Santiago's Command

‘Are you sure you don’t fancy me?’

This drew a laugh from Lucy, who begged, ‘Please don’t be nice to me! I feel awful enough as it is.’

‘Relax, I’ll survive. It’s not as though I haven’t been knocked back before …’ He paused and grinned. ‘Actually I haven’t. I’m wondering why …?’

She shook her head.

As Ramon sat there looking at her in silence for the first time she saw some family resemblance, a likeness to his brother, not so much in the individual features, more the tilt of his head and his hairline … hairline! She frowned. She had only met him the once and the encounter had lasted minutes but weirdly the details of Santiago Silva’s face were burned into her brain.

‘So why did you ring me and say you’d changed your mind?’

‘I was angry and I wanted to punish.’

‘Me?’

‘No, of course not. The thing is I met your brother and he—he made me mad.’

‘Santiago made you mad …?’ Ramon echoed in astonishment.

Ramon saw the anger in her sparkling expressive eyes before she tipped her head tightly. ‘Yes.’ He grew curious. This was not the usual impression his brother made on women.

‘When did you meet Santiago? What did he do?’

Lucy rolled down her window and took a gulp of fresh night air redolent of pine. ‘I met him yesterday and then again this morning …’ For a split second she considered telling him the truth, but held back. What was it about that wretched man that turned her into some sort of petty vengeful cow?

It wasn’t as if people had not thought and said worse about her. Why had his assumption got to her this way? Just thinking about him made her skin prickle.

‘It … it was something and nothing, really,’ she admitted, rubbing her arms as if she could rub away the memory. ‘He recognised me yesterday. You don’t know, but a few years ago I—’

‘Oh, the super-injunction stuff, you mean.’

Lucy stared at him in astonishment. ‘You know about that?’

Ramon, who was adjusting his tie in the rear-view mirror, turned his head and looked amused. ‘Of course I know about it, Lucy.’

‘But how?’

He waved his mobile phone at her. ‘I punched in your name, though actually,’ he admitted, ‘I was checking out your age on the off chance … not that I have a problem with an older woman,’ he added quickly. ‘In fact, but well, never mind. Imagine my surprise when I got not only your age but the other stuff, too.’

‘Oh!’ Lucy said, feeling foolish for not anticipating this possibility. It was impossible to have secrets when all someone had to do was punch in a name and your life—or a version of it—appeared on a screen.

‘So all this …’ the expressive downward sweep of his hand took in the silk that clung like a second skin to her body ‘… is for Santiago’s benefit, not mine.’

His brother sounded more philosophical than annoyed by this discovery, but Lucy was horrified by the suggestion.

‘Of course not!’ She almost bounced in her seat in her enthusiasm to deny the suggestion. Then as she examined her conscience she added, ‘Well, not in that way.’

‘So what did big brother do to make you so mad? Threaten to have you arrested for corrupting a minor? Have you framed for a felony? Pay you to leave the country?’

Lucy looked away quickly, but not quickly enough.

Ramon’s joking expression vanished. ‘Dio, he did, didn’t he? Santiago tried to pay you off?’

‘He … sort of,’ she admitted, feeling reluctant to tell tales.

‘I don’t believe it,’ Ramon breathed, looking stunned.

‘I understand your brother wanted to protect you. It’s only natural.’ She stopped and thought, Why am I defending the man who is clearly a total control freak?

‘Will you do me a favour, Lucy?’

Lucy quashed her instinct to say anything out of sympathy. ‘That depends,’ she responded warily.

‘Go through with your plan to teach my big brother a lesson.’

For the first time Lucy heard anger in his voice and realised that it was aimed, not at her, but his brother. ‘I’m sure he thought he was doing the right thing …’

‘You’re still defending him?’

‘No, of course I’m not,’ she replied indignantly. ‘I think your brother is the most …’ She became aware of Ramon’s expression and stopped.

‘He’s really got under your skin, hasn’t he?’ he observed.

Lucy adopted an amused expression and lied. ‘It takes more than your brother to get under my skin.’

‘You won’t deny that he needs teaching a lesson …?’ She nodded—how could she not? ‘So why not give him a night to remember? Why not? You’re all dressed up and nowhere to go. Please … for me?’ he coaxed. ‘Or if not, for good old-fashioned revenge? I’m tired of Santiago always thinking he knows what is best for me. For once, I’d like him to treat me like a man. I know he means it for the best and I know my mother gives him a hard time and blames him every time I mess up, but it’s humiliating and …’

‘You want to teach him a lesson.’

Ramon nodded. ‘He’s gone too far this time and he’s involved a friend. What’ll he do the next time—lock me in my room? I’d just like to be the one doing the manipulating for once, so he knows what it feels like.’

Lucy sighed. ‘I’m probably going to regret this …’

‘My God, it’s a castle.’ Lucy sat awestruck in her seat as Ramon stood by the open door. ‘Enormous!’ she breathed, staring at the intimidating edifice lit by strategically placed spotlights. ‘As in national monument enormous … is that tower Moorish?’

Ramon cast a negligent look over his shoulder. ‘I think … yeah, it’s big,’ he agreed.

She started to shake her head. ‘I can’t do this.’

Ramon grabbed her arm and hauled her out. ‘No, you’re not going to chicken out now. It was your idea, remember.’

The impetus of his tug made her stagger into his arms. ‘A terrible idea!’ she muttered in his ear, drawing a laugh from Ramon.

‘Are you not going to introduce me to your guest?’

The voice as smooth as silk made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. The only thing that prevented her jumping away from Ramon was the hand in the small of her back.

‘Of course.’