived in Australia that she told me that we wouldn’t be coming back.’
Faith licked dry lips. ‘You must have missed him so much.’ She put her hand on his arm and felt the flex of his strong muscle and the utter chill of his skin.
‘At first I refused to accept it. I ran away. I made it as far as the airport and then they rang my mother.’ He gave a dark, cynical smile that revealed far more about that encounter than any words could have. ‘And she told me to grow up and be a man. And that’s what I did. Every day I was in hell, but I kept that hell to myself and just lived it. I was trapped in an alien country with people who were alien to me. I pined for my father, for Argentina, the estancia, the horses—everything. I hated the life my mother led and the fact that she didn’t even want me. But I learned not to show what I was feeling.’
‘And you still don’t—’
His beautiful mouth twisted. ‘I think I’ve forgotten how.’
‘But you left Australia?’
‘I left as soon as I could and came back here only to find that my father had sold the estancia to pay for my mother’s costs. It was broken up and sold.’ His accent grew more pronounced. ‘He was trying to make sure that I had a good life. That I didn’t suffer. But for me it was never about the money.’
Touched by this surprisingly emotional admission, Faith leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him. ‘So you started your own business. What you have achieved is nothing short of amazing.’
‘I vowed to buy it back, piece by piece. And I have.’
‘The land that Pedro owns …’
‘My land now.’ His possessive declaration vibrated around the room. ‘That was the last piece. My father’s estancia is back in the family again.’
‘And your father?’ She felt the muscles in his body tighten and suddenly wished she hadn’t asked the question.
‘After my father sold the estancia, he took a job as a gaucho—a cowboy—working with horses on other ranches. I know, because I followed his trail. He kept moving on, restless.’
‘He didn’t make a home anywhere else?’
‘He never would have done that because his home was here. He died,’ Raul said roughly. ‘He died without knowing that I was back. He died before I made my first million and purchased the first thousand acres of land.’
And he’d died without giving his son the chance to tell him how much he loved him.
‘You say that there is nothing of your father in you, but I don’t think that’s true,’ Faith said softly. ‘You have his strength and his courage, his talent with horses and his love for this land.’
He looked down at her, his eyes fierce. ‘What my mother must have put him through—’ he said hoarsely. ‘I swore that no woman would ever be able to do that to me or to any child of mine.’
For a moment Faith couldn’t speak because she couldn’t get the words past the lump in her throat. ‘So it isn’t that you don’t like or don’t want,’ she said softly. ‘It’s that you’re afraid of loving and losing. Now I understand why you married me. You were determined to do everything possible to exert your rights over the baby.’
‘Faith—’
‘And I don’t blame you for that. If I’d been through what you have, I’d feel the same way, I’m sure.’ Faith stood still, thinking about what he’d said. ‘I wish you’d told me this, instead of just proposing. I would have understood.’
‘You would have run a mile, taking my baby with you.’ It was the most painfully honest conversation they’d ever had. ‘And you did run, Faith. Just hours after you married me, you ran. That’s what women do when things go wrong. That’s what my mother did.’
She bit her lip, understanding why her actions had triggered such a depth of emotion in him. ‘That’s true,’ she admitted, ‘I did. But you have to look at it from my point of view. When I told you I lost the baby you were relieved.’
‘I hadn’t expected to have to confront the issue of pregnancy at all. For me it was simpler if it just wasn’t there.’
‘I see that now, Raul, but at the time you hadn’t shared any of this with me. All I saw was a man who was so fixated on his own desire to stay single that he didn’t care about my feelings. You thought I’d become pregnant on purpose.’
‘Which was exactly what my mother did. And I wasn’t thinking about your feelings. I was thinking about mine,’ he grated. ‘Panicking. I know I hurt you and I regret that more than you know. I was a total bastard, but it wasn’t anything to do with you—I was protecting myself.’
‘Because you thought I’d hurt you?’
‘You have to understand that none of my relationships up until now have ever been based on anything other than sex,’ he confessed and she looked up at him, her heart executing a dangerously fast rhythm.
‘And now?’
‘You really need to ask that? It’s true that I’m totally out of control when I’m with you, cariño, but believe me when I tell you it isn’t just about the sex. I love the fact that you’re so bright and clever, I love the fact that everything in your head comes out of your mouth because it makes you so easy to understand.’
Faith was astonished. ‘You hate the fact that I want to talk!’
‘Not true,’ he asserted, bending his head and stealing a quick kiss. ‘In fact since you stopped talking, it’s driven me mad because I’m wasting so much time guessing what’s in your head.’
Her legs wobbling, Faith sank down onto the nearest sofa. ‘This is—’ She broke off and breathed in and out. ‘This isn’t the way I thought this conversation would go. When you walked away from me—I assumed you were horrified that I was still pregnant.’
‘I went to talk to the doctor. I’d managed to convince myself that there was something really wrong with you. You were so pale and tired—I wanted to make sure he’d taken a really good look at you,’ Raul confessed. ‘I’m not great at trusting other people with important issues. I virtually pinned him to the wall and made him recite everything he’d told you.’
Knowing Raul as she did, Faith had no problems imagining it. ‘And how did he respond to that?’
‘He wasn’t that impressed,’ Raul admitted wryly. ‘But he told me he was making allowances for a guy who was seriously in love.’
His words drove the air from her lungs. ‘He did? And did you tell him you don’t believe in love?’
‘No, because that wouldn’t have been true.’ He reached for her hands and pulled her back to her feet. ‘I didn’t believe in love, until I met you. And even then I didn’t recognise it. But apparently the signs are all over the place if you know what you’re looking for.’
Her heart pounding, Faith looked up at him. ‘Is that right?’
‘Of course.’ His usual confidence apparently restored, Raul curved his arms around her in an unmistakably possessive gesture. ‘I can’t let you out of my sight, I worry if you’re even half a shade paler than you usually are and when you stop wanting to talk about everything I get really, really worried.’
‘You hate talking.’
‘Given a choice between conversation and sex, I’m going to pick sex every time,’ Raul admitted, with typical male frankness. ‘But I’m prepared to concede that a certain degree of emotional honesty has its place.’
‘Does it?’
‘Yes.’ He smoothed her hair away from her face. ‘I should have talked to you sooner, but you have to understand that I’ve never talked to anyone about this. I don’t even let myself think about it.’
‘I don’t blame you, but I’m glad I know because now I can understand why you feel the way you do. And I have something to say that’s important.’ Faith took a deep breath. ‘You don’t have to stay with me just because you’re afraid of losing your child, Raul. I would never take your child from you, ever. If you’re saying this because of the baby, then w
e can work something out. You own ten-thousand acres—you can build me a house to live in.’
‘I am not building you a house to live in. The only place you’re living is here with me,’ he growled and Faith bit her lip.
‘I’m worried, Raul,’ she said quietly. ‘I’m worried that you’re only saying this because of the baby. I mean, it’s not as if you had a choice about this.’
‘Come with me!’ Having delivered that command, he took her hand and led her up the staircase to the upper floor.
‘Where are we going? We never come up here—’ Exasperated, she tugged at his hand. ‘Raul, we were talking—’
‘And talking is fine,’ he purred, turning to her with his most charismatic smile. ‘But there are times when actions speak louder than words, cariño.’
Mesmerised by that incredibly sexy smile, Faith felt her insides tumble and flip and gave a moan of disbelief. No, no, no! She wasn’t going to respond like this, not now! They were discussing an important issue. Surely he wasn’t going to try and solve this problem with sex? Not after the discussion they’d just had. ‘Raul, this just isn’t—’
‘Trust me.’ With his usual confidence, he threw open a door and stepped aside for her to pass him. ‘Go in. Tell me what you see.’
Puzzled, Faith stepped inside the room and her heart tumbled over in her chest.
It was a nursery.
A beautifully decorated, sunny nursery complete with an old-fashioned rocking chair, an antique cot and pretty curtains.
For a moment Faith couldn’t speak at all and then when she finally tried to say something, nothing came out of her mouth.
His hands curved over her shoulders. ‘What do you see?’
‘I see—’ Her voice cracked. ‘I see a nursery.’
‘No.’ He gently turned her and cupped her face in his hands. ‘You see a man in love.’
‘But—’
Raul was watching her reaction with a self-satisfied smile on his handsome face. ‘Now try telling me I’m insensitive,’ he drawled softly, pulling her against him and bringing his mouth down on hers. ‘I had this decorated when we were on our honeymoon.’
‘Our honeymoon?’
‘That was when I realised that I couldn’t imagine a life without you in it. I didn’t know you were still pregnant, Faith. But this was how I saw our future. As a family.’
She felt tears prick her eyes. ‘You—you’d already done this?’
His eyes gleamed with sardonic humour. ‘You think I shot up here with a paint brush five minutes after the doctor left?’
‘No. Yes.’ Tears filled her eyes and his smile faded.
‘Don’t cry. Te amo, cariño. I love you. Do you understand me?’ He took her face in his hands and kissed her gently. ‘Do you? Answer me, because if you don’t then I will have to solve the problem the way you suspected I was going to solve it.’
She sniffed and made a sound that was half sob, half laugh. ‘I thought—’
‘I know what you thought and perhaps that would have been a better option.’ He frowned. ‘Given that talking just seems to make you cry.’
‘I thought I was going to lose you. I know you only married me because I was pregnant.’
‘I married you because you were pregnant,’ Raul agreed in a husky tone. ‘But I’m staying married to you because I love you.’
She squeezed her eyes shut but the tears fell anyway because she just adored him so much and suddenly everything had gone from being wrong to being very, very right. ‘I love you, too. So much. You have no idea.’
‘I think I have.’ His voice was soft and he brushed the tears away from her cheek with the back of his hand. ‘I behaved so badly to you. I was cruel and thoughtless and yet you are still here. You have to be in love to have put up with me. Stop crying!’
‘I can’t,’ she croaked. ‘And it’s your fault. It’s all the things you’re saying.’
‘Which just goes to prove that talking has its limitations,’ he drawled, a dangerous gleam in his eyes as he lowered his head to hers. ‘So now it’s time to solve this problem in a very different way. Do you agree?’
‘Yes,’ Faith whispered against his mouth. ‘Oh yes.’
The Buenos Aires Marriage Deal
MAGGIE COX
About the Author
The day MAGGIE COX saw the film version of Wuthering Heights, with a beautiful Merle Oberon and a very handsome Laurence Olivier, was the day she became hooked on romance. From that day onwards she spent a lot of time dreaming up her own romances, secretly hoping that one day she might become published and get paid for doing what she loved most! Now that her dream is being realised, she wakes up every morning and counts her blessings. She is married to a gorgeous man and is the mother of two wonderful sons. Her two other great passions in life—besides her family and reading/writing—are music and films.
To Trish
May your love and appreciation of beauty continue
to lift your spirits and give you wings to fly!
CHAPTER ONE
RETURNING from his morning hack beneath the dazzling Palermo sunshine, Pascual Dominguez cantered into the relative cool and shade of the stables and dismounted. Patting his steed on the rump as a groom promptly materialised, he ordered the young man to turn the pony out into the field after he had seen to him.
He was in good spirits. After a family party last night in honour of his forthcoming marriage he was looking forward to having his fiancée Briana to himself again in a couple of hours, after she had finished work.
There had been far too many people there last evening for them to grab even one moment together, but tonight they would be having dinner at his favourite restaurant, and afterwards he fully intended that she would be spending the night with him, prior to enjoying a few days together before the wedding. Time alone away from no doubt well-meaning family and friends … just the two of them.
Briana had turned Pascual’s well-ordered world upside down and that was a fact! Never having dreamed that such a powerful instant connection with a woman would ever come his way, every day he woke and counted his blessings.
From practically the moment he had set eyes on the young English nanny his friends Marisa and Diego de la Cruz had hired to take care of their baby girl, Briana Douglas had become the sole focus of all his hopes and dreams. She had consented to become his wife, and now he found himself counting the days to their wedding.
Whistling softly beneath his breath, he found his housekeeper waiting for him as he strode through the opened double doors of the main house. A frown puckered the friendly, still smooth olive-skinned features that belied her years.
‘What is it, Sofia?’ Pascual arched a dark brow, an inexplicable dart of apprehension shooting through him and making him feel suddenly cold.
‘Señorita Douglas came by while you were out riding …’ the older woman began.
‘Where is she?’ he interrupted, gazing impatiently round the stunning marble vestibule.
‘She did not stay, señor.’
The housekeeper was delving inside the pocket of her long black skirt for something. In the next instant she handed Pascual a slim white envelope. The cold feeling inside him deepened to ice.
‘She told me to give you this letter.’
‘Gracias.’ He all but snatched it from her hand and headed towards the grand winding staircase, taking the steps two at a time before she’d barely finished speaking.
In his personal suite of rooms, he started to rip open the envelope, now frankly hating the presentiment of doom that seemed to be clutching his vitals in a vice. What was wrong with him? Was he coming down with something? With his wedding only days away, he sincerely hoped not. Standing by the opened balcony doors of his sitting room, he felt a gentle welcome breeze that carried the enticing scents of jasmine and honeysuckle ripple across the single page of cream vellum notepaper that his hand clutched so avidly.
As he started to read, the icy sensation that had gripped him s
ickeningly intensified.
Dear Pascual
Where do I start? This is so hard for me to tell you, but I have decided that I can’t go through with our marriage after all. It’s not because I have fallen out of love with you or anything like that. My feelings are still as strong as ever. But I have increasingly begun to realise that a marriage between us could never really work. The reason is that our backgrounds and who we are as people are just too different. I’ve tried discussing this with you, but you always tell me there is nothing to worry about and I am just inventing problems where there are none.
I’m afraid you’re wrong. Ultimately our vast differences can only impinge negatively on our relationship. Already there have been repercussions within your family because you want to marry an outsider. They mean the world to you, I can see that, and I don’t want to come between you and for you to gradually grow to resent me because of it. So, rather than cause any worse heartache by staying and watching what we have slowly disintegrate, I have made the decision to go back to England and resume my life there.
I realise this news will come as a tremendous shock to you, and I am so sorry for any hurt or grief I may cause, but I believe that ultimately this is the right decision for both of us. You have been so good to me and I will never forget you, Pascual, no matter what you might think as you read this letter. I’m also sorry that you have to be the one to tell everyone that the wedding will not be taking place after all— but, having come to know your family a little, I am certain that this news will only confirm their beliefs that I was totally unsuitable for you in the first place.
Please don’t try to contact me again. That’s all I ask. It would only prolong the pain for both of us, and I think it’s best if we just make a completely new start. Take care of yourself, and I wish you only good things—now and always. All my love Briana.
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