Page 17 of The Forbidden Cabrera Brother
Dante wasn’t hanging around, waiting for any further protestations from her. He was already heading out of the sitting room and towards the imposing front door, barely leaving time for Caitlin to trip along behind him, clutching her knapsack.
The clean-up job on the house had been spectacular. As she was progressed along at fast speed, she could only guess that an army of helpers had been hard at it, wiping away all evidence of the elaborate party that had come to such a premature end.
It was not yet nine thirty and already it was hot outside.
Dante ignored all four cars parked in the massive courtyard and instead headed to the side of the house, beeping open a low-slung, steel-grey sports car that hadn’t been visible from the sitting-room window.
He held open the passenger door for her.
Caitlin dropped into a plush leather bucket seat that made her feel as though she was inches away from making uncomfortable physical contact with the ground. Peering over the sleek walnut dashboard was a challenge because of her lack of height.
Dante, on the other hand, as he slid into the driver’s seat and donned a pair of dark sunglasses, looked like a racing driver about to do a few winning laps around a circuit.
‘Good news from the hospital,’ he said as soon as the car revved to life. ‘Alejandro is progressing well. He still hasn’t regained consciousness, but all his vitals are good and those broken bones are the only damage he appears to have suffered. They can’t work out how he lost consciousness and can only think that he must have dropped to the ground in a peculiarly awkward manner.’
‘That’s great,’ Caitlin said with genuine warmth. ‘Do we...er...have any idea how long he will be...out of it?’
‘Absolutely none, but the signs are good for a speedy recovery on that front. I’m assuming you’ve contacted your people at work and been granted whatever time off you need?’
‘I’ve phoned and told them that I will probably be here for about a week.’ She braced herself for criticism.
Instead, Dante said smoothly, ‘We’ll head to the hospital first. You must be keen to see Alejandro.’
‘Of course.’ She noted the quick sideways glance Dante shot her but there was no way she could sound like a besotted lover, desperate to see her wounded fiancé.
Naturally, she was deeply concerned about what had happened and relieved that he had not had a more serious accident, given the wild abandon with which he had been drinking, but, much as she cared about Alejandro, he was, in the end, simply a very good friend and her pretence could only stretch so far. Not only would she have found it impossible to pretend to be loved up, but Alejandro would have had an even harder time of it.
It was just terrible luck that he happened to have a brother with eagle-sharp eyes and the prowling, suspicious nature of a trained sniffer dog.
‘I guess your parents must be so relieved...’
‘Naturally. They’ll be visiting later today and, of course, they will want to see you, make sure you’re okay, even though I’ve already told them that you couldn’t be better. Given the circumstances.’
Caitlin gritted her teeth together at the implied judgement call in that throwaway remark but she remained silent, taking in the change of scenery as the grand and leafy outskirts of the city were left behind and the car began to nose its way into the main area of the very beautiful city.
She had never been to Madrid before, never been to Spain, if truth be told, and her artistic eye fully appreciated the beguiling mix of old and new, high tech and historic, sleek glass and pastel coloured.
‘And you are okay, aren’t you?’
Reluctantly she dragged her attention away from the passing scenery and focused on the aristocratic profile of the guy sitting next to her, one hand on the steering wheel, the other resting lightly on the intimidating gearbox.
So different from his brother, she thought a little helplessly. Chalk and cheese had more in common. She just had no idea how to deal with him or how to handle herself when she was around him.
Everything about him made her nervous, from his aggressive good looks to his cool, watchful self-assurance.
‘Of course.’ She cleared her throat. ‘How far is the...hospital from here? Once I know the route, I would be happy to make my own way in to visit.’
‘How would you propose to do that?’
‘There must be some form of public transport close to your house?’
‘Sadly not.’ He shot her a sideways look that carried a hint of amusement. ‘Of course, I could always arrange for my driver to take you but, like I said, I feel personally responsible for your well-being while you are here. We’re twenty minutes away from the hospital, by the way.’
Caitlin was so tempted to protest, yet again, that he had no need to feel responsible for her in any way, shape or form, but why bother? The man was determined to take her under his wing and she hadn’t been born yesterday. She knew that if she was under his wing, he would be able to keep a sharp eye on her and would be in a prime position to keep prodding away, poking into nooks and crannies, airing his suspicions and waiting for her to slip up.
How long would it take for that to happen? she wondered. How long before she slipped up?
Not long. She wasn’t used to lying. Manoeuvring through the labyrinth she and Alejandro had innocently created was going to take the dexterity of a magician.
