“The rest of the family—that includes Benedict?” She looked up from the report she’d been referring to.
“Yes, Alex picked him up from the hospital today and brought him back to the castillo to give him some peace. The security at his house is insufficient to give him the privacy he needs right now.”
When news of Ben’s release leaked to the press, both local and European paparazzi had descended on the vineyard and, more particularly, the outskirts of Benedict’s home in the mountains, eager for a photo of the debilitating scars that were said to mar his once perfect body.
If only they knew, Rey thought, that the scars they sought to expose to the world were nothing compared to the news Benedict had only shared with his brothers the night before his release from hospital. Ben had insisted Abuelo not be told—partly because he hadn’t wanted to cause their grandfather any more worry, but more particularly because he didn’t want the old man to have another reason to bring the curse back into family discussions.
It was enough that the media had, hard on the heels of Alex and Loren’s nuptials, exposed the curse for all the world to read about and had drawn their own conclusions about Benedict’s accident. If they discovered Benedict’s injuries had left him infertile, who knew where the media would take things? More importantly, who knew how Abuelo would take the news?
“But he’s just out of hospital. Is he up to a family dinner?”
Benedict’s release from the hospital had been a relief for all the family. That was not to say, though, that everything was back to normal. He was much quieter than he’d been before. Abuelo had waxed long and lyrical about how a man who’d just faced death needed time to make peace with himself and his choices, but Alex and Reynard knew exactly why he was quiet. It was one thing to choose not to have children, but quite another to have that choice irrevocably removed from you. Compounding the issue was Benedict’s adamant refusal to consider the idea of marriage—ever. Who would want him? was his argument. A man who couldn’t give his wife the children her arms ached to hold was no longer a man at all in his eyes. Nothing Alex or Reynard had said to him had been able to convince him otherwise.
Faced with the same situation Rey couldn’t say he’d have felt any different, although his heart ached for his younger brother. And it killed him to see the light extinguished from Ben’s eyes, leaving in its place the reflection of a hollow anger.
“It’ll do him good to be among us properly again and discussing business. If he tires, he can easily go to his rooms. Besides, for the first time since the accident, he will be able to focus on something other than his injuries and getting strong again.”
“Yes, I can see that. Well, I hope he likes what we’ve put together.”
Rina checked herself for the umpteenth time in the mirror before Rey arrived to pick her up for their dinner at the castillo tonight. She didn’t know why she was so nervous. Everyone had been as warm and welcoming as you could expect from a family presented with a fiancée no one had met before. More so, if Aston del Castillo’s pleasure in his grandson’s engagement was any indicator.
Besides, based on Sara’s call last week, she only had to keep this up for another day, two tops. The sense of relief she felt was almost overwhelming. Keeping up appearances at the office and controlling the magnetic attraction she had for Rey had taken its toll.
She eyed herself critically in the mirror again. No amount of makeup could hide the ravages of the sleepless nights she’d endured. Even when she had slept, her dreams had been peppered with replays of the night in Rey’s office as well as other more adventurous forays where they melded into one another again and again.
She’d woken several times, on the point of orgasm. It wouldn’t have taken much, she knew, to give herself the relief her body longed for, but she’d held back, refusing herself even that release because in her heart of hearts she knew it was still all wrong. Reynard was Sara’s, not hers. She was merely a fill in. Using him, even in fantasy, to fulfill her physical yearnings was too close to infidelity, even for her.
Rina had already made up her mind to leave Isla Sagrado the second Sara returned. She’d go visit extended family in the United Kingdom for a while, then return home and begin rebuilding a life for herself back in Christchurch. She couldn’t bear to remain here and see her twin with Rey. She could only hope that time and distance would make it easier for her to pretend she hadn’t done the unforgiveable thing and fallen in love with him. Maybe then this aching need would begin to fade and eventually burn out.
It was probably just a rebound thing anyway. Forced into close proximity with a handsome man she was bound to accept his attentions hard on the heels of being dumped by her own fiancé.
Outside the cottage she heard the roar of Rey’s car, followed by silence as he cut the engine. Instantly, her heart leaped uncontrollably in her chest. In the mirror she saw her eyes dilate, a wild flush of warmth spread suddenly across her cheeks. Who was she kidding? This was no rebound reaction. Her feelings for Rey were real. Painfully, intolerably real.
Rina closed her eyes for a second, hiding from the truth reflected in her image. She could do this, she reminded herself for what felt like the thousandth time since she’d embarked on this whole disaster. She’d made it this far. Another day or two was not going to destroy her.
She went to the door and opened it.
“Good evening,” Rey responded as she pulled the door wide.
Her heart caught in her throat as she allowed herself to drink in his presence. He was dressed in an impeccably tailored black suit with a pale cream-colored silk shirt beneath it. His hair was still damp and slicked back from his face, exposing the broad, intelligent forehead and high cheekbones that lent a severe magnificence to his features.
She was female enough to be hugely relieved she’d dressed up for tonight. She knew the del Castillos tended to observe the old traditions like dressing for dinner, which was served late—Spanish fashion. Luckily, Sara’d had just the thing in her wardrobe—an off-the-shoulder deep plum-colored satin cocktail dress. Artful pleating both above and below the sash at the waist gave a feminine fullness to the fabric without creating too revealing a silhouette. It was tasteful while still being sexy, and was just the sort of thing she knew her sister would have chosen for a night like this.
Rina had done her hair in an auburn river of curls down her back, and she’d pulled the side sections up—securing them with a cluster of small diamante clips on top of her head—which exposed the chandelier-style diamante earrings she’d chosen from Sara’s stash of jewelry. Rey’s look of approval as his eyes coasted from top to toe and back again spoke more vehemently than words.
As the dress was fully boned, but cut quite low in back, she’d gone without a bra and beneath the soft silky fabric of the bodice she felt her nipples tighten and peak in response to the flare of desire in his gaze. She fought back a soft moan as he leaned forward and a hint of his cologne filled her nostrils. His lips were cool, impersonal upon her cheek but the look in his eyes was anything but.
“I think we’d better head straight to the castillo, don’t you?”
“Are we running late?” she asked, her voice a little breathless.
“No, but we will be if we stay here a moment longer.”
Color and warmth flood her face. She hadn’t been wrong about that look in his eyes. His comment was the closest he’d come to breaching his word, after that last time she’d allowed things to get out of control.
Rina forced her lips into a smile. “We’d better get along then, hadn’t we?”
The journey in Rey’s car was short and as they approached the ancient fortress, Rina was struck by the idea that a single family could have called the bastion home for so many generations. It spoke to a permanence and durability she had little concept of. As a family, they must have toiled long and hard to continue their hold on the building and the land surrounding it over the past many centuries. It spoke to a tenacity and sense of unity quite r
are in a modern world.
“This is quite some home,” she commented as they drove in through the gate set in the outer walls.
“Impressive, isn’t it?”
“I don’t think impressive is quite the word,” she answered, awestruck by the floodlit battlements.
She heard Rey’s low chuckle beside her. “It has that effect on people.”
“You must be incredibly proud of your lineage.”
He gave a sharp nod. “Sí, we all are. We would do anything to protect what is ours. Anything.”
Rina felt a frisson of caution run down her spine. Was it her imagination or was there an implied warning in Rey’s words? Instantly thereafter he flashed her an engaging smile, sending her worries to the back of her mind.
“Come. If you think the exterior is daunting, just wait until you see inside.”
Rey came around to the passenger side of the car and opened her door before taking her hand and helping her from the low-slung vehicle. She was grateful for his steadiness. The black patent leather heels she’d chosen from Sara’s shoes were higher than she usually wore, bringing her almost eye level with Rey’s hazel gaze. He placed his hand gently at the small of her back. From the heat he radiated she could almost imagine the imprint of his fanned fingers upon her skin.
He guided her up the stairs that led to the impressive front door to the castillo. They were opened as they approached. “Buenas noches, señorita, and Señor Reynard,” the liveried man at the door welcomed them. “Please, come in. The others are waiting in the salon.”
Rina’s eyes grew huge as she passed through the arched stone portal and into the flagstoned entrance hall. Rey was right. It was incredibly daunting. A massive wide staircase curved up one wall, the wall itself lined with gilt framed portraits. Even from this distance she could discern a strong family resemblance. Rey followed her gaze and murmured in her ear.
“I’m lucky, I take more after our mother’s side of the family.”
Rina laughed. “Lucky? I doubt your brothers would see it that way.”
They continued down a corridor toward another arched doorway. Inside she could hear the low murmur of conversation. As they entered the room, Loren rose from her seat and took Rina’s hands, reaching up to kiss her cheeks.
“I’m so glad you could come tonight. Now, we are a real family. Come and sit by me and you can tell me what you’ve been up to since we saw you last. I hear Rey has you enslaved in his office, of all things.”
A pang of guilt lanced through her at Loren’s words. A real family? It should be Sara here tonight, not her. Rina forced a smile to her lips and murmured something vague, allowing Loren to draw her over to the others.
Somehow she managed to make conversation, glossing over the time she’d spent helping Rey and letting him steer the conversation toward the changes they’d been discussing. This ignited a lively debate between Alex and Rey as he brought up the proposed changes at the resort. Eventually, Alex concurred with most of what had been suggested.
“So, you have hidden talents,” Alex said directly to Rina. “Maybe you should stay on in Rey’s office. Goodness knows he could do with a fresh take on things.”
“If I didn’t know you loved me already, mi hermano, you’d pay for that remark,” Rey bantered in return, saving Rina from making comment.
“And what about the vineyard? I can’t imagine that you don’t have some thoughts on that,” Benedict joined the discussion for the first time.
Rina noticed he looked pale, with faint lines of strain around his eyes. Walking with a cane, he’d moved stiffly across the room before, and his sigh of relief as he’d lowered himself into the deep button back leather chair next to hers hadn’t escaped her ears.
She looked to Rey, who nodded. “Go on, tell him your ideas. I warn you though, he won’t be a pushover like this one,” he gestured toward Alex who snorted in mock disgust.
She fought to control the smile on her face. Being here, being around the brothers and Loren, not to mention the old man who’d been avidly listening to his grandsons and interjecting his own opinions from time to time, was a delight. There was a deep love and respect between all of them. She could well imagine how the family code had come about with them as living examples.
Rey crossed the room to pour a glass of one of Benedict’s finest wines and brought it over to her.
“Could you bring the bottle over, also?” Rina asked before turning back to Benedict. When he did, she turned the label to face him and pointed at it with the tip of one finger. “I think the starting point for the wine is to have a sense of unity with the del Castillo brand. It’s something you need to consider across the business entities. At your offices, at your homes, I’m constantly reminded of your family crest. Honor. Truth. Love. But I don’t see that anywhere in your marketing, for the resort or for the wine.”
By the time a maid came to call them into dinner, Rina had expounded on her ideas for not only revamping the wine bottle labels, but for an entire new del Castillo look. Her ideas had been met with shrewd observation and many questions but she knew from the tingle in her toes that she had captured them with her ideas. The knowledge was exhilarating but tempered with a pang of regret that she wouldn’t be here to see them through once Sara returned.
Rey watched her from across the room and tried to ignore the sense of pride he had in her as she caught the attention of everyone else. Caught it and held it in her palm as she spoke with a passion he recognized all too easily. She might have tried to pretend a lack of knowledge on publicity and development issues in the office, but here, with a private audience, the real Sarina truly glowed.
She was animated as she spoke, and he felt every cell in his body tune into her energy. More than that, she fit in with the dynamic that was the del Castillo family. Strange that a cuckoo in the nest should appear to suit him so much better than the sister he had actually asked to marry him. Would Sara have eased into tonight’s conversation as easily? he wondered. He had to answer in the affirmative. She was urbane and well practiced in social mores. She would have fit in as easily—but not as well. He could see that his brothers and Abuelo were already completely under Sarina’s spell, not just because of her intelligence and insight, but because of the care and consideration she showed them all. Sara lacked the heart of her sister.
A heart he had become increasingly intrigued by.
Before the idea could flower and develop into something more, he reminded himself of the sham the sisters were conducting. No one did such a thing, in his knowledge anyway, without an ulterior motive. Usually a financial ulterior motive. He had to keep his wits about him and his emotions very firmly in check. Eventually he’d get the truth from Sarina, he was sure of it.
Abuelo insisted on escorting her into the dining room, and Rey was forced to acquiesce. But as he watched the long column of her spine as she walked slowly in front of him, he couldn’t help but feel the familiar strands of anger pull at him. She was not just taking him for a ride, she was hurting them all. Loren, with her trust and eagerness to form a close friendship with another del Castillo bride. Abuelo, with his fear of the governess’s curse and his hopes for his grandsons and the family line to extend into perpetuity. Even Benedict and Alex seemed to have opened their hearts to the woman who was supposedly his forever.
Where had their judgment gone? Alex and Benedict had initially been skeptical of his engagement when he’d announced it to them a month ago. Benedict, in particular, had skated all too close to the truth. But now, for some strange reason, they seemed to want to bring Sarina—or Sara, as they thought she was—into the family fold.
Too many people stood to lose too much by her actions. He had to do something to force her hand and he had to do it tonight. There was no other option left to him.
Twelve
Rina was relieved that conversation over the dinner table was wide ranging and relaxed, however it became more and more difficult to acknowledge everyone when they called her by he
r sister’s name. Especially when it was Rey. More than anything she ached for him to call her by her own name, but she knew that was impossible. No matter what Sara’s decision was, Rey was strictly off-limits.
As the evening progressed, she noticed how Benedict began to look more and more drawn. It wasn’t until Abuelo had retired upstairs for the night, aided by Javier, that Alex and Reynard turned their full attention to their younger brother.
“How are you, really?” Reynard got straight to the point.
Benedict flicked a look at Loren and Rina and shook his head infinitesimally. “Tired, sore. It’s only to be expected.”
“What you need is to get away from here. I hate to say it, but keeping up appearances for Abuelo is going to do your head in, Benedict.” Alex sat back and twirled his glass of port between long fingers.
Rina watched him, interested that for all the brothers’ similarities, they were each very firmly carved individuals. She knew there was little more than twelve months between each of the brothers but Alex clearly took to heart his role as head of the family, appearing older than his years.
“And where am I supposed to go, Alex?”
A trace of bitterness laced Benedict’s tone. Rina noticed Rey’s brows draw together in concern. Clearly this was not Benedict’s usual demeanor.
“He’s right,” Rey added. “The media are bound to follow him wherever he goes around here. It’s not as if he can hide out at the resort or any of our neighboring countries. Besides, he needs to follow his rehabilitation program. He won’t be able to do that if he’s constantly being hounded.”
“What about New Zealand?” Rina blurted before she could think twice.
Four sets of eyes swiveled toward her.
“New Zealand?” Alex asked, raising one brow in a manner all too similar to his brother’s. “Don’t you think that’s going a bit too far?”
“Isn’t distance what he needs?” Rina lifted her chin toward Alex before flicking a look to Benedict. She’d expected him to appear annoyed, or at least be ready to shoot her suggestion down in flames, but there was a thoughtful expression on his pale face.
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