“In your profession, I am sure you have noticed integrity can be overwhelmed by large amounts of money.”
“Sometimes even by small amounts,” Paul said, working hard to keep the edge out of his voice. However, he’d had about enough. “Mr. Castillo, I understand your concern, but this is between Julia and myself.”
Carlos sat back in his chair and simply looked at Paul, his expression giving nothing away. “Are you the reason Julia has refused to come home?”
Paul hadn’t seen that coming. “Why would you ask me that?”
The other man’s gaze never wavered. “A little conversation here, a little conversation there, and the pieces begin to fit together.”
Paul just barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes in exasperation at the impossibility of privacy in a small town. “I haven’t asked Julia to stay here.”
Carlos snorted, a surprisingly inelegant sound from such a controlled man. “My niece has developed a mind of her own recently. I don’t think it would matter whether you asked her or not.”
Paul was surprised into giving him a nod of agreement. “Very true, sir.”
“I wanted to meet you for myself,” Carlos said, standing up.
Paul leaped to his feet as well. “And I you.”
For a long moment, they measured each other. Carlos nodded. “Now we have met.” He held his hand out to Paul. “Julia is the daughter of my heart. Remember that.”
When Paul shook the older man’s hand, Carlos exerted just enough pressure to make sure Paul understood his warning.
“I’ll keep it in mind,” Paul said, his tone casual, his smile nonchalant. He respected the man’s concern for Julia, but he was damned if he was going to kowtow to it.
“Will you be at my niece’s exhibition on Friday?” Carlos asked as they walked to the door.
“I’m looking forward to it.”
“Good. She may need our help,” Carlos said, turning to go.
“Where is this adventure taking place?” Julia asked, as Paul gunned the ’Vette up the hill leading out of the town.
“You’ll know when we get there.” Without taking his eyes off the road, he reached over and took her hand, twining his fingers with hers and bringing it back to rest on the console between them.
“I guess I’m dressed all right,” Julia said, eyeing his faded jeans and West Virginia University T-shirt with some relief.
This time he glanced sideways, his gaze sliding quickly down her body. An appreciative gleam sparked in his eyes. “Since you insist on wearing clothes, you’re dressed just fine.” His expression turned serious. “Your uncle came to my office.”
“What! I didn’t even tell him your name,” Julia said.
“You didn’t need to. This is Sanctuary.”
Carlos must have weaseled it out of his hired driver. “Does Carlos…what did you talk about?” She couldn’t quite bring herself to ask if her uncle knew they were lovers.
“Yes, he knows we’re together.”
“Oh.” She realized she had tightened her grip on his hand and forced her fingers to relax. “Um, what exactly did he say?” She couldn’t imagine Carlos asking Paul if he was sleeping with her.
“He wanted to know if I was the reason you refused to come home.”
“How did you answer that?”
“It didn’t matter, because it became apparent he already knew.” He threw her a quick glance. “He came because he wanted to put me on notice to behave.”
Julia grimaced. “I’m sorry. It’s none of his business.” Her uncle meant well, but it was humiliating to have him meddle in her love life. She needed to make sure he understood that was as off-limits as her professional life.
“Truth be told, I wanted to meet him.” He gave her hand a light squeeze. “It’s not a bad thing to have someone care so much about you.”
“Just suffocating at times.”
“How did he take being fired?”
“Well, he threatened me with the loss of my reputation and total financial ruin. Neither one worries me.”
“That’s my Julia.” Paul gave her a quick flash of a smile. “Did he admit to lying about showing your work to dealers?”
“He didn’t lie. He just showed it to dealers who couldn’t handle the edgier style.” She sighed. “He didn’t believe in it enough to explore new markets.”
“I’m sorry. I know that was rough on you.” He lifted her hand to give it a gentle kiss. “At least your uncle seems to have accepted the inevitable, because he wanted to make sure I wrote up an airtight contract between you and Claire.”