Mistress to the Mediterranean Male
She had courage, this young woman, Alejandro acknowledged even as he felt discomforted by her crying.
She was very young, of course, ten years younger than his own thirty-five years, and in challenging him she had not chosen her fight wisely; once Alejandro was sure of Miguel’s paternity, there had never been any doubt that he would claim the boy as his own.
Nevertheless, he was not completely unmoved by her tears, or the fact that her sadness gave her an air of fragile beauty, with her eyes now almost navy in colour against the pallor of her cheeks. Her red hair was lifted and secured off the long, creamy expanse of her neck to give her an air of vulnerability that had been evident in none of their previous encounters.
His mouth firmed. ‘You are upset.’ He stated the obvious. ‘You perhaps wish for me to arrange for your immediate return to England?’
Her chin rose defiantly. ‘You would like that, wouldn’t you?’
His nostrils flared impatiently. ‘I would like to put an end to these—disagreements, yes.’
‘I’ll just bet you would!’ She gave a humourless laugh. ‘No can do, sorry,’ she added derisively. ‘I intend staying on here for the duration!’
‘Dios mío!’ Alejandro bit out his frustration with her stubbornness, and his hands clenched at his sides. ‘Do not try me too far, Brynne,’ he warned harshly. ‘I make a much better friend than I do an enemy!’
‘Friend’? The word echoed incredulously in Brynne’s head while she acknowledged that he had used her given name for the first time in their acquaintance. That familiarity aside, there was no way she and this man could ever be friends!
None of her male friends had ever set her senses singing in the way just being in this man’s company did.
‘I think you’ll find, Alejandro, that so do I,’ she came back smoothly, her blue eyes dark with challenge as she deliberately made use of his own first name in return.
A nerve pulsed in his tightly clenched jaw. ‘You are here on sufferance only—’
‘I don’t appear to be the one who’s suffering, Alejandro,’ she taunted mockingly.
His grey eyes narrowed icily as he drew himself up to his full six feet three inches in height. ‘Miguel has expressed a wish to swim in the pool. Perhaps you will be so good as to give me his bathing things?’
Michael …
Her anger left her as suddenly as it had erupted as she thought of the only reason she was here. And much as she enjoyed baiting Alejandro Santiago, that wasn’t it!
‘Of course,’ she muttered, moving to unzip the case that contained the clothes she had packed so lovingly late last night when she and Michael had returned from visiting her parents. Several other boxes containing Michael’s toys had been put aboard the jet earlier this morning, too, waiting to eventually be forwarded to Alejandro’s home in mainland Spain.
In fact, everything that Michael possessed had been brought aboard that plane earlier today …
‘Here,’ she said as she held out Michael’s brightly coloured swimming trunks, tears once again blurring her vision, although she was determined she wouldn’t cry in front of Alejandro again. The man obviously only saw it as a weakness he could take advantage of if his offer to have her flown home immediately was anything to go by!
Was she going to cry again? Alejandro wondered, thinking how he never had known how to deal with a woman’s tears, not even Francesca’s during their brief but wholly unhappy marriage. With Brynne Sullivan he definitely found her anger the easier emotion to respond to.
His impatient gaze remained on Brynne’s face as he reached out to take the swimming trunks, slightly missing his objective as his hand brushed lightly against hers.
And instantly received the equivalent of an electric shock up into his fingers and along the length of his arm!
He snatched the swimming trunks before moving his hand back abruptly, his lids half-lowered over his steel-grey eyes as he looked down his nose at her.
He found this woman intensely infuriating.
Irritating.
A nuisance he longed to be rid of.
And yet for that one split second he knew that he had been totally aware of her too, of the pale delicacy of her skin, of the blood flowing so smoothly beneath its surface, of the heat and inner throb of her very being, so much so that he could almost feel that blood pulsing through her veins.
Idiot!
He was hot, he was thirsty, and not a little tired of the verbal fencing that took place every time he was anywhere near this woman.
He stepped back. ‘I will sit by the pool with Miguel until you come down to join him,’ he said dismissively.
Brynne looked up at Alejandro from beneath her dark lashes. What had happened just now? Some sort of electric shock to add to her increasing awareness of him. It had been a moment, a very brief moment, when everything had seemed clearer, sharper, when it had almost felt as if she could feel and hear the beat of Alejandro’s heart.
Which was pretty ridiculous when the man didn’t have a heart!
If he did then he wouldn’t continue to be so unreasonable where Michael was concerned, and would be as eager as she was to make all of this as painless as possible for his six-year-old son.
Besides, if he did have a heart, it would make her unwanted response to him all the more dangerous!
‘I assume my joining you and Michael by the pool will no doubt free you to disappear on some important business or other?’ she questioned.
The thinning of his sculpted lips showed his impatience. ‘You already know I have business interests here,’ he bit out curtly.
‘Don’t let us keep you from them, then,’ Brynne taunted.
His eyes narrowed to silver slithers. ‘You are a guest in my home, Brynne, and as such you will be treated with respect and courtesy. But as I warned you once before, do not push me too far, or you may not like the consequences!’
She probably wouldn’t, Brynne acknowledged ruefully, having no doubts that Alejandro could make life a lot more uncomfortable for her than she could for him if he chose to do so. She was sure the slightly cruel curl she occasionally saw to his lips could very easily be put into action.
Except she had no intention of being in the least cowed by this man. ‘I’ll bear that in mind,’ she drawled. ‘Now, if you wouldn’t mind, I would like to go through to my bedroom and unpack a few of my own things before coming down to the pool …’ she dismissed.
A dismissal he definitely didn’t like, by the look of his glittering eyes and the tensing of his shoulders as he strode forcefully from the room.
She was infuriated by the effect Alejandro Santiago had on her, and never felt in the least relaxed in his company. In fact, her skin seemed to prickle every time she was anywhere near him, almost as if she had been stung by nettles or lots of little insects.
She was also filled, at every opportunity, with a burning desire to shake him out of that cold arrogance with which he seemed to cloak himself.
Unless it wasn’t a cloak …
But surely it had to be? Brynne simply couldn’t see fun-loving Joanna having fallen for someone who was so cold and remote.
It had to be a shield of some sort, a way of hiding the man he was underneath.
At least, she hoped for Michael’s sake that was what it was …
CHAPTER THREE
ALEJANDRO was glad he was wearing dark sunglasses to shield the surprise he felt when Brynne stepped out onto the terrace ten minutes later wearing only a very brief turquoise bikini.
It hadn’t been apparent in the tailored trousers and fitted blouses she invariably wore, but, as Alejandro could quite clearly see now, Brynne Sullivan had a spectacularly beautiful body.
Absolutely, perfectly beautiful, with skin a creamy gold colour all over, her legs long and slender, hips curvaceous below her tiny waist, and her breasts pert beneath the clinging turquoise material.
But it was a beauty she seemed completely unaware of as she strolled across to where he sat, her hips swaying gracefully as she walked.
Alejandro, however, was very aware of it as he felt an unexpected throb in his own body!
‘You’re free to go now,’ she told him coolly as she settled herself down on the lounger next to his.
Her scathing tone instantly dampened anything but the anger this woman always aroused in him. ‘I intend to,’ he snapped as he swung his feet down onto the tiled terrace. ‘Dinner will be served at eight-thirty—’
‘That’s far too late for Michael,’ she protested with a firm shake of her head.
It probably was, he acknowledged irritably, not having given too much thought to the changes Miguel was going to make to his daily routine. The fact that he had a son at all was still a source of surprise to him. Not that he thought for a moment that Brynne had even considered this—she seemed to think he was totally without emotions.
His reaction minutes ago to the way she looked in a bikini had told Alejandro quite the contrary!
But he did have several telephone calls to make before this evening’s meal—at least one of which would no doubt be lengthy.
‘Perhaps I can have a word with the cook so that she can prepare Michael something earlier than that?’ Brynne decided to take pity on Alejandro’s obvious frustration. ‘Michael is usually in bed by eight o’clock.’ Although that would no doubt be changed and adapted now that Michael was to take up a Mediterranean lifestyle …
But not tonight, she decided as she watched him swimming in the pool with the agility of a fish. He would be worn out by the early evening, and there had already been enough changes in his young life for one day. Michael needed some of his usual routine in order that everything shouldn’t spiral completely out of control.
‘That would be best, I think.’ Alejandro gave an abrupt inclination of his head as he turned to leave.
‘Tell me,’ Brynne murmured dryly as she looked up at him, ‘who was going to look after Michael if I hadn’t been here?’ she taunted.
Alejandro’s mouth tightened. ‘I had arranged for Maria’s daughter—Maria is the cook,’ he explained dismissively, ‘—to be with him.’
Brynne grimaced. ‘Yet another stranger.’
‘Brynne, you do not—’ Alejandro broke off, frowning down at her, his jaw once again tight, which emphasized the haughty planes of his face. ‘This is—new territory, for all of us,’ he finally said quietly. ‘I suggest that you give us all time to—adjust.’
‘By “us” you presumably mean you,’ she dismissed. ‘I have been taking care of Michael quite capably for the last two months.’
Alejandro drew in a ragged breath. ‘Do you intend arguing with me for the whole of your stay here?’
‘Probably,’ she replied; after all, Michael’s welfare was all she was interested in.
Although she had to say that Alejandro Santiago seemed less—alien, in these surroundings, his dark good looks more suited to this climate. In fact, she was the one, with her red hair and pale complexion, who was out of place. Which was one of the reasons she felt increasingly defensive.
One of them.
The other one was the memory of that brief moment of physical awareness a short time ago between herself and Alejandro …
Alejandro found himself relaxing slightly as he gave a rueful inclination of his head. ‘That is honest, anyway,’ he drawled dryly.
‘Oh, I believe you will invariably find me honest,’ Brynne assured him.
‘Good.’ He nodded, smiling slightly as her raised brows showed her surprise at his answer. ‘Honesty is something I can deal with. It is dishonesty that I find unacceptable.’ His mouth tightened grimly as he thought of all Francesca’s lies and deceit, and of their marriage that had taught him never to trust a woman ever again. ‘If you wish to telephone anyone to let them know of your safe arrival—’
‘Anyone?’ she echoed with a taunting smile.
‘Your parents, possibly,’ Alejandro answered slightly impatiently. ‘I am sure they would like to know that you and Miguel have arrived here safely.’
Brynne’s smile faded as she thought of her mother and father. Her mother had been ill with grief since Tom and Joanna had died so suddenly, and her father was having to deal with that as well as his own agony. The situation with Michael was completely beyond their comprehension at the moment.
A situation this man had created.
‘I’m sure they would,’ she acknowledged curtly.
Alejandro gave an abrupt nod of his head. ‘Please feel free to use the telephone in the villa. I have a separate line in my study for business purposes.’
Brynne roused herself from her melancholy thoughts, her expression once again challenging as she looked up at him. ‘Well, of course you do,’ she muttered under her breath.
Alejandro’s mouth tightened. ‘I sincerely hope that this verbal fencing will not continue at mealtimes!’
‘Oh, I think it probably will,’ she returned wryly.
So the angry frustration Alejandro felt in the company of this woman was now to be accompanied by indigestion after every meal, too!
He thought longingly of his well-ordered life of two months ago. Before he had discovered Miguel was his son. Before the maddeningly outspoken Brynne Sullivan had entered, and then refused to leave, his life.
He nodded abruptly. ‘As you wish.’
‘Oh, it’s not as I wish at all, Alejandro,’ she told him derisively. ‘You wouldn’t be here if wishes really did come true!’
No one had ever spoken to him before in the way that this woman did, Alejandro realized irritably. The honesty he had praised earlier was one thing, but Brynne seemed to have no qualms whatsoever in saying whatever came into her head!
Her beautiful head, he accepted with a frown.
‘Brynne—’
‘Aunty Bry!’ Michael greeted excitedly from the pool as he swam to the side to grin up at them, his dark hair slicked back from his face. ‘Are you coming in, Aunty Bry?’
‘Of course I am, darling.’ With one last mocking lift of her brows in Alejandro’s direction, Brynne moved gracefully to her feet, and reached up to pull the clip from her hair to let it fall loosely over her shoulders and down her spine.
Alejandro felt as if time stood still as he watched the wild tumble of titian locks. The sun caught their fiery silkiness, showing gold amongst the red, giving the effect of a living flame.
He knew Brynne was a schoolteacher, but she was unlike any schoolteacher he had ever known during his years of education!
‘I will see you both later,’ he snapped tersely before turning to stride forcefully back into the villa.
Work, he told himself firmly as he resisted the lure of staying by the swimming pool to watch Brynne and Miguel. He had been away for three days, and had numerous calls and messages waiting to be dealt with.
And that was before he even attempted to placate the other trouble-causing woman in his life—Antonia …!
‘Well, isn’t this cosy?’ Brynne said dryly as she looked down the length of the dinner table to where her host sat in remote solitude at the other end of the twelve-foot-long table.
He looked magnificent, of course, if a little overdressed for dining with someone he considered an unwelcome guest at best. The black evening suit and crisp snowy-white shirt gave his haughty good looks a rakish appeal she could well have done without.
Not having known whether or not she was supposed to dress for dinner, but having had a feeling that she probably was, Brynne was wearing what she considered her trusty little black dress, a light knee-length sheath of a dress with ribbon shoulder straps that complemented the light tan she had already managed to acquire during her hours beside the pool earlier today.
Michael, at least, was having a wonderful time in the novelty of his new home, and had fallen asleep within minutes of Brynne putting him to bed.
Her gaze narrowed on her host. ‘Did you go up and say goodnight to Michael?’
Alejandro gave an inward sigh; dinner really was to become as much a battleground as every other encounter with this woman!
‘He had already fallen asleep by the time I went upstairs,’ he said briskly, sure this was yet another black mark against him as far as Brynne Sullivan was concerned. The way her eyes flashed deeply blue told him he was right in his surmise.
‘Then perhaps you should have gone upstairs earlier than you did,’ she replied disapprovingly.
Critical as well as outspoken; it was not a comfortable combination in a woman!
‘Perhaps I should,’ he rasped. ‘But—’ He broke off in frustration as Maria arrived with their first course.
‘Thank you,’ Brynne said as she turned to smile at the tiny Majorcan woman. She had spent a pleasant hour in the kitchen with Maria earlier as Michael ate his tea, the two of them managing to converse a little in Brynne’s schoolgirl Spanish and the small smattering of English the middle-aged woman had acquired from the tourists that flocked to this beautiful island every year.
The language barrier certainly hadn’t been an obstacle to Maria’s obvious affection for children as she had chatted to and smiled at Michael at every opportunity.
Brynne’s smile faded as the tiny woman left the room and she turned to find Alejandro watching her with unreadable grey eyes. ‘I’m sure Michael would like to see some of the island while I’m here, so perhaps I could have the use of a car tomorrow?’ she suggested in a businesslike manner, having decided earlier that the novelty of the pool would wear off if that was all Michael had to do all day.
Besides, getting out and about on the island also meant getting away from the unnervingly handsome Alejandro Santiago!
‘I will put the limousine and driver at your disposal—’
‘That’s hardly the same as being able to drive myself about, now, is it?’ Brynne protested, having eaten some of her starter of melon and ham and found it delicious.
Alejandro’s gaze narrowed as he noted that her red hair was worn up again this evening, the flames tamed into muted fire with only a wispy fringe loose on her smooth brow. There was now a golden tan to her heart-shaped features, a peach gloss on the fullness of her lips, while the gentle arch of her neck was bare and the fragility of her slender body was emphasized by the fitted black dress.
‘I would … prefer it if you allowed my driver to take you wherever you wish to go,’ he said carefully.
Her blue eyes glittered with mockery. ‘Don’t you trust me not to disappear back to England with Michael?’ she taunted.
Alejandro’s mouth tightened. ‘I would find you if you did,’ he stated with certainty.
A frown creased her brow as she searched his face. ‘I’ll just bet that you would, too,’ she finally murmured disgustedly.
‘It is a bet you would win,’ Alejandro drawled.
She eyed him in frustration. ‘I would prefer to drive my own car so that the two of us are free to explore!’
‘I have told you Juan will be happy to take you wherever you wish to go,’ Alejandro assured firmly, having no intention of arguing any further with her on this point.
‘So Michael and I are to be virtual prisoners while we’re here, is that it?’ Brynne snapped as she put her knife and fork down on the plate and pushed it away from her, her appetite quickly disappearing.
Alejandro looked every inch the haughty Spaniard that he undoubtedly was as he gave her a quelling glance. ‘It is not a question of making the two of you prisoners—’
‘Then what is it a question of?’ Brynne demanded as she sat forward, twin spots of angry colour in her cheeks.
He gave a disgruntled snort. ‘You are a very difficult woman—’
‘Difficult I can live with,’ she assured him impatiently. ‘It’s being treated like a prisoner that I object to!’
Alejandro Santiago looked at her with obvious frustration for several seconds, his mouth in a thin disapproving line, his grey eyes glacial. ‘Very well,’ he finally said coldly. ‘You may take a car and drive wherever you wish, but I cannot allow you to take Miguel about the island unprotected!’
Brynne stared at him incredulously. What on earth—?
‘Miguel is my son, Brynne,’ Alejandro snapped impatiently.
She frowned. ‘Yes, but—’
‘I am sure that when we arrived here you noted the electric gates and high fences as we came onto the property …’
‘Well, yes … but—’
‘There are also several security guards patrolling the property. Do not be so naïve, Brynne!’ he bit out tautly as she continued to look puzzled. ‘There have been several high-profile kidnappings in Europe in recent years. And my fight for custody of Miguel was very well publicized,’ he reminded her quietly.
Brynne felt slightly sick as the full reality of what he was saying hit her. As he was the son of the super-wealthy Alejandro Santiago, there was a possibility that Michael could become a target for kidnappers!
She swallowed hard. ‘But—I—Michael has been living with me quite openly for the last two months!’
Alejandro gave an abrupt inclination of his head. ‘And he has been protected since I became aware of his existence,’ he assured her arrogantly. ‘Quietly. Unobtrusively. But, nevertheless, he has been protected.’
Brynne felt her cheeks pale. ‘When he was at school …’
‘Then too.’ Alejandro gave another terse nod.
It was unbelievable. All this time, all those weeks, and she hadn’t suspected a thing!
But that was the whole idea, wasn’t it? she acknowledged. What was the point of being unobtrusively protected if everyone knew about it?
‘That’s—’ She broke off, swallowing down her nausea. ‘I had no idea! Why didn’t you tell me?’ she attacked angrily as her initial shock began to wear off.
Alejandro had been waiting for that, knowing Brynne wouldn’t be virtually speechless for very long. ‘There was no need for you to know—’
‘Oh, and this is on a need-to-know basis, is it?’ she retorted furiously. ‘Michael could have been in danger any time during the last few weeks and you didn’t think I needed to know!’ She threw her napkin down on the table before standing up to walk down the length of the table to stand next to him. ‘You arrogant …!’
He shrugged without concern, his grey gaze coldly unyielding as he looked up at her. ‘I merely protect what is mine.’
Without telling her there was any need for that protection … How she despised this man!
CHAPTER FOUR
‘WOULD you and Miguel like to come for a drive to Deya with me …?’
Brynne glanced up from the magazine she had been looking through while Michael once again frolicked about in the pool, her eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses as she looked up at Alejandro.
If uncovered they would definitely have told Alejandro that her anger towards him hadn’t abated in the least since she had stormed out of the dining-room the evening before!
It was an anger she wanted to cling to, finding it a much more comfortable emotion than her physical awareness of this man. Today he was casually dressed again in black trousers and a grey shirt that emphasized his dark colouring.
Her mouth twisted derisively. ‘And what’s in Deya?’
‘Nothing too exciting,’ he acknowledged dryly. ‘But while I attend a business meeting you and Miguel could have a look around the village, and then perhaps we could all meet up for lunch.’
‘What’s the catch?’ She eyed him suspiciously.
Alejandro was starting to regret making the invitation. ‘There is no catch,’ he snapped. ‘I was merely thinking of your request yesterday to see some of the island.’
‘And I suppose Michael and I are to be accompanied by armed guards wearing dark sunglasses and looking totally out of place?’ she queried sarcastically.
His mouth tightened. ‘They are not armed,’ he responded tautly.
‘But they will be wearing dark sunglasses and looking out of place!’ Brynne scorned as she swung her legs onto the tiled patio, and Alejandro noted she was wearing a black bikini today that suited the golden tan she was quickly acquiring.