Flame of Diablo (34 page)

She said, 'You can't treat me like this.

I'm a free agent. I ...'

'You are going to be my wife,' he said.

'No,' she shook her head. 'You—you

heard what I told you, Vitas. There's no

need for that—for any more pretence. I

—I'm not pregnant, so we can end this

farce right here and now.'

'A farce?' he repeated incredulously.

'You describe the prospect of being my

wife as a farce?'

'Yes, I do,' she cried. 'And—and I don't

even have the leading role.'

'What is that supposed to mean?' he said

slowly. 'You had better explain yourself,

Raquel.'

'I saw you,' she said exhaustedly. 'I

answered the phone in your room, just

after you'd left, and it was her—your

Virginia. She—she's the woman in the

photograph, isn't she? The one you took

into
the
cordillera
with you?'

'Yes,' he said. 'What of it?'

'You're quite shameless about it!' She

stared up at him.

'I have yet to hear why I am supposed to

feel shame. You say you saw me. Am I

to infer that you followed me to

Villavicencio because of this telephone

call?'

'Yes,' she said. 'And I saw you there

together at the hotel. I saw—how she

was. I heard what she said to you—

about being happy.' She swallowed.

'Well, when I'm out of the way you can

be even happier. But you can't expect me

to —marry you, and then look the other

way while you amuse yourself.'

His dark face looked as if it had been

carved out of stone, as remote as the

highest peak of the Andes and as cold.

'You think that was my intention?'

'I don't know what else to think,' she said

wretchedly. 'But I've got to get away—

back to England. There— there's nothing

to keep me here, after all. And once I've

gone you can marry your Virginia—if

that's what you want.'

'How kind of you to consider my wishes,

querida,'
he drawled, and she flinched

as his words seemed to flick like the

tongue of a whip across her skin. 'But

marriage with Virginia has little appeal

for me. I imagine her husband too might

have some objections.'

'Her husband?' she echoed.

'His name is Robert,' he said icily. 'I

have known him— known them both for

some years. He was responsible for

installing some plant at one of the

factories in Medellin, and we became

friends as a result of this. We are

negotiating about another project with

the company he represents, and he came

to Villavicencio for some informal talks

with me before going on to Medellin to

talk to my board. Today we were to

meet for lunch, but Virginia wished to

change the venue because Robert was

suffering slightly from a migraine. She

told me she had tried to contact me

without success when she met me. I

returned to their suite with her, but

Robert was not well enough for our

discussions to proceed, so I left.' He

paused. Is there anything else you wish

to know about how I spent my day?'

Rachel did not reply and after a moment

he went on, 'Your eyes and busy little

ears deceived you,
querida.
Virginia is

not expecting my child, but Robert's. A

child they have both longed for since

their marriage. And
si,
she did speak of

her happiness, because she has not

always been happy. A year ago, perhaps

more, she knew Robert was— involved

with someone else. In some ways she

blamed herself for this. Because there

was no child, she had thrown herself

into her career—had allowed other

things to assume too much importance.

When she found out about the other

woman, she was bitter and unhappy.'

'So she turned to you,' Rachel said in a

low voice.

'Si,
she turned to me,' he said ironically.

'But not in the way you imagine. She

needed to get away both from Robert

and the situation which was causing her

so much pain. She wanted to see things

clearly, to decide what she wanted from

her life. I took her with me into the

cordillera
to give her time to think. But I

did not make love to her, then or ever.

She needed a friend, and I was a friend

to her.'

Rachel looked down at her tightly

clasped hands. She said, 'But she wanted

you. I saw that photograph. I saw how

she looked at you.'

'She thought she wanted me. She was

lonely and unhappy, and she thought

Robert didn't care any more,' He sat

down on the sofa beside her, lifting her

chin in his hand, forcing her to look at

him. There were taut bitter lines round

his mouth. 'You have always had a low

opinion of me, haven't you,
querida
? Do

you really think I added to Virginia's

problems by sleeping with her?'

No, she didn't, but somehow it was

impossible to tell him so because that

might lead in turn to other confessions

she would prefer not to make. It was

better for him to think she had a low

opinion of him than to know that she had

leapt to conclusions because she was

half sick with jealousy and despair.

From the very first, the thought of

Virginia in his arms had been a

nightmare to her, although she hadn't

realised why.

She said stiffly, 'I'm sorry—I assumed

...'

'You assume altogether too much,' he

said, savagely. 'You assume that I'm

marrying you because you may be

encinta.
You assume that once we are

married, I cannot wait to be unfaithful to

you. You assume that I am just going to

let you walk out of my life. Well, you

are wrong,
querida,
on all three counts.

And don't lie to me about this wonderful

offer you have had. All the mail that

comes to this house passes first through

my hands, and I know there has been no

such letter. I am not quite a fool.'

'And I'm not a fool either.' There were

tears in her eyes, but she didn't care. 'I—

I may have been wrong about Virginia,

but there have been other women. You

can't deny that.'

'I wouldn't even try.' He raised his

brows haughtily. 'Do you really expect

me to have lived like a monk before you

came into my life?'

'I don't expect anything of you,' she said

wearily. 'I don't know you, can't you see

that? I don't know anything about you,'

she went on in a kind of panic.

'Anything!'

Except what you're like as a lover, an

inner voice reminded her. Except your

strength and your warmth, and the way

you were gentle with me at first, and

later, not gentle at all.

'How strange that you should feel that,'

he said bleakly, 'when from the first

moment I saw you, I felt that I had

always known you. Always been waiting

for you to come to me. Why did you

think I came after you as I did? Because

I wanted a mistress?' he laughed harshly.

'There were other willing women, so

why saddle myself with someone who

only wanted to fight me? I followed you

because I had to, and if Carlos had hurt

you I would have killed him with my

bare hands. And if you leave me, I'll go

on following you—back to England, if

that's how it must be.'

She stared at him, her eyes wide and

fixed on his face, seeing for the first time

the hurt and the uncertainty underlying,

the cynicism.

She said, 'Vitas...' and the next moment

she was in his arms, and he was kissing

her with a passion that seemed to sweep

away her doubts forever.

'Amada,'
he whispered.
'Alma de mi

vida.
Don't you know that I've been

waiting for you since the beginning of

time? Little one, sweet fool, I'll never let

you go.'

'I didn't know.' She was between

laughter and tears. 'I thought that you—

just wanted to go to bed with me. You

did rather give me that impression at

first and ...'

He settled her in his arms, holding her

against the warmth of his body, one hand

cupping the delicate swell of her breast.

'Perhaps it was true at first,' he

confessed. 'All I knew was that I wanted

you so much I thought I would go crazy

—especially when I went into your room

at the hotel and saw you lying there

asleep, so beautiful and so helpless.' He

groaned. 'I used to lie awake at night

torturing myself with the memory of how

you'd looked. I knew from the first that it

would be different with you,
querida,

but I didn't in honesty know that I would

want to marry you.' He gave her a

sardonic look. 'That came later—that

first night at the
finca
when I walked

into our room and saw you standing by

the bed in that nightgown of Maria's.'

'You were hateful.' Shyly, she put up a

hand and stroked his cheek. Vitas

captured die hand and carried it to his

mouth.

'I was overwhelmed,' he corrected. 'I'd

sat. through that interminable meal with

only one thought—that at last I was

going to get you into bed.' He smiled

reminiscently. 'I flew across that

courtyard when Maria came back as if I

had wings on my feet. But when I opened

the door what did I see? A bride,
mi

amada
—very young, very lovely, very

shy—and very virginal. I felt that if I as

much as touched you—even if you gave

yourself willingly—it would be a

violation. I knew then that I had to have

you as my wife— but before I could say

anything I had to destroy Rodriguez. I

had pursued him for too long to let him

escape me because I had fallen in love.

Besides, living, he was always a threat.'

He shuddered. 'I will never forget what I

felt when I realised you had gone down

to the mission. I had to bank on the fact

that his greed for the Diablo emeralds

would outweigh any other consideration

—such as the pleasure of killing you

slowly in front of me.'

'The emeralds,' she said in a low voice.

'You deliberately destroyed the mine.'

'It is better destroyed,' he said flatly. 'My

father died to protect its secret. I was not

prepared to carry that responsibility.

Too many lives had been lost over the

centuries.'

'But when it was all over—when you

asked me to marry you,' Rachel said

slowly. 'You were so cold. You made

me think it was just the possibility that I

might be pregnant that mattered.'

'You seemed too angry with me to listen

to the things I really wanted to say to

you,' he said drily. 'And I was a little

angry myself.'

'But you went on being cold,' she

protested. 'I thought that after—what had

happened between us—you didn't want

me any more. That you were marrying

me because you felt—obliged to.'

'Not want you,
mi alma
?' His mouth

explored

hers

with

a

lingering

possessiveness which devastated her.

'There hasn't been an hour of the day and

night since you came to my house that I

haven't craved for you as a man lost in a

desert craves water.'

'Then why ...' she began. He laid a

caressing finger on her lips, silencing

her.

'Because you were now my
novia
,' he

said simply. 'My future wife. My mother

forgave us that one lapse, but made it

clear that the rest of our courtship would

be conducted in a way that would give

no scandal. I decided my only course

must be to keep at a distance.'

She stole a mischievous glance at him.

'Then it's just as well that no one can see

us now!'

'Just as well.' He returned her smile.

'And tomorrow I shall tell Madrecita