His Suitable Bride(108)

The bed was empty. Where had she gone? He trod softly to the bathroom door and was about to knock, not even sure why he had felt compelled to come into the room at all, when he heard a soft noise. A keening sound like he’d never heard in his life. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, his blood run cold.

His hand was still raised to knock on the door. His mouth opened but he couldn’t articulate her name. A louder sound came now, and it was so primal, so private, that Isandro backed away, his hand dropping slowly. An image came into his head of her face when he had told her that she should have stayed away … and the other thing he’d said, about her dying.

He’d heard the words come out of his mouth and had wanted to swallow them back. But it had been too late, and before he’d been able to assess the consequences of them, of how he might have revealed himself, he’d been diverted by her reaction. She’d gone stony silent, pale as the sheet around her, her eyes dimming. She’d retreated back into the cool shell he remembered so well. It was as if what he’d said had really hurt her. And yet if she was nothing but a scheming, gold-digging heiress, looking to cash in on her marriage, wouldn’t she have just tried to cajole him back into bed? She could have done it easily.

He couldn’t disguise his shaming attraction. It burned like nothing he’d ever experienced, and surpassed even what had left him a little shell shocked after the explosive revelation of their wedding night.

But she wasn’t cajoling him back into bed. She was in her dark bathroom, making the kind of sound that Isandro knew he’d never forget. But he couldn’t go in there. He knew instinctively that she believed she was without witnesses, and to intrude would be unthinkable. So he left, his mind racing as to what she was up to now, what this might mean. Everything was up-ended all over again—that clarity as laughably elusive as ever.

For a couple of days Rowan studiously avoided Isandro, still raw and hurting after their row. He made no attempt to take her to bed again, or to come to her bed. He hadn’t mentioned her moving out again but Rowan had made contact with an agent in Osuna and it hung in the air around them ominously. But that evening at dinner, after a painfully stilted conversation, she was surprised when he said that she and Zac should go to Seville the following day for a visit. For the first time in two days Rowan felt a spark within her erupt. She said yes, not knowing if his offer was as benign as it sounded. When he asked Rowan to come into his study after dinner she followed warily, keeping her eyes averted from the sheer force of his physique in worn jeans and a light sweater.

She stood resolutely behind a chair. Her body was feeling weak. A hunger was starting to rage through her blood at his proximity, but evidently Isandro’s passion had burnt itself out. And no way would she be revealing her own vulnerability to him.

She watched as he opened his drawer and plucked something small and shiny out. He came around the desk and handed it to her.

‘Here—it’s a mobile phone.’

She looked at it, confused. ‘But I have my own phone. I don’t need yours.’

‘You do need it if you’re going out on your own and taking my son with you.’

Her eyes met his. ‘He’s my son too.’

His jaw clenched. ‘This phone has all my numbers stored in case something should happen.’

‘What on earth could happen?’

‘You just need to be careful. We were featured extensively in the papers after that night in Seville. People know you’re back on the scene. Change like that makes me and Zac and you vulnerable.’

Rowan felt a shiver of fear. She wasn’t stupid. Of course a man as wealthy as Isandro could be a target for all sorts. She still ignored the phone.

‘We don’t have to go into Seville—’

Irritation shot through Isandro. Couldn’t she see he was doing this for her? The fact was, ever since he’d heard her crying the other night and witnessed her withdrawing into herself, he’d been … frightened. He wanted a reaction—wanted to make her do something. Wanted to see her during the day now as well as the night. His body throbbed uncomfortably and he tried not to let his eyes roam over her hungrily as she stood in front of him.

He was so distracted that he barely noticed when she finally accepted the phone. ‘I still don’t see how it’s different to my own.’

Isandro shook his head. ‘If anything happens just speed-dial me on number one. But I’ll send Hernán with you too, so I’m sure you’ll be safe.’

Rowan turned the phone over and back. She looked up for a second before she left. There was an intensity in his eyes that she couldn’t fathom and which made her legs weak. She had to get out of there. She turned to walk out, but at the door he called her.