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‘We must talk, in private,’ he said, his low voice edged with demand.
‘It’s okay, I’ll leave. I know I wasn’t invited.’ She tried to tug her elbow loose, scared of what he wanted to say. Was he going to fire her? In front of all these people? ‘Please accept my apology,’ she added, desperate to repair the damage. ‘This was a massive mistake.’
‘It’s too late for that,’ he said. But as his grip tightened and he began to steer her away from their audience, Alejandro’s voice sliced through the whispers of the crowd.
‘Hey, who said you could steal my date?’ he asked, but he sounded more amused than affronted.
Santiago glanced at his brother, his gaze flat and remote and so chilling Cerys shivered.
‘Find some other unfortunate woman to warm your bed for tonight,’ he said, the tone so scathing that Cerys felt brutally ashamed. Whatever was between the De Montoya brothers, she had made it worse by coming here tonight.
The crowd gasped. But instead of being offended, Santiago’s brother only laughed at the insult, a cynical smile on his lips. ‘Unfortunate? I don’t think so.’ He shrugged but then sent Cerys a cavalier salute. ‘Sorry, Cerys, you’re on your own, but good luck with my boring brother,’ he said, then strolled off into the crowd as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
Even so, Cerys knew she owed him an apology too. Why had she chosen to make a spectacle of them both? But before she could say anything, she was being marched across the courtyard, Santiago’s hand still firm on her arm.
Instead of returning to thecastillothough, he headed past the kitchen staff, busy plating up more canapés, and towards the orchard on the far side of the dancefloor. Cerys’s stomach sank like a stone. She had intended to keep a low profile, and arriving on Alejandro’s arm had been an idiotic decision, but never in a million years had she anticipated theDuque’s response to seeing her at the event being this negative.
She spotted Ana, standing by the band, her face a picture of remorse. Cerys shook her head, blinking back tears. She didn’t want her friend to feel bad. Ana was young and foolish but her heart was in the right place—even if she had totally underestimated her brother’s reaction to her latest stunt.
They continued past the dancefloor and into the orchard which surrounded thecastillo. Was he going to march her right off the property and kick her onto the street in her borrowed ball gown?
Could this actually get any worse?
But as she stumbled and he tugged her back to her feet without breaking stride while they headed through the lemon trees, the prickle of temper pierced through the fog of mortification and panic.
What had she done that was so terrible? Why did he think it was okay to treat anyone with this level of contempt? He’d not only insulted his brother, he’d also insulted her, and for what?
Okay, so she was being paid by him… And she had been forced to throw herself on his mercy in the past month, because she had nowhere else to go. But did she really deserve to be hauled out of his party like a piece of trash? In front of all these people? To be made to feel she was so far beneath him, she didn’t even deserve to be seen in public?
‘You need to let me go. Whatever I’ve done, I apologise,’ she said tightly, finally gaining some backbone. ‘But FYI, you’re totally overreacting.’
He grunted but remained silent, his grip tightening on her arm. To her surprise, a house appeared through the orchard on the edge of the vineyards, nestled among a grove of trees.
A house she had never even realised was here.
Covered in wisteria, it looked old but also well kept. The stone veranda which surrounded the structure was sturdy and strong. The lights on the porch illuminated a selection of luxury outdoor furniture—a couch and armchairs—making it clear the house was in regular use.
As Santiago hauled her up the steps to the porch, she found the strength to yank her elbow from his grasp.
‘Stop dragging me about. I don’t care if you’re my boss.’
If she was going to lose her job because of his temper tantrum, so be it. She couldn’t spend the rest of the summer scared of his reaction. Scared to put a foot wrong. Nor could she be invisible. If he despised her this much, she would have to leave. And while it terrified her to think of where she would go, she had to hope she would be okay. Her Spanish was much better now, her memory would return once she got up the guts to confront those scary shadows in her head, and she was healthy. She could work, in the fields if she had to. It wouldn’t be easy without ID, but if she contacted the British consulate and informed them of her situation, surely they could help her…
‘I know you didn’t invite me to the party,’ she tried to explain while he loomed over her, saying nothing. ‘But Ana wanted me there. And even though I work for you, I’d like to know what you think gives you the right to treat me like a disobedient child. To humiliate me like that in front of everyone. And throw insults at your brother.’
She congratulated herself on getting the words out past the massive lump of panic and confusion in her throat. But as soon as she’d got them out, she had to fold her arms around her stomach to stop herself from shaking.
He stood there, staring down at her, silent and forbidding, his expression fraught with… What exactlywasthat expression? Because she had no idea what he was even thinking at this point. He didn’t look angry any more, he looked wild.
‘Just tell me one thing,’ he said through gritted teeth, the muscle in his jaw clenched tight. ‘Have you slept with my brother?’
‘I…Wh-what?’ The girl’s eyebrows shot so far up her forehead Santiago was surprised they didn’t launch off her face. ‘Are you nuts? I met your brother for the first time ten minutes ago,’ she said, clearly so shocked by his accusation the denial came out on a barely audible hiss.
The grinding fury which had been driving him ever since he had spotted Alejandro pawing Cerys five minutes ago finally downgraded enough to allow him to breathe. He loosened his tie, ripped open the top buttons of his shirt, the formal wear strangling him. Not unlike the vicious spurt of raw, feral emotion which had blindsided him when he had seen them together. An emotion he had never encountered before.
Jealousy.
As he took several careful breaths, he was finally able to identify the reaction which had swept through him like wildfire as soon as he had caught sight of Cerys across the courtyard on Alejandro’s arm.