—Romantic Times Mothers-To-Be(9)

“But it’s so quiet—’ ” This container is set inside some sort of building. We are not outdoors. There is some kind of roof far above us. I was able to judge that through the air holes Rico supplied, acknowledging her surprise at his knowledge.

“There is very little light in the building. It could be a warehouse on an old industrial estate, miles from residential areas. On the other hand, it could equally well be a barn out in the depths of the country—’ ” You’ve really thought about this. “

“I’ve had more time than you and more practice. International banking is cut-throat. Thinking on my feet comes naturally.”

Bella bent her vibrant head, amused by his assumption of mental superiority. He thought that she was thick just because her spelling was no great shakes. No doubt her second-hand clothing and her habit of chattering when she was nervous added to his prejudice. If he saw her paintings he might change his mind. Then again, he might not.

Hector didn’t think she was ready for a first exhibition as yet. It had been Hector who had told her that she needed more time and more experience to develop as an artist before she even considered trying to show or sell her work. And Hector ought to have known what he was talking about. In the days before he had become a virtual recluse Hector Barsay had been a renowned international art critic, whose opinion had been sufficient to make or break many an artistic career.

“If we’re inside a barn that probably means there’s a house close by!” Her sudden animation dimmed as quickly as it had arisen as she took that thought a step further and felt more threatened than ever by it.

“And if there is a house our jailers are probably inside it…” she whispered sickly.

“S .” He did not deny the possibility.

“But the environment they have chosen for us would suggest to me that they are equally likely to be miles away or even out of the country by now—’ ” Out of the country. ” leaving us here trapped?” Bella had gone white.

“This was very carefully planned..” all this,” Rico stressed again, indicating their surroundings.

“They did not employ gratuitous violence upon us—’ ” I thought they were very violent. “

“They used drugs rather than brute force to subdue us. They might have stuck us in a basement somewhere and simply left us without food or any comfort,” he pointed out. “Do you think they’re terrorists?”

“I think not but I could be wrong. The nervous one did not strike me as a man used to having a gun in his hand. The other one was more professional, more confident… He was even enjoying himself.”

Bella’s sensitive stomach churned. Unlike Rico she did not have the emotional distance to assess their captor’s personalities

“To take me in that car park was a challenge, and he was a man accustomed to danger. He enjoyed the risk. Possibly a former soldier or mercenary. He had fast reactions.”

“I’m scared,”

she muttered in a small voice. Disconcertingly he reached for her clenched hand where it rested on the table. His large hand briefly engulfed hers with very welcome warmth.

“Clearly not a half wit he said with a self-mocking edge.

“The police will be scouring the countryside for us.” Endeavouring to cheer herself up, Bella thought for the very first time of the police not as a threat but as the strong arm of the law. Investigators, protectors, rescuers.

There was an odd little silence. She glanced across at Rico.

“S pounds pence.” He was staring down into his glass of water.

“Leaving no stone unturned—a nationwide alert,” she continued, bolstering her nerves with conviction.

“It’ll be on television and radio. Everyone will know about us and someone somewhere is sure to have seen something… Maybe a few someones.”

Tight-mouthed, Rico murmured,

“Tell me about Hector.”

Thrown by the abrupt change of subject, Bella echoed, “Hector?”

“By now he will be aware of your disappearance.”

She thought about that and shook her head.

“Not yet. We don’t keep tabs like that on each other.”

“You mean he is accustomed to you not always coming home at night?”

Rico phrased abrasively.

“Everyone stays over with friends sometimes. And Hector’s a very private person who believes in minding his own business. He has his own very set routines and I’m not a routine sort of person,” Bella admitted.

“We don’t share mealtimes very often. When he asked me to move in—’ ” And when was that? “

“A year ago.”

“Where did you meet him?”

“I’ve known Hector for ever.” Bella grinned.

“Well, since I was fourteen.”

“Fourteen?” Rico grated, his dark features rigid with a response that she couldn’t quite read. It looked remarkably like distaste . but why should he react that way to such a harmless piece of information?

“Why not?” Bella frowned.

“If you see no reason why not, it is not for me to comment,” Rico returned thinly.

“Where were your parents?”



“I was living with my grandfather at the time.”

“And he did not protect you from this dirty old man?”

he demanded with seething distaste.

Bella’s mouth fell wide in astonishment. She sprang upright. “Are you calling Hector a dirty old man?”

“This appears to come as a big revelation to you … but sl … yes. Such a relationship is an obscenity!”

Her green eyes fired, her temper exploding.

“You actually believe that Hector and I have a sexual relationship,” she realised in disgust.

“My God, you are stuffed full of prejudices about me! I’m sorry to disappoint your gutter assumptions, Mr da Silva, but Hector’s nothing more than my landlord and a family friend—’ ” A family friend? ” Unperturbed by her anger, Rico surveyed her and merely continued to probe.

“Hector knew my father back in the sixties,” she volunteered with pronounced reluctance.

“When will he notice your absence?”

Bella drank down her glass of water, still trembling with bitter anger.

“I don’t know. Not tonight anyway. He always goes to bed early and I’m often out all day. I don’t always see him at breakfast. I also work shifts, and sometimes I do extra hours if I’m asked. By the way, I’m a waitress … I’m not out trawling the streets for men to sell my body to!” she hissed at him.

“What gives with you anyway?

The fact that I’m out late at night and driving a beat-up car doesn’t mean I’m a tart! “

Hooded dark eyes rested on her vibrant and passionately expressive face. His mouth quirked.

“You are quite correct. But you have a quite stunning quality of raw sexuality which tends to blunt the male perceptive powers. Your looks, your walk and the husky pitch of your voice,” he murmured softly, ‘add to the confusion you create. “

Wide-eyed and bewildered, Bella stared back at him. He had delivered the assessment with the same distant coolness that an employer might use when he was discussing a potential employee with personnel management. But nobody had ever talked to Bella like that before–certainly not a man. A tide of pink illuminated her porcelain-fine skin.

“And I don’t think you’re half as aware of the havoc you wreak as I assumed you were, querida.” He thrust his empty plate away and rose.

“Now I think it’s time I started trying to attract attention to us again.”

He left her standing there, uncertain, confused, anger and defensiveness still contributing to her feverish tension. The first crash of metal on metal made her flinch. He was hammering the container doors with what looked like a poker. The noise hit her in shock waves. But if someone heard them, came to investigate. What were the chances? she wondered dully. If the kidnappers had really left them alone here, that signified a fair degree of confidence that their presence was unlikely to be discovered.

Clearing up the dishes, she discovered that a bone-deep exhaustion had settled on her without her even noticing. Rico was still banging the doors, vibrations running through the whole container like thunderclaps, hurting her ears, her teeth, her head. She withstood it, bracing herself. And then he stopped, releasing his pent-up breath in a hiss.

“I’ll take a turn,” Bella proffered.

He swung round, his bronzed, startlingly handsome features and curling black hair damp with perspiration.

“No need. This is allowing me to work out my anger. And you look as though you’re on the brink of collapse. Why don’t you lie down for a while?”

“I can do my bit just like you can,” she insisted, hovering. “You can do it tomorrow, or in the middle of the night. The noise will carry further then. If you fall asleep I’ll wake you up,” he assured her.

She gave a rueful laugh.

“Sleep with that racket?”

“Try. We need to conserve our strength to stay alert.” From the shadows he studied her with slumbrous golden eyes and, astonishingly, for the first time since it had happened she remembered that savage embrace in the lift the hard, hot hunger of his mouth on hers, the shatteringly sexual feel of that lean, muscular form of his crushing her to him.