RAMIREZ'S WOMAN

by Beverly Barton

  She kissed his cheek. "Hush, querido, hush. This problem cannot be solved right now."

  "I fear it cannot be solved at all."

  She lay there in his arms for quite some time, neither of them speaking, only listening to the rain and to each other's slow, steady breathing.

  Suddenly Miguel sat straight up in bed, his body taut, his hands balled into fists. She sat up beside him.

  "Miguel?"

  "I am such a fool. I truly believed that I could offer Mocorito a future of prosperity, with equal rights for all citizens. I have been so full of myself, so certain that I and I alone was destined to lead my people into the twenty-first century."

  His body trembled. Just a slight tremor, but visible even in the semidark. Oh, God, the pain inside him is ripping him apart.

  J.J. wrapped her arms around him. "Don't do this to yourself. Please. Miguel. Querido."

  He fell into her arms and rested his head against her breasts. It was then that she felt the dampness of his tears as they moistened her chest where her robe had fallen open.

  As she held him, she caressed his head and rubbed his back. Stroking him. Comforting him.

  Loving him.

  * * *

  Seina was awakened by the ringing telephone. When she flipped on her bedside lamp and glanced at the clock, she saw that it was nearly five-thirty. Who would be calling this early in the morning? She rose from her bed and put on her robe, then slipped out of her room and down the hall. When she neared Diego's bedroom, she heard him talking. Without knocking, she opened the door and walked in on him.

  He sat on the edge of his bed, his hair mussed, his eyes bleary.

  "Why was I not notified before now? What? I don't care what she told you, she is like a member of my family, my sister's best friend."

  "What is it?" Seina rushed to Diego. "Has something happened to Gala?"

  He held up a his hand, issuing a halt gesture. Seina stopped cold. "Señorita Hernandez's mother is dead and her father is remarried and lives in Buenaventura. I will notify him that she has been in an accident. And my sister and I will be at the hospital this morning."

  "What happened?" Seina pleaded for more information.

  "Spare no expense on her behalf," Diego said. "Our family will, naturally, pay for everything." He replaced the receiver and turned to Seina, holding his hand out to her.

  She grabbed his hand and sat down on the bed beside him. "Tell me."

  "Seina was in an automobile accident the night before last and was taken to St. Augustine's. She had no identification on her, no driver's license, no car registration. That foolish, foolish woman. When she recovered consciousness, she refused to talk to anyone, but one of the nurses managed to pry your name from her."

  "I'm going to dress now and go straight to the hospital." Seina jumped up.

  "Wait and I will go with you."

  She glared at her brother. "Why? You do not care for Gala. If you did, you would not treat her as you do."

  "What are you talking about? Of course I care for Gala."

  "Liar."

  Diego stared at her, a look of utter shock on his face.

  "I know," Seina said.

  "You know what?"

  "I know that you forced her to take poison to Anton Casimiro's party so that someone could use it to make Miguel Ramirez's friends and political supporters sick. I know that you are helping President Padilla to undermine Miguel's bid for the presidency by using whatever unscrupulous means you believe necessary."

  "How do you know—"

  "I overheard you talking to Gala. I know she left our home drunk and frightened. Because of you."

  Diego grabbed Seina by the shoulders. "You have to believe me when I say that I did not wish any harm to come to her."

  "That is the problem—I do not believe you." She jerked loose from his tenacious hold. "Who are you? I do not know you. You are not the brother I have known and loved all my life. You have allowed your hatred for our brother—yes, our brother, our father's other son—to turn you into a monster. The old Diego helped Gala when she was in trouble. He kept her out of prison and paid for her stay in a rehabilitation center. He might have been a bit cocky and self-absorbed, but he had a good heart."

  "Seina, I…I…"

  She glared at him.

  "I do not know what to say."

  "Tell me it is not too late to save your soul."

  He hung his head. In shame? She prayed with all her heart that her brother was still capable of feeling shame.

  "I am going to take a shower, then dress and drive to St. Augustine's," she told him. "And I am quite certain that Seina will not want to see you. I am not even sure she will want to see me."

  * * *

  J.J. awoke slowly, languidly, her body warm, her limbs relaxed. She felt something touch her neck. Gentle strokes of a fingertip. Her eyelids fluttered.

  "Mmm…mmm…" she opened her eyes and looked at Miguel who lay beside her, staring at her as he ran his index finger down her throat, stopping just short of delving between her breasts.

  She smiled at him. "What time is it?"

  "Almost six."

  She nodded. "How long have you been awake?"

  "About fifteen minutes. I have been lying here looking at you."

  Her smiled widened. "Have you?"

  "I went to sleep in your arms, didn't I?"

  "Yes."

  He knew that she knew he had cried in her arms before he had fallen asleep. There was no need to mention it, to discuss it. It was a fact only the two of them shared. Now and forever.

  "Thank you, Jennifer."

  She reached out and cradled his cheek with the palm of her hand. "I want to do everything that I can to help you. These next few days will not be easy for you. You can depend on me to—"

  He pulled away from her, sat up and then turned his back on her as he settled on the edge of the bed and slumped his shoulders.

  "Miguel?"

  "I want you to go back to America."

  "What?"

  "I want you to take the first flight out of Nava today."

  She tossed back the covers and crawled over behind him, then wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his back. "Don't talk foolishness," she said in English. "I won't leave you. Not now when you need me more than ever. I thought … I mean … after last night."

  He shot up off the bed. She caught herself before falling flat on her face.

  With his back to her, he said. "Instead of sleeping, I should have made love to you. You were so willing to do anything to make me feel better. Poor Miguel. He is falling apart. Let me comfort him. Let me show him how strong I am."

  She got out of bed, but didn't go to him, just stared at his back. "I know what you're trying to do and it's not going to work."

  "I am trying to tell you that I don't want you here, that I don't need you, that I want you to go away. You are only a woman and women have no purpose except—"

  "Nice try, but it didn't work." She walked across the room and paused behind him. "There's no point in your trying to think of more ways to insult me or hurt my feelings. I'm not buying your mean macho act. You're afraid that if I stay here, I'll be in more danger than you are. You're concerned that the people who killed Carlos might come after me."

  She placed her hand in the center of his back. His muscles tensed.

  "Miguel, I'm not leaving you."

  He turned and looked deeply into her eyes. "If only you were carrying my child as Dolores is carrying Emilio's child, you would go away, as she did, to protect the baby."

  Tears sprang into J.J.'s eyes. "Dammit, you've made me cry."

  He grabbed her and held her so tightly she could barely breathe and when she lifted her face to him, he lowered his head and kissed her. After he had thoroughly ravaged her mouth and they were both breathless, he ended the kiss and pressed his forehead against hers.

  "What am I going to do with you?"

  "You're going to let me stay here in Nava wi
th you and help you through the days and nights ahead."

  "Yes, querida, God forgive me, but that is exactly what I am going to do."

  * * *

  Chapter 12

  « ^ »

  J.J. clung to Miguel, knowing there was nowhere else on earth she would rather be than right here, with him, in his arms. But the logical part of her brain kept trying to get through to her, warning her that she was setting herself up for a fall. She and Miguel were caught up in a fantasy. A dangerous fantasy that could cost them dearly on a personal level when reality finally slapped them in the face with the hard, cold facts. No matter how sexually attracted they were to each other, no matter how strongly they felt the soul-deep connection that made no sense to either of them, the truth of the matter was that they had known each other for less than seventy-two hours. A bodyguard assignment that should have remained impersonal had altered drastically, metamorphosing into a grand passion.

  But this isn't real, that nagging inner voice told her. You are not Miguel Ramirez's fiancée. You two are not in love with each other. And you have no future together.

  As if he felt her uncertainty, Miguel eased his tenacious hold on her and lifted his head from where his cheek had been pressed against hers. For a split second she thought about holding on to him, clinging to him with every ounce of her strength, but instead she met his questioning gaze head-on.

  "I very much want to make love to you," he said, his voice husky with emotion.

  "I know. It's what I want, too…"

  "But?"

  "But if we make love, I'm very much afraid that I'll fall madly in love with you. And I cannot allow that to happen."

  "Jennifer…" He closed his eyes for a moment.

  "Please, help me to be strong. I cannot fight you and myself at the same time."

  He ran his hands down her arms, then released her. She shivered uncontrollably for half a second, then took a deep breath and stepped backward, putting a couple of inches between their heated bodies.

  He studied her intently, silently, as if he were trying to read her mind. Or look into her heart. "At another time, in another place…"

  She offered him a fragile smile. "Yes, I know."

  "I want you to be safe," he told her. "You should leave Mocorito as soon as possible. As my fiancée—even my fake fiancée—you could become a target. I could not bear it if anything happened to you."

  "And if I leave and you are killed because I wasn't here to protect you, how do you think I will feel? I'm a highly trained professional who was assigned the job of protecting you. I understand your reasons for wanting me to leave, but—"

  "No arguments." Shaking his head, he groaned. "Domingo Shea can take over as my personal bodyguard. I believe the time for pretense is over. I can no longer allow my ego to dictate my actions."

  "I agree that you shouldn't hide the fact that you have skilled professionals protecting you. If you announce that I am not your fiancée, but your bodyguard—"

  "I don't think that it would matter, not at this point," he told her. "It is obvious to everyone that we have feelings for each other. You will not be safe here in Mocorito. There is every chance that they will target you, just as they might target Emilio or Juan or the others closest to me.

  "I will make no announcements about you or Dom. You will leave Mocorito for your own safety and for my peace of mind. And when Dom takes over and it becomes apparent that he is guarding me, I will say that yes, my cousin is now my personal bodyguard, that it is what he does for a living back home in Miami."

  "You're going to downplay the fact. And you're going to keep up the pretense, at least in part."

  "Yes. There will be time enough to admit the entire truth, later, after… After you are safely back in the United States and after the election is over."

  "I don't want to leave you." She gazed at him pleadingly. "But you are the boss. If you choose to send me away…"

  He caressed her cheek tenderly. "If circumstances were different…"

  She sighed heavily. "I won't leave today, but I will go, if that's what you want. We can discuss the details later. Your first concern today is to make a decision about your candidacy. And you must make that decision without sharing the damning information about Hector Padilla with your closest advisors."

  "Do you believe, as Dom does, that one of them is a traitor?"

  "Yes, I do. We know you have a traitor among your closest friends, someone who is privy to all your secrets, all your decisions. Who else could it be if it is not Roberto or Emilio or perhaps Juan?"

  "You spent the evening with Juan and Aunt Josephina. Do you honestly think Juan is capable of betrayal? He is a kind, gentle man who has dedicated his life to helping others."

  "I know. I like Juan very much. And I adore his aunt. My gut instincts tell me that Juan is just what he appears to be and he would die before he would betray you."

  "And yet you still think I should not share the information about Padilla's diabolical plot with Juan?"

  "Oh, Miguel … I think the wisest course of action is to tell no one."

  * * *

  Seina Fernandez had packed a suitcase and taken it with her when she left home. Her plan was first to visit Gala in the hospital and promise her that Diego would never threaten her again; then she would go to Juan and tell him that she was cutting all ties to her family, that she wanted to be with him, to marry him and spend the rest of her life as his wife. In all honesty, she was scared to death and uncertain. When Diego and their mother discovered what she had done, they would be furious. And they would do all within their power to bring her back into the family fold. But she could not return to that house. Not ever again. Her mother would force her to marry a man she did not love, caring nothing for her happiness. And Diego had become a criminal, a man so filled with hatred that he could not see that the vile emotion was destroying him.

  Seina hesitated before knocking on Gala's hospital-room door. She would not blame her friend if she did not want to see her. After all, she had overheard Gala's conversation with Diego two nights ago and she had done nothing to intervene at the time. In a way, she was as much to blame for Gala's automobile accident as Diego was. If only she had not cowered in the dark, afraid to make her presence known.

  "Yes?" Gala said.

  Seina opened the door and peeked in, gasping when she saw Gala's badly bruised face and her arm, apparently broken, in a sling. "May I come in?"

  "Seina? Oh, God, Seina, I could have killed myself and the driver of the other car. I am such a worthless piece of trash. How can you want to be my friend?"

  Seina walked into the room, closed the door behind her and marched straight to Gala's side. Seeing the tears streaming down Gala's cheeks, Seina retrieved a tissue from the box on the bedside table, then reached down and wiped away her friend's tears.

  "Everything will be all right." Seina grasped Gala's hand. "I know what has been going on with you and Diego. I overheard the two of you talking the other night. I—I confronted him this morning and I warned him that I will not tolerate him using you in such a shameful fashion."

  Gala's eyes widened in shock. "You know? You heard? Oh, God! Oh, God … I am so sorry…"

  Seina wrapped her arms carefully around her friend and stroked her head gently. "I am the one who is sorry. I am sorry that I have been so weak and foolishly naive. If I had acted sooner, I could have spared you this pain."

  With her good arm clinging to Seina, Gala asked, "What has given you the courage to defy Diego? I have never seen you like this—so determined, so independent."

  "It is time I grew up, is it not? I can no longer blame my mother and my brother for not allowing me to be the person I want to be or to live the life I want. From now on, no one makes my decisions for me."

  "Diego will never allow you—"

  "Diego cannot hurt you again. Nor will he interfere in my plans."

  "You—you're going to blackmail him with what you heard us talking about the other night,
aren't you?"

  "I hope that will not be necessary," Seina said. "I pray that my brother will see the error of his ways before it is too late for him."

  * * *

  When J.J. and Miguel went downstairs, Roberto and Emilio were waiting for them in Miguel's study. The moment they saw J.J., they asked to speak to him privately.

  "I have no secrets from Jennifer," Miguel said. Roberto and Emilio exchanged anxious looks. "Have you forgotten that she is an employee, an American bodyguard forced on you by her government?" Emilio asked, his gaze raking contemptuously over J.J.

  "Never speak about Jennifer in such a way ever again," Miguel warned his friend.

  "See, I told you that he had become besotted with her!" Roberto spat out the sentence, then threw his arms up in disgust.

  "Carlos was murdered. Everyone in my employ, every friend, every supporter could well be in mortal danger." Miguel glared back and forth from one man to the other. "And your greatest concern this morning is my personal relationship with Jennifer?"

  "I beg your forgiveness," Roberto said. "But Emilio and I … we believe that this woman has too much influence over you, that you are listening to her instead of to us. We are your closest friends, your staunchest supporters, but it seems that you trust a woman you barely know more than you do us."

  "Has she bewitched you with her talented lovemaking?" Emilio asked. "Has she castrated the great Miguel Cesar Ramirez?"

  Miguel's face flushed and his eyes glistened with barely suppressed anger as he clenched his jaw and knotted his hands into fists. She could almost hear him mentally counting to ten. Didn't Emilio realize that he had waved a red flag in front of a raging bull?

  "How dare you!"

  Both Roberto and Emilio took several steps backward, closer to the door.

  J.J. knew that now was not the time for her to say or do anything.

  "Leave me!" Miguel roared in a voice that brooked no opposition.

  Like frightened mice scurrying from a menacing cat, both men practically ran from the room. Miguel clenched and unclenched his fisted hands as he walked to the windows overlooking the front of the house. J.J. remained silent and unmoving. He stood by the windows for several minutes, then turned around and focused on her.