Marinda shook her head and kept her voice low. “Who would want to marry Esteban Cesare, handsome though he may be?” Marinda crossed herself for protection before continuing. “It is said he had done unspeakable things during his sixteen years with Pacquito’s band of renegades.”
Rosa could not help but feel a twinge of sympathy for Esteban Cesare. “It was not his fault that he was captured by renegades when he was fourteen years old.”
“No, it wasn’t,” Marinda agreed. “But why did he stay with them these many years. Why didn’t he return as soon as escape was possible?”
Rosa kept her thoughts to herself. She understood what it was like to be in a position where although escape seemed possible... it wasn’t.
“I have heard that no decent family will accept Don Cesare’s generous marriage offer for his son. All the wealthy haciendas have closely guarded their daughters since his return and that now Don Alejandro looks to the peasant people for a suitable wife.”
Rosa raised her brow in question. “Don Alejandro would allow his son to wed a peasant woman?”
“The gossips say he is desperate for his son to return to a normal life, marry, have children, and help run the wealthy Cesare lands. I suppose he hopes it will help bury his son’s sinful past and he would once again be accepted into their world.”
“His son needs to heal... to forgive before he can forget.”
“Forgive who?” Marinda asked always curious by Rosa’s strange responses.
“Himself, of course,” Rosa answered as though it was common knowledge and everyone understood.
Marinda’s voice dropped so low that Rosa had to lean closer to hear her. “Forgive himself for what... for all the vile things he has done?”
“No,” —Rosa shook her head— “forgive himself for the strength it took him to survive. Few people would have such courage.”
Audible, shocked gasps drew both their attentions and they looked up to see what had caused the startled cries.
Don Alejandro and his son Esteban were riding in an open carriage through the center of St. Lucia at a slow pace. The shiny black and silver trimmed conveyance glittered in the morning sun. Don Alejandro waved and called out to friends, his smile broad, pleasant, and sincere.
Esteban sat straight and stiff as though prepared to battle any ill wind that blew his way. His demeanor was arrogant and unapproachable. But his handsome features caught the women’s breathes and sent their hearts beating rapidly.
From the size of him compared to his father sitting beside him, he had to be several inches over six feet. And from the fit of his garments his body was well-honed. His black-as-night hair shined and was pulled back in a tie at the nape of his neck.
The carriage neared Marinda and Rosa.
“Don’t look into his eyes,” Marinda warned before lowering her head.
But Rosa could not take her eyes off the handsome man that had had tongues wagging since his return and besides he looked straight ahead as if he wasn’t the least interested in those around him.
Don Alejandro waved to her, which she had expected since on several occasions business had brought him to the home of the family she resided with. Rosa smiled and waved recalling the older man’s warmth and friendliness.
Esteban’s head turned then with a sharp snap and caught her eyes in such an intense grip that Rosa was held spellbound. It was as though his eyes penetrated her, and she could feel the heat and fury contained within him as he stayed his glance, his head turning slowly to hold it there as the carriage continued on. It wasn’t until the conveyance disappeared around the end building that she was free of him.
The breath, she hadn’t realized she had been holding, came out in a short gasp. Her knees turned so weak that Marinda grabbed her arm and helped her to lean against the well wall.
“I warned you not to look at him,” Marinda scolded. “Now that you have cast your eyes upon evil, you will pay.”
Rosa trembled from Marinda’s dire prediction or from Esteban’s potent look, she couldn’t be certain. She knew one thing though. She would not look upon his dark sinful eyes ever again.
~~~
“The young woman interests you?” Don Alejandro asked shortly after the carriage pulled away from the St. Lucia Mission. As usual Esteban had refused to enter the church. Padre Marten had not encouraged him. Until Esteban confessed his sins, the scared ground of the church was no place for him.
Receiving no immediate answer Alejandro asked again, “The young woman... she interests you?”
Esteban did not look at his father when he spoke. “I have no intentions of marrying... ever.”
“It is your obligation as my son to marry and produce an heir,” Alejandro reminded impatiently for what he felt must have been at least the hundredth time.
Esteban turned his head slowly as his brow drew together in a frown and spoke in a tone that always managed to send a chill through Alejandro. “I will not marry.”
Alejandro stirred uncomfortably in his seat. “We will discuss—”
“We have discussed enough!” Esteban snapped. This ridiculous idea his father had must be put to rest immediately. Marriage was not now nor would it ever be part of his life. “I have not taken another man’s orders for several years. You will do well to remember the things I have told you, Father, and cease this senseless search for a wife for me.”
Alejandro gave a gentle shrug as though it was no burden. “Your mother and I only wish your happiness.”
The one corner of Esteban’s mouth rose but a fraction. Alejandro had learned quickly that this slight, almost undetectable expression was what passed as a smile for his son. And laughter? He had heard none from his son since his return and it made him wonder if Esteban was even capable of ever laughing again.
“I am happy, Father,” Esteban said much too unconvincingly.
Alejandro could hold back no longer. “Happy? You barely speak to anyone. You never smile or laugh. You distance yourself from your mother whenever she approaches you. This is what you call happy?”
Esteban had remained stoic throughout his father’s brief scolding. Even now no emotion clouded his face. “I have changed. If you and Mother find my change too difficult to accept, perhaps I should leave.”
Alejandro’s hand flew to his chest, his heart skipping several beats and his breath catching. He could not lose his son a second time. He would be devastated not to mention his dear wife Valeriana’s reaction. It was unthinkable. He shook his head slowly; his expression sad. “Your mother and I love you and would be heartbroken if you were to leave us. We want only what is best for you.”
“What is best,” Esteban emphasized, “is to leave me be.”
Don Alejandro simply nodded in response and watched with little interest as the carriage turned onto Cesare property. His generous wealth laid spread out around him. Vineyards of fresh grapes, orchards abundant with fruit, livestock enough to feed the entire valley, yet it all seemed unimportant at the moment. The only thing that concerned him was his son.
“Rosalita Mendez is a sweet nina and talented.”
Esteban stiffened considerably, and it brought a pleased smile to Alejandro’s lips. He had finally touched an emotional chord in his son, or perhaps Rosalita had.
“She was so very delighted and grateful when I presented her with drawing charcoals and papers that she insisted on drawing a portrait of me. Your mother contended that Rosalita had captured my true nature, especially around the eyes.”
Alejandro stopped, disappointed that he wasn’t holding his son’s attention. He recalled what best stirred a man’s interest in a woman. And smiled as he said, “Many of the young men fancy Rosalita.”
That did it.
Esteban turned with a snap to glare at his father. His voice remained controlled but his tone was hard. “And does she enjoy their favors?”
Alejandro refused to allow his son’s caustic remark to disturb him. “She is a good girl and keeps them at a respectable dis
tance.”
“She wears a gentle smile,” Esteban said although Alejandro felt certain it was more a spoken thought not meant to be shared.
“She is gentle and kind; truly a good woman,” Alejandro assured and tempted fate further with his next words. “Would you like to meet her?’
Esteban remained silent as the carriage pulled into the circular entrance of the courtyard of the Cesare hacienda and stopped beside the fountain spurting water to the heaven.
He stepped down out of the carriage and with deliberate slowness turned back around to catch his father’s hopeful look with his potent one. “She fears me. I can see it in her eyes, and she has good reason to,” —Esteban raised his hand to stop his father from interrupting— “good reason, Father.”
Esteban loosened the black slim tie at his throat and opened his shirt down to his waist, as if shedding the image of Don Cesare’s respectable son and returning to who he had been forced to become... a wild, merciless renegade. And his words proved it. “The moment I laid eyes on her I wanted her. My blood fired with uncontrollable lust, my groin throbbed and I thought of nothing more than stripping her naked and taking her like a wild stallion would take a mare.”
Alejandro paled considerably.
“I see that you needed reminding of what I have become. Keep the gentle nina away from me or she will suffer badly.” Esteban turned and walked away grumbling.
Alejandro caught his son’s barely intelligible words—she deserves better— and that gave him a ray of hope.
He would contact Roberto Curro, Rosalita’s guardian, immediately. He was certain that the man would be most cooperative. It was well known that Roberto was more interested in coin than people. That was the only reason Roberto and his wife Lola had taken the twelve year old girl in seven years ago. Rosalita’s parents had passed away when fever had struck the village. There were whispered rumors that a padre from a nearby mission had paid Roberto to take the child in and care for her.
Alejandro would offer a substantial amount for Rosalita. One that Roberto surely would not refuse, although he might demand more. But Alejandro was willing to pay a king’s ransom to buy his son a wife. Especially one his son had found some interest in. He shuddered recalling his son’s sinful words from moments before. Esteban was not the barbarian he painted himself to be. Somewhere inside him was the respectful and caring son that he had raised and perhaps Rosalita could help set him free.
He shook his head absentmindedly as he finally climbed down out of the carriage. Esteban would not hurt Rosalita. Never would his son surrender to such wicked thoughts. Never.
“Rosalita will make Esteban a good wife,” Alejandro murmured, as if saying it aloud would make it so. “She will help heal him.”
Alejandro walked toward the door, his step a little lighter, but he stopped suddenly just before entering the house and crossed himself. “Please, Madre Dios, let it be so.”
~~~
If you would like to be notified when this book becomes available send an e-mail to [email protected] with Renegade Love in the message book.
Author’s Note
When I first got published many years ago I wrote romances set in the American West. I enjoyed exploring the various times in American history and I loved discovering the strength and courage of the characters that forged a nation.
I’ve pulled those books out of the archives to make them available again. They are now part of my American Collection. The books will introduce you to many intriguing characters while touring the American west. You’ll visit the Barbary Coast and Nob Hill in San Francisco and meet up with the Dragon and the Serpent an unlikely pair to fall in love in my first book San Francisco Surrender. You’ll have the best time in the Dakota Territory with a proper Boston woman and an infamous gunslinger in Tame Your Wild Touch. And you’ll enjoy seeing what happens when a sheriff’s daughter has no choice but to wed an English duke, another book set in the Dakota Territory in Rebellious Bride. You’ll travel back to the inception of Los Angeles when the Spaniards owned the land and find yourself enjoying the antics of a servant girl who bests an arrogant Spaniard at every turn, though not when it comes to love in Untamed Fire. And finally the sequel to that book Renegade Love where readers can finally find out what happened to Rosa.
Revisiting the American Collection books got me itching to write more books set in the American West so I’m busy doing just that. I’m working on a trilogy about three very different women who wind up in a small western town and forge unlikely friendships as they each fall in love with men not at all suited for them... or so they think.
I hope you enjoy my American Collection as much as I enjoyed writing them.
If you’d like to be notified when an American Collection book becomes available just send an email to [email protected] with AC BOOK ALERT in the message box. If you’d like to know when any of my books become available then put BOOK ALERT in the message box.
Happy reading... Donna Fletcher
Titles by Donna Fletcher
Single Titles
San Francisco Surrender
Untamed Fire
Rebellious Bride
The Buccaneer
Tame My Wild Touch
Playing Cupid
Whispers on the Wind
Series Books
The Wedding Spell (Wyrrd witch series)
Magical Moments
Magical Memories
Remember the Magic
The Irish Devil
Irish Hope
Isle of Lies
Love Me Forever
Dark Warrior
Legendary Warrior
The Daring Twin
The Bewitching Twin
Taken By Storm
Highlander’s Bride
Return of the Rogue (Sinclare brothers’ series)
Under the Highlander’s Spell
The Angel & The Highlander
Highlander’s Forbidden Bride
Bound To A Warrior (Warrior King series)
Loved By A Warrior
A Warrior’s Promise
Wed To A Highland Warrior
About the Author
Donna Fletcher is a USA Today bestselling romance author. Her books are sold worldwide. She started her career selling short stories and winning reader contests. She soon expanded her writing to her love of romance novels and sold her first book SAN FRANCISCO SURRENDER the year she became president of New Jersey Romance Writers. Donna is also a past President of Novelists, Inc.
Drop by Donna’s website www.donnafletcher.com where you can learn more about her.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Author’s Note
Titles
About the Author
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