‘Your daughter—’
Margarita’s eyes softened to liquid gold as she wiped the crumbs from her lips with a paper napkin. ‘What does my little Aurelia have to do with this?’
Were relationships taken so lightly amongst the super-rich? Annalisa wondered, knowing it would never do for her. ‘I’m sorry, Margarita, but I really must catch this flight—’
‘Then I’m sorry for Ramon,’ Margarita said. ‘And I’m sorry for myself too. I get very lonely—’ She broke off, waving her hand with embarrassment as she began fishing in her handbag, tears chasing down her cheeks.
‘Surely your husband—’
Margarita shook her head dumbly as she dabbed at her face with a tissue. ‘When he’s with me I am the happiest woman on earth. But he is away so much… And now I’m pregnant again—’ Her voice broke into a sob.
Annalisa felt as if someone was putting her insides through a shredder. ‘Surely that’s a good thing?’ she managed tightly.
‘Good?’ Margarita exclaimed passionately. She settled back in her chair again and nodded. ‘Of course, you’re right. It is wonderful news. But I want to share everything with him—’ And, mistaking Annalisa’s expression for incomprehension, she added, ‘Don’t you see, Annalisa? I will have had the baby by the time he gets back.’
‘Ramon is going away?’
‘Ramon?’
Annalisa raised her voice, desperately seeking clarification. ‘You have told him about the baby?’
‘Of course I have told him.’
The confirmation was like a blow to her heart. ‘Then—’
Margarita grabbed her hand. ‘You can make him understand how it feels for a woman, Annalisa. He would listen to you—’
‘No! Really! I don’t think I—’
‘But you must,’ Margarita insisted, talking over her. ‘I know Ramon cares passionately about the race, but—’ Her gaze ran wildly around the café and then settled back square on Annalisa’s face. ‘You’re my last hope,’ she cried pitifully.
‘The race?’ Annalisa probed. However bad her own position, she couldn’t just sit there and say nothing. And something was starting to rattle the bars of her memory bank.
‘Yachting…the round-the-world race,’ Margarita prompted, as if everyone knew about such things. ‘It’s got to stop,’ she hurried on. ‘And if Ramon says it must, it will. You must speak to him for me. I don’t want my babies growing up wondering who is their father—’
‘Hold on,’ Annalisa cut in. She was beginning to feel she was trying to find her way through a very thick fog. ‘You think it would help if I spoke to Ramon?’
‘I know it would,’ Margarita declared in a passionate whisper, taking hold of her hand.
‘But what would I say to him?’
Margarita’s eyes held her gaze in a bright, intense stare. ‘Just tell him that I feel as he does…that I love as he loves… Tell him to stop his brother racing yachts all over the goddamned world! Tell Ramon that Luis must stay home now, with his wife and babies!’
CHAPTER SIX
SHE was pleased to be going home, but terrified too, Annalisa thought as she sat beside Margarita in Ramon’s limousine. Margarita had made everything easy for her at the airport with just a flashing smile and a couple of flicks of her fine-boned wrist. But it would take a lot longer for Annalisa to recover her composure.
The thought of seeing Ramon again was tying her stomach up in knots. She had misjudged him so badly. But she would have to try put all personal thoughts to one side if the finca was to be saved…and, whatever Margarita said, after their last encounter he probably wouldn’t want anything else to do with her.
‘We’ll soon be there.’
Annalisa peered out of the limousine’s tinted window as Margarita distracted her. They were just coming up to the turn-off for the finca.
‘Close your eyes,’ Margarita insisted as the chauffeur slowed to negotiate the pot-holed lane.
‘Why?’
‘You’ll soon see. Just close them,’ she insisted. ‘There! Now you can look!’ she exclaimed.
They had pulled to a halt in the yard and, opening her eyes, Annalisa climbed out quickly. As she looked around she shook her head in bewilderment. ‘I don’t understand—’
‘Welcome to the famous orange groves of Finca Fuego Montoya, Señorita Annalisa,’ Margarita proclaimed with a mock bow.
Annalisa gasped. Small groups of men were busy painting and repairing the outbuildings, and in the orchard she could see a lot more people weeding and clearing and generally collecting up all the detritus of neglect. Half the village seemed to be busy with some task or other. She turned to show her delight to Margarita. ‘I can’t believe it. This is fantastic—’
‘Look at this!’ Margarita interrupted, grabbing her hand.
Turning, Annalisa saw two men carrying a beehive under the direction of Maria Teresa, who had Fudge trotting at her heels. The minute he saw Annalisa he pelted across to her, yelping in ecstasy.
Maria Teresa stopped in her tracks. ‘You came back!’
With a smile and a shrug, Annalisa cocked her head as she peered at the domed white structure. ‘What do we need that for?’
‘Bees,’ Maria Teresa said, turning to chide the two men for almost running it into her.
‘Bees?’ Annalisa repeated blankly.
‘They say bees are the cupids of the orchard,’ Maria Teresa insisted, ‘because without them the blossom is no use. And without the blossom…’ She shrugged.
‘I would never have thought of it,’ Annalisa admitted. ‘How can I thank you? All of you?’ she said, turning full circle to include everyone within earshot.
‘By employing us and our families when your orchards start producing,’ Maria Teresa declared pragmatically.
‘But I can’t pay you.’
‘You have eggs. You have chickens. You have a donkey we can borrow,’ Maria Teresa argued. ‘And soon you will have oranges. Plenty of oranges.’
Annalisa grimaced. ‘I don’t think so,’ she said with a rueful glance towards the orchard. ‘Enrique has been here.’
‘Exactly, señorita!’ Maria Teresa said, beaming at her. ‘Enrique has been here. There will be plenty of oranges. Just you wait and see.’
‘Is she right?’ Annalisa said, turning to Margarita.
‘Maria Teresa is always right. Ask anyone,’ Margarita replied with a smile.
Annalisa pulled a face as she sighed. ‘I did. I asked Ramon. I didn’t believe him when he said it would help. I didn’t believe him about Enrique…or about anything else.’
‘I know,’ Margarita said gently touching her arm. ‘But when he gets back you can explain.’
‘Back?’ Surprise and disappointment hit her at the same moment. ‘You mean he’s left the island?’
‘He left before I knew what the villagers meant to do. He came to pick me up from the airport because Luis asked him to. He said he had something important to do. Then he took the jet and left. As soon as I realised you were serious about leaving I had to come and find you.’
‘I’m so glad you did,’ Annalisa said, feeling all the resolve she had thought lost flood back into her veins. ‘Do you know where he went?’
‘Who knows, with Ramon?’ Margarita said with a shrug. ‘Business, perhaps. But he has business interests all over the world. Maybe it was just a short trip,’ she added hopefully. ‘Maybe he will be home tonight. Claudia has called a gathering this evening. She must surely have invited Ramon. Perhaps you should be there,’ she added mischievously. ‘I believe it is to discuss the purchase of finca Fuego Montoya.’
‘To rig the sale, you mean?’ Annalisa guessed.
‘I wouldn’t put anything past her,’ Margarita agreed. ‘Claudia knows all the interested parties, so fixing the price shouldn’t be too difficult for her. You’ll come, of course?’
‘I wouldn’t miss it for the world.’
‘I hope Ramon will be there for you,’ Margarita said gently.
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Annalisa’s stress levels rocketed. She ached to see him again, particularly now, after everything Margarita had told her. But setting things straight between them was sure to be difficult. Just thinking about him leaving the island for destinations unknown at the controls of his own private jet showed how little she really knew about him.
Ramon was not at Claudia Montoya’s home that evening. And at first Annalisa thought she knew no one—until she spotted Don Alfonso. He hid his surprise well when he saw her—almost as well as Claudia Montoya had managed to do…
‘I can’t imagine why you’re surprised to see Don Alfonso, dear,’ Claudia exclaimed, towing her across the patio by the arm. ‘He was your father’s most trusted lieutenant…and I was married to your father for a good many years.’
Good had nothing to do with it, Annalisa thought as she made a sound of acknowledgement and forced a smile. What on earth had possessed her to walk into the lion’s den? But it was too late now. Don Alfonso was already stepping forward to greet her.
‘Annalisa! You have decided not to leave us after all. How fortuitous it is to find you here.’
‘Really?’
‘But of course,’ he said, directing a glance at Claudia Montoya. ‘We have gathered to discuss the purchase of the finca—’
‘Don’t you mean the sale of the finca?’ Annalisa suggested acerbically. ‘You are still acting for me, as far as I am aware.’
‘Of course, of course,’ Don Alfonso agreed. ‘A mere slip of the tongue.’
‘The family as well as all the other interested parties wanted a meeting to discuss the matter,’ Claudia confided as her glance darted between the two of them.
‘The family?’ Annalisa queried. ‘I don’t see Ramon Perez here, or his brother Luis. And I don’t believe I received an invitation either,’ she added pointedly. ‘Yet I think I can safely call myself an interested party.’
Claudia’s voice was stiff with affront. ‘But I called round—don’t you remember?’
‘I don’t remember you mentioning anything about this.’
Her stepmother’s rapidly diminishing smile dissolved completely. ‘How was I supposed to know you would change your mind and decide to stay? Oh, look!’ she said, her voice suddenly brimful with syrup. ‘Here’s Margarita!’
‘Where’s Ramon, Claudia?’ Margarita demanded, cutting straight through the bull. ‘Didn’t you tell him about this evening?’
Annalisa looked at her new friend with renewed interest. Margarita was shaping up to be a lot more than a pretty face. Suddenly Claudia Montoya seemed suspiciously uncomfortable.
‘Snacks anyone?’ she called, snatching a tray of canapés from one of her uniformed maids.
Don Alfonso took her place, sidling up to Annalisa as if he had private matters to discuss. Taking the hint, Margarita made herself scarce with a half-wave to suggest she would be around if needed.
‘I have to confess I am surprised to see you here,’ Don Alfonso said as soon as Margarita was out of earshot.
‘But surely you must be glad that I decided to stay,’ Annalisa countered smoothly. ‘I would have been completely unaware of this meeting, for one thing. And as it has been called to discuss the disposal of Finca Fuego Montoya…’ She looked at him pointedly.
‘Yes, yes,’ Don Alfonso agreed, studying the amber liquid in his cut crystal glass. ‘But I am afraid I have some very bad news for you.’
‘Really?’ she said, finding it increasingly difficult to hide her poor opinion of him.
‘You can’t imagine how relieved I am to be able to explain this to you in person—’
‘Get on with it, Don Alfonso,’ Annalisa suggested. Her patience with him was running out. Why hadn’t she seen through his artificial old world charm before? Keeping her so badly informed could not be construed as acting in her best interests. He was either totally incompetent or heavily embroiled in some form of shady deal with Claudia Montoya. She watched as he settled his glass on the top of an ornate console table.
‘The finca has accumulated many debts over many years, Señorita Wilson.’
‘But my father had money—’
‘Tied up elsewhere.’ He spread his hands wide. ‘Where, exactly, no one knows. I am afraid I cannot hold off the creditors any longer.’
There was not one iota of emotion in his voice, Annalisa realised with irritation. He wasn’t even going to put up a fight. ‘No matter,’ she said determinedly. ‘I have people who will work side by side with me.’
‘My dear young lady, you are missing the point.’
‘Oh, really?’ Annalisa said coolly. She was determined not to allow anyone else to patronise her…or cloud the issue by making her angry, she warned herself. First she had to find out everything he knew.
‘Unless you can raise sufficient funds by the end of the month,’ he continued, ‘the banks will call in their loans and the finca will be turned over to its creditors…and sold.’
For a song to Claudia Montoya? Over my dead body! Annalisa thought furiously.
‘Annalisa—’
She turned distractedly to see Margarita dabbing at her forehead with one hand and swinging her wrap weakly in the other.
‘Do you mind if we go?’ she said. ‘I feel a little faint.’
Annalisa’s brain clicked into overdrive. The baby! ‘Of course I don’t mind. Are you all right?’
‘I will be as soon as I get out of here,’ Margarita murmured, taking her arm in a surprisingly firm grip.
Don Alfonso bowed to them, but not before Annalisa had spotted the shrewd calculation going on behind his eyes. If he was in league with Claudia Montoya, the sight of her cosying up to Margarita could only be bad news for the two of them.
‘I’m sorry about that,’ Margarita said as soon as they got outside. ‘But if I had stayed there a moment longer I know I would have done someone an injury.’
‘You think they fixed the meeting for tonight, knowing Ramon was away?’
Margarita nodded as she opened the door to Ramon’s limousine. ‘Of course. Where is that driver?’ she said, gazing around distractedly. ‘He’s never here when you need him.’
‘He’s probably getting something to eat,’ Annalisa said reassuringly. ‘We can wait—’
‘No. We can’t,’ Margarita broke in. ‘You couldn’t have known half those people, but I can assure you they weren’t connected with any legitimate business on the island. They’re not really interested in robbing you of your inheritance. It’s just a means to an end. They’re out to ruin Ramon.’
‘But you were invited,’ Annalisa pointed out.
‘And I’m sure that had them quaking in their boots,’ Margarita said with a self-deprecating laugh. ‘I was only there to provide window-dressing. These men are such chauvinists, Annalisa. You have no idea. Claudia might be their ringleader, but none of them see me as any type of threat—’ She broke off as Ramon’s chauffeur slipped into his seat. ‘We need to get in touch with Ramon fast,’ she whispered in Annalisa’s ear. ‘Before Claudia can do him any more harm. The villa, please!’ she said, addressing the driver in Spanish.
‘My father must have known what Claudia was like,’ Annalisa insisted, steadying herself on the seat as the chauffeur sped onto the highway.
Margarita cut her off with a derisive snort. ‘Your father was too honourable for his own good. And because of that he wasted his whole life trying to keep that greedy bitch from ruining him.’
Her bluntness forced a small rueful smile from Annalisa. ‘Is Don Alfonso involved?’
‘Your father sent Don Alfonso packing years ago,’ Margarita informed her scathingly. ‘Everyone was surprised when he turned up again working for you…but it was hardly our place to advise you.’
Annalisa groaned softly and shook her head. She couldn’t believe she had walked blindfold into such a can of worms. But there might still be chance to retrieve something. ‘Don Alfonso said the banks are about to foreclose.’
‘What exactly di
d he say?’ Margarita demanded.
‘He said I was broke.’
Margarita frowned. ‘I can’t believe that’s the case. Your father was a very rich man. He must have left you some money.’
‘Believe it,’ Annalisa insisted. ‘My mother never had any money. When I sold the house in England there was just enough to carry out a few repairs on the finca and treat myself to a day out. Nothing more.’
Margarita shook her head as they turned off the main road and started dodging potholes. ‘It just doesn’t make sense. I wish I knew how to contact Ramon. He would know what to do.’
‘Well, he isn’t here, so I’ll just have to sort it out myself,’ Annalisa pointed out reasonably.
‘If we could find him I know he would help,’ Margarita argued.
‘How?’
‘He could lend you the money.’
‘That’s not an option,’ Annalisa said firmly. ‘I would never borrow money from Ramon. The two of you have done more than enough for me already.’
‘I’ve done nothing yet,’ Margarita said dismissively. ‘But there is something I could do for you.’
‘What?’
‘I could get your airline ticket changed.’
‘Why bother?’
‘Presumably your mother had a solicitor in England?’
‘Yes,’ Annalisa agreed, ‘of course she did. But don’t you think I’ve talked to him? I can assure you there is no secret stash of money waiting for me there.’
‘You don’t know that for sure,’ Margarita persisted stubbornly.
‘I do. My mother left everything to me. There are just a few stocks and shares waiting to be sold.’
‘I think you should go back to England,’ Margarita said. ‘Make another appointment with the lawyer. Find out how many stocks and shares.’
‘What are you trying to say, Margarita?’
‘It’s just a hunch. And while you’re there telephone every five-star hotel within a twenty-mile radius—’
‘I can’t afford to stay—’
‘Not you, silly. Ramon.’
‘Ramon,’ Annalisa murmured. On cue her heart started to thunder. ‘Do you think—?’
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