by Abby Green
Before she could stop her wayward imagination she saw Gabriel in her mind’s eye, returning home from work and scooping a dark-haired child up into his arms, before tugging Leonora close so that he could kiss her.
Leonora caught a glimpse of her reflection again and this time she looked slightly wild-eyed. This was precisely why she should say no to Gabriel. He stirred up too many illicit dreams and fantasies. Fantasies that could never materialise. No matter what she felt when they made love-like the only woman in the world.
And yet...did she have a choice? She had to marry. That was her duty and her responsibility. If it wasn’t to Gabriel then it would have to be someone else. Because, no matter what she’d said to him the previous evening, the truth was that she was a bride for hire—whether she liked to admit it or not.
Was it so bad that she and Gabriel had this insane chemistry? Wouldn’t it help a marriage? At the start at least... It couldn’t last. He wouldn’t want her like this for ever. But maybe by then they’d have children...
There was a knock on the door and Leonora jumped like a scalded cat. ‘Yes?’
A woman’s voice. ‘Señorita de la Vega? Breakfast is being served downstairs in the dining room.’
Leonora’s heart was thumping.
Not Gabriel.
‘Thank you. I’ll be right down.’
Footsteps went away.
Leonora got herself together and washed, and then went back and dressed in her clothes from yesterday, feeling the sting of shame that everyone would know.
But no one looked at her strangely when she went downstairs. If she passed anyone they just smiled politely, clearly busy with the upkeep of the castillo. That reminded her of what Gabriel had said about helping with their castillo’s renovations. How could she deny her family that?
She entered the hall and Ernesto appeared.
‘Please, Señorita de la Vega, this way.’
Leonora forced a smile, even though inside she was cringing at what Ernesto must think of her. ‘Please, call me Leonora.’
He smiled benignly at her as he opened the door into the dining room. She walked in and Gabriel stood up from where he was sitting at the head of the table, dressed in a pristine white shirt, tie and waistcoat, which only emphasised his lean body.
‘Good morning.’
She avoided his eye, coming into the room, and wished she’d had more make-up to put on, or tied her hair back. She felt dishevelled. Undone.
‘Good morning.’
She sat down and the housekeeper appeared with an array of food.
Leonora smiled at her. ‘This looks delicious.’
The woman was pleased. ‘Let me know if you want anything else.’
When she was gone Leonora still avoided looking directly at Gabriel.
Until he said, ‘Look at me, Leo.’
See? Direct.
She put down the coffee pot and looked at him. All strong lines and that sensual mouth. Those mesmerising eyes. Her lower body spasmed reflexively with the memory of what it had felt like to have his powerful body thrusting in and out of hers.
Dios.
‘You’re a nice person, Leo.’
She blinked. That wasn’t what she’d expected to hear. ‘Well, I...thank you.’
‘You notice people, acknowledge them.’
Now she was embarrassed. ‘So do you,’ she said, thinking of his interaction with the boy who had parked his car last night.
‘See?’ he said as he lowered his coffee cup. ‘We’re well matched.’
Leonora wanted to look away again, but she couldn’t. She felt a sense of fatality wash over her. In all honesty, even though the thought of marrying Gabriel scared her to death, because he made her long for so many things, the thought of walking out of his castillo this morning and never seeing him again was nearly more terrifying. Never touching him again? No.
Before she could really think it through she blurted out, ‘Yes.’
‘Yes...to what?’
He arched a brow even as his eyes darkened with something that looked like desire but which she suspected was satisfaction. A part of her wished she could say no, just not give him that satisfaction. Did anyone say no to this man? She couldn’t blame them.
She took a breath. ‘You know what. Yes, I’ll marry you.’
* * *
Gabriel was surprised at the level of tension he’d been feeling, which suddenly dissipated. He hadn’t been sure what Leo would say even after last night.
He reached for her hand and lifted it, leaning forward to press a kiss into her palm. He saw how her eyes flared and an answering rush of desire made his blood hot. He wanted to tug her over onto his lap and crush that soft mouth under his, but he forced the desire down. They would have a lifetime for that. Right at that moment he couldn’t imagine a day when he wouldn’t want her with this fierce hunger, and surely that had to be a good indication that this union would and could work?
It was time to progress—with this woman by his side.
Not wanting to waste another moment of time, he said, ‘Would you object to a private wedding service here in the castillo’s chapel at the end of the week?’
CHAPTER SIX
LEONORA’S HEAD WAS still reeling a couple of days after she’d agreed to a private wedding which would take place that very week. She’d protested, of course, but with his particular brand of cool logic Gabriel had asked her what advantage there could possibly be in prolonging the wait.
Gabriel had worn her down all too easily, and in the end she’d agreed—it had been the prospect of securing Matías’s future sooner rather than later.
She’d come to Gabriel’s office in Madrid this morning, to look over a prenuptial agreement. Cruz y Torres Enterprises was housed in a sleek and modern building made of glass and steel. Everyone looked very serious and efficient. She’d been whisked up with a private escort straight to his massive corner office that had a terrace overlooking the city.
‘This is impressive,’ she said, walking over to a window.
She could feel Gabriel looking at her and her skin prickled with awareness. They hadn’t slept together since the other night.
‘It’s not bad.’
He came to stand beside her and she glanced at him. ‘Not bad...? A slight understatement.’
He turned to face her. ‘This will be your world too when we’re married.’
Leonora balked a bit at that. Somehow she hadn’t fully absorbed that aspect. She would be Señora Cruz y Torres.
Suddenly she felt conscious of her very worn suit. It was designer, but practically vintage at this stage, one she wheeled out when she had to look smart. And she’d wanted to look smart today. Professional. Because essentially this was just a business agreement, right?
It might be for Gabriel, but her thumping heart said something else.
A moment of panic made her turn to him. ‘Gabriel, I know you think I’m suitable, but really—’
He put a finger to her mouth, stopping her words. He said, ‘You’re going to be absolutely fine. Trust me.’
He took his hand away.
Leonora swallowed. ‘I just don’t want to let you down.’
He shook his head. ‘You won’t.’
There was a taut moment when she thought he was going to pull her close and kiss her, but then there was a knock on the door and she looked around to see a series of officious-looking men and women enter. She was glad of the interruption. She didn’t want Gabriel to see how needy she’d felt just then, for reassurance.
The prenup.
She calmed herself and took a seat at Gabriel’s desk, where he’d pulled out a chair. She’d looked over the agreement herself at home, when Gabriel had emailed it to her, and she had no issues with it. It was exceedingly generous, actually, with provisions set out for her family and Mat�
�as in the event of their divorce. Essentially, he was promising to look after them for their lifetimes.
After she’d signed the agreement, and the legal staff had left, Leonora put down her pen and looked at Gabriel. She felt ridiculously emotional to think that this man, who really barely knew her, was making such a commitment to her family.
‘Thank you—you’ve been very generous.’
He shrugged. ‘Your family will become my family, Leo.’
She shook her head, ‘But you haven’t even met Matías.’
He paused for a beat and then said, ‘So take me to meet him.’
Leonora’s heart tripped. ‘Now?’
‘Why not?’ He glanced at his watch. ‘I can cancel my afternoon meetings—they’re not a priority.’
Leonora put in a call to Matías’s school. They had no problem with visitors that afternoon, so after some lunch in Gabriel’s office they left the city in one of his sleek cars.
They were walking down the corridor, about to meet Matías in the common room area of his school, when suddenly Leonora stopped and said, ‘Wait.’
Gabriel looked at her. ‘What is it?’
Leonora was suddenly aware of the magnitude of introducing this man to Matías. ‘You need to be gentle with him. He can be nervous with strangers and especially protective of me.’
Something crossed Gabriel’s face. ‘I have a younger sister. I know that’s very different, and Estella doesn’t have a learning difficulty, but I do know what it’s like to worry...’
Leonora couldn’t quite compute that Gabriel Torres was here, reassuring her about her own brother. ‘Okay.’
She needn’t have worried. Within mere minutes Matías was in thrall to Gabriel in a way she could only sympathise with. Staring at him as if he was a god.
It made Leonora’s heart twist, because she’d witnessed so many people over the years shunning her brother because he was different. Gabriel seemed to have no such issue, and was talking to Matías as if he was any other young man of eighteen.
They were having an in-depth conversation about football and it turned out they both supported the same team—much to Matías’s ecstatic excitement. When Gabriel offered to take Matías to a match some time, the young man—almost equalling Gabriel in height—launched himself at Gabriel, hugging him tightly.
Leonora immediately tensed, waiting for Gabriel to pull back at this display of affection from a stranger, to extricate himself, look awkward, but he didn’t. He just hugged Matías back.
To her shock, instead of feeling reassured, she found that watching Gabriel so at ease with her brother was setting her on edge and bringing up emotions she wasn’t sure she wanted to identify.
When they finally left, Leonora sat tensely beside Gabriel in his car.
‘What is it?’ he asked. ‘I would have thought you’d be happy to see that Matías and I get along.’
‘He really likes you,’ she had to admit.
Gabriel shrugged nonchalantly. ‘You say that like it’s a bad thing.’
Suddenly she realised what was at the root of her unease. Gabriel was too used to getting his own way, having people fall in slavish devotion at his feet. He’d taken Matías’s reaction for granted. She was aware that she was irrationally angry with him about that. But it was as if introducing him to Matías had brought home just how quickly and easily she’d let him upend her life. How quickly she’d let herself fall in with his plans.
She looked at him. ‘Matías is vulnerable. If you say you’ll take him to a football match he expects that to happen. If he likes you he trusts you implicitly, which makes him even more vulnerable. Once we marry, my responsibility to him doesn’t disappear. He’s only ever known me as his main carer outside of the school.’
Gabriel shot her a glance. ‘Are you sure we’re just talking about Matías, here?’
Leonora flushed.
‘I have no intention of sidelining anyone once we’re married, but the fact is that you will have other responsibilities. You’ll be my wife, and I have a hectic schedule at the best of times. And once we have children, they’ll obviously take precedence. We’ll have as much support as we need, but I don’t want to entrust my children entirely to the care of staff, as I and my sister were. And as I suspect you and your brother were, until there were no staff.’
That stunned Leonora slightly. ‘You want to be involved in your children’s lives?’
For a moment he said nothing. She saw his jaw clench, and then he said, ‘My parents all but abandoned me and my sister. Left us to our own devices, sent us to schools as far away from them as possible. I was able to handle it. But Estella...she was more vulnerable. I had no idea how badly she was affected. Because of our age gap, when she was a teenager and home for the holidays I was already working in the business. I missed the signs...’
‘The signs of what?’
‘Signs that she was falling in with a wrong crowd. People happy to take advantage of her limitless wealth, her name and vulnerability.’
Leonora’s chest tightened. ‘What happened?’
Gabriel was grim, hands tightly on the wheel. ‘I found her passed out at home a few years ago. She was unconscious. Nearly dead. I got her to hospital and into rehab and since then she’s been doing really well. But the neglect of our parents was a direct cause of her pain and I’ll never forgive myself for not seeing it.’
‘You weren’t her parent. It wasn’t your job.’
He glanced at her, and the look on his face made her shiver. ‘No. But I knew she wasn’t like me. I won’t lie—I don’t know the first thing about relating to children—but I know that ours will not be neglected and left to fend for themselves.’
Ours. Their children.
They stopped at traffic lights and he looked at her. ‘Unless you have other ideas?’
Leonora was still reeling from what he’d just said. She realised he was waiting for an answer. ‘No. I want to be involved. Our upbringing wasn’t so dissimilar. Until my father lost everything my parents were absent a lot. It was just me and Matías until he went away to school. I can’t imagine having children and letting someone else raise them.’
Some of the harshness in Gabriel’s expression softened. ‘I know Matías is vulnerable and that he takes everything literally. I’ve made a commitment to you and he’s part of that. All your family are.’
Emotion rose inside Leonora. For the first time in years she felt a weight being lifted off her shoulders. She looked away in case he saw it.
The lights turned green.
A car beeped behind them and Gabriel said, ‘Leo, we’re not moving till you look at me.’
She swallowed her emotion and turned her head. The car beeped again.
Gabriel was unfazed. ‘Do you trust me?’
More cars beeped. But the awful thing was that Leonora didn’t need the pressure of the traffic building behind them to tell her that yes, she did trust him.
She felt as if she was falling off a cliff edge, with nothing to hold on to. When had she allowed herself to trust him so implicitly? How had that even happened? Had it been just now, when he’d spoken of his sister? Or the moment she’d decided to sleep with him? Or the moment she’d seen him being so kind with Matías?
She nodded.
He said warningly, ‘Leo... I need to hear it.’
More cars beeped.
A bubble of euphoria was pushing its way up from her chest and she blurted out, ‘Yes! Yes, I do... Now drive! Please!’
They moved off smoothly back into the traffic. Cars were overtaking them, beeping their horns, but Gabriel showed no sign of being bothered. A small wicked smile played around his mouth and Leonora felt a lightness she’d never felt before, with anyone.
‘You like causing havoc, don’t you?’
He glanced at her and his smile grew more wicked.
‘Always.’
* * *
Instead of being taken home, though, Leonora found herself being driven into the city centre—specifically to an exclusive shopping street in Salamanca. A place she’d avoided for some time, without the funds to purchase designer clothes.
‘Why are we here?’ she asked as Gabriel navigated expertly into a small parking space right outside one of the world’s most expensive designer shops.
He turned off the engine and faced her. ‘I’ve taken the liberty of organising for you to meet with a stylist. Unless you’ve already sourced a wedding dress and trousseau?’
Leonora flushed. Of course she hadn’t. She’d been in denial, wondering how far her dressmaking skills would get her, cobbling together things from her wardrobe and her mother’s.
‘You’ll be back on the social scene as my wife, and you’ll need to maintain a certain...standard.’
Leonora swallowed. Again, that was something that had only hit home in that moment of panic at his offices earlier. Uncomfortably, she said, ‘I don’t like the idea of you buying me clothes.’
A slightly exasperated look came over Gabriel’s face. ‘You would say that, wouldn’t you?’
‘What’s that supposed to mean? I’m sorry if I’m not making this easy for you by merely acquiescing to your every demand.’
Gabriel snaked out a hand and caught her behind the neck. He tugged her forward gently, so gently that she could easily have resisted, and yet treacherously she didn’t want to. She knew this was part and parcel of marrying a man like Gabriel—so why was she winding him up? Because she wanted to provoke him?
‘As long as you acquiesce to this demand we’ll have no problems.’
His mouth landed on hers like a hot brand, immediately cauterising her thinking process.
* * *
‘And Señor Torres said that we need to fit you for a wedding dress, yes?’
Leonora’s attention came back to the efficient stylist, who had spent the last two to three hours helping her select more clothes than she thought she’d ever know what to do with. Or wear.
