Lucas smiled at her. “I couldn’t agree more. She’s sure healed me a couple of times now.”
Embarrassed by their praise, she focused on her empty bowl without saying anything more. At least the conversation had turned to subjects other than—
“What are your intentions toward my sister?”
She sighed. Intentions? Really, Eduardo? The man refused to let it go. He was worse than a wolf feeding on a fresh carcass.
Rather than become defensive, Lucas smiled and turned to Cassie. “We have a lot in common. I think we’re becoming good friends.”
Sorry, Lucas. I cannot be friends with you.
“I found you naked and asleep with her.”
Enough! Cassie slammed her spoon onto the table. “Eduardo, stop it! I explained to you why we were together that way.”
Eduardo glared at her. “I have seen how familiar he is with you—enticing you to eat, causing you to blush when he looks at you, calling you pet names.” Eduardo paused, and she hoped he would stop. But no. “There is something you are not telling me.”
He turned his focus on Lucas. “Have you taken advantage of my sister’s innocence?”
Well, that was a loaded question. Eduardo had found them naked in each other’s arms. Of course, nothing had happened, but Lucas paused too long, whether from shock or trying to find the right words, which only fueled Eduardo’s suspicions. Guilt and something she could not read were evident on Lucas’s face.
“I knew it.” Eduardo’s breathing grew shallow and rapid as he fisted his hand.
Would he attack Lucas? He would have to go through her to do so. Why did Lucas not simply reassure him that nothing had happened? Cassie set her lips in a straight line. She was not sure now if she wanted to deck her brother or Lucas before running to hide from both of them. Her chest rose and fell several times as her own breathing became more agitated.
In Spanish, Eduardo directed his next words at her. “As your brother and guardian, it is my place to make sure that your honor is upheld and that you are protected.”
Cassie glanced at Lucas, but he resumed eating without making eye contact. Did he understand Spanish and know what Eduardo had said? Was his lip twitching as if he fought bursting into laughter? Perhaps this was funny to him, but certainly not to her.
She decided to respond in Spanish, as well, just in case. “I am no longer under your protection. I have lived alone now for five years. The only way anything about me will be learned by our parents is if you take your lies back to them. I suggest you keep your conclusions to yourself and let me live my life as I see fit.”
Could this conversation make her any more uncomfortable—or angry? If only Eduardo knew he was too late to preserve something that no longer existed. Her innocence, honor, and reputation had been destroyed long ago—the night she snuck out of the house to go out with Pedro, looking for a little excitement after having so much fun clubbing with Kitty in New York City.
But she had no intention of enlightening him. Even if Pedro’s and Diego’s threats against her and her parents were idle ones, she would not take the chance of shaming her family with the knowledge of what she had allowed to happen by her own stupidity. Too much time had passed for her to prove she had been anything but a willing participant.
Cassie did not want to relive those memories by having to tell the story anyway. She had left that behind in Peru. Her honor could never be avenged, but she had no desire to have the filth smeared in her face again.
No man. No sex. No marriage.
She shuddered, speaking under her breath in Spanish, as rude as it was to Lucas. She feared her brother would say something about what he thought had happened that night with Pedro, only to embarrass her further. “Eduardo, if you say another word, I will kick you out of my house and never permit you to return. Do I make myself clear?”
Her words reverberated in her head as if through a megaphone. Had she really just stood up to her brother? Her hand shook from the enormity of it.
Lucas set his spoon down and took a deep breath before glaring at Eduardo. She had never seen him angry, but something seethed beneath the surface. “Cassie’s a grown woman, and what she chooses to do is up to her.”
No! Now he made it sound as though they had been doing something they shouldn’t. “Lucas, tell him what happened. We have not been alone to corroborate our stories. As long as you tell the truth, he can see that I have not been lying to him.”
He grinned at her. “I’m coming to that part, darlin’.”
Stop calling me that, especially in front of Eduardo!
“Listen, your sister has done nothing to dishonor herself since the day we met last year. She—”
Instead of responding to him, Eduardo addressed her with steely eyes. “You have known him for a year? I thought you said you just met with some friends a couple of weeks ago.”
Cassie slammed her fist on the table, rattling the spoons in the bowls. “Eduardo, stop this immediately! Nothing happened! We hardly know each other!”
“But I found you in bed together. There is something you are not telling me.”
Fine time for his psychic abilities to surface. There were a lot of things she had not told Eduardo, but when it came to Lucas, she had been completely honest.
Now he twisted her words, attempting to trip her up. She glared at him before venturing one more time to prove her innocence. Through gritted teeth, she explained again. “We first met last September through my friend and college roommate Kitty. You remember her from your visits to me at Columbia?”
“The Goth singer?”
“Yes, but she is not as Goth anymore. She will soon become a mother and sings at her husband’s um…private club in Denver now.”
Best not to mention what kind of club.
“Anyway, some friends of hers were hanging out near here recently, and Kitty asked me to join them. We do not see each other very much anymore. I told you about this gathering already. Lucas happened to be among them. He and I had not seen each other since last October. No, I mean, December.” He flustered her to the point she had completely forgotten about their brief encounter at her first gallery opening.
Eduardo opened his mouth to pounce at her slip of the tongue. Why was he being so accusatory? Why assume she was being anything but honest with him?
Did he know she had lied to her family about the rape?
Her soup refluxed into her throat.
“Stop badgering your sister.” Lucas’s hand reached out to hers, but she pulled away. This was no time for him to display what Eduardo would interpret as Lucas being her solicitous lover.
Cassie glanced at Lucas, imploring him not to make matters worse, but he was not finished with Eduardo yet and ignored her. “She’s told you what happened. Why do you refuse to listen to what she’s saying?”
Eduardo stood and stared down at him. “If you were any kind of man, you would protect her reputation by doing the right thing.”
Lucas also stood, more slowly, his chair scraping on the linoleum floor. Her brother was several inches shorter than Lucas, but drew himself up to his full height in an attempt to intimidate Lucas anyway.
Without success. “I think you owe your sister an apology.”
Goddess, they are going to come to blows.
“Please, Lucas. Sit down. I can handle this.” Not that she was making any headway with her stubborn brother, either. The two men’s demeanors infested her home with negative energy. Well, not Lucas so much as Eduardo.
After a long, tense moment, Lucas complied and sat. She faced her brother and smiled, hoping to diffuse his anger. “I realize you think you saw something inappropriate this morning, but it was not what you think. I have explained what happened. If you choose not to believe me…”
Eduardo narrowed his gaze at Cassie and addressed her in rapid Spanish. “If Papá had seen what I saw this morning, he would demand that you marry this man immediately to save your honor and reputation.”
Cassie
stood so quickly her chair tumbled backward. No one would coerce her into marrying against her will. She had avoided one such arranged marriage already. Thank the Goddess she had never told Eduardo or her family about the rape. Otherwise, she might have found herself married off to Pedro by now, her life—no, her very soul—destroyed.
Her family did not control her actions any longer. Of course, her parents’ generous monetary gifts helped pay her living expenses. Because it was still early in her career, Cassie needed time to build up her savings. She had hoped last year’s gallery exhibition would be more successful than it had been and had been forced to schedule another one next month. Peddling her artwork was a necessary evil. She found much more joy in her studio creating the works than smiling at people as they scrutinized her art and decided whether they would pay to take something home.
What if the upcoming gallery showing was unsuccessful? And her parents cut her off because she refused to return home or to marry Lucas?
The walls closed in around her. Her hands grew damp, and she fisted them at her sides. In Spanish, albeit with false bravado, she spoke through her clenched teeth, “Lucas will not be forced to marry me. And I will not be returning to Peru.”
She hoped to keep Eduardo from further intimidation tactics. Lucas struck her as the kind of man who would defend a woman’s honor if he thought he had been responsible for damaging it.
But nothing immoral had happened between them! What man would allow himself to be coerced into marriage without anything in it for him? Eduardo would never be able to shackle Lucas with a defective, unwilling, frigid wife.
No, marriage for her was out of the question. End of discussion.
Memories of being held in Lucas’s arms last night—touching him even—left her confused. What if…
No. Out of the question.
She had no interest in marrying—ever.
Chapter Five
Marry her?
Luke’s Spanish might be rusty, and she had spoken in rapid-fire Spanish, but Luke caught a couple words, including his name and casarse.
Marry me.
Judging by the expression on her face and the anger in her voice, she just told her brother she wouldn’t marry me if I were the last man on earth.
Hold on here. It’s not like he’d even asked her. He didn’t know how things were done in Peru, but weren’t shotgun weddings a thing of the past?
No wonder Cassie had been pissed at Eduardo since he’d arrived. Hell, Luke barely knew the girl and had done nothing inappropriate with her. He wouldn’t let her brother force them into a farce of a marriage just because the man was a century—maybe two—behind the times.
Then something else the man said earlier sunk in. It pleased the hell out of him to hear that those were blushes on Cassie’s face just as he’d suspected a few times. If Luke wasn’t so pissed at the way her brother was treating her right now, he’d have grinned in triumph.
The silent showdown between the siblings continued until Eduardo waved a hand in frustration and marched out of the kitchen. Instead of relishing her victory, Cassie began shaking. Aw, hell. Luke automatically reached out to hold her, but she held her hands up to ward him off.
“I am fine!”
Was she trying to convince him or herself? “Mind telling me what that was all about?” He might as well play dumb because he had only caught a little of what they said after they lapsed into their native language.
“A difference of opinion.”
I’ll say.
Surprising him, she elaborated. “My brother thinks I am still sixteen and in need of his protection.” She took her and her brother’s near-empty bowls to the sink and rinsed them out. He carried his own over to set it down, but tried not to invade her personal space. Cassie needed a wider berth today. Too bad, because they had been making progress over the past twelve days.
“Want me to have a talk with him? Maybe I can set him straight about how things are done in this country.” Hell, in this century.
She dropped her sponge and pivoted around. “No! If he will not listen to me, he will not believe you, either. Just let him be. He needs to learn that I am grown and live by American social standards now. What I do with my life is my choice. If I choose to have a lover, it would not be any of his business.”
Do not think about her choosing you as her lover, Denton.
“I don’t want him thinking things about you that aren’t true. You and I both know nothing happened out in the shed.”
A shadow clouded her eyes, and she looked down. “There are things you do not know about me. Eduardo will always feel he needs to—”
He tucked his index finger under her chin and forced her to meet his gaze. “I know all I need to know about you, darlin’. Don’t let him or anyone else tell you different. You are one special lady.” Well, when she wasn’t all prickly, but maybe she had her reasons for being wary of men and putting up a front. All Luke needed to know to judge her character was that she’d risked her own safety and peace of mind to see to his needs. She’d nursed him back to health—twice. Cooked amazing meals for him. Even let him share in the experience of bringing Gracie’s baby into the world. And her alpacas loved and trusted her. Animals were good judges of people.
So was he. Despite the façade she showed the world, deep down, she was kind, compassionate, and loving. She just didn’t seem to know how to deal with those emotions and tried to shut them off.
“Any man would be proud to have you as his wife.”
She narrowed her gaze. “You understood what I said to Eduardo?”
Luke recognized the spreading ruddiness in her cheeks as a blush this time and forced himself not to grin. “Just bits and pieces. Stick to your guns. Don’t let him force you into doing something you don’t want to do.” He lowered his hand to his side. “But if the day ever comes that you want to get hitched, you could do a lot worse than me, darlin’.”
Damn. Where had that come from? Maybe his ego had been a little bruised by the way she’d made him feel like shit on her boots when she’d told her brother she wouldn’t marry him. Still, she’d pretty much been yanking at his heartstrings since that day last fall in the waiting room when she sketched the picture of Maggie and his baby.
Realizing how cocky he sounded, he grinned. “Sorry, darlin’. My mouth has a mind of its own sometimes.”
“You will make some lucky woman very happy someday, Lucas. I am just not that woman. Too much has…” Her voice drifted off, and she turned back to the sink. “Thank you for not taking offense at my brother’s words. He was raised in a strict, patriarchal society in which girls and young women are seen as innocent beings who need to be wrapped in woolen blankets until their wedding night. It is a matter of honor for Peruvian men that their daughters and sisters remain pure and untouched until marriage.” She sighed and muttered under her breath, but just loudly enough he caught the words. “It is too late for me.”
So she’d had a boyfriend back home, and it sounded as though they’d had a serious relationship if she thought she was no longer pure by her culture’s standards.
“Pedro?” The name slipped out before he had time to apply a filter.
She spun around and blinked at him a couple of times. “How do you know about Pedro?” What was it he saw in her eyes—fear? Hatred? Certainly not love and affection.
“You spoke his name in your sleep this morning.”
She closed her eyes and swallowed hard. Again, he wanted to reach out and hold her, comfort her, but knew she wouldn’t let him. After a moment, she glanced up again, her gaze empty of emotion.
“Pedro was my fiancé. We were to be married after I graduated from uni.” Her hand shook first, and then the tremors moved up to her shoulders. Poor girl wasn’t holding in her emotions as well as she wanted.
Aw, hell. Luke closed the gap. Her rigid stance told him not to put his arms around her, so he stroked her arm gently instead. “Shhh.” If anyone needed a hug right about now, it was Cassie. H
owever, something told him baby steps would work better with her. She didn’t pull away from his gentle, nonthreatening touch on her arm, at least. He wished he could give her more, but didn’t want to send her running again.
So if she’d willingly had sex with him before marriage, something must have happened to Pedro to break off their engagement. Some kind of accident or something? Was he dead? “I’m so sorry, Sweet Pea.”
He’d suffered the loss of his first love, too. Still, he might be jumping to conclusions. Cassie hadn’t really said what had happened to her fiancé. Maybe he’d betrayed her. Cheated on her. Left her.
He’d definitely left her hurting.
“Wanna tell me about him? Maybe it will help.”
She took a step back until she was pressed against the wall. Her glance darted toward the doorway as if planning her escape. “No. I never want to talk about him again. He is dead to me.”
That didn’t sound as though he was literally dead, just that she’d ended things with him. But she still dreamt about him, so some part of her hadn’t resolved the end of the relationship.
“Then he wasn’t worthy of you in the first place. You’ll find the right man someday.”
A man like me.
Whoa!
After his initial shock, though, he wondered why not him? Dammit, he could love, cherish, and protect her better than most.
“I will never let any man that close again.”
So much for that idea, Denton.
Sounded like Pedro was the bastard who sent her up here to hide away. “I’m sorry he hurt you, Cassie. But not every man you meet will be like him.”
She drew in a ragged breath. “You don’t understand.”
“Then help me understand.”
Her breathing stilled, and he thought she might actually confide in him. But the walls came up again quickly. “I do not wish to speak of it.”
Luke ran his hand through his hair. He wasn’t going to get anywhere in lowering her defenses with a battering ram. Eduardo’s ultimatum sure hadn’t helped. Things had been going so well before he turned up. With the two of them left alone up here long enough, maybe passions could have flared and landed them back in the sack.
Nobody's Dream (Rescue Me Saga #6) Page 13