One Night in BUENOS AIRES

The Vásquez Mistress

SARAH MORGAN

The Buenos Aires Marriage Deal

MAGGIE COX

Argentinian Playboy, Unexpected Love-Child

CHANTELLE SHAW

www.millsandboon.co.uk

The Vásquez Mistress

SARAH MORGAN

About the Author

SARAH MORGAN trained as a nurse and has since worked in a variety of health-related jobs. Married to a gorgeous businessman, who still makes her knees knock, she spends most of her time trying to keep up with their two little boys, but manages to sneak off occasionally to indulge her passion for writing romance. Sarah loves outdoor life and is an enthusiastic skier and walker. Whatever she is doing, her head is full of new characters and she is addicted to happy endings.

Don’t miss Sarah’s exciting new novels in June and July from Mills & Boon® Medical™ & Modern™. Also look out for Summer Fling in July.

CHAPTER ONE

SHE sat straight as a warrior on the horse, her hair gleaming like liquid gold under the baking Argentine sun.

When he’d first noticed her in the distance his reaction had been one of irritation, partly because the horse had been galloping hard in the ferocious heat, but mostly because he’d been seeking solitude, not company. And if there was one thing that the Argentine pampas offered in abundance it was the opportunity for solitude.

Endless grassland stretched far into the distance, the horizon so perfectly straight and flat that it might have been drawn with a ruler.

Irritation had turned to concern as horse and rider had drawn closer and he’d recognised the animal she was riding.

He felt a flash of anger towards whomever had allowed her to take that particular horse out alone and made a mental note to find the culprit. And then anger faded to slow, simmering masculine appraisal as he scanned the delicate lines of her features.

He had spent his life surrounded by exceptionally beautiful women, all of them more groomed than this girl, and yet he couldn’t drag his eyes away from her face. She was fair-skinned and delicate, her body a mouth-watering combination of slender limbs and perfect curves. It was as if she’d been created by the gods and thrown onto Earth for the simple purpose of tempting man.

Her creamy skin and flushed cheeks gave her an air of innocence and he gave a wry smile, surprised that he was even capable of recognising that particular quality given how rarely he’d met with it before.

In fact his cynicism was so deep-rooted that his first thought when he’d noticed her on the horizon had been to assume that she’d somehow tracked him down and followed him. But he’d dismissed that possibility instantly, knowing that her presence could only be coincidence.

A happy coincidence, he thought idly, his eyes resting on her soft mouth. A very happy coincidence indeed.

The horse flattened his ears, arched his back and gave a ferocious buck that should have unseated her.

Faith gritted her teeth and managed to stay glued to the saddle. ‘You really are in a horrible mood today, Fuego. It’s no wonder everyone is afraid of you,’ she muttered. ‘I’m not falling off here. We’re miles from home. Wherever you go, I go and the sooner you realise that the better for both of us.’

The heat was stifling and she reached for her bottle of water and then froze as she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head, the breath jamming in her throat as she saw a man watching her.

She’d been concentrating so hard on not falling off the horse, that she hadn’t noticed him.

But she noticed him now.

He was the most staggeringly handsome man she’d ever met and since she’d arrived in Argentina, she’d met quite a few. His body was lean and hard, his shoulders broad and powerful but what really disrupted the steady rhythm of her heart was the sheer raw sexuality that surrounded him like a forcefield.

‘You’re staring, signorina.’ His deep, male voice trickled through her veins like a drug and her limbs weakened.

Her horse, sensing a lack of concentration on her part, chose that moment to give another determined buck and Faith flew into the air and landed on her bottom in the dust.

‘For crying out loud!’ Pain shot through her and she sat for a moment, working out whether anything was broken. ‘That horse needs a psychiatrist.’

A pair of strong male hands closed around her waist and lifted her easily to her feet. ‘He needs a male rider.’ His eyes blazed fiercely into hers and she felt her heart stumble and trip.

‘There’s nothing wrong with my riding. It’s your fault for jumping out on me with no warning …’ Her voice tailed off because the sudden narrowing of his beautiful, sexy eyes drove all thoughts from her head.

‘I assumed you’d seen me. The Argentine grassland hardly offers a large number of hiding places.’

‘I was concentrating on my horse.’

‘You were riding too fast.’

‘Tell that to the horse, not me. I suppose that’s why they called him Fuego—my Spanish isn’t great, but I know it means “fire”.’ Faith dragged her gaze away from his handsome face in the hope that not looking at him might help her slow the crazy beating of her heart. ‘I didn’t choose the pace. With that particular horse, you always get more than you bargain for.’ What was the matter with her? She felt lightheaded and dizzy and her body felt alarmingly lethargic.

It was the heat, she told herself quickly. Just the relentless, baking heat that turned the entire landscape into a throbbing, sultry outdoor sauna.

‘You are staying at the Estancia La Lucia?’ He glanced behind him even though the elegant colonial house was over an hour away. ‘You shouldn’t be riding alone. What happened to the rest of your party? You should have a groom with you.’

‘Oh, please.’ Baking hot from the relentless sunshine and aching from her fall, Faith shot him a warning look. ‘I’m just not in the mood for all that macho Argentine-man thing. Not right now.’

He lifted an eyebrow in silent mockery. ‘Argentine-man thing?’

‘You know what I mean.’ She rubbed at the dirt on her breeches. ‘The mega-macho approach. The “sling a woman over your shoulder” method of communication.’

‘Interesting description.’ His eyes laughed into hers. ‘This is South America, cariño. Men know how to be men.’

‘I’d noticed. Ever since I stepped off the aeroplane I’ve been surrounded by so much testosterone that it’s driving me mad.’

‘Welcome to Argentina.’ There was gentle mockery in his sexy, accented drawl and suddenly she felt impossibly awkward and shy and her reaction to him infuriated her because she’d always thought of herself as a confident person.

‘Do you work here?’

His hesitation was so brief she decided that she must have imagined it. ‘Yes.’

‘Lucky you.’ She assumed he must be one of the gauchos, the cowboys who worked with the nine-hundred head of cattle that grazed this land. Dragging her eyes away from his, she wondered why this particular man was having such an effect on her. Yes, he was good-looking but so were many of the men she’d met since she’d arrived in South America.

But there was something about him …

‘Your English is amazing.’

‘That’s because I sometimes talk to women before I throw them over my shoulder.’ He studied her for a long disturbing moment, a powerful, confident male totally at home in his surroundings. Then his gaze dropped to her mouth and lingered there, as if he were making up his mind about something.

The heat went from oppressive to unbearable and the chemistry between them was so shockingly intense that she actually felt herself sway towards him in anticipation.

She desperately wanted him to kiss her and the strength of that need shocked her because she’d been pushing men away since the day she’d arrived at Buenos Aires. She was here to work, study and learn, not to meet a man. But suddenly her lips were tingling with anticipation and she found herself trapped by the lazy, knowing expression in his dangerously attractive eyes. It was as if he was savouring the moment and she knew that he’d read her thoughts. Her sense of anticipation exploded into an all-consuming sexual excitement that she’d never before experienced.

She waited breathlessly, knowing that she was poised on the brink of something wickedly exciting and sensing that this man was going to change her life for ever.

But instead of kissing her he gave a slow, expressive smile and turned his attention to her horse. ‘Your horse needs a drink.’

Released from the force of his gaze, Faith felt her entire body go limp and her face flood with colour. ‘My horse needs a lot of things.’

What had happened just then?

Had she imagined the connection between them? Had it all been in her head?

Her eyes slid to his broad shoulders and the long, lean length of his strong legs as he led her horse to the river.

No, she hadn’t imagined it. But this was no teenage boy eager for a quick grope and instant satisfaction; she was dealing with someone else entirely. He was all man, from the glossy black hair and darkened jaw to the powerful muscle that hardened his unmistakably male physique. He was cool, sophisticated and experienced and her stomach curled inside her because he carried himself with such confidence and she knew, she just knew, that he was playing with her.

Feeling as though the temperature had just shot up by a hundred degrees, Faith glared at his broad back and then bit her lip, wishing she could get rid of the agonising sizzle that was burning inside her.

Angry with herself and with him, she lifted her chin and strolled towards him, determined not to let him see how much he’d affected her.

‘I need to be getting back.’ She took Fuego’s reins and vaulted into the saddle, taking some satisfaction from the way the man’s eyes lingered on her slim thighs.

She hadn’t imagined the chemistry. The searing attraction wasn’t all on her side.

‘Wait.’ He closed a hand over Fuego’s reins, preventing the horse from moving. ‘You say that you work at the estancia. In what capacity? Do you work in the guest quarters?’

‘You’re showing your prejudices again.’ Agonisingly aware of him, she rubbed a hand over the horse’s neck to focus herself. ‘All the Argentine men I’ve met so far seem to think that a woman’s place is in the—’ She stopped herself just in time, but he lifted an eyebrow, his eyes gleaming with wicked humour.

‘You were saying? We Argentine men think a woman’s place is in the …?’

He was so desperately attractive that for a moment she couldn’t speak and she certainly didn’t want to finish her sentence. It would draw the conversation towards an extremely dangerous area that she knew was best avoided. ‘Kitchen,’ she said lamely. ‘Kitchen.’

His smile deepened. ‘Kitchen? If that’s what you think then you obviously haven’t yet deciphered the workings of the average male mind here in South America.’

That smile connected straight to her nerve endings and she was infuriated with herself for being so susceptible to his charm and masculinity.

‘The average male mind is of absolutely no interest to me,’ she said sweetly, ‘unless the mind belongs to a horse.’

‘Is that what brought you to Argentina? Our horses?’

Faith glanced around her, at the endless sweep of grassland that surrounded them. ‘I came because I read about Raul Vásquez.’

The man stilled. ‘You travelled thousands of miles to meet Raul Vásquez?’ There was a coolness to his tone that had been absent before. ‘You are hoping to catch yourself a billionaire, perhaps?’

Faith gazed at him in astonishment and then burst out laughing. ‘No, of course not. Don’t be ridiculous. Billionaire polo-patrons aren’t exactly my style, and anyway, I’ve never even met the man. He’s off in the States at the moment, negotiating some high-flying deal or other and he employs thousands of people. I don’t expect our paths are ever going to cross.’

He studied her with disturbing intensity. ‘And that would disappoint you?’

‘You misunderstand me. I’m not interested in the man, but I am interested in his polo estancia. That’s why I’m here. Raul Vásquez breeds horses and trains them and his vet facilities are the best in the world. I read a paper in a journal written by Eduardo, his chief vet. I contacted him. Landing a job here is my dream come true.’

‘Eduardo employed you?’ That statement was greeted by incredulous silence. ‘You’re a vet?’

‘Yes, I’m a vet.’ Watching the frank astonishment in his eyes, Faith gritted her teeth. ‘Welcome to the twenty-first century. Women do become vets, you know. Some of us can even walk and talk at the same time, although news of that accomplishment clearly hasn’t yet reached South America.’

‘I’m aware that some women become vets,’ he said smoothly, ‘But this is a busy, commercial stud-farm, not some small-animal practice in the city.’

‘I wasn’t interested in a small-animal practice. For me it’s always been about horses.’

His gaze slid to her arms and lingered. ‘I don’t doubt your commitment or your enthusiasm, but sometimes physical strength is required, especially out here in the pampas where we deal with powerful stallions and hormonal mares.’

Her heart rate suddenly doubled. ‘Here we go again. You think it’s all about muscle, aggression and domination, but what you need to realise is that there’s more to horsemanship than brute strength. And Raul Vásquez understands that. He has some revolutionary training methods.’

‘I’m fully aware of his training methods. Answer me one question …’ His tone was soft and deadly and his gaze returned to her face. ‘Who was in charge when you were galloping across the pampas with the wind in your hair? You or the horse?’

‘Oh, the horse,’ Faith admitted, her eyes sparkling with humour. ‘But brute force wouldn’t have changed that fact.’

‘He needs to be ridden by a man. A man with sufficient skill and strength to control him.’

Faith came back at him instantly. ‘He needs to be understood. If you want to change behaviour, then you have to first try and understand the reason behind that behaviour. Horses do things for a reason, just like humans.’

She’d spent her life studying and all her spare time around horses. No man had ever captured her attention.

Until now.

His confidence and sophistication tied her in knots and she felt horribly self-conscious and more than a little confused by her own reaction.

She would never in a million years have described herself as shy, but suddenly she was agonisingly aware of her own naivety when it came to men like him.

‘I’d better be going. I have to ride back and …’ Her voice tailed off and she wondered whether he was going to stop her.

But he didn’t.

He let his hand drop from Fuego’s bridle and stepped away. ‘Ride carefully,’ he said softly and she gave a puzzled smile because she’d been so, so sure that he was going to stop her or at least suggest that they meet again.

And she’d wanted him to.

She’d really wanted him to.

The Vásquez Polo Cup was an important annual part of the Argentine polo circuit and it was the most glittering, glamorous affair Faith had ever attended.

She was only there in her official capacity as a vet of course, but she couldn’t help glancing towards the spectators who were gathering in the stands. ‘How come the women are all so stunning?’ she wondered out loud. ‘And how do they achieve such straight hair? In this heat my hair just curls.’

‘You are looking at the elite of Buenos Aires,’ Eduardo replied, breaking off to shout instructions to one of the grooms before turning his attention back to Faith. ‘They would have spent the whole of the day preparing in the hope that they catch the boss’s eye.’

‘The boss?’ Faith glanced around her. ‘Raul Vásquez? He’s playing today isn’t he? Is he here?’

‘Not yet.’

‘But the game is due to start in five minutes.’ She couldn’t take her eyes off the women in the stands, her attention caught by the glint of diamonds against designer silk. They were like a flock of exotic birds. ‘They’re very dressed up considering they’re spending their afternoon around horses.’

‘This is polo,’ Eduardo drawled. ‘The most glamorous game in the world. Everyone dresses up.’

The men thundered onto the field on lithe, agile horses and Faith tried not to be overwhelmed by the sheer glamour of the spectacle.

She’d just stooped to examine a horse’s fetlock when she heard the noise of a helicopter in the air.

‘Here he comes,’ Eduardo murmured, glancing upwards and narrowing his eyes against the glare of the sun. ‘Match starts in two minutes. He’s cutting it fine as usual.’

Faith was too busy with the pony to pay any attention to the helicopter landing. ‘He isn’t fit.’

Eduardo frowned. ‘He’s the fittest man I’ve ever met.’

‘Not the boss, this pony!’ Faith stared at him in exasperation. ‘Does everyone here only think about Raul Vásquez?’

There was a sudden roar from the crowd and Faith realised that the game had started. She glanced over her shoulder, watching as horses and riders thundered down the pitch.

Before arriving in Argentina she’d never been to a polo match and the speed and danger of the game still left her breathless.

She turned to one of the grooms. ‘Which one is Raul Vásquez?’

‘The one taking all the risks,’ he muttered and Faith’s eyes narrowed as she turned her attention to the game.

From this distance it was impossible to distinguish anyone’s features under the protective helmet, but one man stood out from all the others. Lithe and muscular, he controlled his horse with one hand while he leaned out of the saddle to hook the ball, apparently indifferent to the danger inherent in such a manoeuvre.

Watching in disbelief, Faith braced herself for him to crash to the ground with disastrous consequences. He had to fall, surely? But with a mixture of sheer muscle-strength and athleticism, he stayed with the horse, swung his mallet with lethal accuracy and hit the ball through the posts.

The crowd erupted in ecstasy and Faith suddenly realised that she’d been holding her breath.

‘The tension of this game is unbelievable,’ she muttered and the groom grinned at her.

‘It is very aggressive, yes. But the horses love it.’

Turning her attention back to her job, Faith worked her way down the pony lines, checking each animal and talking to the grooms, and at half time one of the grooms tapped her on the shoulder. ‘Time to stomp the divets. It’s tradition. Everyone joins in.’

Spectators and players strolled onto the pitch and started treading in the lumps of turf that had been dislodged by the horses’ hooves. It was a social occasion, with much laughter and conversation, a chance for the audience to mingle with the players.

Faith stretched out her foot to push down a lump of grass but a large black boot was there before her and she glanced up into the laughing eyes of the man she’d been watching on the polo field.

Raul Vásquez.

The man from the river.

For a moment she just stared. Then she swallowed and her tongue seemed to tie itself into knots. ‘I didn’t know. You didn’t introduce yourself.’

‘I didn’t want to,’ he drawled softly and hot colour flooded her cheeks because he was just so, so attractive and although they were surrounded by beautiful, glamorous women, he was looking at her.

‘You should have told me who you were!’

‘Why? You might have behaved differently and I wouldn’t have wanted that.’ His smile was sexy, distracting and impossibly intimate.

‘How did I behave?’

He stamped down another piece of turf and his leg brushed against hers in a deliberate movement. ‘You were delightfully natural.’

She glanced around her at the poise and confidence of the women around her. ‘You mean I don’t spend all day being pampered. Why are you talking to me?’

‘Because you fascinate me.’

‘You prefer your women with no make-up and covered in dust?’

He laughed. ‘I’m interested in the person, not the package.’

‘Oh please!’ She stared up at his impossibly handsome face. ‘Are you seriously telling me that you would look twice at a woman who wasn’t stunning?’

‘No, I’m not telling you that.’ His eyes didn’t leave hers and she felt as if the air had been knocked out of her lungs.

‘You’re saying that—you’re implying that—’

‘Yes.’ His tone was amused. ‘I am. And you’re not usually short of a sharp reply. What’s the matter? Hasn’t anyone paid you a compliment before?’

The chemistry between them crackled and sizzled like a high-voltage cable and she was conscious of what seemed like hundreds of eyes looking at her. ‘Everyone is staring.’

‘And that matters because …?’

‘Well, you might be used to being the centre of attention, but I’m not.’ Not knowing what to say and frustrated with herself for being so gauche, she glared at him. ‘It doesn’t matter who you are, I still think you’re macho and sexist.’

He threw his head back and laughed. ‘You’re absolutely right, cariño. I am macho and sexist. And I want to spend some time with you. Come to the Beach House.’

The Beach House was his private residence, a beautiful architect-designed villa that faced the Atlantic coast and opened onto a perfect stretch of sand. And it was strictly out of bounds to the staff.

What exactly was he suggesting?

But one glance at his wicked dark eyes told her exactly what he was suggesting and the colour rushed into her cheeks like fire.

Unsettled by how much she wanted to say yes, Faith stepped away, conscious that all the women on the pitch were watching her enviously. How on earth was she supposed to say no to a man like him? Worried that part of her didn’t even want to say no, she spoke quickly before she could be tempted into doing something she just knew she’d regret. ‘No. But thanks.’

‘I wasn’t asking you a question.’

She was suddenly so aware of him that her entire body was burning inside. ‘You were giving me an order?’

His gaze was lazily amused. ‘A strongly worded request.’

She could hardly breathe. ‘I have a job to do. I’m working until ten.’

‘I’ll arrange for you to have the evening off.’

Just like that.

The power of a billionaire, Faith thought helplessly. ‘No. That wouldn’t be fair on the others.’ She was swamped with disappointment and suddenly wondered what she would have said if she hadn’t been working. Would she have gone with him? Her insides fluttered with nerves. ‘I’m afraid we’re going to have to postpone my Cinderella moment for another occasion. It’s Eduardo’s night off and we have a mare due to foal any minute. I can’t leave the yard.’

The humour died in his eyes and her words were met by a tense silence. ‘One of the mares is due to foal?’ Easy seduction was replaced by sharp efficiency. ‘Which one?’

‘Velocity.’

He inhaled sharply and ran a hand over the back of his neck. ‘If she is foaling then Eduardo should be here.’ His cool declaration punctured her bubble of happiness.

‘Well, thanks for that vote of confidence. Nice to know you trust me.’

‘It isn’t personal.’

She gave a short laugh. ‘You mean you’d feel like this about any woman?’

His eyes narrowed dangerously. ‘Velocity is my most valuable mare. This is an enormous responsibility,’ he said softly, and she lifted her chin and looked him straight in the eye.

‘I can handle responsibility. I don’t spend my days straightening my hair and applying my make-up. I’ve trained for seven years so that I can meet the responsibility head-on.’ Suddenly she felt angry and frustrated. Maybe she’d been wrong to think she could pursue her career in this part of South America. It was an uphill battle to get anyone to take her seriously. ‘I can handle the work. What I can’t handle is dealing with men who don’t think women are capable of having a career.’ She was so upset she was afraid she might burst into tears. And that would undermine her credibility even further. ‘If you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.’

Trying not to think about Raul Vásquez, she worked in the stables until ten. Then she went to check on the mare, Velocity, one more time before returning to her room in the staff quarters.

A single glance was sufficient for her to see that the mare was in difficulty.

The groom was in the corner of the stall, his hands shaking as he fumbled with his mobile phone. ‘I can’t get hold of Eduardo. He isn’t answering.’

‘You should have called me, not Eduardo.’ Faith dropped to her knees beside the horse. Cursing herself for relying on them to let her know how the mare was progressing, she reached for her stethoscope.

The groom was sweating. ‘You better not touch that horse. She’s the boss’s favourite mare. If anything happens to her …’ He broke off, panic in his eyes. ‘We need to get hold of Eduardo somehow. If anything happens to the animal, Raul Vásquez will hit the roof. I’ll lose my job.’

Faith gritted her teeth. None of the Argentine grooms had faith in her.

‘At the moment I don’t care about the boss’s temper or your promotion prospects, but I do care about the horse and you need to do as I tell you.’ Keeping her voice calm so it didn’t disturb the animal, Faith gave him a string of instructions but he just stood there, staring at the horse with terrified eyes.

‘If that mare dies—’

‘It will be my responsibility,’ Faith said coldly and then she sighed. ‘Oh for goodness’ sake, just get out. If you can’t work with me, fine, but I need you to find someone who can. I need help and I need it now.’

‘I will help you.’ Raul Vásquez stood in the doorway of the box and the groom shrank into the shadows, too intimidated to even defend himself.

Faith was too worried about the mare to feel intimidated. With barely a glance in his direction, she told Raul what she wanted him to do and he immediately dropped to his haunches next to the mare and spoke to her softly in Spanish.

Faith had no idea what he said but his words had an immediate effect on the frightened animal and finally she was able to concentrate, which was just as well because it was the most difficult foaling she’d ever attended.

Finally the mare heaved a sigh and the foal slipped out onto the straw.

‘Clever girl,’ Faith breathed quietly and glanced up, suddenly aware that Raul was watching her intently.

‘I think you are the clever girl,’ he murmured quietly, a thoughtful expression in his dark eyes as he scanned her face with disturbing intensity. ‘I underestimated you and for that I apologise.’

The atmosphere in the box was charged with tension and for a moment they just stared at each other. Then she suddenly realised that he was wearing a dinner jacket. ‘I’m sorry I interrupted your evening,’ she said stiffly, hating herself for caring that he’d clearly found another woman with whom to spend his evening.

It could have been her.

Remembering the sleek, beautifully groomed women who had vied for his attention during the polo match, Faith wondered which of them had caught his attention. Then she gave herself a mental shake. It could never have been her. Men as rich, successful and handsome as Raul Vásquez wanted trophy women, not career women.

Descending back to earth with a bump, she gave a tired smile. ‘Your mare is going to be fine, Raul, but I’ll stay with her tonight just to make sure. Thanks for your help. It made all the difference.’

‘You are planning to sleep in my horse’s stall?’ At some point he had undone his top button and she caught a glimpse of bronzed male skin and a hint of curling dark hair.

‘Yes.’ Faith looked away quickly. He was impossibly masculine. ‘That way if anything happens, I’ll be here.’

He frowned sharply. ‘You have been working since six this morning.’

‘I’ll take tomorrow off. I don’t want to leave until I’m sure she’s all right.’ Her attention was back on the mare and her foal. ‘You should understand that. From what I’ve heard, you’re the original workaholic.’

‘That is different.’

‘Because you’re a man and I’m a woman? Don’t start that again, Raul.’ Suddenly exhausted, she just wanted him to leave so that she could stop dreaming. ‘I won’t leave halfway through a job. And you were obviously in the middle of dinner or something, so perhaps you’d better go back to the woman in question in case she gives up on you.’

There was a long silence. ‘You hide behind your job, don’t you?’ Raul asserted. ‘Why is that?’

‘I don’t hide. But I love my job, if that’s what you’re asking.’ She glanced at him briefly and then looked away again, her heart thumping and her mind spinning fairy-tales.

‘This thing between us—’ his voice was soft ‘—it frightens you, doesn’t it?’

She was too honest to pretend she didn’t know what he was talking about. ‘Yes, it frightens me. Because it’s not real. The mere idea of you and I is—’ She waved a hand. ‘It’s crazy. I mean, we couldn’t be more different. You’re used to women who spend all day making themselves beautiful. I’m a working girl. I love my career and I definitely don’t want a relationship.’

‘If you don’t want a relationship, then you are my perfect woman,’ he drawled softly. ‘What about fun, cariño? Do you object to having fun?’

The colour poured into her cheeks. ‘Raul—’

‘Why are you blushing? When it comes to your job you are supremely confident, but whenever we are alone …’ He stroked a leisurely finger down her cheek. ‘Why is it that you are so confident with my horses and so shy with me?’

‘Blame it on the testosterone again. I’m not used to macho men.’ She tried to make a joke, but he wasn’t smiling. Instead his gaze was curiously intent.

‘You are very inexperienced, aren’t you?’

‘I’ve had boyfriends,’ she muttered defensively and a smile played around his firm mouth.

‘But what about men, cariño? Men are a whole new experience for you, isn’t that right?’

She gazed at him, her heart pounding and her mouth dry. ‘What does “cariño” mean?’

His smile widened and he strolled towards the door. ‘I’ll teach you tomorrow,’ he answered softly. ‘Along with the facts of life. Finish your job and get some rest. You’re going to need it.’

CHAPTER TWO

SHE spent the night with the mare and emerged from the box to find Raul Vásquez in conversation with Eduardo.

Raul turned his head and looked at her and the look of blatant masculine appreciation in his dark eyes made her stomach flip. ‘You are now officially off duty and you’re coming with me.’ He took her hand firmly in his, said something in Spanish to Eduardo and led her towards the helicopter pad at the far side of the polo fields.

‘I was going to bed,’ she mumbled and he flashed her a smile of such devastating charisma that for a moment she was blinded.

‘That can be arranged.’

She didn’t know whether to laugh or gasp with shock. ‘I really don’t do this sort of thing—’

‘What sort of thing?’ His eyes teased her and she glanced at the sleek lines of the black helicopter and then back over her shoulder towards the safety of the estancia.

‘I don’t fly off into the sunset with men I don’t know.’

‘You can spend your day sleeping in your room and then you can eat dinner with the grooms, if that is what you would prefer.’ He paused and his gaze drifted to her mouth. ‘Or you can have dinner with me.’

She licked her lips. ‘Where?’

‘Somewhere we can talk without disturbance.’ He opened the door of the helicopter and she scrambled inside, wondering what on earth she was doing.

This wasn’t her life.

She didn’t climb into helicopters with dangerous billionaires.

While she was wrestling with self-doubt and nerves, Raul settled himself in the seat next to her and flicked several switches with swift, confident fingers.

Faith stared at him. ‘You’re flying it?’

‘I’m a control freak,’ he confessed in a dry tone. ‘I prefer to be in the driving seat and anyway, for what I have in mind, I don’t need an audience.’

His words sent a shiver of anticipation through her body. ‘I don’t know why you’re doing this. And I don’t know why I’m doing this either.’ She licked her lips. ‘I don’t own a silk dress or diamonds.’

‘Then we’ll have to do something about that.’ He turned towards her and there was laughter in his wicked dark eyes. ‘Relax.’ His voice was surprisingly gentle. ‘You’re going to have a nice time. This is my thank-you for saving my horse and my apology for not having more faith in you. You were impressive.’

His praise was as surprising as it was welcome. ‘Your groom didn’t think so. Perhaps you could have a word with him.’

‘That won’t be necessary. He no longer works for me.’

‘You fired him?’ She was shocked. ‘Isn’t that a little extreme?’

‘You asked for his help. He didn’t give it.’

Faith felt a flash of guilt. ‘I didn’t mean to get him fired. Shouldn’t you give him another chance?’

‘I gave him one chance. I employed him.’ His smile didn’t falter but there was something in his eyes that hinted at a more ruthless side of him. The side that had made him a billionaire by the time he was thirty.

Sensing that the subject was best dropped, Faith glanced around her. ‘Where are we going?’

‘You’ll find out.’ Without answering her question, he turned his attention back to the controls and the helicopter lifted into the air.

Terror soon turned to exhilaration as they swooped above the pampas. ‘The view is amazing from up here,’ she breathed, her eyes fixed on the landscape beneath her.

They flew over grassland, interspersed with lagoons and wetlands. Occasionally Faith saw cattle being herded by men on horseback, but this was a vast landscape and the sheer size of it took her breath away.

Eventually a large lake came into view and Raul landed the helicopter.

‘We’re here. This is the boundary of the estancia.’ He jumped down from the helicopter and led her towards a luxurious lodge that nestled between water and trees. ‘My secret hideaway.’

Faith stopped dead, her heart bumping against her chest. ‘We’re alone here?’

He turned, his eyes on her face. ‘Does that bother you? Are you nervous?’

She swallowed. ‘Maybe. Just a little.’

‘You were alone with me on the pampas on that first day,’ he said softly, strolling back towards her and taking her face in his hands. ‘And you weren’t nervous then.’

‘That was an accidental meeting.’ The skilled brush of his fingers set her pulse racing and nerves fluttered like butterflies in her stomach. ‘I don’t do this sort of thing, Raul. I shouldn’t have come.’

‘Stop panicking. You haven’t done anything yet,’ he pointed out gently. ‘And you won’t be doing anything you don’t want to. All I ask is that you allow yourself to be spoiled. This is a thank-you for having saved my favourite horse. Treat it like a spa day.’

‘A spa day?’

His mouth hovered tantalisingly close to hers and then he stepped away and smiled. ‘I want to spoil you. And we’re not alone here. You can shout for help any time you feel the need and a hoard of staff will come running and beat me away with sticks.’

He led her up a few steps, onto a wooden deck that was suspended over the water and into a large bedroom filled with natural light. ‘This is your room. Have a rest, you deserve it. When you’re ready for a massage or whatever takes your fancy, just pick up the phone and dial zero.’

Faith blinked. Her head was full of questions but she had no chance to ask any of them because he’d left the room.

It was like being dropped into paradise.

She slept in the enormous, comfortable bed and then lay in the shade on the deck while a girl rubbed scented oils into her skin, the skilful stroke of her fingers removing all the last strands of tension from Faith’s body.

After the massage, she sat and gazed across the tranquil water of the lake while someone tended to her nails and another did her hair.

There was no sign of Raul and when she eventually walked back into her room, she wondered how she was supposed to contact him.

A splash of colour drew her eye and she glanced towards the bed, her eyes widening as she saw the beautiful silk dress laid carefully on the cover. The exquisite fabric shimmered in the late-evening light and Faith stepped towards it, puzzled. Had Raul left this for her? And then she saw the diamond necklace, draped almost casually across the bodice, the stones sparkling and glittering like shards of ice.

She was so stunned that it took her a few moments to notice the card. Her fingers shaking, she opened the envelope and read the dark, bold scrawl: Every woman deserves to be given a silk dress and diamonds at least once in her life. Enjoy. R.

Completely out of her depth, Faith stared at the dress and the necklace. It was an enormously generous gift. Obviously she couldn’t possibly accept it.

She stood for a moment, her lip caught between her teeth, her eyes on the dress. Tormented by indecision, she stepped away from the bed and then immediately stepped back again. Then she let the dressing gown slip from her shoulders, the feminine side of her completely unable to let her ignore such a gorgeous dress.

She was just going to try it on. Nothing more than that.

Just for a minute.

The silk slithered over her skin and she gave a moan of indulgence as she realised that it was a perfect fit.

How had he guessed her size?

Feeling as though she was living someone else’s life, Faith fastened the dress and then tried to secure the clasp of the necklace. Strong fingers covered hers and swiftly finished the job.

Stifled by sexual awareness, she turned slowly and found herself looking into Raul’s laughing eyes.

‘So how is your day going?’ His fingers lingered at the base of her throat. ‘Do you feel properly thanked?’

‘I can’t possibly accept any of this.’

‘Of course you can. It is nothing.’

To him, maybe, but she suspected that the necklace alone was worth more than she earned in a year. ‘I’m just trying it on, that’s all. And then I’m taking it straight off.’

‘Why would you want to do that?’

‘Because this is not my life.’

He turned her gently until she was facing the mirror. ‘So who is that, if it isn’t you?’

Faith barely recognised herself. Her hair fell past her shoulders like sleek, polished gold, the diamonds glinted against her pale skin and the dress hugged her figure. She felt like a princess. ‘Maybe I’ll wear it just for this evening.’ She almost laughed at her own weakness. ‘But then I’m giving it back.’

Acknowledging her internal battle, Raul smiled. ‘We’ll have dinner on the terrace. The view is very pretty.’

‘So do you do this often?’

He dismissed the staff with a discreet movement of his head and reached over to pour her another glass of wine. ‘Eat dinner? Yes. All the time.’

‘No, I mean—’ She glanced down at herself. ‘Play the part of the fairy godmother.’

‘It’s fun buying gifts for a woman who appreciates them.’ He watched her across the table. ‘You’re not eating. Aren’t you hungry?’

Her stomach was churning so badly that she just couldn’t touch the food. ‘No. No, I’m not. Sorry. It looks really delicious but—’

He gave a slow smile. ‘You don’t need to apologise for the fact that I’m putting you off your food. I take it as a compliment.’

‘You’re very sure of yourself.’

‘And you’re very nervous, and I can’t understand why. Don’t they have men in England?’

Not men like him. ‘I’ve been too busy working to notice men,’ she said lightly and his eyes narrowed.

‘You are very dedicated to your work. Why did you choose to become a vet?’

‘I always wanted to. My father was a vet and I grew up helping alongside him. Even when I was small, he’d involve me in some way and he always encouraged me.’

‘He is proud of you, I’m sure.’

Faith hesitated. ‘He and my mother died two years ago,’ she said quietly. ‘That’s one of the reasons I came to Argentina. I missed them so much and I knew I needed to do something different. I thought combining travel with work might be the distraction I needed.’

‘What about marriage and babies?’ His tone was casual but when she looked at him his gaze was sharp and incisive as if the answer to that question mattered to him. ‘When women think about the future it almost always contains a wedding ring.’

‘That’s a typically Argentine-male comment,’ she teased, giving up on her food and putting her fork down. ‘Be honest—you don’t think a woman can do anything except stay at home and breed, do you?’

‘It’s what most women want. Don’t you?’

‘No. Not right now. In the future? Who knows?’ She glanced towards the stillness of the lake. ‘The future feels miles away when you’re out here. I’m too young to even think about that. I have my whole career ahead of me. In another ten years or so, maybe.’ She shrugged. ‘It just isn’t what I want. I love my job.’ She watched the sunset, admiring the shimmering red glow that was reflected in the still water of the lake. ‘What about you? No wife? No babies?’

Something flickered in his dark gaze. ‘Absolutely not.’

‘You mean, you don’t want it now.’

His long strong fingers tightened ruthlessly round the wine glass. ‘I don’t want it ever. Remember that, Faith.’ There was a steeliness in his voice that made her look at him more closely but his handsome face revealed nothing.

She frowned, sensing undertones that she didn’t understand and feeling puzzled by them. ‘Why would I need to remember it?’

‘It’s just something that I like to make clear,’ he said softly, ‘early in a relationship.’

Heat rushed through her body. ‘Are we having a relationship?’

‘I don’t know,’ he replied softly, his dark eyes fixed on hers. ‘Are we?’

CHAPTER THREE
Ten months later

‘SHE just stepped in front of the taxi without looking. According to a man who witnessed the accident, she’s lucky to be alive.’

Lucky?

Lying in the hospital bed, listening to those words, Faith decided that it was better to keep her eyes closed. She didn’t feel lucky.

‘Any news on next of kin?’ The doctor spoke again and Faith felt the dull pain inside her intensify to serious agony.

No next of kin.

She’d lost everything and it was hard to know whether her injuries were more severe on the outside or the inside.

‘None. She had no identification on her when she was brought in—they assume someone must have stolen her bag. Her dress was expensive, though,’ the nurse murmured enviously. ‘Some flashy designer label I couldn’t afford in a month of Sundays. Take it from me, she’s either got a good job or a very rich and generous boyfriend.’

‘Well, we can’t discharge her until we know she has a home to go to. It’s very inconvenient because she’s blocking a bed.’ The doctor sounded impatient. ‘Someone should have missed her by now.’

Only if someone cared, Faith thought bleakly. In her case, no one did.

‘Faith? Are you awake?’

Resigning herself to the fact that they wouldn’t go away until she’d spoken, Faith reluctantly opened her eyes and the doctor gave a wintry smile.

‘How are we today?’ He spoke in the faintly patronising tone that he obviously reserved for patients.

‘I’m fine.’ No point in telling the truth. ‘Much better.’

‘I expect you’re longing to go home.’

Home? Where was home? For the past year it had been Argentina and she’d thought …

Faith turned her head away, realising with a sickening lurch of horror that she was going to cry. The misery had been bubbling up inside her for days and suddenly it felt almost too enormous to hold back.

With a huge effort of will, she tried to focus her mind on something neutral. She wasn’t going to think about Argentina, she wasn’t going to think about the fact that she didn’t have a job or a home any more, but most of all she wasn’t going to think about …

She gave a tortured groan and curled into a foetal position, her thoughts so agonising that she just wanted to remove them from her head.

‘Are you in pain?’ The doctor leaned towards her, frowning. ‘I can give you something for it.’

Not for this type of pain. Faith squeezed her eyes tightly shut. ‘It’s all a hideous mess.’

‘Your head? It’s nothing that time won’t heal. Your hair will cover the scar.’

‘Not my head,’ Faith muttered. ‘My life.’

‘She’s obviously worrying about her head—how’s the wound, nurse? Everything healing?’

Realising that no one was remotely interested in how she really felt, Faith kept her eyes closed, wishing they’d go away and leave her alone.

‘Last time I saw it everything was healing beautifully,’ the nurse said briskly. ‘It will be a very neat scar.’

On the outside, maybe, Faith thought to herself. But on the inside it was a deep, ugly gash that would never heal.

Clearly oblivious to the true extent of his patient’s trauma, the doctor gave a nod of approval. ‘You’ve made a remarkable recovery considering the condition you were in two weeks ago. We need to start talking about discharging you.’ He cleared his throat and glanced at the chart again. ‘You need to go home to family or friends. You can’t be on your own at the moment.’

Faith’s lips were so dry she could hardly speak. ‘I’ll be fine on my own.’

Just saying the words intensified the sick throbbing in her head.

How had she ended up at this point?

The doctor gave an impatient sigh. ‘You haven’t given us details of your next of kin. There must be someone. Or do you think it’s possible that you are suffering some degree of memory loss after all?’

Faith opened her eyes. ‘My parents died nearly three years ago and I’m an only child,’ she said wearily, wondering how many times she had to repeat herself. ‘And my memory is fine.’ Unfortunately. Given the nature of her memories, she would have paid a great deal for a serious bout of amnesia. Nothing too dramatic. As long as she lost all knowledge of the last couple of months, she’d be happy.

She wanted the whole nightmare erased from her head for ever.

But in her case it wasn’t forgetting that was the problem, it was remembering.

She remembered everything and the memories tortured her.

All she wanted to do was cover herself with the duvet and just sob and sob and the fact that she felt like that was terrifying because it was so unlike her.

Where was her energy and drive? What had happened to her natural inclination to fight problems with grit and determination?

She’d always been resilient. Life could be tough, she knew that.

But although she’d always known that life could be tough, she’d had no idea it could be quite this tough.

Panicked by how truly awful she felt, she rolled onto her back and stared up at the cracked ceiling—but somehow the cracks looked like the curve of a beach and soon the images in her head were of a laughing, naked woman and a spectacularly handsome man.

She gave a groan of denial and covered her face with her hands. It didn’t matter what she did or where she looked, the memories were everywhere. She felt drained and empty, lacking the physical or emotional energy to drag herself out of the dark pit of despair that was sucking her down and down.

In the bed opposite, an old lady rambled and muttered, confused and disorientated by her surroundings. ‘Doctor, doctor!’

Muttering something under his breath to the nurse, the doctor turned. ‘Yes, Mrs Hitchin?’ His manner and tone were a study of exaggerated politeness. ‘What can I do for you?’

‘You can marry me, that’s what you can do!’ The old lady’s tone was sharp. ‘No more messing me around! Do what you promised to do and stop running away from your responsibilities.’

The nurse covered her mouth with her hand to conceal the laugh and the doctor’s face turned a deep shade of beetroot.

‘You’re in hospital, Mrs Hitchin!’ He raised his voice and separated each syllable, as if he were speaking to a very slow child. ‘And I’m a doctor!’

‘Well, I’m glad you finally made something of yourself.’ The old lady waggled a finger at Faith. ‘Don’t believe a word he says to you. Men are all the same. They want all the fun and none of the responsibility.’

Faith gave a choked laugh. ‘I could have done with that advice a few months ago, Mrs Hitchin.’ Then perhaps she wouldn’t have made such a complete and utter wreck of her life.

Another nurse hurried into the room, her cheeks flushed and her eyes glowing. Excitement radiated from her like a forcefield and she had the look of a woman just bursting with serious gossip.

Her eyes slid to Faith and her expression changed to one of awe and fascination. ‘I know you think your memory is fine, Faith,’ she said sympathetically. ‘But I’m afraid we now have evidence that you are suffering from amnesia.’

Faith gritted her teeth. ‘My memory is fine.’

‘Really? Then why can’t you remember that you’re married? You’re married to a billionaire,’ the nurse said faintly. ‘And he’s standing outside right now waiting to claim you. I mean, he’s gorgeous, sexy—’

‘Nurse!’ Dr Arnold interrupted her with a scowl and the nurse blushed.

‘All I’m trying to say,’ she muttered, ‘is that he just isn’t the sort of man any woman would ever forget. If she really doesn’t remember him, then she definitely has amnesia.’

Simmering with impatience, Raul glanced at the Rolex on his wrist, oblivious to the fact that the force of his presence had brought the entire hospital ward to a standstill. Like a thoroughbred racehorse at the starting gate, he radiated coiled, suppressed energy, as confident and unselfconscious in this environment as he was in every other, his powerful legs planted firmly apart, his intelligent dark eyes fixed on the room straight ahead of him.

Female members of staff suddenly found reasons to hover around the central nurses’ station, distracted by the unexpected presence of such a striking man.

Raul didn’t notice.

He was entirely focused on the task in hand and this brief, unexpected delay in reaching his final objective was a thorn of irritation under his richly bronzed skin.

A lesser man might have spent the time worrying that the information he’d received might be wrong, that it wasn’t her. Raul had no such concerns. He only employed the best. His security team had been hand-picked and the possibility that they might have made a mistake didn’t enter his head.

Barely containing his impatience, he stood still for a full thirty seconds—which was twenty-five seconds longer than he’d ever waited for anything in his life before—and then took matters into his own hands and strode purposefully across the corridor and into the six-bedded side ward.

The doctor greeted his sudden entrance with a murmur of disapproval that Raul ignored. His gaze swept the room and came to rest on the slender figure of the woman lying in the bed by the window.

The anger that had been building inside him erupted with lethal force and he ran his hand over the back of his neck in order to stop himself from punching something. And then he took a closer look at the solitary figure staring up at the ceiling and the anger died, only to be replaced by a surge of very different emotions.

Emotions that he didn’t want to feel. Primitive urges that mocked his belief in his own sense of discipline and self-control.

Raul almost laughed. The weakness of man was woman, and that hadn’t changed since the beginning of time. From

Eve in the Garden of Eden and Pandora with her box, for every man there was one woman who seemed to be designed for the express purpose of complicating life.

And for him, that woman was lying in front of him.

He could negotiate the most complex business deal without once losing his clarity of thinking but here, in the same room as her, a witch’s cauldron of emotions stirred to life, clouding everything.

‘Faith.’ His strong voice reverberated round the small room and her head turned, her expressive green eyes widening with horror and disbelief as she saw him.

‘No!’ Immediately she shrank under the blankets and her reaction was like a fist in his gut but the biggest shock was seeing the remains of the bruises on her face and shoulders before they vanished under the covers.

‘What happened to you?’ Two weeks before her mouth had been permanently curved into a happy smile and her blonde hair had rippled down her back. Now it was cropped short in a rough, jagged style that made her eyes look huge and her face pale and vulnerable. And there was no trace of the cheeky, teasing smile that was so much a part of her.

Kiss me, Raul, go on. You know you want to. Forget about work.

That one brief glance had been enough to show him that she’d lost weight. She’d always been fine-boned and delicate but now her skin seemed almost preternaturally pale and her jagged haircut gave her face an almost ethereal quality. When had that happened?

Why hadn’t he noticed?

Something tugged at him and he ruthlessly pushed the feeling away.

She’d brought this on herself. And on him.

The doctor cleared his throat. ‘We were forced to cut her hair when we were dealing with her injuries.’

‘Dios mío, she’s skin and bone.’ Caught broadside by emotions that he hadn’t expected, Raul directed the full force of his anger towards the doctor. ‘Don’t you feed your patients in this hospital?’

Clearly unaccustomed to such full-on confrontation, the doctor fiddled nervously with the charts he was clutching. ‘Faith suffered a head injury,’ he stuttered. ‘She was unconscious for a while. Her rapid recovery is nothing short of remarkable. We saved her life.’

‘Good,’ Raul said coldly, his eyes focusing on the doctor’s badge as he committed the name to memory. ‘Because if you hadn’t then your days of practising medicine would now be over. How was she injured?’

The nurse stepped forward swiftly, obviously hoping to smooth the situation. ‘According to witnesses, she walked in front of a car just outside the airport terminal. It was as if she wasn’t looking.’

Raul strode over to the bed, his mouth tightening as she turned her back on him and pulled the covers even higher.

That simple gesture said more than words ever could and suddenly he was gripped by the unfamiliar tentacles of guilt. He thrust them aside, reminding himself that he had no reason to feel guilty.

She’d done this to them.

He’d been up front and honest from the start. She was the one who’d chosen to play elaborate female games. And it was time she acknowledged that. ‘Look at me!’

The lump in the bed didn’t move and he gave an exasperated sigh. ‘Running from a problem solves nothing. Have you any idea how worried I’ve been?’

The anger had burned inside him day and night for the past two weeks and he’d promised himself that when he finally caught up with her he would make sure that she was left in no doubt about his feelings.

For a moment he thought she wasn’t going to respond and then the figure in the bed moved slowly and she sat up.

The words died in his throat.

There was something about her appalling fragility that prevented him from venting the full force of his wrath. She looked as vulnerable and shaky as one of his newborn foals and Raul felt something twist inside him.

He’d always thought of her as strong and vibrant, but there was no sign of the energy and enthusiasm that he’d come to expect from her.

The shapeless hospital nightdress hung from her narrow shoulders, her eyes were shaded by dark bruises and there were scratches on her shoulders and arms.

The usually irrepressible sparkle in her green eyes had been extinguished and she stared straight forward, refusing to meet his gaze.

She looked like a woman who was broken.

Apart from that one, anguished word—’No!’—she hadn’t spoken or glanced in his direction since he’d entered the room. It was as if she was pretending that he wasn’t there.

Reflecting on the damage she’d caused, Raul felt another monumental surge in his tension levels.

Was she sorry? Did she regret what she’d done to their relationship?

He stared in brooding silence at her frozen profile. If it had been any other woman he would have walked away and left her to deal with the situation she’d created. But Faith wasn’t any other woman and something kept his feet nailed firmly to the ground.

Pandora, Eve, Faith ….

Exasperated with his own display of weakness, Raul turned back to the doctor who was now eyeing him with trepidation. ‘What are her injuries?’

‘Well—er—’ The doctor cleared his throat. ‘Despite the seriousness of the accident, she has made a remarkable recovery. She experiences some headaches and a little dizziness from time to time, but the wound on her head is healing well. There is, however, the issue of her memory.’ Accustomed to relatives who were suitably submissive and respectful, he was obviously struggling to cope with Raul’s direct, forceful approach. ‘We have found it difficult to assess the extent of her amnesia.’

‘She doesn’t have amnesia.’ It had taken only one glance for Raul to know that she remembered absolutely everything that had happened between them.

The doctor looked taken aback. ‘But—she doesn’t appear to remember you.’

Raul’s mouth tightened into a grim line and he transferred his gaze to the frozen profile of the woman on the bed. ‘Oh, she remembers,’ he said softly. ‘If her memory was impaired, she wouldn’t be ignoring me. She’d be firing sparks and demanding to know why I took so long to get here. The reason she is refusing to look me in the eye is because her memory is perfectly intact and she’s suffering from a severe attack of guilty conscience, isn’t that right, cariño?’

Her head turned at that, her gaze locked with his and although she didn’t say a single word her eyes sent him straight to hell.

The past swirled and bubbled between them like a dangerous beast just waiting to swallow them whole.

Then she looked at the medical staff. ‘I don’t know who he is,’ she said, her voice remarkably steady. ‘I’ve never seen him before in my life and I don’t like the look of him. It would be quite wrong of you to release me into his care.’

Raul gave a bitter laugh. Ignoring the notices about not sitting on the bed, he settled his powerful frame only inches away from her body. ‘They have no choice but to release you into my care. I’m your only family.’ He thought her eyes grew brighter but when he looked more closely she was staring straight ahead, still studiously ignoring him.

The doctor cleared his throat. ‘You have to admit that her memory seems cloudy where you’re concerned—’

‘I’ve discovered that Faith’s memory is most adaptable,’ Raul drawled. ‘Occasionally she can forget the most important facts. Like an agreement between two people.’ His words had the desired effect and he watched with grim satisfaction as the last of the colour drained from her cheeks.

‘There was no agreement. I am not one of your business deals. I wish I’d never met you. I hate you, Raul. You are a heartless, cynical, insensitive …’ Her voice tailed off and the doctor gave a small, embarrassed cough.

‘Well—it does appear that she at least knows your name so that’s good. And—er—a little bit about your personality. She told us that she had no family—’

‘I don’t have family.’

The doctor glanced at her and then at Raul. ‘I suppose—’ He coughed nervously. ‘Well, over to you, really.’

‘That’s it? Are you just going to stand there and let him bully you?’ Faith glared at the doctor and when the man didn’t reply she made a sound of disgust. ‘You’re all spineless. I’m telling you, he’s not my family. If I was the last woman left on the planet and he was the last man, then the human race would die.’ Having drawn the battle lines, she turned her head back to Raul and her eyes locked with his in fierce combat.

Raul felt a surge of relief because for a moment he’d wondered if her lack of spirit was something to do with the head injury. But the dangerous shimmer in her eyes reassured him that her accident hadn’t done any permanent damage and despite everything that had happened between them he felt the instantaneous response of his body.

Passion. Hot, searing, blinding passion.

It was always there between them, whatever they were doing.

And that was the problem of course. Their astonishing physical compatibility had made it all too easy to overlook the truth.

They were two people who should never have been together.

Both of them had known it, but the extraordinary chemistry had bound them together when common sense should have dragged them apart.

She was entirely wrong for him. He was entirely wrong for her.

Somehow that hadn’t made a difference.

Aware that the medical staff were rooted to the spot, staring, he rose to his feet and took charge.

‘She has family,’ he said in a driven tone. ‘I’m her husband. And I’ll take over from here.’ Detaching himself from the emotional, he concentrated instead on the practical, his mind shifting into problem-solving mode as he reached into his pocket for his mobile phone.

‘Oh, here we go,’ Faith muttered. ‘Let’s just make another million while we’re hanging around.’

Having accessed a number with a decisive stab of his finger, Raul turned with a mocking smile. ‘I wouldn’t bother switching the phone on for a million, cariño. You should know that by now.’

The doctor cast them both a despairing glance. ‘The two of you clearly have some problems.’

Rising to his feet, Raul dealt the other man a glance that would have silenced a football stadium in full voice. ‘Unless you’re adding psychiatry to your list of questionable medical skills, I suggest you don’t tread where you are bound to lose your footing. She is no longer your responsibility. I’ll be removing her from this place in the next ten minutes.’ Having delivered that missile directly to its target, Raul turned his attention to the man on the end of the phone and switched to his native Spanish.

By the time he’d ended the call, the nurse had retreated and the doctor was sifting through paperwork with shaking hands, clearly worrying about his own position.

‘If you’re taking her then you’ll have to sign something. I won’t be held responsible if anything happens to her. She needs to be in hospital—’

‘Maybe. But not this one.’ With one disdainful sweep of his eyes, Raul took in the state of the ward. ‘What exactly is this place and why hasn’t it been shut down before now?’

‘Shut down?’ The doctor looked scandalised. ‘This is the oldest hospital in London. We have been treating patients in this building since the time of King Henry the Eighth!’

‘It’s a shame no one has bothered to clean the floors since his last visit,’ Raul said coldly and the old lady in the bed opposite Faith clapped her hands in delight.

‘Oh, well said! I do so love a man who is dominant and handsome. These days most men have forgotten how to be real men. If she turns you down, I’m available.’

Amused, Raul turned and flashed her a smile. ‘Gracias, I will remember that.’ His response clearly goaded Faith because she gave a strangled laugh.

‘He’s the worst of a bad bunch. If you’re looking for a man who shoulders responsibility, then don’t look at this one, Mrs Hitchin.’

‘I could look at him all day,’ Mrs Hitchin said happily, adjusting her hearing aid. ‘I think he’s gorgeous.’

‘Actually he’s a sex-mad control freak,’ Faith muttered and Raul gave a twisted smile.

‘One wonders why, with that glowing opinion of my qualities, you were so grimly determined to drag me to the altar by any means at your disposal.’

Faith lifted her chin and her beautiful eyes flashed at him.

‘I did not drag you. Since when have you ever done anything that didn’t suit you? Your life is one long selfish, self-indulgent ego trip.’

‘You put me in an impossible position!’ His tone thickened, Raul felt his tension levels soar into the stratosphere. He hadn’t intended to tackle the issue here but even without spelling it out it was there in the room with them, hovering between them.

He saw that she was shaking and his eyes scanned the pale flesh of her smooth, slender arms, his treacherous mind turning to thoughts of sex. Those arms had been entwined round his neck, curved round his body as she’d urged him on. Those eyes that now flashed in anger had softened and tempted as she’d lured him on an erotic journey from which neither of them had emerged unscathed.

What they had shared was so powerful that even now he could taste it in the air. Even now, with all that lay between them, he knew that he could turn her from spitting hell-cat to purring kitten with one skilful touch of his mouth.

Only with supreme effort of will did Raul prevent himself from reaching out and flattening her against the bed.

And she knew.

She’d always known the effect she had on him. And she’d loved to tease and prolong the agony for both of them, using those jewel-bright green eyes of hers to raise the temperature from hot to raging inferno. With sideways glances, slow smiles and the sensuous swing of her hips she’d stoked the fire of his libido, pushing and pushing until his control had finally cracked. And when it had, she’d taken him into her soft, pulsing body, her desperation matching his.

In some ways their entire relationship had been a power struggle.

And for a while she’d won.

Only she was showing no signs of celebrating her victory.

‘Just get out, Raul,’ she said, and her voice held a quiver of vulnerability that he hadn’t expected. ‘It’s over. You wanted an escape, well, I’m giving you one. Get out.’

‘It would have been a great deal better for both of us had you realised that a few months ago. As it is, your timing is unfortunate. I’m your husband, cariño, although you could be forgiven for forgetting that fact, given that we were married for all of two hours before you ran away.’

‘I didn’t run away. I’m not a child or a convict. I left because I discovered what a monumental mistake I’d made about you. I wouldn’t have married you at all if I’d known what you were like.’

Remembering the circumstances of their wedding, Raul gave a bitter laugh. ‘I think we both know that isn’t the case. Anyway, you made your bed and fortunately for you it’s a great deal more comfortable than the one you’re lying in at the moment.’

‘I’m not going with you, Raul, and you can’t make me. I’m not one of your staff.’

‘If one of my staff had behaved the way you did,’ he snapped, ‘they would no longer be working for me. Unfortunately we are now legally bound, so firing you isn’t an option. Believe me, I’ve considered it.’ His phone rang and he took the call, simmering with dark, deadly emotion, his eyes on hers as he listened and then broke the connection.

‘My plane has been refuelled, a medical team is now on board and we take off in an hour from now.’

She shrank away from him. ‘I’m not well enough to go with you. I haven’t fully recovered.’

‘Then you can complete your recovery in the sunshine by my pool,’ he returned in a cool tone and she flopped back against the pillows, looking drained and exhausted. Raul wondered grimly whether her pallor was a reflection of the effort the confrontation had required, or the fact that she was contemplating the reality of being back in a marriage that she never should have entered in the first place.

You wanted a war, my beauty, he thought bitterly, and you fired the first shot. Now live with the consequences.

CHAPTER FOUR

TWENTY-FOUR hours later, Faith was lying on a sun-lounger under the shade of a huge umbrella. In front of her lay the perfectly still waters of the most stunning pool she’d ever seen and all around her a profusion of exotic plants and trees gave her the impression of being deep in a lush rainforest.

Once they’d landed in Buenos Aires she’d expected him to take her straight back to the estancia, but instead he’d taken one look at her pale face and given instructions for them to be taken straight to the Vásquez building, his corporate headquarters in the smartest district of the vibrant South American city.

She’d swiftly discovered that his corporate headquarters was crowned by a breathtaking penthouse apartment, complete with a lush, exotic roof garden.

He’d taken her straight up to this outdoor paradise but she found herself wondering about the apartment. When did he use it? And what for?

Already aware of just how little she knew him, this further question gnawed away inside her but she forced herself not to think about it. She had other, more pressing issues demanding her attention: like the reason he’d brought her back to Argentina.

When she’d stumbled away from him on their wedding day, she hadn’t thought for a moment that he’d follow her. Why would he, when he’d made it perfectly clear that he didn’t love her?

Remembering the things that he’d said to her, she gave a shiver.

She’d been so utterly shocked by what had happened that her only thought had been to get as far away from him as possible.

For the sake of her own mental health, she’d known that she could have nothing more to do with him. She’d felt dead inside, as if the most important part of her had been gouged out. She’d loved him so much and the ten months they’d spent together had been the happiest of her life.

It was almost impossible to believe that it had all gone so dramatically wrong.

That she’d been so wrong about him.

Faith reached for the glass of chilled lemonade that had been left within her reach and took a sip, completely unable to relax because she knew that Raul would reappear at some point.

What was he doing? Was he working? How could he work when their marriage was in its death throes?

She glanced up and saw him strolling across the sun-baked terrace towards her. He’d showered and changed after the flight and was now wearing a pale shirt with lightweight trousers. An air of leashed power emanated from his tall, athletic frame and Faith’s mouth dried.

For a moment she had no idea what to say to him. She wanted to shout at him, she wanted to hit him until she made dents in that spectacular body of his, but most of all she just wanted to lie down and sob because it just never should have been like this between them.

In the end she just stayed on the sun-lounger and didn’t move, too drained to do any of the things in her mind.

The fact that he looked perfectly groomed despite the pressure of the situation came as no surprise to her. Raul had been born and bred in Buenos Aires and if there was one thing that her travels in South America had taught her, it was that the body-conscious Brazilians were nothing compared to the pride of the average Argentine male.

In fact, Raul was less obsessed than most but she’d long ago come to the conclusion that that was because he was so much more beautiful than most. He didn’t have to try. Even if he never glanced in a mirror again, he would still be unable to walk down a street without attracting an almost stifling degree of dazed female attention.

‘Next time you decide to run away, stop when you reach the end of the drive,’ he advised in an acid tone. ‘I have just spent the entire morning unravelling problems that occurred while I was chasing you across the globe.’

‘I didn’t ask you to come after me.’

‘You left me no choice. If you wanted an open marriage, you shouldn’t have picked a South American male.’ He turned his head and miraculously a team of staff appeared.

Faith watched in silence as they laid a table and served lunch. ‘I’m not hungry.’

‘You need to eat.’

She glanced at him then and immediately wished she hadn’t because it was immediately apparent that the way he’d treated her hadn’t done anything to reduce the physical impact of the man.

He was well over six feet tall, lean and hard muscled and he moved with a predatory grace that was unequivocally male. Strong and athletic, he pushed himself to the limits in every aspect of his life—work, play, exercise, sex—for Raul it was all about being the best and he accepted nothing less.

‘Don’t let me hold you up,’ she said politely. ‘I’m sure you’re dying to eat and return to your work.’

‘Having solved the immediate crisis I have no intention of working this afternoon.’ His expression grim, he sat down on one of the chairs and served himself. ‘There are more important issues at stake.’

‘More important than your work?’ Despite everything that lay between them, she found herself laughing but she stopped herself quickly because she couldn’t be sure that it wasn’t going to end in a sob. ‘And I thought I was the one who had the bang on the head.’

She felt strangely disconnected, making polite conversation with a man who didn’t know the meaning of the term, when beneath the surface of conventional chat there lay a deep chasm of trouble and turbulence.

They’d never resorted to ‘polite’ before.

Their entire relationship had been a full-on explosion of exquisite passion, so uncontrolled and ferocious in its intensity that it had burned everything in its path.

She’d been crazy about him. And crazy to get involved with him when she had known his reputation for hurting women.

What had made her think she would be different?

What had made her think she could handle him when plenty of women before her had tried and failed?

She’d thought she understood him but she’d discovered too late that she’d barely scratched the surface. Raul Vásquez was a complex, volatile man, his character so full of dark, hidden corners that she suspected no woman would ever know him.

And now she was seeing a different side to him—the side that had made him a billionaire.

He was sharply intelligent but instead of his usual dry observations and smart comments, he was focused and on his guard. Intimidating. She’d been brought up to question and challenge and never to be afraid of anyone, but there was something about the harsh lines of his impossibly handsome features that made her want to just shrink into silence.

Over the past couple of weeks she’d gone from lover to adversary and no one in their right mind would choose Raul as an opponent.

His sexy mouth was set in a grim line and the unshakeable confidence that had made her weak at the knees made him seem more formidable than ever.

No wonder everyone just rolled over and played ball when he walked into a room, Faith thought hopelessly as she watched him take a sip of wine. In his current mood he wasn’t a man that anybody would bother challenging.

Faith felt her stomach drop and told herself it was just part of the head injury. Hadn’t they warned her she’d feel nauseous from time to time? It was nothing to do with Raul’s presence. She couldn’t possibly still feel anything for him. Not after what he’d said to her. What he’d believed of her.

Their relationship was dead in the water.

And she really didn’t know what he was doing here.

He rolled his shoulders to ease the tension and despite all her determined resolutions, Faith’s eyes were drawn to the swell of muscle visible beneath the fabric of his shirt. He had an incredible body. Hard, strong, powerful and capable of encouraging an unbelievable response from hers.

Raul caught the look and his eyes darkened. ‘Don’t,’ he warned and his eyes seemed to deepen in colour to a dangerous, stormy shade of black. ‘Don’t look at me like that and don’t bring sex into this or so help me I’ll—’ He broke off, his emotions so close to the surface that he clearly didn’t trust himself to finish the sentence.

‘Do you seriously think I’m lying here thinking about sex?’ Her defence was attack, but the truth was that she had been thinking about sex and she knew that while she was still able to breathe, this man would always have that effect on her. And she on him. There was something between them that transcended all the rules.

One look was all it took.

One look was all it had ever taken.

And that was why they were here, of course, in this horrible mess.

If the physical attraction hadn’t been so overwhelming, perhaps they would have discovered their fundamental differences a great deal sooner.

Abandoning the food on his plate, he made an impatient sound and dropped the fork with a clatter. ‘I don’t know what you’re thinking and I’ve given up guessing,’ he growled. ‘Why did you run?’

She gasped and suddenly her palms literally ached with the desire to swipe the arrogant look from his indecently handsome face. ‘If that is a serious question then you’re even more insensitive than I think you are.’

‘I am not insensitive.’ He pushed the chair back and it scraped on the terrace, the dark flash in his eyes hinting at the degree of volatility that lurked beneath the veneer of control and sophistication. ‘But I fail to see why anyone would go to the lengths you went to and then just walk away.’

‘The lengths I went to?’ Her voice shook. ‘You make me sound like some sort of manipulative gold-digger.’

He looked at her and the derisive glint in his eyes spoke volumes. ‘Yes?’

She swallowed, determined not to cry in front of him. How could he think that of her? ‘I walked away because the things you said to me were awful! Heartless, callous and cruel. Did you really think I’d stick around for second helpings? I was hurt and sad—I needed support—and all I got was a double helping of blind, cynical insensitivity.’

His gaze locked on hers with the deadly accuracy of a heat-seeking missile. ‘You created the situation. You should have stayed to see it through.’

‘What was the point of that?’ she forced herself to answer.

‘You made your position more than clear. Hearing it once was bad enough.’ Enough to kill her dreams and her childish, naïve belief that they’d had something special.

‘If you are going to run at the first sign of trouble, our marriage is going to be extremely interesting.’ He was infuriatingly sure of himself, forceful and arrogant, if he thought he could make her bow to his will by simply applying sufficient psychological pressure. ‘If you’d talked to me, we could have sorted it out.’

‘You weren’t “talking” Raul. You were accusing! Judge and jury rolled into one—only you weren’t prepared to listen to my defence.’ She broke off in horror, unable to believe what she’d just said. ‘You see what being with you has done for me? You’ve turned me from a rational, questioning human being into a meek, subservient blob with no brain! I don’t need a defence because I’ve done nothing wrong!’

‘You are the least subservient woman I have ever met,’ he said through gritted teeth. ‘And I have never questioned your intelligence.’

‘Then why are you behaving like this, Raul? Why are you so willing to believe the worst of me? You’re talking as if I committed a crime, but you were there too!’

‘You assured me that you were protected.’

‘I thought I was!’

There. It was out. The subject that both of them had been avoiding since he’d first strode into her hospital ward.

She was trembling now despite the blazing sunshine, tiny shivers that took over her whole body, but whether it was as a reaction to her accident or his words, she didn’t know. ‘I didn’t mean to get pregnant.’ And she wasn’t prepared to have this conversation. Hadn’t thought that he’d follow her. ‘Go away,’ she croaked. ‘Go back to your work because that’s all you really care about. We no longer have anything else to say to each other.’

Her response sent shards of hostility cracking through the air and Raul rose to his feet and walked away from her, as if he were considering precisely that option. But he didn’t leave the terrace. Instead he stood still, all coiled, suppressed tension like a jungle cat ready to leap on the first unwary animal that crossed its path.

She knew him well enough to know that he was at the outer limits of his patience and that surprised her because it was his razor-sharp thinking and icy control in all situations that had driven him to billionaire status. Where his competitors just cracked and folded under pressure, Raul showed nerves of steel.

But she still didn’t understand why he had brought her here.

Searching for clues, she studied his taut, handsome profile through a hot haze of tears, noticing with almost detached curiosity that the hard lines of his jaw were darkened by stubble. Since when had Raul ever forgotten to shave?

Somehow that observation made her feel better.

If she was suffering then she wanted to know that he was suffering, too.

He turned back to her, control firmly back in his grasp, his tone icily formal. ‘How are you feeling, physically? Have the medical staff I employed treated you well?’ Deliberately he’d stepped aside from the unstable, shifting surface of their emotions.

‘They’ve been fine.’ She was equally polite. ‘Offhand I can’t think of a single person you need to fire or sue.’

A ghost of a smile touched his firm mouth as he acknowledged her accurate assessment of his personality. ‘I think that comment confirms that your brain is still in perfect working order.’

‘My brain is fine. I’m fine. You can let them all go now. They must be costing you a fortune.’

‘“They” are one of the perks of being my wife, cariño.’

‘I was never interested in your money and you know it.’ The first time they’d met she hadn’t even known about his money. It was only after she’d been scorched alive by the chemistry between them that she’d discovered his real identity. And by then it hadn’t mattered. Nothing had mattered, not even the fact that he was difficult and complex. She’d thought she had what it took to handle him.

She’d been wrong.

She lifted her chin. ‘When I met you, I had a career. Don’t insult our relationship by implying that your money was ever part of what we shared.’

‘So why are you worrying about cost? We have enough problems piled up between us. Let’s not add more.’ His tone harsh, he swept aside her protest with a single, decisive stroke and she sank against the sun-lounger, all the energy draining out of her.

‘I’m worrying because we’re not together any more and I don’t want to owe you anything.’

‘Now I’m starting to wonder whether your brain might be damaged after all.’ He stood looking at her, his legs planted firmly apart in a stance that shrieked control. ‘Did you walk under that car on purpose?’

She gasped with shock. ‘No! How can you ask me that?’

‘Because I don’t shirk from the difficult or the awkward,’ he ground out. ‘Unlike you. You were upset.’ His hard stare allowed her no escape and Faith felt a sudden stab of agony.

Upset?

It was such an insignificant word to describe the utter devastation inside her. ‘Of course I was upset. And that’s why I didn’t look where I was going.’ She’d been blind with misery, her brain disconnected from everything except the enormity of her loss.

‘You told the hospital that you had no next of kin. I can’t believe that you were capable of such unbelievably selfish behaviour. Why didn’t you call me?’ His tone was thickened by raw, red, molten anger and this time when she looked at him her eyes were dry.

‘Why would I have called you?’

His features were set and grim. ‘It should have been obvious to you to let me know that you were safe.’

‘I had no reason to believe you’d even care.’

‘Now you’re being childish.’

‘I’m being honest! Our last meeting was hardly a loving encounter—you hurt me, Raul. You hurt me so much.’

‘I was honest about my feelings.’ His savage rejoinder showed no hint of self-reproach or apology and her shivering intensified, as if someone had dropped her in the Arctic wearing nothing more than her underwear.

‘You don’t have feelings and I can’t do this, Raul. I don’t know you any more. You’re not the man I was with.’ Her head was spinning alarmingly and her stomach rolled and lurched. ‘Go away. Just go away. It’s over, Raul.’

He swore softly and fluently and turned away from her, as if he didn’t trust himself to look at her and not explode. ‘Perhaps you didn’t want to know me. This is who I am, Faith. The real me. You saw only what you wanted to see. What suited you.’

‘That isn’t true. I know you can be ruthless in business, but you’re not cruel, I know you’re not.’ The threat of tears was back with a vengeance and she blinked rapidly to clear her vision. ‘Up until our wedding day you were—’

‘What?’ He turned, his dark eyes glinting hard. ‘I was what? A complete fool? A trusting idiot?’

‘I don’t think it’s foolish to trust the person you—’ She just stopped herself saying the word ‘love’ because she knew now that he’d never loved her. ‘Marry,’ she said flatly. ‘It’s not foolish to trust the person you marry.’

‘Oh really?’ His tone was heavy with sarcasm. ‘Perhaps that depends on the reason for the marriage. In our case it was based on deceit. Hardly a firm foundation for trust.’

‘I did not deceive you! And I don’t even understand why you would think that. Is this because of your money? Is this some sort of billionaire thing? What, Raul? You have so much money and you’re such a fabulous catch that women are going to go to any lengths to trap you? Is that what this is about?’

Raul ran a hand over his face. ‘We will leave this subject aside for now.’ His voice shook with emotion. ‘You’re not up to discussing it and frankly I’m not sure I am either.’ It was a measure of his focus and determination that he was capable of moving on from a subject that was burning both of them up inside. ‘You could have been killed.’

‘And that would have solved your problem, Raul.’

‘Dios mío, that comment is totally unjustified.’ His tone was savage and loaded with contempt. ‘Never at any point in this whole miserable mess have I wished you dead.’

Her head throbbed and her mouth was dry as a desert. Seeking any excuse to look away from him, Faith reached for the lemonade again but her hand was shaking so much that half of it slopped over her dress.

Raul stood still, exasperation flickering across his handsome face as he watched her efforts. Then he gave a soft curse and took the glass from her hand, his mouth compressed into a thin line as he held the glass to her lips. ‘Drink.’ His sharp command made her flinch but although there was no sympathy in his tone, he held the glass carefully, allowing her to take small sips before placing the glass back on the table.

But his attentiveness, albeit reluctantly given, simply made things worse.

He was so close to her and she breathed in his clean, male scent and felt her insides stir. It was as if her body recognised him and despite the heat, her shivering intensified.

Why couldn’t he be less of a man?

Maybe then her brain and body would have worked in harmony instead of battling like opposing forces.

‘Stop shivering.’ Raul delivered the order in a driven tone but when his demand had no effect he reached for his phone. ‘I will get the doctor back up here.’

‘No.’ Her teeth chattering, Faith shrank away from him, exhausted and wishing that he was easier to understand. He’d made it obvious that he bitterly regretted their wedding and yet he’d sought her out and brought her back to Argentina. ‘Why did you bring me back here, Raul? Why?’

‘You’re my wife. You belong by my side and in my bed.’

That simple statement encompassed everything it meant to be married to an Argentine male and she closed her eyes briefly. So it was all about possession. There was no love there at all.

‘I didn’t want this to happen to us—’

‘Yes, you did.’ His words and his tone were brutal, leaving her no escape. ‘You made this decision. You rolled the dice and you gambled. At least have the courage to face what you did to our relationship.’

The sick throbbing in her head intensified. ‘I don’t want to talk about it.’

He gave a bitter laugh. ‘And that from a woman? Talking is what women are supposed to do best, isn’t it, Faith? You think that every problem can be solved if it’s talked through.’

Not every problem.

‘I have nothing more to say to you, Raul. You’re angry and bitter and I just don’t know you any more.’

Something flickered across his dark, handsome face—dangerous shadows, a suggestion of something ugly lurking deep, deep inside.

‘I can’t be married to a man who doesn’t love me,’ Faith whispered. ‘I want a divorce. Give me whatever you need me to sign and I’ll sign it.’

Her flat statement drew no response from him and in the end she looked back at him, only to find that he’d walked towards the pool and was standing with his back to her.

Faith stared at him helplessly. Even from the back he was spectacular. His shoulders were wide and powerful, his legs strong and well-muscled. He carried himself with confidence, the astonishing success he’d made of his life evident in every aspect of his demeanour and behaviour.

Once, she’d believed he was hers.

She’d truly believed that they shared something special and the knowledge that for him their relationship had been empty hurt more than any of the wounds she’d incurred in the accident.

He turned suddenly, feeling her gaze on him with that instinctive awareness that had always bound them together. ‘You went to all those elaborate lengths to get me to the altar and now you want a divorce?’ His mouth twisted into a mocking smile. ‘You’re giving up extraordinarily easily. Take some advice—if something is worth fighting for, it’s worth fighting to the death.’

It was a remark so typical of him that in the old days—the days before marriage—she would have smiled and teased him unmercifully. She would have told him to chill out and not be so driven. ‘I never saw our relationship as a war, Raul.’

‘You started the war. You manipulated me into marrying you,’ he said coldly. ‘So it seems absurd for you to abandon your goal so easily.’ His supreme self-confidence and the chill in his tone simply added to her pain.

‘I didn’t have a goal, Raul!’ Feeling at an even greater disadvantage lying down, Faith sat up. ‘I’m not one of your companies!! I don’t have a mission statement or a five-year plan! I did not manipulate you!’

‘No? So who’s fault is it that we are in this position? Marriage was not part of my plan. I was clear about that from the beginning.’ He stepped forward, his voice throbbing with emotion. ‘No marriage. No babies. You entered into our relationship with your eyes wide open.’

His words were so uncompromisingly harsh that for a moment she had trouble breathing.

They were so different. How could she ever have thought that their feelings for one another would be enough to bridge the gulf between them?

‘It wasn’t like that. We were just having fun, Raul. I wasn’t even thinking about marriage.’ Faith sank back against the sun-lounger. ‘I thought we shared something special.’

‘We did. But it wasn’t enough for you, was it? Like a typical woman, you wanted more and more.’ His tone was an angry growl, his words so heavily loaded with accusation that she shrank. ‘You thought that you knew what I wanted better than I did. Well, you were wrong cariño. I knew exactly what I wanted and it wasn’t this.’

Every word he spoke was designed to destroy any last tender shoots of hope that might have survived the initial blast of his anger.

‘You’re still talking as if I had some sort of master plan. I didn’t create this situation, Raul. I didn’t lie to you.’

‘You truly expect me to believe that it was an accident? Contraception is not a hit-and-miss affair.’ He spelled it out with brutal lucidity and Faith felt her heart suddenly bump erratically.

He stood there like a mythical god—lean, arrogant and impossibly handsome, seeing everything from one point of view only.

His own.

‘One day you’ll learn that you can’t control everything in life, Raul. Accidents do happen,’ she said hoarsely. ‘I am living proof of that, but it doesn’t matter any more, does it?’

He drew breath, ready to challenge that remark as he automatically challenged everything and she lifted a hand in a defensive gesture.

‘No!’ She cut him off before he spoke. ‘Just don’t say what’s on your mind, Raul, because frankly I don’t think I can sit through another session of your thoughts on the subject.’

‘You don’t know what I was going to say.’

‘Oh yes I do. It would have been something along the lines of “if you hadn’t got pregnant we wouldn’t be married now” or “it’s lucky for both of us that you lost the baby.”’ She’d been trying so hard not to think about the baby, but now there was no escaping it and her eyes filled with the tears that she’d been choking on for the past couple of weeks. ‘Well, do you know what? I don’t feel lucky. I know it wasn’t what you wanted and to be honest, I was surprised myself—but I don’t feel lucky, Raul. I minded that I lost the baby.’

He was so tense that every muscle in his powerful frame throbbed with it. ‘I know.’

‘You do not know! How could you know? I protected you from it. You were in New York on business. I was devastated but I kept it to myself because you were tied up with that meeting, takeover—’

‘It was a merger.’

‘I don’t care what it was! I just knew it was important to you and I didn’t want to cause you extra stress. But I shot myself in the foot, because you decided that the reason I didn’t tell you about my miscarriage was because I was afraid you might call off the wedding.’

‘It was a natural assumption.’

‘Only for a man like you, Raul. Any other person would have thanked me for being so thoughtful and selfless.’ She turned her head, her voice a whisper. ‘Go away. Just go away. Why are we even talking about this, anyway?’

‘Because we are married,’ he bit out harshly. ‘And we have to sort this out.’

‘Some things just aren’t fixable. And this is one of them. Do you realise that you haven’t once thought about my feelings? All you’ve thought about is yourself. You think I trapped you. Well, do you know what?’ Her voice rose. ‘I wish you had ditched me at the altar. You would have been doing us both a favour.’

‘I would not have done that. Despite what you think, I do have a sense of decency.’

‘Decency? Where was your sense of decency when you said it was a good thing I’d lost the baby?’

He stiffened, his handsome face pale despite his tan. ‘You are taking my words out of context.’

‘I wish I was, but I’m not. And frankly, I would have preferred you to have broken it off, than to find myself married to a cold, insensitive bastard.’

He inhaled sharply. ‘I’ve never heard you use language like that before.’

‘Well, if you stick around, you’ll be hearing more of it.’

Raul ran a hand over his face. ‘You are extremely upset—’

‘Yes. Funny that, really. I lose a baby, discover that my husband is a cold-hearted, ruthless pig, get run over—’ Her heart was pounding so rapidly that she felt dizzy. ‘I can’t imagine why I’d be upset.’

‘You need to calm down. The doctors said you shouldn’t be subjected to any more stress.’ Raul lifted a hand in what presumably was a gesture of conciliation. ‘Why are we going over this again? No me importa. I don’t care. It’s history now. We have to move on.’

‘Where to, Raul?’ Faith choked, holding it together by a thread. ‘You’re relieved, but that isn’t how I feel. I feel terrible. You have no idea. Our relationship is dead and so is—’ She broke off with a whimper of pain, unable to finish the sentence. ‘I wish there had been a baby.’

‘I know you do.’ Raul’s tone was grim and his face was white with the strain. ‘Which is why you should have left me six months ago for some homely, domesticated male whose sole desire was to reproduce and spread his seed. You should have ended it instead of forcing me into something I didn’t want.’

‘It was an accident.’ She covered her face with her hands to hide the tears but clearly she was less than successful because she heard Raul swear and then felt his thigh brush against hers as he sat down next to her.

‘Stop crying. I’ve never seen you cry before. You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever met.’ His strong fingers closed around her wrists and he pulled her hands away from her face, as if he could ease her distress simply by the force of his will. ‘And you wonder why I am so against marriage as an institution! Until we exchanged vows, we were happy together.’

She sniffed. ‘It isn’t marriage. It’s you—the way you are—’

‘And you always knew the way I was. We both knew it, Faith.’ Raul’s tone was rough. ‘There was never any future for us. Eventually you would have wanted marriage and babies. It was inevitable.’

‘I hadn’t even thought about it.’ Furious with herself for crying, Faith wiped her eyes with the palm of her hand. ‘I had a career when I met you. The last thing I was thinking of was playing happy families.’

‘When you discovered how badly you wanted a baby, you should have left.’

‘How are you so successful at negotiation when you don’t even listen to the other person?’ Faith bit back a hysterical laugh. ‘That wasn’t how it happened! I did not plan it. I had a whole career ahead of me. Plans! When I discovered that I was pregnant, I was in shock. But then I realised how much I wanted our baby.’ And him. She’d realised how much she wanted him.

‘And the fact that I didn’t wasn’t of importance to you?’

‘You asked me to marry you!’

‘Because you left me no choice.’

His blunt admission sliced through her control and brought the tears to the surface. ‘Well, that’s romantic. And having admitted that you married me because I “forced” you, you now want to continue this relationship? Are you mad, or what?’ The tears trickled down her face and Raul’s sensual mouth tightened.

‘Don’t cry.’

‘Why?’ The tears fell harder. ‘Because it makes you feel bad? Well, good. At the moment, I want you to feel bad.’ The utter desolation echoed in her voice and she saw his emotional turmoil.

After a moment’s hesitation he reached out a hand towards her but she shrank away from him and he let it fall to his side. ‘How did our relationship reach this point?’

‘I don’t know. I was so in love with you.’ Her voice was thick with tears. ‘I didn’t think anything could ever damage what we had. I thought we were invincible.’

‘And presumably that’s why you did it.’ His voice grew several degrees colder and she knew that she would never convince him that she hadn’t become pregnant on purpose.

‘So just divorce me,’ she whispered, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. ‘Divorce me for unreasonable behaviour.’

‘There won’t be a divorce.’ His tone was hard and icy cold. ‘You chose this path, cariño. Now walk it. I have some calls to make. Make sure you rest before dinner.’

CHAPTER FIVE

WHAT was she supposed to wear for dinner?

She’d fled from Argentina with nothing more than her passport. She certainly hadn’t stopped to pack a wardrobe.

Glancing at her watch, she realised that there were still several hours until dinner, so she picked up her bag and stepped into the elevator.

They were in the centre of Buenos Aires. How hard could it be to find something simple and practical to wear?

She pressed the button for the ground floor, thinking of Raul. He’d changed so much and she didn’t have to look far to discover the cause of their problems.

By becoming pregnant she’d committed the ultimate sin.

The lift doors opened and she gave a gasp of shock because Raul was standing there, anger shimmering in his dark eyes.

‘Do you have a death wish? You are supposed to be resting.’

For a long, agonising moment the tension throbbed between them momentarily blinding both of them. She was painfully aware of his sexuality and her stomach swooped and spun like a ride at a funfair.

Suddenly, looking at his rigid shoulders, she realised that they’d never stood a chance.

They were worlds apart; not just in terms of wealth, but in life experience and culture.

They’d talked all the time, but never about his past, and she was only now realising how little she knew about him.

The phone in his pocket rang and he removed it, scanned the number and then took the call. ‘Sí—I am aware of that.’ He switched between Spanish and English with effortless ease and Faith listened with reluctant admiration, trying not to be impressed but failing because his razor-sharp intellect had always given her a buzz. She’d loved arguing with him because his brain was so fast and challenging him had always resulted in lively debate.

As if sensing her scrutiny, his eyes locked onto hers and a muscle flickered in his jaw. ‘No—cancel. I don’t care, I’m busy right now. They can wait until I’m ready.’

Faith watched as he broke the connection with a decisive stab of one long finger and dropped the phone back into his pocket. She cleared her throat. ‘If you were cancelling a meeting because of me then you shouldn’t have bothered.’

‘How else am I supposed to stop you from doing something foolish? If I don’t watch you personally you will no doubt vanish again, and I have no desire to scrape you off the floor after yet another accident.’ He’d obviously come from a meeting because he was dressed in a dark formal suit but the white cuff of his shirt had ridden up slightly and she found her eyes drawn to the hairs that darkened the bronzed skin at his wrist. That tantalising hint of masculinity was sufficient to trigger an uncomfortably vivid image of him naked and Faith turned her head away quickly, wondering how a physical connection could possibly endure when everything else was so catastrophically wrong between them. It was true that Raul exceeded the most exacting woman’s standards of masculinity, but after everything that had happened, she shouldn’t be feeling this way.

The brain was supposed to be connected to the senses, so why were hers humming and buzzing instead of freezing him off?

Glancing over his shoulder, Faith saw two burly men standing in the opulent lobby. ‘Who are they?’

‘Security.’ Raul stepped into the elevator with her and slammed his hand against a button. He controlled his privacy with the same ruthless efficiency that he used on every other aspect of his life.

‘I need to go shopping—’

‘You were never interested in shopping.’

‘I don’t have anything to wear. All my clothes are at the estancia.’

He stared down at her for a moment. ‘I apologise,’ he said stiffly. ‘I hadn’t realised. You should have said something sooner.’

The doors slid closed and Faith suddenly found herself trapped with him in a small, intimate space.

Erotic images swirled around her brain and she stared straight ahead, trying to concentrate on something else. The utter stillness of his powerful body told her that he was doing the same thing and she knew instinctively that his brain was playing the same tricks.

So how could not looking intensify the connection between them?

In this closed-in space Faith was agonisingly aware of the latent power of his lean, strong body and she realised with a stab of pain that this was the first time she’d stood this close to him and not touched. In their relationship she’d been the affectionate one and he’d always teased her about it.

‘You can’t go five seconds without checking I’m still here.’

And it had been true. She’d adored him and it wouldn’t have occurred to her to not show it.

But now she envied his emotional detachment and wished she’d kept part of herself back.

If she’d done that, would it hurt less?

Probably not. Despite everything that had happened between them, part of her wanted to take that final step towards him and feel his arms close around her in that decisive, possessive way that had always thrilled her.

And it horrified her that she still felt that way.

She couldn’t be with a man who didn’t trust her, could she? For her, trust was as fundamental as breathing. And she couldn’t be with a man who had such little regard for her feelings. A man who knew her so little.

Did she have no self-respect?

Or was it just that she’d totally underestimated the power of love?

Desperate to interrupt the uncomfortable flow of her thoughts, Faith struggled to make conversation. ‘I didn’t know you had an apartment in Buenos Aires.’

He loosened his top button and jerked at his tie, the intimate confinement clearly affecting him in a similar manner. ‘Sometimes I work late.’

The lift rose smoothly upwards and she stared at the view.

‘It’s stunning.’

‘Actually it’s on the market,’ Raul said stiffly. ‘I’ve discovered that a glass lift isn’t a good choice if you want privacy.’

And Raul was fiercely protective of his privacy, she knew that. This particular billionaire wasn’t about to become public property, and he invested time and effort into keeping his profile as low-key as possible. His extreme wealth had protected their relationship from the intrusion of the outside world.

She’d been spoiled, cosseted, protected and most of the time she hadn’t even been aware of that fact because everything in his life ran so smoothly and discreetly.

His main residence was the Beach House in the grounds of the estancia, ten thousand acres of prime real-estate that stretched from the Atlantic coast of Argentina into the grasslands. Under Raul’s watchful eye, his dedicated staff, which had once included her, bred and trained polo ponies, and the estancia was the first port of call for the super-wealthy who enjoyed that particular sport.

With typical flare and vision, Raul had tapped into a market where the very, very rich would pay for the privilege of receiving the very best polo instruction and advice on the purchase of a string of ponies, safe from the prying eyes of the world’s press. It also allowed Raul to indulge his daredevil streak—as one of the country’s most daring polo players, he thrived on the thrilling adrenalin rush of the game.

But the stud-farm was only a small part of an empire that encompassed hotels, finance and export. Applauded by the financial pages of the world’s newspapers for his astonishing vision, Raul had diversified sufficiently to ensure that any change in the markets would have no effect on the overall profitability of his business.

The lift doors opened and Raul strode out, as if he couldn’t wait to get away from her. After a moment’s hesitation Faith followed, knowing that if she didn’t do so voluntarily, he’d simply haul her out himself.

The penthouse apartment spread over the top of the building, a dazzling, soaring living-space designed to give the occupant breathtaking views over Buenos Aires.

‘It is stunning,’ she muttered weakly. ‘Another world.’ And at that moment she almost laughed at herself.

It was another world. The world he lived in. How had she ever thought she could just step into his life with no problems?

A frown touching his strong, dark brows, Raul turned his head and stared out of the window, as if the view wasn’t something he’d noticed before. ‘It’s a city.’

His reply was so rigidly polite that Faith felt as though she was on a blind date with a stranger. ‘If you didn’t buy it for the view, why did you choose it?’

He gave a careless lift of his broad shoulders, as if he considered it an odd question. ‘I needed somewhere to shower and change in between meetings. And it’s an investment.’

He was standing still but she could feel the energy pulsing from every centimetre of his powerful frame. She’d never met anyone as driven as Raul. ‘Does money come into every decision you make?’

‘Not always.’ His charcoal-dark eyes locked on hers, his gaze boldly explicit and she understood the unspoken message in that one blistering look.

If he’d been thinking about money, he wouldn’t have chosen her.

Looking at him now, at the careless arrogance he wore with the same ease as his expensive clothes, she wondered how she’d ever felt comfortable with him.

Everything about him screamed power and success but on top of that he possessed a raw, dominant sexuality that had always rendered her breathless.

For a moment his burning gaze held her captive, the sheer force of his personality preventing her from looking away.

In the end it was Raul who broke that connection, turning from her with a sudden movement that suggested an underlying tension of almost unbearable proportions. ‘I haven’t shown you round properly, but the bedroom is up the stairs.’ His voice was tight, clipped, as if he were restraining himself not to say a great deal more. ‘Take a shower and help yourself to some clothes from the wardrobe.’

Clothes? Her heart lurched and the dull, sick feeling in the pit of her stomach returned. Since when did he keep a spare set of clothes for female guests? She’d never been here, which could only mean that …

Reminding herself that the way he chose to live his life was no longer any of her business, Faith curled her fingers into her palms.

‘Upstairs?’

‘It’s a duplex penthouse.’ With a spare, minimal gesture he angled his glossy, dark head and she belatedly noticed a curving staircase in one corner of the room.

‘Fine.’ Not trusting herself to stay cool in front of him, she stalked across the apartment and up the stairs, horribly conscious of his eyes tracking her every movement.

She found herself in a sumptuous master-bedroom suite that extended over the whole of the top floor. Gripped by the sharp claws of jealousy, she kept her eyes firmly averted from the enormous bed. Raul had had women before her, she knew that. But she’d always told herself that they were part of his past.

Only now was it dawning on her that she’d never really known this dangerous, complicated, hotly sexual man. When he’d flown to Buenos Aires for meetings, had he been alone? Could Raul deprive himself of sex for a few nights? Remembering his almost insatiable hunger for her body, she doubted it. He was a man of apparently limitless stamina in every area of his life and the demands he placed upon himself would have exhausted a lesser man.

Reminding herself that none of that was supposed to matter to her any more, she made straight for the bathroom.

Even there she couldn’t escape the vagaries of her imagination because the amazing glass bath was easily large enough for two, as was the shower.

And she knew enough of Raul’s sexual appetites to know that he wouldn’t have restricted his activities to the bedroom.

Trying to block out the distressing image of those skilled, bronzed hands on another woman, she stripped off her damp clothes and stepped under the shower. Why would she care that he had another woman? She didn’t want him, did she? Not after what he’d believed of her. He was right—they were totally wrong for each other. She was a modern, thinking woman. He was a ruthless tycoon who inhabited a world she hadn’t even known existed. And that world had made him cynical and hard.

She probably should have ended the relationship and maybe she would have if it hadn’t been for the one small fact that he’d overlooked when he’d delivered that piece of advice.

She loved him.

Totally, completely and utterly. To the point where the mere idea of leaving would have been laughable.

And he’d taken that love and crushed it.

Closing her eyes, she let the hot water scald her skin, finding the warmth strangely soothing. After the clinical scent of the hospital it was pure bliss to lather indulgent products into her hair and body. She could have stayed under the shower for ever, but she knew that if she didn’t emerge soon Raul would come looking for her and she didn’t want that. Reluctantly she stemmed the flow of hot water, dried herself on one of the heated towels and walked into the dressing room.

Steeling herself for seeing a range of glamorous dresses, she was taken aback to see nothing but male clothing, both formal and casual.

Suits, shirts, ties, shoes—nothing remotely feminine or glittery.

Relief swamped her, closely followed by exasperation because she didn’t want to feel anything. She didn’t want to care. Shaking her head in despair, she wondered how she was ever going to divorce herself from this man. It wasn’t the legal side that worried her—that would be simple enough. The real problem was the mental agony of accepting that he was no longer in her life.

Faith stared at the contents of his dressing room, realising with a sense of resignation that there was absolutely nothing that was going to fit her.

Abandoning ideas of boosting her flagging courage with a touch of power-dressing, she gave a shrug and reached for a crisp white shirt. She wasn’t trying to make a good impression anyway, so what did it matter how she was dressed? The shirt fell to mid-thigh and she had to roll up the sleeves, but after she’d added a belt she decided that she was more or less respectable.

Feeling ridiculously self-conscious, she walked back into the luxurious living area.

Raul was standing with his back to her, phone to his ear as usual, his hand braced against the glass window as he listened to the person on the other end. For a moment Faith just watched him, her eyes feasting on every tiny detail from the fit of his shirt to the bold confidence that was so evident in everything he did. He was spectacular. Sleek, handsome and every inch the successful billionaire.

How had she ever thought that their relationship could work?

He was used to driving over everything in his path and she’d never been meek and submissive.

They’d been an accident waiting to happen.

Sensing her presence, he turned, issued a set of instructions and then terminated the call and dropped the phone onto the nearest available surface. His eyes swept over her in one swiftly assessing glance. ‘You’ve lost weight.’

His comment shot like a spear through her self-confidence. ‘Lost weight’ good, or ‘lost weight’ bad? ‘It’s your shirt,’ she muttered. ‘It’s too big for me. There weren’t any female clothes.’

‘Why would there be?’ His tone was heavily laced with sarcasm. ‘On the whole I don’t find the financial sector take me seriously if I arrive at a meeting wearing a dress.’

The question burned inside her and she looked at him, desperately wanting to ask and hating herself for that weakness. Their relationship was in its death throes. Why demean herself by voicing the fears that had been gnawing at her insides since he’d dragged her into the apartment?

The apartment she hadn’t known about.

Raul shot her a look of sizzling impatience. ‘You are totally transparent. But I don’t play those games, Faith, I told you that when we first met. I was with you. I didn’t want anyone else.’

The fact that he’d read her so easily should have bothered her but she was too lacerated by his use of the past tense to care. ‘Women want you—’

‘I’m an adult, not some hormonal teenager,’ he said curtly. ‘Do you think I jump into bed with every woman who looks at me?’

Obviously not, or he’d never get any work done.

Faith tried to breathe evenly. ‘I just thought—’

‘I know what you thought,’ he snapped. ‘And for your information I have never brought another woman here. This is convenient accommodation, not a love nest. When I’m here, I’m working.’

Wishing she hadn’t exposed so much of herself, or her feelings, Faith looked away. ‘This is so difficult.’

‘You’re the one who made it difficult.’

‘You expect my trust but you don’t give it in return.’ She turned to him. ‘What did I ever do to make you believe that I’d lie to you? And lie about something so enormously important?’

He stilled, his face ashen beneath his tan. ‘You cannot walk around Buenos Aires wearing one of my shirts.’

So he was going to stampede right over the issue, then. Her legs gave way and she plopped onto the sofa. ‘I didn’t have any luggage.’

‘You left Argentina with nothing?’

She wanted to turn the conversation back to the subject that he’d abandoned but her woman’s intuition warned her that it was best left. If Raul was avoiding it, then he was avoiding it for a reason.

And suddenly she wanted to understand that reason.

Only now was it occurring to her that she was being punished for someone else’s sins.

‘When I left, I was upset, Raul.’ In fact she’d been in such a state when she’d fled to the airport that it was fortunate her passport had been in her handbag or she wouldn’t have gone far. ‘I wasn’t thinking.’

‘Evidently.’ The mockery in his voice was sharp as a blade. ‘As you evidently weren’t thinking when you stepped in the path of a taxi. You don’t need luggage, cariño, you need protection. From yourself.’

‘That’s not true. And I wouldn’t have taken any luggage, anyway.’ She bit her lip. ‘I didn’t want to take anything that was yours.’

‘You were mine,’ Raul said with lethal emphasis, his thick dark lashes veiling the expression in his eyes. ‘You were mine. And unlike you, I take incredibly good care of my possessions.’

CHAPTER SIX

‘I’M NOT your possession, Raul.’

Raul watched her and wished he’d had the foresight to send out for some clothes for her. At least then he might have stood a chance of being able to concentrate.

He’d never considered a plain white shirt to be sexy, but Faith managed to turn it into something that could have become a top seller in a sex shop.

It wasn’t the shirt, he decided grimly, it was the woman.

Faith would have looked sexy dressed in her grandmother’s clothes.

And she was looking straight at him, her green eyes wide and intelligent. ‘Talk to me, Raul,’ she urged softly, all the fight suddenly leaving her. ‘Tell me why you’re thinking like this. Is there something I need to know? Did someone hurt you? Did someone betray your trust?’

She’d changed tactic in mid-fight but this alternative, gentler assault was infinitely more deadly than the fierce blast of her temper.

She was getting close. Too close. Closer than any woman had ever dared tread before.

‘We’ve been talking non-stop,’ he said coldly, retreating mentally and physically from the question he saw in her eyes.

‘Maybe we haven’t been talking about the right things.’

Swiftly, he sidestepped an issue he had no intention of exploring further. ‘You betrayed my trust.’

‘No.’ She shook her head slowly. ‘Why would you even think that?’

‘Because you went to astonishing lengths to drag me into this marriage.’

‘That is not what happened!’

‘Then what did happen, Faith? Why are we standing here, as husband and wife, because I sure as hell don’t know!’ His words thickened, his usually faultless accent tinged with a hint of his South American heritage.

She stood in front of him and he could actually see her slim legs shaking. In fact she was shaking so badly that for a moment he wondered whether she might actually collapse. Her face had lost every last hint of colour and she looked as though she were in shock. ‘We’re here because I thought it was what you wanted. You proposed, Raul. You asked me to marry you.’

‘Because you gave me no other option! Have you listened to anything I’ve said over the past ten months?’ With a supreme effort of will, he kept his voice level even though the temptation to vent his wrath was extreme. ‘Right from the beginning I made it clear to you—no marriage, no babies. If that’s what you had planned then you should have been with another man.’

But even as he uttered the words he knew them for a lie. He would never have let her go to another man.

‘I didn’t have anything planned. I didn’t plan any of this!’ Some of her spirit returned. ‘I came to your wretched estancia because the job was interesting and I wanted to see something of South America. All you were to me was a name. A guy who knew about horses!’

Watching her trembling and shaking in front of him, Raul frowned. ‘Calm down.’ She looked impossibly fragile and he watched with a mixture of concern and exasperation as she grew more and more agitated, her slender hands clasping and unclasping by her sides.

‘Don’t tell me to calm down! How can I possibly calm down when you’re accusing me of planning as though I’m some sort of s-s—’ she stumbled over the word ‘—scheming woman, out to trap you. I’m not scheming. I never planned or plotted. I had an accident! It happens to millions of women every day! And it wasn’t just my fault! You were there, too! You’re very quick to blame me, but I wasn’t alone in this. I didn’t have sex by myself. You were there, Raul, every time. You were there in our bed every night. You were there in the shower, in the stables, in your office, in the fields—wherever I was, you were. I didn’t do this by myself!’

Her passionate diatribe conjured up images of such disturbing clarity that it took him a moment to formulate a response. ‘You assured me that you were protected.’

‘Well, it seems that nothing is foolproof. I’ve thought about it and thought about it.’ Faith swallowed. ‘I was sick, if you remember. I picked up that bug when we spent the night in that hotel outside Cordoba, when you were looking at a horse. I didn’t even think of it at the time, but it was probably enough—’

He digested that information in silence. ‘It’s history now.’

‘No, it isn’t history. I can’t be with a man who would think that badly of me!’

‘All marriages hit sticky patches.’

‘But not within hours of the ceremony! I hate you, Raul.’ The tears spilled down her cheeks and she started to sob. Not delicate, controlled sobs designed to win a man round, but tearing, anguished sobs that seemed to place great strain on her slender frame. ‘I hate you for not believing me, I hate you for marrying me when that wasn’t what you really wanted, but most of all I really, really hate you for not caring that I lost the baby.’

Raul swore fluently and stepped towards her but she held up a hand to stop him.

‘Don’t come near me,’ she choked. ‘Don’t you dare touch me or I’ll injure you.’

He stiffened. ‘You’re obviously distressed—’

‘And you are the reason for that distress! Make up your mind, Raul. You can’t accuse me of lying and manipulating one minute and then offer to support me the next. When I told you that I’d lost the baby—that was when I needed your support.’ Her voice was thickened and clogged with tears. ‘But what did you do? You accused me of having become pregnant on purpose to trap you into marriage. I didn’t just lose the baby, I lost you because I realised then that I couldn’t be with a man who would think me capable of something like that.’

‘What was I supposed to think?’ Infuriated by her totally unjust accusations, Raul felt his own tension levels soar.

‘ You were supposed to think that I wouldn’t have done that to you. To us! That was what you were supposed to think.’ Her face was streaked with tears but for some reason she didn’t look pathetic or sorry for herself, just angry and passionate and very, very beautiful. ‘I know you find it hard to show your feelings, but I assumed you loved me. I assumed you cared about me. It didn’t occur to me to even question that because I thought we were happy together. So at the time, all I was really thinking about was the baby and how sad I was.’

Raul turned away and raked his fingers through his hair. ‘It might have helped if you’d told me about the miscarriage before the wedding.’

‘Well if I’d known how jaded and cynical you are then perhaps I would have done, although goodness knows when!

You arrived five minutes before the ceremony! If I’d talked about it then I would have broken down and I thought it would be bad for your image to be seen marrying a woman who was sobbing.’

‘Faith—’

‘Answer me honestly, Raul.’ Her voice trembled and shook with emotion. ‘Why did you propose to me? If you were truly so against marriage, why did you propose? If you remember, when I first discovered I was pregnant I told you that I did not expect you to marry me.’

‘Yes, that was clever.’

‘It wasn’t clever! It was how I felt.’ Increasingly agitated, Faith paced across the floor, her back to him as if she couldn’t bear to look him in the eye. ‘It was bad enough finding myself pregnant and knowing that you were going to blame me for that. Do you know how much courage it took to tell you I was pregnant? Do you know?’ She turned, her eyes flashing. ‘I could have vanished into the sunset and brought your baby up on my own, but I didn’t do that because I decided that it wasn’t right or honest. I decided that it wouldn’t be fair to you.’

Raul stilled, black clouds from his past rolling towards him like a deadly storm. ‘I would not have wanted you to do that,’ he said hoarsely, sliding a finger round the neck of his shirt in an attempt to ease his breathing. ‘I wouldn’t have allowed that.’ Never.

‘Why not? If you’re really so allergic to the thought of parenthood, then that would have been a perfectly reasonable option to consider.’

Not for him. Ruthlessly battling to rein in emotions that he hadn’t experienced for years, Raul rubbed his fingers over his temples in the hope that touch might erase the memories. Not now. He wasn’t going to think about this now. And not later, either. It was gone. Done. Finished.

‘I’m trying to understand you, Raul.’ Her eyes glittered like jade. ‘And you’re not helping.’

He inhaled deeply. ‘When you told me that you were pregnant, I did not react badly.’

‘You stood there, looking as though you’d been shot through the head at close range.’ She turned away from him and he saw her chest rise and fall under the soft fabric of his shirt. She looked traumatised, fragile and desperately upset. ‘What is going on here, Raul? Is this some sort of billionaire hang-up? Is that it? Woman gets pregnant so it must be because she wants your money?’

Raul watched her in tense silence. Their relationship was in shreds around them and he had no idea how to fix it because he’d never actually bothered fixing a relationship before. If it wasn’t right, it ended. Simple as that.

So why wasn’t he ending this one? ‘You need to calm down—’

‘Stop telling me to calm down! I don’t feel calm. I’m angry, Raul. Angry with you. And angry with myself for believing that we had something special. It was bad enough telling you that I was pregnant, but I reassured myself that our relationship was strong enough to take it. We loved each other, or so I thought. I really believed that we’d weather this and make it work.’ Her voice faltered and she gave a tiny intake of breath. ‘And then I lost it.’ That last statement was an anguished gasp and Raul felt his own tension rocket and every muscle in his body tensed in readiness for more female tears.

‘Why didn’t you tell me? I called you that night,’ he reminded her. ‘I called you every night I was away on business. You had ample opportunity.’

‘I just couldn’t do it over the phone …’ Her voice faded to a whisper and she dropped back onto the sofa as if her legs had lost their strength. ‘How do you do that? I don’t know—

I mean, should I have said, “How was your day, dear? By the way, I lost the baby”?’

‘Faith—’

‘I was devastated and you hate emotional scenes, you know you do. Look at you now—you’re standing there thinking to yourself, “I hope she doesn’t cry again. Once was enough.”’

‘That isn’t true,’ Raul lied swiftly but her soft, derisive laugh told him that he’d been less than convincing. He paced to the furthest end of the living room although why, he didn’t really know. There was already an enormous gulf between them. Physically and emotionally they were as far apart as it was possible for two people to be.

‘It’s all irrelevant. What matters now is that we’re married. And we have to find a way of moving forward from here.’ He thought of the past year and the passion they’d shared. He’d loved the fact that she hadn’t known who he was at their first meeting. Loved the fact that the chemistry between them had been raw and explosive and nothing to do with who he was.

And even when she’d discovered his identity, it hadn’t changed her. She’d continued to be herself, challenging him constantly without guarding what she said. Surrounded by people who deferred to him, he’d found Faith a revelation. And then there had been the sex.

‘Raul, it’s over.’

‘You’re my wife, Faith. I want you back in my bed.’

She gaped at him. ‘You have to be kidding.’

Taken aback by her less than enthusiastic response to his statement, Raul frowned. ‘Every relationship goes through rocky patches.’

‘This isn’t a rocky patch, Raul, it’s a mountain range!’

‘I told you earlier that there wouldn’t be a divorce.’

‘I assumed you didn’t mean it.’

‘We were good together.’

‘At sex. You’re just being ridiculously possessive and macho. You’re doing it again—that whole Argentine-man thing.’ Her face was terrifyingly pale and she rose to her feet so suddenly that her body swayed.

With a sharp frown, Raul stepped towards her but before he could reach her her legs gave way and she sank to the floor, unconscious.

‘These things happen after a head injury, but it’s important that she avoids any unnecessary stress.’

Faith woke to find herself lying on the bed with a doctor hovering over her and groaned. Not more doctors.

‘She really needs peace and quiet,’ he was saying and Faith struggled to sit up.

‘What happened?’

‘You fainted,’ the man said calmly and Faith frowned.

‘I never faint.’

The man closed his bag. ‘You can’t expect to return to full health immediately. You need to take it gently.’

‘I intended to take her back to the estancia tomorrow.’ Raul’s face was strained and the doctor nodded.

‘It’s only a short drive. She will be fine, I’m sure. But you need to remember that a miscarriage followed by a head injury—it’s a lot for anyone to cope with.’ He picked up his medical bag and left the room with Raul.

A few moments later Raul was back, a wary expression on his handsome face.

Faith lay still, just watching him. ‘Why are you staring at me like that? I’m not about to break in two.’

‘The doctors think that the reason you’re so emotional could be because of the miscarriage,’ he said tightly. ‘They think you should be encouraged to talk about it.’

‘Talk?’ Faith gave a weak laugh. ‘They don’t know you very well, do they? Now I understand why you’re looking green around the gills. You’re afraid I suddenly want to expose you to my inner feelings. Relax, Raul. I wouldn’t discuss it with you if you were the last person on earth.’

He absorbed the insult without attempt at retaliation, his face grim as he studied her in silence. Then he dropped something into her lap.

Faith looked at it and her heart stopped dead.

‘It’s your wedding ring,’ he said in a harsh voice. ‘The wedding ring you threw at me only two hours after I’d placed it on your finger. Put it on. You’re mine and don’t ever forget it again.’

Remembering how she’d felt when she’d removed it, Faith felt the lump return to her throat. ‘Do you know something?’ she said in a shaky voice that didn’t sound like her own. ‘Until I met you, I could never understand why a woman would be so stupid as to cry over a man. And here I am, doing exactly that.’

‘Put it on. You should never have taken it off your finger.’

‘You should never have put it on my finger, feeling the way you felt.’ She took the ring in her hand but didn’t put it on.

‘I did not intentionally upset you.’

‘Don’t say that, Raul, because if you’ve achieved this level of devastation without even trying, I don’t even want to think about what you might manage if you really applied yourself.’

‘I’m willing to admit that I was thinking of my feelings rather than yours.’ His surprising admission left her speechless and he sat on the edge of the bed, his dense lashes lowered as he studied her. ‘I am trying.’

‘Are you?’

‘I’m here.’

‘Claiming your “possession”; wasn’t that the word you used? Give me one reason why I should even think about putting this ring back on my finger.’

‘Because you love me.’

His arrogant statement rocked her to the core. Did she love him? Was she really such a poor judge of character? ‘Go away, Raul. You heard the doctor—I’m not supposed to be subjected to any stress and you definitely fall under the category of stress.’

‘You love me, Faith.’ His voice was dangerously intimate and she glared at him angrily but the anger was as much directed towards herself as him. She shouldn’t be listening to him. She shouldn’t be giving him air-time.

‘Do you want to have to explain to the doctor why I’ve collapsed again?’

His response to that was to take her cold fingers in his warm, strong grip and slide the ring onto her finger in a decisive gesture. ‘Don’t take it off again. And now I want you to tell me how you feel.’

‘No, you don’t.’ She gave a hollow laugh. ‘Trust me, you really don’t want to go there. And anyway, we both know that you would sooner eat glass than discuss my feelings.’

‘That is not true.’ His fingers tightened on hers. ‘Whatever you may think, I do care about you. The doctors say you need to talk about the miscarriage. I explained that the pregnancy was an accident, but they didn’t seem to think that would make any difference to the emotional impact.’

‘And that was news to you?’ Her voice shook as the pain shot through her. ‘You think that made any difference to my feelings? Do you think that made it hurt any the less?’

‘I don’t know.’ His tone was cool and detached. ‘I have no experience in this area.’ And he hadn’t wanted any experience; that much was obvious from every taut, stiff line of his powerful frame.

‘I don’t know why we’re talking about this.’

‘Because the doctors seem to think it might help you. Did it hurt, physically?’ His voice was gruff and she stared at the ceiling, feeling as though the bottom was dropping out of her world, yet again.

‘Raul, I really don’t—’

‘Talk to me!’

‘Why? So that you can watch me unravel like a ball of wool?’ Her strangled laugh was like a warning bell, indicating that the volumes of tension building inside her were reaching danger levels. ‘Is that what you’re asking?’

‘Dios mío, do not attack me when I am trying to help! Tell me what is in your head.’

His hand rested close to hers and the fact that her own fingers tingled with the need to touch shocked her. He wasn’t capable of giving comfort, so why was she hoping for it? ‘I’m angry. That’s how I feel.’

‘Sí, that much I can see for myself,’ he growled. ‘What else?’

‘Sad,’ she whispered, curling her fingers into the soft duvet that covered her. ‘And guilty. Because I was so worried about what the baby would do to you and to us. It didn’t occur to me that I might lose it. And now I’m wondering—’

‘It was not your fault.’ The fact that he’d read her mind surprised her because she hadn’t thought he was capable of being so connected with her thoughts.

‘You don’t know that. It feels as though it is.’ Her voice was clogged with tears. ‘Perhaps that baby knew that it had stirred up a hornet’s nest between us. Perhaps it knew, Raul.’

‘You are torturing yourself for no reason.’

‘You wanted to know how I feel. I’m telling you. I feel guilty. Sad. Disappointed. Angry with you.’ She swallowed painfully and her voice dropped to a whisper. ‘And empty. Really, really empty. Because I’ve lost something that was part of me. Part of us. And I know it wasn’t planned, but once I found out about it I just wanted it.’ It was too much. Letting a tiny drop of emotion escape was dangerous when so much of it was bottled up.

‘You always were maternal. I watched you delivering foals and I knew then that you were trouble.’ His tone was gruff and she knew he was acknowledging what they’d both known: that this was always going to be an enormous issue between them.

‘I didn’t think it would be a problem,’ she admitted hoarsely. ‘I had no plans to settle down and get married. Children were something in the far-distant future so when you told me that wasn’t what you wanted, I suppose it just didn’t really seem relevant. We were having fun and we were happy. That was what mattered.’

‘The problem was always there.’

‘Only if you were thinking in terms of marriage and a future, and I wasn’t.’ Her fingers tightened on the duvet. ‘I didn’t see it as a problem.’

‘You mean you hoped I would wake up one morning longing to be a father.’

‘No, I mean I wasn’t thinking about parenthood. I was just enjoying our relationship.’

His gaze didn’t shift from her face. ‘And now?’

‘Well, I don’t think this is the most fun we’ve ever had together, if that’s what you’re asking me,’ she croaked and he rose to his feet and gave her a long, speculative look that made her stomach tumble and turn.

‘I never wanted to hurt you.’

‘Raul, don’t—’

‘I love being with you.’

It was as close to a declaration of love as he’d ever come, and for a moment she couldn’t breathe. Afraid that she’d make a fool of herself, she squeezed her eyes tightly shut. ‘Getting soppy on me, Raul?’

‘Perhaps.’

She gave a soft moan of agony. ‘It’s easier to deal with you when you’re angry and unreasonable. Why are you doing this to me now, when it’s too late for us?’

‘It isn’t too late.’

If she’d thought she was confused before, she was doubly so now. ‘How can you claim to care about me when you hurt me?’

‘If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t be here now.’ He didn’t try and touch her but somehow that made his simple statement all the more compelling and she screwed her eyes tightly shut.

‘We make each other miserable.’

‘Until we married we were extremely happy together.’ His voice was tense. ‘We need to put all this behind us and move on. Concentrate on our relationship.’

‘I can’t just put it behind me—’

‘So what are you going to do?’ His voice was brutal. ‘Carry on like this? Walking under cars, winding yourself up to a state of such anxiety that you pass out?’

Numb, she looked at him. ‘What do you want from me?’

‘You,’ he said simply. ‘Back in my bed where you belong.’ It was such a typically macho declaration that she closed her eyes tightly, hating herself for even considering it.

‘You hurt me, Raul.’

‘And you hurt me.’

Accepting that as a truth, she opened her eyes. ‘You seriously expect to carry on with our marriage?’

‘You are getting upset again and you are very pale. Last time we talked about this you collapsed on the floor at my feet,’ he bit out. ‘So we’re going to leave the subject until you’re feeling stronger. In the meantime you’ll just have to accept the fact that we’re married and that we’re staying that way. We’re not going to talk about this again, now.’ He turned and strode towards the bedroom door. ‘Get some rest. I need to do some work.’

Too exhausted and drained to argue with him further, Faith collapsed against the pillows, feeling as though she’d been run over all over again. Now what?

Part of her was worried that she felt so lousy, but another part of her was far too distracted by her relationship with Raul to pay much attention to her own health.

Why was he so determined that they should stay married when it was clear that he’d only married her because of the baby?

What hope was there for them?

And then she remembered just how good their relationship had been—how much she loved him.

Just how much could a person forgive?

Did she dare try to make their marriage work?

If she chose that path, how much pain lay ahead of her?

Her head full of doubts and questions, she couldn’t relax or lie still so she slid out of bed and padded on bare feet out of the bedroom and into the living room.

Raul was sprawled on the sofa, his eyes closed. His shirt was undone at the collar, his sleeves were rolled up and dark stubble emphasised the lean, hard lines of his handsome face.

He looked exhausted and Faith felt her heart twist. Five minutes earlier she’d wanted to slap him. Now she wanted to put her arms round him and hug him.

Confused and infuriated with herself, she was about to turn away when his eyes opened and he saw her.

For a moment they just stared at each other and she felt her cheeks burn as she saw the sudden flare of heat in his eyes. Every feminine part of her exploded with awareness and she knew from the sudden tension in his shoulders that he was experiencing the same powerful reaction.

Acknowledging the strength of the force that drew them together, he gave a cynical laugh. ‘Complicated, isn’t it?’

‘Yes.’ It would have been foolish to pretend that she didn’t know what he was talking about. She stood for a moment, trying to catch her breath, needing to speak and not knowing how to say what needed to be said. ‘I didn’t mean to force your hand. I thought we were good together.’

‘We were.’

‘But—you never would have wanted marriage.’

‘No.’ His face was closed, uncommunicative and she looked at him with mounting frustration.

‘Why? If a relationship is good, marriage just makes it better.’

His laugh hurt more than any harsh words. ‘And we’re a case in point, are we?’

‘Is there anything left between us?’

His answer was to rise to his feet and stride across to her. Without bothering to speak, he closed his fingers around her wrist, pulled her hard against him. ‘How can you ask that, when this thing between us has been choking us since the day we met?’

Without giving her a chance to reply, he brought his mouth down on hers.

As kisses went, this one wasn’t gentle but she didn’t even care. It was an explosion of mutual need, an acknowledgement of the passion and chemistry that kept both of them locked together when external forces might have driven them apart.

Excitement swamped her, her head swam with a rush of dizzying pleasure and she would have slid to the floor if he hadn’t wrapped his arms around her.

They kissed with desperation, their mouths locked together in a furious, reckless urgency that exploded away the flimsy barriers that had been erected between them.

It was only when his hand touched her breast that Faith regained sufficient mental ability to realise what she was doing.

‘We can’t fix problems with sex,’ she groaned, but the erotic skill of his mouth stole the words and her body shivered against his. ‘Raul, this is just too complicated to solve in this way—’

‘Life is complicated,’ he muttered, his lips trailing down the line of her jaw. ‘In real life, people are complicated and they behave in complicated ways.’

‘You didn’t think about my feelings.’

He lifted his head and looked at her. ‘Both of us were guilty of that.’ His return shot scored a direct hit and she stiffened.

‘With hindsight I can see that I should have told you I’d lost the baby, but my reasons for not telling you were unselfish.’ Her stumbled admission received no more response than a raised eyebrow and a careless lift of his shoulders.

‘If there’s one thing that the last few months has proved, it’s that neither of us knows the other as well as we thought.’ His handsome face was grim. ‘That is common. It’s the reason that so many marriages end in divorce. We can change that, Faith. But not if you run.’

She looked at him, torn by indecision, her head full of problems and questions. Logic told her to do one thing, her heart another.

‘If I stay, I won’t let you hurt me again,’ she warned in a voice that shook with emotion. ‘Don’t ever hurt me again.’

CHAPTER SEVEN

IT FELT strange being back when she’d thought she’d never see the place again.

Faith sat in silence in the back of the limousine as it drove through the ornate iron gates that guarded the entrance of the estancia.

She couldn’t quite believe she was actually here.

What if she was making the biggest mistake of her life by giving their marriage another chance?

She sighed and stared out of the window. Obviously she was just a pushover for a big, arrogant South American male.

But she knew it was more than that.

She loved him and she couldn’t just switch that off.

And she loved Argentina.

Despite the nagging ache in her head and the dull feeling of nausea in her stomach, part of her felt lighter just for being here. After the noise and bustle of Buenos Aires, the wide open space of the pampas was a welcome refuge.

It was an incomparably beautiful place.

Grassland stretched into the distance and a herd of Criollo ponies galloped and bucked, manes and tails flying, clearly enjoying the freedom of the wide, open planes.

As the car purred along the tree-lined avenue and curved round the final bend, Faith held her breath in expectation. Raul had once told her how he’d bought the place piece by piece.

He’d shown her photographs and she’d barely recognised the tumbledown, dusty buildings.

The ranch had been restored to its former colonial glory and now the dusky-pink stone walls of the main residence were covered in tumbling bougainvillea, the colours so bright that at a glance it seemed as if someone had gaily splashed paint against the walls. Three perfectly manicured polo lawns were bordered by pristine white fences and in another field a herd of exquisitely beautiful horses galloped and pranced, the quality of their bloodline indisputable.

Faith’s eyes slid to the row of expensive cars parked in the far corner of the immaculate yard.

Money, money and more money …

Raul had barely spoken during the journey, instead working on his laptop and fielding a never-ending series of calls, the subject of which had revolved around the purchase of a neighbouring estancia.

‘You’re buying more land?’

A strange expression flickered across his face and she sensed immediately that this was one deal he didn’t intend to discuss. ‘Are you making small talk or are you suddenly interested in the nature of my business?’

Four days had passed since they’d first arrived in Buenos Aires and apart from that one kiss, he hadn’t touched her. Once he’d put the ring back on her finger, he’d turned his attention to work, dividing his time between the phone and the computer. The only time they’d met up had been for dinner by the pool, a stiff, uncomfortable affair for Faith, an opportunity to refuel for Raul. He’d never lingered, instead opting to return to the room he used as an office. His desk faced the glass window and she’d caught glimpses of him lounging in his leather chair, long, muscular legs stretched out in front of him as he’d given hell to the person on the end of the phone.

Faith had immediately retreated to her favourite place, the cosy sofa that took advantage of the same view that Raul enjoyed from his office. She’d cradled a book in her lap, but hadn’t read a single word. Instead she’d stared out of the window, her thoughts far removed from the printed page of a book.

She’d always thought that the physical side of their relationship was the one area where they would never have a problem. But apart from that one, searing kiss, Raul hadn’t touched her. When he’d slept, which wasn’t often, he’d slept in the spare room and she hadn’t questioned him because she hadn’t wanted to appear insecure.

But she couldn’t help wondering why.

Was it because her hair was short?

Was it because she’d lost weight?

Halfway through her second day in his apartment, a delivery had arrived for her and she’d opened the various boxes and discovered an entire wardrobe. Dresses, shoes, casual wear, underwear, nightwear—the fact that it had been lacking nothing was a testament to Raul’s experience of women but she’d tried not to think about that as she’d riffled her way through the various boxes.

If she was seriously going to give their marriage another go, then she needed to stop thinking like that.

So now, as she arrived at the estancia, she was wearing a cool summer dress in soft, muted shades of green and a simple pair of sandals. Lifting her hand to her head, she fingered her hair self-consciously and he caught the gesture and gave a frown.

‘Don’t. I like it.’

It was the first compliment he’d paid her since he’d stormed into the hospital on that first day and Faith gazed at him in surprise. ‘You do?’

‘Yes.’ He gave a smile that was faintly mocking. ‘You look like a pixie.’

‘Oh.’ She wanted to ask whether he found pixies sexy but then realised that she already knew the answer to that question. Obviously not, since he hadn’t been near her for the past four days.

And she was relieved about that, she told herself firmly, because she wasn’t ready to make love with him yet. Yes he was impossibly sexy, but for her it was more complicated than that. Her feelings were bruised and damaged and before she committed herself emotionally, she needed to know that he cared about her.

She needed him to show it.

Maria, the housekeeper, hurried across the courtyard towards them and Raul gave her a warm smile.

‘Buenos dias, Maria, qué tal?’

Wistfully remembering a time when he’d smiled at her with the same warmth, Faith also greeted the older lady and then followed her towards the luxurious Beach House that was Raul’s private residence.

He could have lived in the thirty-two-roomed estancia, but instead he’d turned it into his corporate headquarters, complete with suites of rooms for entertaining and overnight guests. For his own personal use, he’d chosen the privacy and intimacy of the Beach House, well away from the busy commercial world of the estancia.

The first time she’d seen it, Faith had been unable to believe that such paradise actually existed.

It was hidden from the main house by trees and fencing, and opened onto a private beach so breathtakingly idyllic that the world outside seemed not to exist and the only sound was the gentle hiss of waves breaking onto the perfect curve of white sand.

‘Everything is ready for you,’ Maria told Raul as she opened the door for them. ‘Just as you instructed.’

Dragging her gaze from the sea, Faith gave a gasp of surprise. The elegant Beach House was filled with the scent of flowers and someone had obviously given a great deal of thought to their return. On the table, a basket was piled high with exotic fruit and a bottle of vintage champagne lay chilling in an ice bucket.

‘All Raul’s idea,’ Maria said, her approval evident in her smile. ‘Newlyweds deserve something a little special.’

Faith felt the colour pour into her cheeks. Just what did Raul’s staff know about the last few weeks? Had they guessed about the state of their marriage?

Clearly keen to leave them alone, Maria said something else in Spanish to Raul and then left the Beach House, closing the door behind her.

Faith glanced around her, her mouth dry. ‘You asked for this?’

‘To prove that I am capable of being thoughtful,’ he drawled softly, reaching for the bottle of champagne and tugging out the cork.

Faith was on the verge of pointing out the fact that she would have preferred a conversation, but decided that this wasn’t the time to dent the atmosphere.

‘What do your staff know about the last few weeks?’

‘I have no idea.’ Raul poured the glistening liquid into two glasses. ‘I’m not in the habit of discussing my personal life with the staff.’

‘Well, you must have given them some explanation for the fact we haven’t been living here.’

‘Why?’ Genuinely puzzled by her question, Raul unbuttoned his shirt and walked towards the bedroom. ‘I have no idea what they think and I couldn’t care less. And neither should you.’

They were so different, Faith thought helplessly, watching as he slid the shirt from his shoulders. ‘Actually I do care what they think,’ she muttered and he gave a wolfish smile.

‘Then learn not to, because most people in this world are not that generous-spirited. If you really want to know, they’re thinking you’re obviously extremely hot in bed or there is no way you’d be wearing that ring on your finger.’

She flushed to the roots of her hair. ‘Oh.’

His smile widened and he walked into the bedroom without giving her a chance to respond and she stared after him with exasperation.

There was so much that they still needed to talk about.

So much that she needed to know. ‘Raul?’ She followed him into the bedroom. ‘We can’t carry on like this. The past few days, you’ve been driving yourself into the ground, working until you’re ready to drop. I don’t know whether it’s pressure of your business or whether you’re just avoiding this thing between us, but we have to talk. Not rows and accusations, but really talk. It isn’t going to go away and we can’t just pretend it never happened.’

He stilled. Then he turned slowly and their eyes locked.

And that one, powerful, sizzling look was all it took.

Her stomach knotted with almost unbearable tension and she felt every nerve ending in her body tingle and buzz with shocking awareness. Her breasts tightened and deep in her stomach something burned, hot and dangerous as desire engulfed her.

He felt it too, she knew he did because she saw the betraying glitter in his sexy, dark eyes and the sudden flare of colour on his high cheekbones.

The attraction enveloped them like an invisible force, burning everything in its path like a forest fire, drawing them relentlessly towards an outcome that both of them had been fiercely resisting.

He strode back towards her and pushed her back against the wall. His body trapped hers as he took her face in his hands, forcing her to meet his burning gaze.

‘I think we’re way past talking, Faith,’ he said huskily, all sexually confident male as his thumb traced a sensual path across her cheek. ‘All we’ve done for the past few days is talk and it’s been driving me crazy.’

‘But we haven’t solved anything,’ Faith gasped, turning her head to try and escape his agonisingly skilful touch. But they both knew it was a losing battle.

‘Frustrating, isn’t it?’ He gave a harsh laugh and then lowered his head and drew his mouth along the line of her jaw where his thumb had been, sending the heat between them soaring higher still. ‘You think it was easy to let you sleep alone, cariño? You think I found that easy? A man like me?’

It hadn’t been easy for him? ‘I didn’t think about it,’ she lied, her voice barely audible as it became harder and harder to speak. ‘You hurt me so badly, sex was the last thing on my mind.’

He gave a cynical laugh. ‘If only that were true, life would be a great deal less complicated. Unfortunately for you and I, chemistry seems to override common sense every time. You were thinking about it as much as I was. I could see it in your eyes every time you sat in that chair not reading that book on your lap.’

‘That’s not true,’ she moaned, but the smouldering glitter in his eyes told her that the lie had been a waste of breath.

‘You want honesty between us?’ he breathed. ‘Then let’s have honesty. I have wanted you for every second of the day and night since the first time I met you and nothing has changed that.’

His words affected her so deeply that there wasn’t a single part of her body that didn’t react. ‘So why did you let me sleep alone?’ She tried to remind herself that it wasn’t supposed to matter, that she wasn’t supposed to care any more, but it was as if her body was tuned to respond only to his. ‘I assume you were punishing me?’

‘Punishing myself,’ he said huskily, his hand curving over her bottom in an unmistakably possessive gesture that rocked her to the very core. ‘The doctor told me that you were to avoid all stress. From the disapproving look in his eyes, I assumed he considered me to be the cause of your stress. I stayed away from you and I can tell you that doing so has caused havoc with my stress levels.’

His body was hard against hers and it was impossible to think. ‘I wondered whether—You told me I was thin …’ Overwhelmed by his sexuality, she tried to catch a breath, hating herself for giving voice to her very female insecurities. ‘And you keep looking at my hair—you don’t find me attractive any more.’

‘No, you’re right.’ His voice was thickened as he hauled her closer still. ‘I don’t find you at all attractive.’ But his words were loaded with self-mockery and she gasped as her body encountered the unmistakable evidence of his shockingly powerful arousal.

‘We really shouldn’t do this.’ Faith’s body was no longer her own. ‘This is going to make things worse,’ she moaned and he captured the sound with his mouth, the fierce demand of his kiss plunging her past the point of no return.

‘Worse?’ he murmured in a thickened voice. ‘How in heaven’s name can the situation between us be any worse, cariño? I’m made of flesh and blood, not stone, and the past few weeks have been intolerable.’

She tried to hang on to her sanity. ‘You thought I became pregnant on purpose—’

‘Dios mío, why are you bringing that up now? It doesn’t matter any more! This is the only thing that matters.’ His hands cupped her face and he kissed her until physical sensations completely overwhelmed her. She reached for his shoulders, excited and terrified by the sexual craving that threatened to consume her.

Even knowing that there was going to be even greater pain ahead, Faith was unable to do anything except respond. She was so lost in a wild maelstrom of sensation that she didn’t even realise that he’d unzipped her dress until it slid to the floor, leaving her standing in her underwear. She clutched at his shoulders, feeling the hard swell of male muscle under her fingers, revelling in the strength and power of his body.

He was pumped up and aroused and she gave a choked cry as his hand cupped her breast through the thin, silken fabric and he stroked her with skilled clever fingers.

The delicious friction of his thumbs over her nipples sent intense excitement shooting through her body and it would have been impossible not to respond. She arched against him in desperate invitation, feeling the heavy, rigid thrust of his arousal and the immediate explosion of heat deep in the core of her femininity.

He kept his mouth on hers, his kiss demanding and shockingly intimate, but all the time his fingers teased her breasts, driving her wild. Only when her breasts ached and throbbed with almost agonising sensation did he slide his clever, confident hands down her shivering, quivering body.

Mindless and desperate, Faith slid one foot up his leg and he caught her thigh in his hand, lifting her leg higher and wider, exposing her to his touch. Once, such a wanton position would have brought a blush to her cheeks but she was too aroused to think about modesty or behaviour. The response of her body was outside her own control and as she felt his knowing fingers slide over the thin fabric of her panties she shuddered and pressed towards his hand. Only a layer of thin, flimsy silk lay between them but it was too much of a barrier and she gave a moan and shifted her hips, just desperate for him to touch her there.

But he didn’t.

Instead he tormented them both by prolonging the moment that they craved so desperately, very much in control despite the hunger that consumed both of them.

Driven wild with excitement, her fingers slid downwards, reaching for him and he broke the kiss with a harsh groan as the flat of her hand brushed against his pulsing erection.

‘Faith—’

Desperate and urgent, her fingers dealt with his zip, slid inside and encountered the warm throb of masculine power. Touching him so intimately, she felt an explosion of pure sexual need. He was so unashamedly male, so virile, that for a moment her heart seemed to beat double-time. She couldn’t quite circle him with her hand and as usual she felt a flash of trepidation that he might be more of a man than she could handle.

‘You’re driving me wild, cariño,’ he groaned and his hand moved again and this time he slid his fingers under the silken barrier that still protected her. The intimate stroke of his fingers was the touch she’d longed for and she whimpered his name, her eyes closing as his fingers slid deep, her damp, desperate body closing around him. She didn’t know herself when she was with him. Didn’t recognise the person she became. Devoured by sensation she was powerless to resist as his long clever fingers explored her with astonishing expertise. She felt the pressure build, felt her body race headlong towards completion and then he gently removed his hand and brought his mouth down on hers with punishing force.

His kiss made her so dizzy that she was only dimly aware of him lifting her, of him coiling her other leg around his hips. There was a brief moment of clarity when she felt the blunt tip of his arousal brush against her and then suddenly she felt a blind flash of panic and struggled against him. ‘No, Raul. No. ‘

He froze, his breathing harsh, his body on the point of penetrating hers. ‘No?’ His voice was hoarse with disbelief, his entire frame straining with the tension of holding back. ‘What do you mean, no?’

‘We have to stop. Put me down!’

Two streaks of colour on his cheeks, Raul hesitated for a tense, pulsing moment and then lowered her gently and released her. Stepping away from her, he leaned both hands against the wall and breathed deeply, clearly struggling for control.

‘Raul—’

‘Don’t.’ His tone was raw and savage. ‘Just give me a minute—’

Faith watched helplessly, not knowing what to do or say, her own body singing with unresolved passion. It didn’t help that he was half-undressed, his bronzed back bared for her greedy gaze, his trousers riding low on his hips.

She closed her eyes with a groan because her only hope was not to look at him.

What was it about this man that made her forget herself every time?

Finally he drew in a breath and turned, his dark eyes burning with feverish intensity. ‘So what was that all about?’ His dark hair was tousled from the aggravated plunge of his fingers and he reached down and zipped his trousers with a purposeful movement. ‘It was a joke or a punishment?’

‘Neither.’ Shivering and shaking, she stooped and retrieved her dress, holding it in front of her like a shield.

‘Then what? You wanted it as badly as I did,’ he said in a driven tone. ‘So don’t pretend that you didn’t.’

‘I’m not pretending anything.’

‘So why did you stop?’ His eyes were dark as a winter night and Faith licked her lips, trying to ignore the fact that her entire body was suddenly alive with anticipation.

‘Contraception,’ she croaked, watching as his expression froze. ‘For a man who doesn’t want babies, you’re extremely careless, do you know that?’

He stilled and a sudden silence screamed through the room.

‘I am not careless.’ His breathing suddenly shallow, he ran a hand over the back of his neck. ‘Not usually. I did not intend to put you at risk—I forgot that you didn’t use protection.’

And there it was, back again. This thing that lay between them. ‘I did use protection,’ she said flatly. ‘But I stopped taking the Pill when I found out that I was pregnant. And I didn’t start taking it again after I lost the baby.’ She looked away from him but felt the tension levels rocket in the room.

‘So, clearly that’s something we need to address sooner rather than later.’ His voice was rough, still laden with the passion that thickened the air and scraped along the edges of their nerve endings.

‘No, we don’t!’ She took several steps backwards and found herself against the wall again. The same wall that just moments earlier she’d been pinned to under the weight of his body. ‘We shouldn’t even be thinking about sex when things are so complicated between us, Raul!’

‘We have thought about nothing but sex since the first moment we met, cariño, and you know it.’

Faith wished there was a switch she could flick to turn off the responses of her body. She didn’t want to feel like this. ‘And that’s our problem, isn’t it?’

‘Problem?’ One dark eyebrow swooped upwards in sardonic appraisal. ‘The fact that you are capable of satisfying me in the bedroom is the one thing that is absolutely right about our relationship. I certainly don’t see it as a problem.’

His oblique reference to her abandoned response to him sent the colour flooding into her cheeks. ‘You can’t base a relationship on sex!’

‘Never underestimate the importance of sex.’

Her heart rate doubled. ‘I know it’s important, but if sex is the only thing that is right about our relationship then we’re doomed, Raul. A marriage is about trust and caring. We need to talk.’

Casting her a glance laden with hot-blooded volatility, Raul stepped back from her. ‘If you want to talk, phone a girlfriend.’ Simmering with unfulfilled passion and male hormones, he strode into the bedroom, leaving her staring after him in disbelief.

Stunned by the suppressed violence she sensed in him, Faith followed. ‘You can’t just walk out in the middle of a conversation just because you don’t happen to like the subject matter—’

‘Dios mío, not now!’ With a low growl of impatience he turned, his hand on the bathroom door, his eyes burning into hers. ‘You’re a highly intelligent woman. Surely you’re not so naïve that you can’t see what is happening here? Either get dressed or get out.’

‘But—’

‘Faith—’ The word was a deadly warning, as if he were holding on to control by a thread. ‘I’m telling you now that if you stand there naked, I will finish what we started, contraception or no contraception. You will be back against that wall and this time I will not be stopping!’

Stunned by the appalling frankness of his words and the barely subdued violence of his reaction, she gave a little gasp. ‘But there are so many issues between us—’

‘At the moment I’m not interested in the issues, I’m just interested in sex.’ Interpreting her shocked expression, he ran his hand over his face and swore long and fluently in Spanish. ‘Does that make me shallow? Yes, probably, but I warned you before that I wasn’t anyone’s idea of a good catch. Remember that before you start trying to change me.’

‘I don’t want to change you,’ Faith said honestly. ‘I just want to understand what you’re thinking.’

‘No, I don’t think you do, because what I’m thinking right now this moment,’ he said in a silky tone, ‘is that it is either a long, cold shower or you on that bed, naked with your legs wrapped around my waist. Your choice, cariño.’

‘You’re being shocking on purpose.’

‘I’m being honest,’ he said harshly. ‘Because I thought that was what you wanted. Maybe now you’d like to rethink that particular demand, given that the truth of what is on a man’s mind is so rarely what a woman wants to hear.’

Shaken to the core by the savagery in his voice, Faith backed towards the door. ‘I’ll—I’d better leave you alone. I’ll see you later.’

‘You certainly will and by then I will have addressed the issue of contraception so you can knock that particular excuse off your list.’ He gave a humourless laugh and opened the bathroom door. ‘In the meantime, we have guests for dinner. They arrive in two hours, and in order to concentrate on business I have to not be thinking about sex all the time. So this is what you’re going to do. You’re going to delve into that expensive wardrobe of yours and find something that covers you from head to toe. I want nothing showing.’

‘Raul—’

‘If necessary, sew two things together. Wear a coat! But I don’t want to see cleavage or leg or so help me, Faith, I’ll show you in public just how important sex is to me.’ And with that rejoinder he strode into the sanctuary of the enormous bathroom and slammed the door firmly shut behind him.

Dios, she was driving him wild.

In the fierce grip of dark, primitive sexual need, Raul slammed the palm of his hand against the shower controls and sent fierce jets of freezing water cascading over his tense, throbbing body.

He closed his eyes, his jaw clenched, his teeth locked as he tried to let go of the tension. Every muscle in his body was pumped up and hard, the hormones coursing round his blood like a dangerous drug.

Litres of cold water sluiced over his heated, throbbing flesh and he stood there with grim determination until he finally acknowledged that he would develop pneumonia long before the desperate need in him died.

Unaccustomed to feeling sexual frustration, Raul leaned both hands against the wall and breathed deeply, trying to use his brain to calm the overwhelming need that tortured his body.

He hadn’t intended to touch her like that; not then. What had happened to him? He, who prided himself on his control. He had more finesse than to indulge in mindless, animal sex and yet the facts spoke for themselves. The moment they’d been alone he’d had her up against the wall, his hand on her flesh …

He was behaving like a man possessed and he didn’t know what had angered him most: the fact that she’d stopped him or the fact that he’d been so crazy for her that he hadn’t given a single thought to anything except the immediate satisfaction of being inside her.

Not even the subject of contraception.

Never, with any other woman, would he have forgotten contraception. It had been his mission, the single overriding fact that had governed the way he lived his life.

But with Faith …

Resigning himself to the fact that cold water was not going to cure his current affliction, he turned off the shower with another forceful punch of his hand and reached for a towel from the pile.

It didn’t matter what she did, how she behaved, he wanted her more than any woman he’d ever met.

Acknowledging that fact with a growl of frustration, Raul wrapped the towel around his hips.

Marriage.

He’d avoided that institution all his life and yet somehow here he was, married.

And what had been a mutually satisfying relationship had been transformed into an emotional minefield that no sane man would attempt to negotiate.

He only had to think of her and the desire leapt inside him like a wild animal hunting its prey.

So now what? He mocked himself with the question. It was obvious that, like all women, she wanted him to talk. And given the look on her face when he’d given her a small taste of what was on his mind, he knew that if she really had access to his thoughts, their marriage would be over in a flash.

So perhaps now she’d learned her lesson and wouldn’t risk asking him for his thoughts again, he thought grimly.

And he probably ought to do his bit for the relationship and prove that it wasn’t all about sex. And that shouldn’t be too hard. He might not believe in love, but he did enjoy the sparky, intellectual side of their relationship. He appreciated the fact that she was intelligent enough to challenge him in conversation. He was quite prepared to discuss the stock market, polo or any other subject that interested her.

In fact he was quite prepared to be thoughtful and caring, just as long as thoughtful and caring didn’t involve an exchange of thoughts and feelings.

As long as they steered clear of that, their marriage should be fine.

CHAPTER EIGHT

FAITH stared at herself in the mirror, barely seeing her reflection.

What was she doing here? How had she reached this point?

She was an intelligent woman who could have been absorbed in her career, instead of which she was living at the whim of an extremely volatile billionaire, wondering whether she was wearing the right dress.

Impatient with herself, she turned sideways and took another look, wondering whether to go back and change into something different. Still on edge after their previous encounter, she had no idea how to handle Raul in his current mood.

They had entirely different ideas about marriage, she thought helplessly. About life.

For him, blistering sex was apparently enough. Was that just his macho, South American genes coming into play?

Still shaken by the explosion of passion that had consumed both of them, Faith lifted a hand to her lips, still tasting the lick of his tongue and the heat of his kiss.

He’d been out of control. Seriously out of control.

And so had she.

What had happened to her brain? What had happened to her ability to think clearly and logically?

Stopping had been the hardest thing she’d ever done, even harder than walking away from him because at the time, that had seemed the right thing to do.

And now? Did it seem right now?

She didn’t know.

All she knew was that her body was buzzing and desire was racing round it like a dangerous drug.

With a groan of disbelief, she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to dispel the erotic images in her head. She had to stop him thinking about sex. And she had to stop thinking about sex. So, with that objective in mind, she’d been perfectly happy to comply with his command that she wear something discreet.

In the wardrobe he’d provided for her, she’d found a simple black dress that fell from a high neckline to the floor in a single sweep of soft fabric. She had no idea if it was too dressy for the evening ahead because he hadn’t elaborated on what was expected of her. All she knew was that when she looked in the mirror, not one single part of her was on display except her arms.

Satisfied that she’d fulfilled his request, she walked into the living room on shaking legs. She was standing by the door looking across the beach, her stomach knotted in a turmoil of anticipation when she heard him enter the room.

Making sure that her defences were firmly in place, she took a slow breath and turned.

As always he exuded effortless style, his trousers superbly tailored to make the most of his physique, his jacket moulded to his wide shoulders. Tall, athletic and impossibly handsome, he looked every inch the wealthy and successful tycoon and the hint of arrogance in his bearing made her smile.

‘I’m sure the other guy, whoever he is, will just give up on the spot when he sees you.’ Her eyes slid over him. ‘You look scary and intimidating when you dress for business, do you know that?’

‘Appearance matters.’

‘Spoken like a true Argentine male.’

His response to her light teasing was a careless shrug. ‘I am an Argentine male, cariño. I have never denied that.’

But although she knew he was capable of using his looks when it suited him, she also knew that his success was due to his drive, energy and phenomenal intellect. Raul Vásquez was super-bright. His brain worked at twice the speed of most people’s and he used his skills in that area to ruthless advantage, out-manoeuvering, out-negotiating.

He ran his eyes over her in silence and his eyes darkened. ‘I told you not to wear anything provocative.’

Having been sure that her dress was perfect, Faith raised her eyebrows. ‘This isn’t provocative.’

‘If you think that, then clearly you dressed without the aid of a mirror.’

Confused and exasperated, she glanced down at herself. ‘You said no legs and no cleavage.’

‘Your arms are showing.’

She lifted her head and looked at him. ‘My arms?’

‘Bare flesh, cariño,’ he said huskily, a cool challenge in his eyes. ‘If I see your arms, I can clearly imagine the rest of you. And if I’m imagining the rest of you, I’m not keeping my mind on business.’

Her heart had been behaving itself when he’d first walked into the room but suddenly it was bumping frantically against her chest. ‘You’re very basic.’

‘Yes.’

‘So don’t take me with you. If I’m a distraction, then leave me here.’

He gave a faint smile. ‘One of the benefits of having a wife,’ he drawled, ‘is being able to present her when the occasion demands it.’

‘And does it?’

‘This evening? Yes, it so happens that it does. Fetch a wrap,’ he commanded, dragging his burning gaze from her body. ‘And keep it on.’

‘Perhaps you’d rather I wore a long coat?’ Faith suggested acidly, using direct challenge as a method of disguising how deeply his words had affected her. He wanted her with him. Surely that was a positive sign?

He surprised her with a smile that was achingly sexy. ‘Good idea. Coat and no dress. Just underwear.’ His voice was deep and impossibly male. ‘Later on I undo the coat and take you. And yes, this time you will have no excuse to stop.’

The vivid image his words created sent a burst of excitement through her stomach and it took her a moment to catch her breath. Trying desperately to conceal her reaction, Faith gritted her teeth. ‘You’re sex-mad, do you know that?’

‘Gracias.’

She looked at him in exasperation. ‘I didn’t intend it as a compliment.’ He was impossibly, arrogantly attractive and he shrugged his shoulders in a careless dismissal of her observation.

‘Liking sex is a healthy and natural drive for a man. What’s wrong with that?’

Wishing she’d never pursued this particular line of conversation, Faith drew in a long breath. ‘Nothing. It’s just—there are other things apart from sex. We could have a conversation.’

‘Sí.’ His eyes mocked her gently. ‘Talking can be very intimate, I agree. Before and after sex.’

Now he was teasing her and the fact that he could succeed in making her hot and bothered even though she knew what he was doing, really irritated her. ‘Talking isn’t part of sex.’

‘What do you think this is, if it isn’t foreplay?’ He murmured the words softly, his voice so sexy that she felt her limbs weaken. ‘We are talking, yes, but we are both thinking about sex—’

‘Raul, please don’t do this.’ She couldn’t think clearly, not with his dark eyes suddenly alight with dangerous promise and his powerful body so achingly close.

‘We both know what is coming later,’ he purred. ‘Each of us is thinking “how will it be?” and “can I wait that long?”’ His normally fluent English seemed considerably less fluent than usual but there was no mistaking his meaning and his words were such an accurate assessment of her thoughts that she stilled, a bloom of colour touching her pale cheeks.

‘That’s not what I’m thinking,’ she croaked and he gave a faint smile.

‘Liar.’

She dragged her eyes from his. Only when she wasn’t looking at him was there a chance that her brain would work. ‘For a man with legendary intelligence, your goals are very shallow.’

‘Would you be flattered if I climbed into bed with you and reached for a book?’ He curved his hand around her waist, and she felt the instant response of her body.

‘Do you ever think of anything other than sex?’

‘Sí—sometimes I think of business.’ He leaned forward and kissed her mouth, the hot slide of his tongue deliberately erotic. ‘And now you need to stop distracting me or I am never going to get through the evening.’

‘It isn’t me, it’s you—you started this.’ But she was starting to feel the strain and he must have noticed because he slid his fingers under her chin and lifted her face to his.

‘You’re pale.’

She gave a careless shrug, trying not to betray everything that he made her feel. ‘Jet lag. I’m tired.’

‘No, it isn’t that. I’ve seen you with more colour in your cheeks when you’ve been up all night with one of the horses.’ He studied her closely, his scrutiny more than a little disturbing. ‘Are you dizzy? Do you need a doctor?’

‘No.’ She didn’t confess that she was just as wound up as he was. Every nerve ending in her body was reminding her that he was close by.

He watched her for a moment, and then increased the pressure of his hand and urged her towards the door. ‘If this evening is too much for you, tell me and you can go back to bed.’ He flashed her a confident, self-satisfied smile. ‘You see how thoughtful and caring I can be?’

‘Would that be an empty bed, or a bed with you in it?’

‘We both know you would be mortally offended if I wasn’t in it, cariño,’ he purred, amusement in his eyes as he pulled her against him and stole a swift kiss from her parted lips. ‘Then you would be accusing me of not finding you attractive, no?’

Tied into knots by his kiss, his smile and his words, she couldn’t even respond.

She was a hopeless case, Faith thought weakly as she followed his direction and walked through the door on shaking legs. Desperately she tried to think about something, anything, other than him.

‘These people we’re meeting tonight—’ she glanced at him briefly ‘—do I need to know anything about them? I don’t want to say the wrong thing. Who are they?’

‘They own land.’ Raul took her hand in his and drew her close to him as they walked up the path that led from the Beach House to the main courtyard of the estancia. ‘Land that I want.’

‘You already own ten-thousand acres. Why would you want their land?’

‘Why settle for less when you can have more?’ But something flickered in the depths of his dark eyes and she had a feeling that there was more to this business deal than he was revealing.

‘In other words, you have a good reason and you’re not planning to share it with me.’

He laughed. ‘I love the fact that you have a sharp brain.’

‘Just as long as I don’t use it,’ Faith said tartly and his answer to that was to bring his mouth down on hers again, his kiss so impossibly skilled that the rest of her sharp rejoinder died in her brain.

‘You taste good,’ he murmured against her lips and she groaned and dragged her mouth away from his.

‘You always do this to me.’ She put her hands on his chest to steady herself, and then looked up at him. ‘You’re infuriating, do you know that? You use sex to shut me up.’

‘Not true.’ He bent his head and his mouth brushed her neck, that simple touch sufficient to send a thrill of excitement rushing through her.

‘You’re doing it again,’ she gasped, wishing desperately that her body wasn’t so responsive to his. ‘Stop it, Raul.’

His mouth lingered, warm and full of promise. ‘You want me to stop?’ The erotic flick of his tongue fired her blood.

‘No. Yes …’ Sinking into a trance, Faith closed her eyes. ‘I don’t know. Where did you learn to do that?’

‘I was born knowing,’ he purred softly, but the twinkle in his eyes softened the arrogance of the statement. ‘In Argentina, men know how to be men. And part of being a real man is being an incredible lover.’

‘Your ego is enormous.’

His eyes darkened wickedly. ‘That isn’t my ego, cariño

All too aware of the strength and power of his arousal, Faith dragged herself out of his arms. ‘All right, enough.’ Flustered and shivering with desire, she held up a hand like a ‘stop’ sign. ‘Just stand there and don’t move for a minute.’

His gaze was slumberous and deadly. ‘I love the fact that you’re such a sexual woman.’

Faith gritted her teeth. ‘I said enough! And no more kissing. I can’t have a conversation while you’re kissing me.’

One dark eyebrow swooped upwards in sardonic mockery. ‘Precisely.’

Confused, her entire body buzzing, Faith glared at him. ‘Do you know that you use sex to avoid every subject that is remotely difficult? You never talk about things that matter.’ Her head was still reeling from the slow, seductive touch of his mouth and for a moment she wished that he wasn’t quite so skilled in that area. If he had been less accomplished as a lover, she might have been able to concentrate on their relationship.

His beautiful eyes narrowed. ‘I don’t solve problems by committee.’

‘I’m not a committee. I’m your wife.’

‘Sí, and you knew the type of man you were marrying.’ His tone hardened slightly but his gaze was still on her mouth. ‘If you don’t want me to think about sex, don’t dress provocatively.’

‘Well, what do I wear then, Raul? Tell me, because I certainly don’t know.’ Shaken by the depth of her own response to him, Faith smoothed the dress over her hips. ‘You’re staring at me.’

‘Because I don’t understand you,’ he breathed. ‘You would prefer that I don’t find you attractive?’

‘No, of course not. I’d just like there to be more to our relationship than sex.’

His thick lashes lowered slightly as he surveyed her. ‘You don’t like the fact that I want to make love to you day and night?’

His words made her stomach tumble and she dragged her gaze away from his, her breathing shallow. ‘Of course I do. Any woman would, but—’

‘So what is the problem?’ The careless lift of his broad shoulders indicated that as far as he was concerned, there was nothing to solve.

‘I feel as though I’m banging my head against a brick wall.’

‘This is because of your accident perhaps.’

She turned to look at him, ready to thump him for that comment, and then she saw the twinkle in his eyes and realised that he was teasing her. ‘You really like to live dangerously.’

His slow smile was impossibly sexy. ‘Of course.’

She gritted her teeth. ‘I hate you, do you know that?’

‘Sí, cariño.’ Ignoring her attempts to keep at a distance, he hauled her into his arms and brought her hips in direct contact with his. ‘I know just how much you hate me. About as much as I hate you.’ Sexual tension erupted with explosive force and Faith groaned a faint protest against his seeking mouth.

‘I had a career before I met you,’ she muttered, but he smothered her words with another assault on her lips, the skilled stroke of his tongue almost unbearably exciting as he kissed her until her head spun. Finally he lifted his head slowly and the look he gave her was one of pure, undiluted masculine satisfaction.

‘I have no objection to your career. I’m very modern in my outlook.’

Faith would have laughed but she no longer had the energy. ‘Modern? You make Neolithic men look progressive. Why am I with you? I used to have a brain.’

He smiled at that. ‘You still have a brain, cariño.’

‘So why am I standing here, kissing you?’

‘Because I am the best at what I do,’ Raul drawled with a trace of humour. ‘And your brain is occupied in responding. I love your brain. Never think I don’t.’ He cupped her face possessively and looked into her eyes. ‘And now, enough. We have guests arriving.’

And that was that, Faith thought helplessly. As far as he was concerned, that was the end of yet another conversation where he’d tied her in knots and revealed absolutely nothing about himself.

‘If these negotiations really are important to you, then why are you taking me?’ She turned away from him, unsure whether she was more annoyed with herself or him. ‘I obviously just distract you.’

‘I want you to be there.’

Resigning herself to the fact that she was unlikely to be given more of an explanation than that, Faith picked up her bag that she’d dropped on the floor when he’d kissed her. ‘What role am I playing? Am I allowed to speak? Or do I pretend I’ve had a lobotomy?’

‘You’re my wife.’ Raul smiled and that smile held such charm that for a moment Faith caught her breath.

‘I hate it when you do that,’ she muttered and his smile widened as he took her hand firmly in his.

‘Do what?’

‘You know what,’ she said crossly, picking her way carefully up the path. ‘You always use that smile of yours when you’re losing an argument.’

‘Lose?’ He frowned at her. ‘What is this “lose”? It isn’t a word I know.’

‘Very funny.’ Faith pulled a face but she left her hand in his, enjoying the contact more than she was wiling to admit, even to herself. ‘Perhaps I’m going to embarrass you tonight. You know I’m not at all commercial. I don’t think I’m capable of making a good impression on a businessman.’

‘You made a good impression on me.’ Raul adjusted his long stride to match hers. ‘And I’m a businessman.’

Her heart turned over at the unexpected compliment. ‘You’re lots of different things.’

‘Desperate,’ he said dryly, his smile full of wry self-mockery as he glanced at her. ‘That’s what I am at the moment, cariño. Thanks to you.’

Awareness exploded inside her. ‘I thought we were supposed to be avoiding the topic of sex.’

‘We were.’ He let out a frustrated sigh. ‘It’s your fault.’

She tried to ignore the electrified atmosphere and changed the subject swiftly. ‘So what do you want me to do this evening, seriously?’

‘Try not to draw attention to yourself so that you don’t distract me from the business in hand. This is a particularly tricky negotiation and I need to concentrate.’ He took her hand in his and led her towards the main house just as a car purred into the courtyard.

‘It’s really that important to you? Any chance that you’ll tell me why at some point?’

He didn’t answer her question, and when she glanced towards him he was staring down the long driveway at an approaching car. Gone was the lazy, sexy smile that had made him so approachable. Now he just seemed cold and intimidating.

The car came to a halt in a cloud of dust and a man heaved himself awkwardly from the driver’s seat, a sheen of sweat visible on his brow as he negotiated the heat and the demands of his own excessive body-weight. Faith guessed him to be in his fifties but it was obvious that he was holding on to his youth with grim determination. His shirt was open at the neck and strained over his thickened waist, his thinning hair artfully arranged to conceal the onset of baldness.

‘Vásquez—I hear congratulations are due.’

‘Pedro.’ His hand outstretched and his tone cool, Raul strode forward and shook the man’s hand and Faith watched while the other door opened and a woman slid elegantly out of the passenger seat.

Suddenly Faith understood why the man was so grimly determined not to be parted from his youth. The woman was stunning. She somehow managed to be both slender and curvaceous at the same time and the coal-black hair that hung straight over her bare shoulders shone like polished agate. Apparently undisturbed by the heat, she slowly removed the oversized sunglasses from her exquisite face to reveal almond-shaped eyes of surprising warmth. A friendly smile on her glossy mouth, she walked over to Faith, hands outstretched.

‘So Raul finally took the plunge,’ she said cheerfully, leaning forward and kissing Faith on both cheeks. Then she linked arms with her, as though they were firm friends, rather than total strangers. ‘Half of Argentina is ready to kill you—the female half, of course. The male half are probably incredibly grateful. Finally they can sleep easy in their beds without feeling they need to lock up their wives. I’m Sofia.’

Confused by the other woman’s direct approach and unsure how to respond, Faith glanced towards Raul but he was listening to something that Pedro was saying, his dark glossy head tilted because he was so much taller. Realising that he wasn’t paying her any attention, Faith turned back to Sofia and froze.

The other woman was staring openly at Raul, a look of naked sexual appreciation in her eyes. Then she looked at Faith and grinned sheepishly. ‘Oops, sorry. Caught red-handed.’ She gave herself a mock smack on the wrist. ‘Naughty me. But you have to admit that he is indecently handsome and I don’t get to look at men like him very often. I’m sure you’re used to women gazing at him. Being with Raul is a bit like owning a very rare and valuable painting—everyone wants to stare at it.’

Shocked and surprised by the hot spurt of jealousy that pumped through her veins, Faith struggled to stay polite. ‘And your husband doesn’t mind?’

‘I can’t imagine he’d be thrilled, but he has nothing to worry about. Raul and I were quite unsuited.’

Were?

For a moment Faith thought she had misheard, and then she looked into the other woman’s eyes and her entire world shifted.

‘You know him well?’ Why was she asking that question when she already knew the answer?

‘Pretty well.’ Sofia looked at her. ‘Oh dear. Me and my big mouth. Obviously the two of you haven’t discussed his past. Very wise. If I was with Raul, I can’t say I’d want to know about his past, either. One of the disadvantages of being with an extremely rich and handsome man is the knowledge that every other woman wants him too.’

‘Sofia …’ Raul’s voice came from directly behind them and Sofia turned, her eyes dancing with laughter.

‘Darling—no need to use that tone. I’m just pleased you finally found someone willing to put up with your domineering, macho ways on a permanent basis. How are you? You’re looking good, but there’s nothing new in that.’

Before Raul could respond, Pedro approached. Apparently unaware of the byplay, he was mopping his brow. ‘Shall we get out of the heat?’

‘Of course. We’ll have drinks on the terrace.’

Pinned to the spot by shock, Faith looked at Raul in disbelief.

That was it? That was all he was going to say?

Tact and sensitivity wasn’t his strong suit and she, more than anyone, was well aware of that—but still she couldn’t quite believe that he’d intentionally invited his ex-mistress to join them for dinner without at least warning her.

It must have been an unfortunate coincidence.

She desperately wanted to believe that he hadn’t known the woman was with Pedro—that any minute now he was going to throw her off his property. Because the alternative to that was to acknowledge that once again her feelings had been bottom of his agenda.

‘It’s cooler on the terrace,’ Raul said smoothly, nothing in his body language suggesting that he considered anything to be amiss.

Faith flinched as though he’d struck her.

So that was it, then.

Clearly he expected her to smile and chat to his ex, while he concentrated on his business deal.

No wonder he hadn’t told her what was expected of her.

He’d obviously known that she would have been on the first plane out of Buenos Aires.

Raul strode across the courtyard, Pedro by his side, nothing in his manner betraying the slightest hint of awkwardness.

Deprived of the opportunity to claw his impossibly handsome face, Faith wanted to turn and stalk in the opposite direction, but she was unable to do that either because the other woman tightened her hold on her arm.

‘We have a word in Spanish to describe someone like him,’ Sofia murmured, her voice like rich honey. ‘Guapísimo. It means “indescribably handsome”. I haven’t been here for a while,’ she confided, as they moved onto the sunny, vine-covered terrace where several staff were poised ready to serve drinks. ‘You must show me what Raul has done. This place is the talk of the international polo-circuit.’

Faith didn’t bother replying—she was too busy planning ways to kill Raul—but first she turned some serious anger onto herself.

You fool, she chided herself. You stupid fool.

He said he wanted the marriage to work and that was all it took for you to run back to him.

He’d hurt her so, so badly but had she learned her lesson? No, she’d come back for more.

Was he being deliberately cruel? Was he reminding her once again that she’d driven him into a marriage, when in fact that wasn’t what he’d wanted?

Was he was telling her that marriage wasn’t going to stop him living his life the way he wanted to live it?

Was that what was going on here?

A wave of dizziness washed over her and for a terrifying moment she thought she might faint in front of him yet again.

Gritting her teeth with determination, she took several deep breaths and took a glass of champagne from one of Raul’s staff. Deciding that it would be kill or cure, she drained it in several gulps.

Dimly aware of Raul’s disapproving and slightly startled gaze, she raised the empty glass in his direction. ‘To us, darling. And to all those little things you do for me that show just how much you care.’

His eyes narrowed, but whether or not he would have responded to her subtle jibe she had no idea because Pedro dutifully lifted his glass.

‘To the pair of you. May you have a long and happy union.’

Faith was deeply regretting the fact that she’d downed the champagne. Her head was swimming again, and now she wasn’t sure of the cause.

‘So what is it that you do, Faith?’ Pedro was blunt and straightforward but Faith was spared the need to reply by his wife’s intervention.

‘She’s married to Raul,’ Sofia murmured. ‘Which means her time is totally occupied in the pursuit of looking gorgeous.’ Her gaze lingered speculatively on Faith’s newly cropped hair and Faith flushed.

‘I’m a vet. I specialise in horses. Raul has an interesting breeding programme so I chose to come here and work.’ And never left. But she would now. Any moment. She was going to walk out of the door and not look back.

As soon as she could be sure that her legs would hold her.

‘Breeding? Well if there’s anyone who could use some advice in that area, then it’s Raul.’ Sofia laughed. ‘Breeding is probably the only area of life in which he has absolutely no experience. I never could quite see him changing a nappy.’

Faith glanced at Raul and found him looking at her. ‘Faith is exceptionally talented. Especially with the animals themselves.’

Did he even realise that she was upset?

Deciding that she wasn’t going to inflate his ego still further by showing him how much his careless behaviour had upset her, Faith stood her ground.

Apparently unaware of the dangerous shift in the atmosphere, Pedro took a mouthful of his champagne. ‘One of my stallions is misbehaving—kicking out his box, biting his groom—the product of an extremely difficult early life, I wouldn’t be surprised. He’s born vicious.’

‘No horse is born vicious.’ Faith’s years of training made it impossible for her to stay silent. ‘It’s the way they’ve been treated that makes them that way. If he’s vicious then he obviously feels he needs to defend himself from something.’ Her eyes still held Raul’s. ‘All of us have the potential to be vicious if the provocation is sufficient.’

Raul’s eyes narrowed but Pedro simply nodded, his mind clearly still on the problem of his horse.

‘You could be right. To be honest, I have no idea what’s in his past. My stud groom rescued him from somewhere or other. Thought he had potential. I’m not so sure. I think he needs to be taught who’s boss.’

A bubble of laughter rose in Faith’s throat. ‘In my experience a display of macho domination rarely achieves the desired effect. I’ve always found that people respond better when you aim for a partnership of trust and respect.’

‘People?’ Pedro looked at her quizzically. ‘I thought we were talking about horses.’

‘Horses, people.’ Faith shrugged. ‘The principles are the same. The foundation of a good relationship is trust and respect.’ She emphasised both words and Raul shot her a warning glance, which she interpreted as meaning: be careful. This deal is important to me.

And suddenly she wondered if he really did care about anything other than the acquisition of wealth.

Why else would he have chosen to flaunt his previous relationships in front of his wife?

Still apparently oblivious to the undercurrents swirling around them, Pedro drained his champagne. ‘You’re letting a woman dictate how your horses are handled, Vásquez?’

‘I employ the best.’

Pedro frowned. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever met a female vet before.’

Faith took a sip of orange juice. ‘Well, we’re pretty much the same as the male variety, only we’re usually a little smaller because our bodies don’t have to make room for the ego.’

Sofia laughed with delight. ‘I absolutely adore the English sense of humour.’

Pedro reached for a handkerchief and mopped his brow. ‘I know it isn’t considered politically correct to say so, but I still don’t believe that a woman can do everything a man can do.’

‘I completely agree.’ Faith took another sip of her orange juice. ‘No matter how hard I try I simply can’t behave in a callous, insensitive fashion. Fortunately that major defect in my character hasn’t affected my ability as a vet. Generally animals respond very well to a woman’s touch.’

Finally alerted to the fact that the atmosphere wasn’t all it should be, Pedro glanced at Raul who displayed a characteristic lack of concern.

‘As you can see, my wife is as spirited as the horses she loves so much. Faith is extremely well qualified.’

Pedro’s eyebrows shot upwards. ‘If she’s that well qualified, why doesn’t she have her own practice?’

‘She met me,’ Raul murmured. ‘And I derailed her career.’

‘Postponed,’ Faith corrected him sharply. ‘I can return to my career any time I choose to do so.’

Sofia smiled. ‘So you fell in love.’

‘Who wouldn’t love Argentina?’ Faith deliberately chose to misunderstand her. ‘It’s a fascinating and beautiful country. And the perfect place to practise equine medicine.’

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