Page 7 of The Forbidden Cabrera Brother
‘This is a nightmare.’ Alejandro was busy relieving the waiter of another flute of champagne as he leant into her. ‘And I’m sorry about the phone, Linny. No idea where I left it. Still haven’t found it. It’s probably buried under a cushion somewhere. There was a lot of sitting around earlier today. Talking. God, this is a nightmare. And I can’t believe your bad luck running into Dante on your way to the house.’
‘Slow down on the drinking!’ was Caitlin’s anxious response to that.
‘I can’t. It’s the only thing that’s propping me up.’
‘Oh, Alex.’ She sighed and rubbed his arm sympathetically. ‘You need to be honest with your family.’
‘I will. Just not yet. Once Dante finds a woman and settles down, then the pressure will be off me and then...’ His voice drifted off. It was a conversation they had had before. ‘Are you going to be all right?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘People can sit where they please but close friends and family members are at the top table. Wedding style. Look at where you’re sitting.’ He’d been propelling her along on unsteady legs and now he nodded to the one and only table with a seating plan. It occupied an exalted position on a makeshift podium that was adorned with striking flowers in urns of various sizes.
‘Why have they stuck me next to your brother?’ Caitlin was appalled and panic bloomed inside her. She had optimistically thought that she might have seen off Dante for the remainder of the evening. She had planned on vanishing with Alejandro at a respectable hour, when the guests started drifting off. A flight had been booked. He had assured her that his parents wouldn’t bat an eye because they were used to work commitment cutting short all kinds of family gatherings, usually courtesy of Dante.
Still reeling from the prospect of sitting next to Dante, she raised her eyes to spot him heading in her direction. His gait was leisurely, his body language was relaxed but he was a man on a mission. She shivered. The shark looked in the mood for a meal and she quailed at the thought of being the tasty morsel. She was barely aware of Alejandro. She was too busy telling herself that the evening would be over soon enough.
‘I suppose,’ she surfaced to hear Alejandro muttering gloomily, ‘the intention is for you to get to know the nearest and dearest. Don’t worry, Uncle Alfredo to your right is okay and Dante has Luisa next to him on the other side.’
‘Luisa?’ She was riveted at the sight of Dante weaving his way through the crowd, so graceful, so dangerously, darkly beautiful. He was compelling. She felt a little sick and wished all over again that she had stuck to her guns but, when she thought about her parents and the mess they were in, she could see why she had done what she had.
‘Not here yet. She enjoys making an entrance. My hopes are high for Dante and Luisa to do what everyone expects they’ll eventually do.’
‘What’s that?’ she asked vaguely.
‘Tie the knot. They dated a year or so ago and broke up but everyone thinks it’s just a matter of time before it all kicks off again. Anyway, I have to go, Caitlin. You’ll have my moral support from across the table. Feel for me. As the guest of honour, I will have both parents on either side so it’s going to be an evening of the Spanish Inquisition. I just can’t cope.’
‘You’ll have to,’ Caitlin said sternly.
There was a bewildering array of wine glasses in front of them and she only hoped that his nerves wouldn’t propel him to have them all filled so that he could duly empty them. He wasn’t a drinker. Frankly, she was surprised that he was still standing.
When she shifted her attention away from him, it was to find that Dante was settling into the chair next to her and she shivered and began a hurried conversation in broken Spanish with Uncle Alfredo, as he wanted to be called, who was very happy to carry the conversation.
The night air was balmy and the sky was velvet black, dotted with stars. It was a perfect setting and were this a real engagement party, it would have been heavenly. She thought back to that distant time when it had looked as though marriage might have been hers for the taking and felt a rush of sadness. It had ended and it had been for the best, but sitting here, in this wonderful, magical setting, she could almost airbrush away the expensively dressed people and imagine what it might be like to be celebrating a true engagement to a guy she loved, under the stars, with the gentle sound of violins harmonising with the chirping of invisible summer insects.
‘We meet again...’
Caitlin blinked and landed back on Planet Earth with a resentful bump. ‘You should have told me who you were,’ she said stiffly, bypassing small talk, which seemed irrelevant now, considering they were already acquainted.
‘Is that why you’ve spent the evening avoiding me? Because you were embarrassed?’
‘I wasn’t avoiding you.’ While there was a buffet service for the guests, this select table benefited from an array of assiduous waiters whose duty was to make sure they were fed and watered without having to exert themselves at all.
It was over-the-top luxury that Caitlin could have done without. No opportunity to take her time hovering in front of tables groaning with food. No opportunity to duck Dante’s dark, fascinating, menacing presence.
There wasn’t even Luisa there to distract. Whoever she was. Caitlin had paid scant attention at the time, but there was an empty chair next to him so the woman was obviously going to be a no-show.
‘I, naturally, would have told you who I was but you gifted me a unique opportunity to get to know the real you. The real Caitlin Walsh, mystery fiancée.’
‘There’s nothing mysterious about me.’ Her heart was racing and her mouth was dry.
‘Which, in itself, is something of an enigma. I’ve watched your interaction with Alejandro and, yes, I can see that you two are close. He seeks you out with his eyes when you’re not around.’
‘Like I said,’ Caitlin said, sotto voce, picking at an arrangement of appetisers on a plate that had found its way in front of her and pointedly making sure not to look at Dante, ‘we’ve been friends for ages.’
‘Yes, the friend bit,’ Dante intoned smoothly, his low murmur matching hers, ‘is evident. It’s the other bit I’m not seeing.’
‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’
