A Scandalous Midnight in Madrid

by Susan Stephens

  ‘I think you can trust me to interpret the music without risk to life and limb.’

  ‘But this is more fun,’ he said, bringing her closer still.

  He did have a point, Sadie conceded, giving a mock growl of complaint, when actually there was nowhere else she’d rather be. But her satisfaction didn’t last too long. ‘Alejandro! Put me down again this instant!’ she insisted when he carried her away to a chorus of cheers when the musicians dramatically upped the tempo of the music.

  ‘I prefer something slower and more considered,’ he said as he drew to a halt in front of his caravan.

  ‘And now I’m going to claim back my caravan,’ he said as he gently lowered her to the ground.

  ‘You can’t just move back in,’ Sadie insisted as Alejandro strode purposefully towards the command centre she’d set up. ‘I’ve requisitioned it.’

  ‘And I’m countermanding your order,’ he said. ‘The army has established a perfectly adequate command centre, so no one’s going to come back here. More crucially,’ he added with a slanting glance, ‘my caravan has a clean, undamaged bed, and you need to rest.’

  ‘Rest?’ Sadie protested. ‘How can I rest when there’s still so much work to be done?’

  ‘I’ll make you sleep,’ Alejandro promised as he mounted the steps, entered the shady caravan, and closed the door behind them.

  ‘I thought you said I had to rest?’ Sadie protested excitedly, recognising the look in his eyes.

  ‘You will rest when I’ve finished with you.’

  With a promise like that, she had no intention of arguing, especially when Alejandro reminded her how good making love in bed could be.

  ‘You have absolutely no scruples,’ she accused.

  ‘None at all,’ he agreed, and, flicking a lever on the wall, he brought a bed down. ‘While we worked through the night, many of the volunteers grabbed some sleep, so now it’s our turn to rest and recuperate.’

  ‘Is that what you call it now?’

  His laughing eyes made her smile as he explained, ‘You will rest, while I recuperate—with enthusiasm, and exquisite attention to detail. I think that’s a fair description.’

  She laughed. ‘I’m not going to argue with you.’

  Sadie’s body thrilled to feel Alejandro’s pressing into her as he lowered her down on the bed. Unshaven in work-stained clothes, he was even more irresistible, and he was right about making love in bed. She had forgotten nothing.

  Stroking her hand down his powerful back as he swung out of bed a long time later to take a call, she realised how much she loved him, and had missed him.

  ‘Trouble?’ she asked, seeing him frown as he ended the call.

  She should have known, Sadie realised, feeling that big black hole opening up again as he placed another call to book a flight plan back to Madrid.

  ‘More supplies for the camp?’ she asked worriedly.

  ‘No. Everything’s settled here. The army will be rehousing people whose homes have been destroyed, so there’s no need for me to open Castillo Fuego. In fact, everything should return to normal within the next few hours. But it’s something else,’ he said.

  ‘Not enough!’ she insisted when he started to pull on his clothes. ‘You can’t leave me again without an explanation. We both have duties and responsibilities, and, though you’re not used to talking about yours, if I mean anything to you, you must learn to share, as I must learn to trust. We both have hang-ups, but can’t you see how they’re linked? If you don’t share with me, how can I trust you? And if I can’t trust you, what kind of life is that going to be for our child? We still haven’t talked about the baby, and we must.’

  Alejandro’s face was grimmer than she’d ever seen it. ‘Annalisa has summoned me to Madrid,’ he explained. ‘She’s broken off her engagement to the Prince.’

  ‘Well, she must have a very good reason,’ Sadie reasoned out loud. ‘But why would she want to stay in Madrid? Maria told me that Marissa’s on her way home to the flamenco camp, so Annalisa will have no one to stand beside her when the press gets wind of this. Send for her, Alejandro,’ she begged. ‘Bring her home to us where she’s safe from the chatter in the city. Don’t you always say, it’s easier to see things clearly in the mountains?’

  ‘You’d do that for my sister?’ Alejandro said quietly.

  ‘Of course I would,’ Sadie confirmed. ‘I’d do anything to help your family, and maybe it would help Annalisa to talk to another woman. I can’t imagine she’d find it easy to confide in her brother. She’s all grown up, Alejandro. Annalisa isn’t that same little girl. What you did for her was amazing, but you have to learn to let her go and stand back now.’

  ‘I have to protect her,’ he said, raking his hair. ‘I always have, and I always will, and if that man’s hurt her—’

  ‘Of course, step in,’ Sadie agreed, ‘but I’m confident Annalisa can sort this out. Believe in your sister. With you for a brother, I don’t think she can go far wrong. Allow her to take charge of her life, as we all must. I’m not going to hang around to see what fate decides for our baby, and neither should you.’

  There were a few long moments of silence, and then Alejandro said abruptly, ‘I’ll cancel my flight.’

  ‘You’re not admitting I’m right, are you?’ Sadie queried with a small, slanting smile.

  Grabbing her close, Alejandro stared fiercely into her eyes. ‘On this one occasion—all others are up for grabs.’

  ‘Then, I’d better make sure I grab a few,’ Sadie countered as she linked her hands behind Alejandro’s neck to make sure he wasn’t going anywhere.

  * * *

  As he watched the two women reunite on the steps of Castillo Fuego, he knew Sadie was right. There was something up here in the Sierra Nevada that made everything possible. Some called it magic. He called it peace and fresh air. Whatever it was, seeing his sister with Sadie to advise her made him happy, and clearly it made Annalisa happy too. Convincing Sadie to trust him, however, might turn out to be a longer and more complicated task.

  * * *

  Once his sister was settled in her room and Sadie had reappeared on the landing, he called up the stairs and suggested they saddle up and go for a ride so they could talk about the baby uninterrupted.

  ‘Good idea,’ Sadie agreed, but she was frowning when she joined him in the hall.

  ‘You don’t seem so keen?’

  ‘I am. Absolutely,’ she insisted. ‘It’s just that listening to Annalisa takes me back to my childhood and reminds me how unkind people can be to each other. Your sister doesn’t deserve that. No one does.’

  ‘Is there anything I can do to help?’

  ‘Stay out of it,’ Sadie advised. ‘Unless Annalisa asks you for help. She’s got this.’

  He ground his jaw, knowing Sadie was discreet and loyal, and unlikely to part with any details. He’d have to wait for Annalisa to do that. ‘How can you be so level-headed about everyone else, and yet still allow the past to haunt you?’

  ‘Maybe I’m starting to lay those ghosts,’ she said. ‘And it’s your turn next,’ she challenged, smiling as they left the house and headed for the stables.

  How could she know him so well, when his default setting had always prohibited the smallest show of feelings? How much he’d changed, Alejandro marvelled. Years of battling to keep things running smoothly for Annalisa and the business had accustomed him to keeping any personal concerns to himself, but with the arrival of Sadie in his life his thoughts and feelings were an open book. ‘I know I’m tired of being alone.’

  The words had shot from his mouth like bullets from a gun, and he doubted he could have shocked Sadie more. She hid it well as she suggested, ‘Let’s take that ride. I think we both need a chance to talk.’

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  THEY AMBLED ALONG, reins hanging loose, completely relaxed and chatting e
asily.

  Of course she missed the flat-out gallops, but being pregnant meant being careful, and knowing the baby was safe was everything.

  ‘Happy?’ Alejandro asked.

  ‘Of course.’ He only had to turn to look at her for her heart to soar. Thinking about the day when she would introduce their child to this world of dramatic mountain scenery was all the happiness she needed. The shades and contrasts alone were incredible. Lavender mountains, green plains, stark grey granite cliffs, laced with silver and aquamarine ice, dazzled the eye, while tiny luminous white villages dotted the valley far below. There was something about the scale of their surroundings that put everything else in perspective. It freed the spirit to range far and wide and allowed the imagination to venture boldly. Talking about the past was suddenly easy. They even laughed together at her stubborn belief as a child that things should be better, and that it was up to Sadie to change things.

  ‘You haven’t changed a bit,’ Alejandro teased.

  She shrugged and smiled. ‘I’ve just become more determined and driven.’

  ‘But time out like this is good, isn’t it?’

  ‘Says you!’

  They smiled at each other, and as Alejandro stared out across the trail, she thought it was by far the best thing of all to ride alongside the man she loved, the man who was a gypsy king and Spanish don, but to Sadie would always be Alejandro.

  Just to make her senses a little more on edge, he’d tied a black bandana around his head to keep his thick wild hair out of his eyes. With that thick coating of sharp black stubble on his jaw and wearing old jeans, he had never looked more attractive. A tight-fitting top emphasised his muscular physique, so, all in all, he gave the mountain scenery a run for its money. With no appointments to keep, or meals to prepare, they allowed the horses to set the pace. It was just the two of them, and their thoughts and hopes for the future.

  All I want is to be with you, Sadie thought, and that would be with Alejandro the man, not the hard-driven billionaire. I want this amazingly sexy, funny, honest, deep-thinking man to be a father to my child, the man who worries so much about other people that he never has time to consider the possibility of someone caring about him, worrying about him.

  ‘Your thoughts for the future?’ he prompted.

  ‘With you,’ she said bluntly, ‘but I always was a dreamer.’

  ‘Not just a dreamer,’ he argued. ‘You get things done.’ He slanted her a look. ‘Should I be worried?’

  ‘I hope so.’

  He laughed and their combined laughter rang out in the clean mountain air.

  ‘I suppose there’s no point in my warning you that I have a very different life in Madrid?’

  ‘Like me, do you mean?’ she said. ‘I get that.’

  ‘So, where does that leave us?’ he asked, reining in.

  ‘Independent but together.’

  He smiled. ‘I like the sound of that.

  ‘You like sex too.’

  ‘I love sex.’

  ‘And you love the thought of being a father,’ she said, bringing her horse alongside his, ‘but this has to be something more than that.’

  ‘How can you say that? How can you even think it?’

  Dismounting, he brought her into his arms. ‘Don’t doubt me,’ he whispered against her lips.

  Making love in the open air could become a habit Sadie wouldn’t want to kick. They tethered their horses, and by the time Alejandro had gently lowered her to the ground, she was ready. But this time she wanted more.

  ‘What?’ Alejandro murmured, his dark eyes searching hers. ‘Tell me what you want. I’ll give you anything.’

  ‘I want everything,’ she said. ‘I want all of you—not just the amazing sex and the banter between us, and certainly not your fabulous lifestyle.’

  ‘Slaving away in my kitchen, do you mean?’ he teased.

  Sadie was in no mood to be distracted. The time had come to tell Alejandro exactly how she felt and take the consequences whatever they might be. ‘It’s all or nothing,’ she said.

  Alejandro’s lips pressed down in a way that had always melted her heart. ‘That’s a big ask,’ he said, eyes searching and smiling and speculating, all at the same time.

  She smiled and shrugged, to try and make it seem that her whole life didn’t depend on his answer. ‘If your answer is nothing, we can still make plans for the baby. I’ll draw up a schedule of visits, and I promise to consult you on every decision I make regarding our child’s future—’

  ‘Stop,’ he said. ‘Every decision you make?’

  ‘I’ll consult you first,’ Sadie protested, thinking that quite fair.

  ‘On the decisions you make,’ Alejandro repeated, frowning. ‘I think you’ll find it doesn’t work like that.’

  ‘Then, what will work for you?’ she asked.

  Could they really be this far apart? Alejandro wondered.

  Yes, because you can’t bring yourself to open up, any more than Sadie can allow trust into her life. Say it—tell her how you feel about her right now or regret the missed opportunity for ever.

  ‘I love you, Sadie Montgomery.’ Stroking her hair back from her face, he admitted, ‘I’m only sorry it’s taken me this long to tell you how much I love you. I guess I’m no better at expressing my feelings than you’ve been at holding them in today.’

  ‘I’m one up on you, at least,’ she whispered. ‘I love you more than you know. I can’t believe I found you.’

  ‘Nor I you.’

  ‘Poor you,’ she said. ‘I bet you wish you’d dodged out of the way.’

  ‘Seriously, Sadie, I’m lucky to have you in my life.’

  ‘But don’t feel obligated,’ she whispered. ‘I can do this without you. No pressure.’

  ‘No pressure, and none required,’ he confirmed. ‘I’ve no doubt you can achieve anything you set your mind to. But do you want to do everything on your own? I know I don’t. I used to, until you showed me a different way.’

  ‘A crotchety, combative, challenging way, do you mean?’ she suggested with a cheeky grin.

  ‘A healthy, vibrant, open way,’ he argued.

  ‘You love me,’ Sadie confirmed, frowning deeply as she searched his eyes.

  ‘Yes. Why is that so hard to believe? From now on you can step back sometimes, and I’ll be there to support you. You don’t have to be strong all the time. Parenting between couples is a partnership...or it should be.’

  ‘You’ve changed,’ she murmured.

  ‘And so have you,’ he pointed out. ‘We’re both in the process of changing. Baby steps,’ he teased with a smile.

  The silence was longer this time. Not for one second did Sadie’s gaze flicker as she studied his eyes. And then she smiled and relaxed. ‘Baby steps with your feet?’

  He shrugged. ‘So long as they don’t land in my mouth.’

  ‘But, what if I can’t?’ she said, frowning again.

  ‘Can’t what?’

  ‘Be a good mother?’ she explained worriedly. ‘You have the example of a happy family to look back on and copy.’

  ‘While you have all the tools necessary to make sure you avoid the mistakes of the past. Come on, Sadie, you’re better than this. You never let anything get on top of you in the past.’

  ‘Except you.’

  He grinned and shifted position, to warm her, and to remind her that theirs was a very passionate relationship. ‘Except me,’ he conceded. ‘You’ll grab the challenge of having a new little person in your life as you have everything else, only this time you’ll have the reward of a small person who loves you as I love you. There are no quick fixes. Just trust me, and in the future you’ll know I was right about you, Sadie Montgomery.’

  ‘As you said, baby steps,’ she finally accepted with a rueful smile.

  ‘Plus time, an
d a lot of loving,’ he said as he brought her back into his arms.

  * * *

  They returned in high spirits. Annalisa was at the flamenco camp with Marissa where she would stay until the heat created by her break-up with the Prince died down. Instead of interfering, as he usually did, he had taken Sadie’s advice and backed off. Annalisa was safe with friends and family in the mountains, which left him free to suggest to Sadie that they should return to Madrid so she could have a doctor check her out, and stay on for a few days at his house in the city. He wanted her to know that his feelings for her wouldn’t change whether he was the Gypsy King, or a member of the Spanish aristocracy.

  There was no denying the fact that his life was very different in Madrid, but Sadie was adaptable, and if she wanted this as much as he did, she would accept the compromises they would both have to make. His free time would be limited, but so would hers, and when the baby came they would both have to make changes.

  With so many things yet to be settled between them, they slept this last night in the mountains in each other’s arms. He loved this woman and knew now that it was his responsibility to prove that he did with more than words.

  * * *

  The next day they arrived back at his house in Madrid.

  ‘I’m surprised,’ Sadie exclaimed as he entered the large, formal drawing room to find her waiting for him.

  ‘By what?’ he queried, thinking how beautiful she looked, with the natural grace of a duchess and the composure that said, finally, she felt secure, and that fun element that was pure, unadulterated Sadie.

  ‘I’m surprised to see you looking so relaxed here,’ she explained as he raked his shower-damp hair. ‘I’ve only seen you dressed down like this in the mountains before.’

  He noticed her cheeks pinking up as her gaze skittered over him. ‘I don’t wear a suit every day in the city,’ he explained. ‘Can I get you a drink? Water? Juice?’