Bronwyn Scott's Sexy Regency Bundle (102 page)

Scott

anger at his

needed his

focus .

Don Alicante arrived promptly at three o'clock. Alejandro rose to meet him, crossing the room and confidently extending his hand. Elena had given him a thorough briefing on the man.

Even so,

would have known the type of

man he was immediately-cold and haughty with a deeply entrenched belief in his own superiority and power.

Don Alicante was a man in his mid-forties, used to prosperity and his own way. He was fit and well

out

his neatly trimmed beard

and gray-flecked dark hair to the shiny polish of his riding boots. In between hair and boots, he was impeccably dressed in expensive city-tailored riding clothes.

dias, Senor di Duero. It is a rare occasion to welcome home a lost soul." His words were polite. But while there was nothing to doubt on the surface,

heard the cynicism

beneath them. This man would not readily accept that he was

"Thank you. I am beyond pleased to be restored to my wife and to find her well,"

Alejandro said, gesturing to Elena who had hung back while the two men greeted one another.

Now, she swept forward to stand beside him.

's Seduction

have

bring tea and perhaps something

stronger for you gentlemen. Excuse me."

watched her

his eyes riveted to

her back and the soft sway of her hips. He noticed the

were too.

"Come and sit, Don Alicante. We can discuss business while my wife is away. Business is men's domain, after all," Alejandro said with a touch of steel. He wanted Alicante to know he thought only a coward would put a business proposition to anyone the way Alicante had.

Alicante sat. "Ah, your wife has told you of arrangement?"

Alejandro wanted to strangle the man. It was beyond the pale for him to sit there and discuss his attempt at coercion in

of an "arrangement,"

as if it had been an amicable agreement of convenience. "Yes," Alej andro said tersely, though he held his anger in check. The less said the better. He wanted to let Alicante do the talking.

Alicante crossed his legs. "Surely you understand that I offered out of a sense of duty for her welfare." He shook his head

"A

woman on a pazo alone invites all types of misfortune." He waved a hand to include the room. "It would be a shame to see all this go to

Scott

waste. One cannot expect a woman to bear the day-to-day burdens of an estate on her own."

Alejandro folded his

and quirked an

eyebrow. "Her welfare? No, I didn't understand the proposition in quite those

he said

coldly.

Don Alicante's eyes narrowed. "Women can be hysterical. She has misunderstood my intentions.

all, I gave her a year. I was in no

to press my suit."

Liar.

The word hung unspoken between them, diffused only by Elena's

to the room,

followed by Anna with a tray. Tea was poured for Elena while the men opted for port. Don Alicante reached for a scone and buttered it. "Senora, you must be greatly relieved that your husband has returned so fortuitously," he said in a tone, but

saw the calculation in his

eyes.

To her credit, Elena set her teacup in its saucer and met him evenly. "I am greatly relieved he has returned to me at all, fortuitously or not."

"Forgive me for mentioning it, but your year of grace was nearly up before the pazo became mine. I'd assumed Senor di Duero for dead months ago."

"But I had not," Elena said in a crisp tone.

Pren

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Don Alicante gave a thin smile. "No, you had not. I must beg your forgiveness again, but I find it a bit too coincidental that your husband, who has done nothing to contact you for nearly twelve months when he knew you must be worried to death about him, is suddenly washed ashore in the nick of time to save your holdings." He took a sip of port and speared Elena with a sharp gaze. "I find that highly suspect, to say nothing of the odds that

who abhorred sea travel and

engaged in it as little as possible, would find himself on two ships that sink within a year of each other. The odds are boggling and quite unconvincing."