Page 18 of The Spanish Daughter (The Lost Daughters #5)

17

SANTIAGO FAMILY ESTATE, ARGENTINA, 1939

Valentina lay in Felipe’s arms, tucked into him like a small child as he wrapped himself around her, his strong arms locked across her body. They were in one of the empty stables, curled up against a hay bale, as she cried against his chest.

Felipe released his hold on her as he began to stroke the hair from her forehead, and Valentina did her best to catch her breath, listening to the steady, constant beat of his heart.

‘I can’t believe he’s gone,’ Valentina whispered.

Felipe’s mouth pressed to the top of her head, and she nestled even closer to him. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to—his touch was enough. She realised then why she’d been drawn to him for so many years—he might not be a wealthy man like her father had been, but he had the same quiet strength he’d had; the same calm, strong demeanour, and she knew in that moment that her father would have approved. If he could have seen them together, if he’d had the chance to spend time with the two of them, he would have given his blessing, and her deepest regret was not telling him while she had the chance.

‘What are we going to do?’ Valentina asked, whispering against his chest. ‘If my mother forces me into a marriage?—’

‘She won’t,’ Felipe said, his voice vibrating through his chest. ‘We will leave if we have to. We’ll find a way to be together.’

Valentina looked up at him, at the worry etched on his face. ‘But we have no money and nowhere to go.’

‘Then we will go to Spain,’ he said. ‘I have extended family there, and your family has business interests there, too. As soon as you turn eighteen, we can marry.’

Valentina stared down at Felipe’s hand and linked her fingers through his, imagining them both wearing simple gold bands to acknowledge their union. If they ran away and married, they would have nothing, unless she managed to challenge her mother. But legally, she knew there would be little she could do until she turned eighteen, which was a year away.

‘What about your family?’ Valentina asked. ‘Could you really leave your parents?’

Felipe nodded with a confidence that she didn’t believe, because she knew how much he loved both his mother and father—he was used to working with his father every day.

‘If we don’t go, you’ll be taken from me,’ he said, pressing a kiss to her forehead. ‘We can reunite with my family later, but if you’re forced into a marriage…’

She nodded, as a fresh wave of tears threatened to engulf her. He was right—if she was married off to another man, they would never have the chance to be together ever again.

‘Papa would have hated this,’ she murmured. ‘His family ripped apart by money, my mother dismantling all the plans he’d left in place. He’d be turning in his grave.’

‘She hasn’t succeeded yet,’ Felipe said. ‘I know nothing about the law or things like this, but surely if a successful man like him left a written will?—’

‘Valentina!’ came a hiss from outside. ‘Felipe!’

‘That’s my father,’ Felipe said, nudging her forward and then helping her up to her feet as he stood. ‘We’re in here,’ he called back.

‘Valentina, you need to go,’ José said, his eyes wide. ‘Your mother has threatened my job if I don’t send you back to the house, and she’s warned me that if she finds out that you and Felipe have been seeing each other without her permission…’

Valentina nodded, understanding what he was trying to say. She wiped at her eyes, itchy and sore from crying, and turned to Felipe. She ignored the fact that his father was standing there, cap in hand as he waited for them to say goodbye, and stood on tiptoe to kiss Felipe, sliding her arms around his shoulders to hold him.

‘I love you,’ she whispered into his ear.

‘I love you, too,’ he whispered back, fiercely, holding her fingers in his so tightly it felt as if he might never let go.

When Valentina finally turned away from him, tugging her hands from his hold and nodding to his father as she passed, a wave of emotion caught in her chest and left her fighting to breathe as tears streamed down her cheeks.

No matter what Felipe said or what they planned, she had the most awful, overwhelming feeling that her mother would find a way to put a stop to it all. And if they did succeed in being together, then Felipe’s family would be the ones punished for their actions. She didn’t know what was worse—a life without Felipe, or knowing that she was responsible for his family’s downfall.

Valentina stood with her back pressed to the side of the house, before running out into the pouring rain. She’d arranged to meet Felipe that night, and nothing was going to stop her.

She ran in the dark, the rain soaking her dress and dripping from her eyelashes, knowing the way even without lights to guide her. Valentina knew every inch of the property, could have navigated her way around blindfolded if she’d had to, and she counted the steps across the grass to the stables, knowing that she just had to make it there without being seen. Once they were hidden in one of the stalls, no one would know where to look for her on such a stormy night. Or at least she hoped not.

‘Valentina?’

Felipe’s soft, hesitant call when she pulled open the door made her heart flutter. They hadn’t seen each other for two weeks, with Valentina unable to leave the house, but she’d managed to get a note to his father when she’d passed him on her way to the car the day before. She’d kept it in her pocket for days, waiting for her chance, and the moment she saw him she’d run over and quickly slipped it into his hand, telling her mother that she’d heard him call out and wanted to accept his condolences. Other than the one outing into town for a new dress, she’d felt as if she’d been kept prisoner, confined to one wing of the house unless she was summoned for dinner.

But she forgot everything when Felipe emerged from the shadows. He was as handsome as ever, with his dark hair combed back off his face and his eyes immediately searching hers. But he didn’t look himself—she could see the same strain echoed on his features as she felt in hers, and she wondered if he had the same deep knot of worry in his belly that she did.

‘Felipe,’ she murmured, standing in the entranceway with her hair dripping and making a small puddle beneath her.

He ran towards her, folding her in his arms despite how wet she was, his lips to the top of her head, his hands warm around her.

‘I didn’t think I was going to see you again,’ he whispered. ‘I’ve waited every day, hoping you’d come down to find me.’

Valentina squeezed her eyes shut tightly as she tried to stave off her tears. She’d promised herself that she wouldn’t cry, that she’d cherish every moment she was with Felipe and save her tears for later. But it was proving easier said than done. Being in his arms again made her realise just how much she’d missed him.

‘My mother may as well have me under lock and key,’ Valentina said when he held her at arm’s length, gently stroking the backs of his fingers down her cheek and smudging away a tear. ‘She won’t let me do anything without supervision.’

Felipe took her hand and led her into one of the stalls, where he had some hay bales set up and a blanket. She was grateful when he pulled it out and wrapped it around her, keeping his arm there and rubbing her shoulder as her teeth began to chatter from the cold. They sat down, and she tucked her legs up beneath her, grateful for her long dress so the hay couldn’t scratch her bare skin.

‘Before we say anything else, just in case you have to leave in a hurry,’ Felipe said, letting go of her and reaching into his pocket, ‘this is for you.’

He held something out to her that was wrapped in soft tissue. Valentina looked up at him, curious about what was inside.

‘I was going to wait until your birthday, I’ve been working on it for months,’ he said, his voice huskier than usual. ‘If something happens, no matter what, I wanted you to have it.’

‘Thank you,’ she whispered, as she carefully unwrapped the gift.

In her hands, she held the most intricately carved figurine of a horse. She ran her fingertips over the edges, marvelling at how perfect it was.

‘It’s beautiful,’ she said, looking up at Felipe. ‘No one has ever made me anything before.’

‘I wish I could have bought you a diamond, or something expensive, but?—’

‘No,’ she said, closing her fingers around it to keep the figurine safe in her palm as she leaned forward to kiss him. ‘It’s the loveliest thing I’ve ever seen. I will cherish it forever.’

Felipe kissed her back, and Valentina had the most awful feeling that it might be the last time their lips would meet. The kiss felt sad— heavy almost—and she wished they could go back to stolen kisses and whispers of the future they were going to have together.

‘Felipe, I need to tell you something,’ she said, hesitantly, not wanting to ruin the moment but knowing, just as he had, that she might have to leave at any time if they were caught.

He stared into her eyes as she held the horse figurine in her hand still, somehow finding strength from it.

‘I don’t think I’m going to like what you have to say,’ he said.

Valentina took a deep, shuddering breath. ‘My father cared very deeply for your family. In fact, he cared for everyone who worked for him, but your father was very special to him. It seems to me that what they had went deeper, that they were good friends more than employer and worker.’

Felipe nodded, and she continued, ‘In his will, my father left specific instructions for what was to happen to his estate. I, for one, was to inherit almost everything, but I wanted you to know that he left provision for your family. Your father was to receive a generous sum of money, along with the choice of whatever horses he would like to keep, and the deeds to the house your family live in were to be transferred to your father, also.’

She watched Felipe’s face and saw the disbelief that passed over his features.

‘He also made provision for every single employee to receive a sum of money.’

‘And you’re telling me this because it’s not going to happen? Even though your father?—’

‘ Nothing my father wanted is going to happen,’ Valentina said, hearing the bitter edge to her voice. ‘My mother already has her own lawyers involved, and they’re threatening to overturn it all. She wants control of everything, and she’s trying to say that he wasn’t of sound mind, that no man in his right mind would give away so much money.’

Felipe took her hand in his. ‘What does this mean for us?’

Tears filled Valentina’s eyes again. ‘She has plans to marry me to a man I’ve never met.’

Felipe’s mouth formed a hard line.

‘I’ve told her I won’t do it, that she cannot force me, but she’s adamant that I don’t have a choice. And she’s also said…’ Valentina’s voice caught in her throat.

‘What? What has she said?’ Felipe asked, his eyes searching her face.

‘She’s said that the only way your father gets to keep his job is if I go along with her wishes. Otherwise she’ll make certain that he never gets another job in Argentina ever again. She said that she’ll ruin your family by any means necessary.’

‘What could she do to ruin us? Who would believe lies and rumours?’

‘Felipe, if she inherits everything, then she will be one of the largest landowners in the country. My father took great pains to ensure his wealth never changed who he was, but my mother is different.’ She took a breath. ‘My mother scares me with her ambitions.’

‘Then you need to fight for what’s yours,’ he said.

Valentina shook her head. ‘I can’t, not until I’m eighteen. Until then, there’s nothing I can do.’

They sat in silence, and she shivered despite the blanket, her skin still damp from the rain.

‘If I asked you to leave with me now, to run away and marry me, to never come back here, would you come?’ Felipe asked.

Valentina’s smile was immediate. ‘Without a moment’s hesitation,’ she said. ‘If it was just you and me, I’d tell you that we should run right now, leave before the sun comes up in the morning.’

‘But?’ he whispered.

‘But I don’t think you’d ever forgive me,’ she whispered back. ‘You would miss your family, and I would be the reason you could never go home. It would be my fault that they’d lose everything.’

They sat a while longer, with Valentina leaning into him as Felipe’s arms wrapped around her once more, his breath warm against her cheek.

‘This can’t be the end, Valentina,’ he murmured. ‘I can’t stand by and watch you marry someone else, but I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.’

‘Then wait for me,’ she said, sitting back and cupping his cheeks in her hands. ‘Just promise that you’ll wait for me.’

‘I can do that. I’ll wait for you forever if I have to.’

‘I promise you that I’ll find a way to have my father’s will reinstated, and when I do, I’ll return for you,’ she told him, taking his hands in hers and whispering kisses across his knuckles. ‘Nothing can keep us apart, and I’ll resist this arranged marriage with every fibre in my body.’

‘And until then?’ Felipe asked.

‘Valentina?’

She froze as she heard her stepbrother’s voice. It wasn’t as terrifying as if it had been her mother’s, but it still sent spirals of fear through her body that they’d been found.

‘Valentina, I know you’re in here.’

Valentina wrapped her arms tightly around Felipe and kissed him, pressing her lips to his for as long as she could.

‘I love you,’ she whispered. ‘No matter what happens, or what you hear, know that I love you with all my heart and that I always will.’

‘I love you, too,’ he whispered back.

And as she tucked the figurine carefully into the pocket of her dress, he lifted his coat and tore a piece of blue silk from the top he was wearing.

‘Take it,’ he said, passing it to her. ‘Your father gave me this when I joined the team, the very first time I played.’

She quickly tucked it into the same pocket and slipped from the stable, hoping that Felipe didn’t follow her and confront her brother.

‘I’m here,’ she announced, seeing her stepbrother standing near the door.

‘You look terrible.’

She glanced down at her wet clothes and lifted a hand to her damp hair. The blanket she’d had around her shoulders had slipped to the ground, but she left it where it fell.

‘Why are you here?’ she asked.

‘Because you’re wanted back at the house,’ Bruno said. ‘You’ll have to clean up before she sees you though.’

By she , Valentina knew that he meant their mother.

‘You could put an end to all this,’ Valentina said. ‘Instead of being a coward, you could be grateful for everything my father did for you, for the generosity he showed you. You could refuse to follow through with your mother’s plan.’

The stepbrother whom she’d once thought of as an ally instead of an enemy just laughed at her, as cruelly as her mother might.

‘And turn down all that money? Don’t be a fool, Valentina. I’ve been overlooked my entire life, but not anymore.’ He looked around. ‘This is all going to be mine.’

‘But he didn’t overlook you, Bruno! You never showed any interest in the family business, but he still left you a house and?—’

‘Enough!’ His voice silenced her.

She stood for a moment longer to catch her breath, knowing she had to end the conversation before Felipe appeared behind her, unable to listen in the shadows any longer.

‘Why does she want me at the house?’ Valentina asked, suddenly suspicious.

‘Your intended has arrived to meet his blushing young bride.’

Valentina closed her eyes, not certain if the gasp she’d heard came from her or Felipe, hidden behind the stable door; so close and yet somehow, already, so far away.