‘Where are—what’s happened to everyone?’
‘Gone.’
‘Gone?’
‘Shuffled out in an orderly line. My parents went to the hospital but they’ve heeded the consultant’s advice and returned to their place.’
‘What is the prognosis?’
She’d been borderline hysterical but now her brain had re-engaged and she was a lot calmer. Dante’s sense of calm was mesmerising and infectious.
‘Excellent.’
‘Would you lie to me?’
‘Of course I would.’ He smiled, and just for a second she understood how power, charm and incredible physical perfection could be an intoxicating mix.
Her heart picked up a beat and she suddenly felt hot and bothered.
‘But,’ he continued, still smiling, ‘in this instance I’m not. Yes, there are broken bones, and it’ll be a while before those completely heal, and, yes, he’s been concussed, but all his vital signs are good and if he’s out of it just at the moment, Roberto, the consultant who was here, has assured us that a full recovery is to be expected.’
‘But you said that he’s in a coma.’
‘He’s out of it at the moment, yes. Perhaps coma might be something of a dramatic term.’
‘So how long do you think...does the consultant think...?’
‘Can’t put a timeline on it. Could be a day, could be a week. Doubtful that it’ll be longer. All the signs are good.’
‘That’s such a relief.’
‘It’s a disappointing end to what should have been one of the best nights of your life,’ Dante murmured, briefly lowering his eyes.
‘Yes, it’s a shame,’ she returned politely as her mind hived off in other directions.
‘You don’t sound too distraught.’
‘Of course I’m distraught.’
‘You were certainly upset when he toppled over.’ Dante was getting that feeling again, that vague, shadowy feeling that something didn’t quite add up but he couldn’t put his finger on what exactly. It was frustrating. In Dante’s world, everything added up. There were no loose ends because he always made sure that there weren’t any. He never asked himself whether he was missing out on the adventures that spontaneity could bring.
When he glanced back over his shoulder to the kid who had allowed himself to be carried away on the spontaneous adventure of straying out of his comfort zone with an older woman from a different background, it was like looking at a stranger. The stupid thing was that he knew that what he had felt at the time, and what had propelled him into throwing himself into his ill-advised affair, had had nothing to do with love. Infatuation, yes, and lust, most definitely, but that had been it. Everything else had stemmed from a defiant act of rebellion against a life that had been preordained from birth. Someone had to take the reins of the family empire and he had known, even then, that it probably wasn’t going to be Alejandro.
How had he known that? Dante could only assume it was because his parents had begun, automatically, to turn to him for his opinions on the stock markets, on trends, on modernisation, on the way forward. Bound within the confines of this life, he had broken free in an act of rebellion that had cost him dearly and not just in terms of the money he had recklessly flung at the woman. His pride had been injured and he had glimpsed a vision of weakness inside him that had required eradication. He had shut down his emotions and ruthlessly taken control of every aspect of his life.
Vague, shadowy feelings didn’t sit well with him. Neither did the way his body refused to obey his head when he looked at the pocket-sized redhead, who had no business getting under his skin the way she did. Her intentions were open to question and getting to the bottom of what she was up to with his brother was a straightforward matter. He would then respond accordingly.
So the jostle of unwelcome responses inside him that had nothing to do with the business of finding out what she was up to was an unwelcome reminder of a weakness he’d thought he had put to bed. It got on his nerves.
She wasn’t lying when she said that she had, indeed, been distraught when his brother had hit the ground. She just didn’t seem overly upset at the fact that he had hit the ground at their engagement party, thereby ensuring a premature and unwelcome conclusion.
Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t remember her flashing the diamond ring at all. What excited bride-to-be didn’t flash her engagement ring at her own engagement party?
He glanced at her finger. She was absently fiddling with the ring, slipping it off and on her finger, twisting it round and round. It was startlingly modest in its proportions.
Unwittingly, he looked at her, felt that tightening in his groin again.
‘I knew he’d been overdoing it with the drink.’ Caitlin spoke her thoughts aloud, eyes sliding away from Dante’s over-the-top masculine presence. Her conscience still plagued her. This had been a terrible idea, an awful plan and she should have argued more against it, but she’d allowed necessity to override common sense, and now thinking about poor Alejandro, lying unconscious on some sanitised hospital bed in an impersonal, clinical hospital room, filled her with remorse.
‘I should have done something about that. He’s not used to drinking a lot. He’s quite abstemious normally.’
‘Yes, that’s a curious one, isn’t it?’
Caitlin looked at him. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘I did recall that my brother doesn’t tend to hit the bottle hard. I just wondered why, of all nights, he should decide to sample every drink that went past him on a tray...’
He wasn’t going to let up. That was the thought that ran through her head. There had been a lull in the attack amidst the chaos of Alejandro being rushed to hospital, and during that lull she had glimpsed another Dante Cabrera, but normal proceedings had resumed and he just wasn’t going to let up.
The man was like a dog with a bone, and not just any dog. Nothing she could turn her back on and ignore. This dog with a bone wasn’t a loveable poodle. He was a pit bull and he wanted to sink teeth into her until he prised every little secret out.
She had no intention of letting him do any such thing but her blood ran cold as she felt him circling her.
‘Who doesn’t feel nervous on an occasion like that?’ she responded smoothly. ‘I was a bag of nerves. As you know.’
‘You were concerned about your outfit,’ Dante agreed. ‘But, moving on from the troublesome subject of my brother’s alcohol intake and his hospitalisation, the question is what happens from here?’ He vaulted upright and paced towards the window, his movements as elegant and as stealthy as a jungle cat. He stared out for a few moments, then turned to look at her. ‘Like I said, Alejandro probably won’t come round for a day or two, but even when he does there’s the business of those broken bones. He’s going to be off his feet for some weeks, I would imagine...’
‘He’s going to go stir-crazy.’
‘We can agree on that,’ Dante said ruefully. ‘Not that anything can be done to change that situation. On the upside, he’ll be able to keep on top of work. Much of what needs to be done can be done via email and conference call. Thank God we live in a connected world.’
‘He’ll be thrilled to hear that,’ Caitlin said sarcastically, without thinking, and then she flushed as Dante looked at her through narrowed eyes.
‘You think he should refrain from working while he recuperates?’
‘I think...’ She shot Dante an accusatory look from under her lashes because she was now in the awkward position of having to explain what she had meant.
Didn’t he know anything about his own brother? How was it possible for there to be such vast gaps between them? She’d never had siblings. When she was young, she’d yearned for one. It was heartbreaking, really, to witness a relationship that was so fractured.
‘Yes?’
‘I
think...’ she toed the middle ground ‘...he might appreciate a bit of peace from...er...the world of business...’
‘What are you trying to tell me?’
He sounded genuinely perplexed and Caitlin sighed and decided to take a risk. A tiny risk. Wasn’t it a starting point for these brothers to know a bit about one another? Alejandro, one day, would find the courage to explain who he was to his family and, when that day came, it would be so much smoother if Dante at least knew how his brother felt about working for the company.
‘I’m not sure Alejandro is as...besotted with working for the company as you are...’
‘Besotted?’ Dante stared at her with rampant incredulity at yet another intrusion into areas of his life no one dared to explore.
‘I know Alejandro tries to be as diligent as possible...’ For Alejandro that actually meant working the minimum number of hours as efficiently as possible so that he could spend the remainder of his time exploring all those creative interests that he was more intrigued by.
Dante scowled and raked his fingers through his dark hair. ‘I realise,’ he conceded grittily, ‘that he, perhaps, doesn’t have the same drive as I have when it comes to running the company. Why do you think I’ve succeeded in diverging from the family business to build my own computer-software research companies? Because I’ve had nothing better to do? No, Alejandro doesn’t have the same drive, but I’ve had no complaints from any of the directors...’
Personally, Caitlin was sure that that was because Alejandro was loved by everyone he met. He could put in an hour a day and she knew that everyone would be loath to report him. The fact was that he did his job perfectly well, if he was to be believed. He just didn’t enjoy it and he spent as little time as possible there.
‘No...well...it’s just...’ She breathed in deeply and decided, like a diver staring down at a very tiny pool of water miles below, to take the plunge. ‘It’s not that he doesn’t have the same drive as you do. It’s just that his heart has never really been in finance and business.’
Fulminating silence greeted this remark.
‘He’s really a creative soul,’ she ploughed on while Dante watched her without saying a word, his face wiped of expression. ‘That’s why we get along so well. He’s very interested in all aspects of photography. He loves exhibitions. He’s even thinking about dabbling in a bit of sculpture or maybe even going for a course in woodwork...’
‘Sculpture? Woodwork?’
‘So you see he won’t mind not being connected to the outside world while he recuperates.’
‘Why would Alejandro not enjoy the work he does?’ Dante demanded. ‘He’s never had the responsibility for any decision-making. I run everything. The buck stops with me. He has always had the easy ride of keeping the customers happy. What’s not to like?’ He flushed darkly. There was an admission there somewhere and he refused to shine a light on it. For once, the forbidding wall of privacy he had constructed around him revealed foundations that weren’t as solid as he had thought.
He wanted to lock the discomforting thought away, but a series of connections were happening in his head that made him wonder whether the distance between him and Alejandro didn’t hark back to that gradual alignment of responsibilities. Had there been something inside him that had resented the fact that he, although younger, had been the one to assume the reins of leadership without asking for it? Had that resentment spilled over, gradually, into the relationship he had with Alejandro?
The clear green eyes searching his lean, rigid face made his jaw harden in proud rejection of any sign of weakness.
‘Maybe you judge him the way you would judge yourself,’ Caitlin suggested quietly. ‘Maybe because you enjoy being a workaholic, he must also enjoy being a workaholic because you share the same genetic code. But that’s not how it works.’
‘No one enjoys being a workaholic,’ Dante responded coolly.
‘I’ve offended you. I’m really sorry.’
‘Offended me?’ Dante scowled. ‘Don’t flatter yourself, querida.’
Caitlin flushed as she recognised a kick in the teeth when it was delivered.
‘You asked for my opinion,’ she returned shortly. ‘And I gave it to you. Forget I ever said anything. You said something about Alejandro being in hospital for some time to come. Is there any chance that he could be transferred to a hospital in London?’
‘If my brother was miserable in his job, he should have said something to me. As for being besotted with work... This vast family estate won’t run itself because I’d rather have fun lazing around and going on holiday.’ Dante was annoyed that he couldn’t give it up.
‘That’s not what Alejandro is about!’
‘Duty demands that the business falls to the sons. As it stands, I have my own concerns that occupy much of my time. The family business is now just part of something bigger for me, even though our father no longer busies himself directly in its running. However, it is up to the pair of us to take up where he has left off. Would Alejandro rather abandon his obligations so that he can pursue a life of fun and enjoyment?’
‘Your own concerns?’ Caitlin had latched onto his phrase... Duty demands. It gave her a very clear idea of why Alejandro was so loath to be open about his sexuality.
‘My parents built their company on import and export. I have single-handedly brought it into the twenty-first century and it has become a gold mine, but it is overshadowed by my own computer-software empire.’
‘So you work hard. But you volunteered for that, didn’t you? You weren’t content to just run the family business. You wanted your own, I guess because you enjoy that kind of ruthless, cut-throat lifestyle. Alejandro just isn’t built along the same lines. And the reason he hasn’t said anything...’ she sighed but it was too late to start wondering whether she’d got in over her head with this conversation ‘...is because of this whole duty and tradition thing. He knows he has to join the family business whether he likes it or not but...’
‘He’s never uttered a word of complaint to me,’ Dante said roughly. ‘I could...work this out differently... I have been thinking of taking my computer business into a different area—the leisure industry always has room for improvement.’ He frowned, padded across to a chair and sat down, stretching his legs out to the side. ‘The wheels are in motion for me to take over a couple of boutique hotels in South America. There would certainly be scope for some creative advertising.’
‘He would absolutely adore that.’
‘This is something my brother should have brought to my attention. It’s ridiculous that I have only found this out via a third party.’
‘Maybe he was scared of disappointing,’ she murmured. ‘Haven’t you ever been scared of disappointing?’
‘Disappointing who?’
‘I don’t know. Your parents...your girlfriend...’
‘To answer your question, no.’
Such self-assurance, Caitlin thought with a fascinated shiver. Little wonder Alejandro, so full of insecurities and doubts, had never thought to confide in his much more confident younger brother.
What must it be like to go out with a guy like Dante Cabrera? Personally, she had never been drawn to tough Alpha-male types but something feminine quivered inside her just for a moment at the thought of being with someone so absolutely in command. He was born to take charge and she remembered how that had made her feel when she had been frantic with worry earlier on. Safe.
Yet, he was willing to make concessions because, whatever his relationship with his brother, however distant they were from one another and however wildly different their personalities, he cared enough to try to see things from Alejandro’s point of view.
He wasn’t just a man of action. He was a listener. The problem was that Alejandro had never tried talking and Dante did not invite confidences.
‘We were talking about the fact that Alej
andro will be in hospital for a while,’ Dante picked up the conversation from where they had left off before they’d gone down various byroads, ‘and I couldn’t help but notice that you travelled over here light.’
Caitlin looked at him with puzzlement because she wasn’t sure where he was going with this.
‘You’re going to need clothes, so we have to decide how we’re going to play this.’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘Well, you won’t be returning to London for a while. Presumably your company will allow you suitable time off?’
‘Time off?’ Caitlin parroted.
‘Alejandro is here and he won’t be going anywhere any time soon.’ He paused, giving her ample opportunity to see where he was heading with this.
How could she abandon her fiancé after the first night when he was lying in hospital, unconscious?
She blanched.
‘I... I hadn’t actually banked on spending much time over here...’ Or any at all, for that matter. ‘I don’t know what the company policy is on...on time off for...for...’
‘Compassionate leave? That does exist in your company, doesn’t it?’
‘Of course, but you know... I’m a freelance photographer... Yes, I’m employed by them, but I get called on to do various shoots and I’m paid accordingly...’
‘That hardly sounds a satisfactory situation.’
‘I’m working my way up. It’s not something that happens overnight...’
‘So...what...? They’re going to quibble over giving you time off because the guy you plan on marrying is lying unconscious on a hospital bed in Spain? What kind of crackpot organisation are we talking about here?’
‘It’s a very reputable company!’
‘Good, then that’s all sorted. You’ll have to call them first thing in the morning.’
‘Yes, but...’ She’d been standing on fairly solid ground but now a roller coaster had whipped past, scooped her up and she was in mid-air and travelling at speed.
The Forbidden Cabrera Brother (Mills & Boon Modern) Page 5
