‘No. Of course not.’ That conscience struck him again when he recalled his paralysing fear that night, and how Rowan had been the only one to retain any calm sanity. He’d just gone a step too far.
‘I have to go to Kuala Lumpur today, for a three-day emergency meeting. It’s something I just can’t get out of. Believe me if I could I would.’
The bitterness in his tone told Rowan exactly how trapped he was feeling.
‘Well, at the risk of having you jump down my throat with threats and insults, I would love the chance to take care of Zac while you’re gone. You’re hardly going to get a replacement nanny in such a short space of time.’
He battled to keep his face impassive, to hide his frustration. ‘I know. And believe me, the only reason I’m even considering this is because my mother and sister are on holiday for a week. Otherwise he would stay with them …’
He ran an impatient hand through his hair again, his gesture saying it all.
‘Needless to say, Rowan, I leave him here in your care with the utmost reluctance. It is only because I know your every move will be monitored and reported back to me that I do this. Hernán will remain here with you. Julia can help.’
She hitched her chin. So she was to be a virtual prisoner. Still …it meant time alone with Zac. When she spoke her voice had lost its belligerence. ‘I have no intention of going a step outside these grounds or these four walls. All I want is time with my son. I swear.’
Her eyes had turned a soft darker velvet colour, and a wealth of emotion lay in their depths even though Isandro knew instinctively that she was trying to hide it. He didn’t want to know how he knew that. His eyes moved up and down her body, taking in the swell of her breasts under the thin material of her shirt, her worn jeans. One of those three outfits she’d been circulating since she’d arrived. Her eyes, her body, her scent threatened to scramble his thought processes … he had to push her back.
‘I’ll be checking in regularly.’
‘I wouldn’t expect anything less,’ she said softly.
He looked for triumph, for any sense that she’d won a victory over him, but saw nothing of the sort. Her response, far from confirming what he’d expected, made confusion rush through him. And something else. Something very nebulous and disturbing.
Rowan watched her son sleeping. It had taken a while to put him down that night, he was too excited with the change in routine and having Rowan there every moment, as opposed to María. She was exhausted. And yet happier than she could ever remember being in her life. She bent down and lovingly tucked a lock of fallen hair back, and in doing so she was reminded of a moment once snatched, when she’d watched Isandro sleeping after they’d made love. Her heart beat so painfully that it hurt. After a long minute of just looking at Zac, she went and curled up in a chair in the corner of the room, eventually falling asleep. She didn’t want to leave him for a second.
A week later Isandro stood in his study and looked out onto the lawn through the window. His return had been delayed due to a sudden crisis on the Asian stock market that had necessitated his continued presence. He’d never have gone if he’d known that might happen. He could see that Zac was working himself up into one of his increasingly frequent tantrums—a side-effect of his fast-approaching second birthday. As Rowan tried to placate him, he hit her. Isandro’s insides immediately clenched in fear that she would retaliate, and he made to move—only to find himself obeying some instinct and stopping again.
As he watched he realised that Rowan wasn’t reacting to the slap. Zac hit her again and Isandro winced, this time for Rowan. Again she didn’t respond. She completely ignored Zac, and got up to tidy his toys away. Eventually Zac started to calm down, perplexed by this non-reaction. It made Isandro suddenly nervous of how María might have reacted in a similar situation. That niggle of conscience rose again.
After a while Zac toddled over and got Rowan’s attention, and she bent down to his level. She appeared to be talking to him, and showed him where he had hit her. Isandro could see even from here that her skin was red. She seemed to be trying to explain to him that it was wrong, and then Zac threw his arms around her and kissed her. Rowan hugged him back, and Isandro felt the most curious tightening and falling feeling in his chest.
He turned away abruptly to leave the room and go outside. The feeling that seeing them had precipitated in his chest just now was terrifying with its force. Rowan Carmichael was a very real threat. He just wasn’t sure which direction the threat was coming from any more.