The Buenos Aires Marriage Deal

When he still didn’t speak, but continued to stare at her as if not knowing whether to shake her senseless or verbally rip into her until her ears rang, Briana twisted the suddenly chilled fingers of her slim hands together and glanced back at the ornate little table where she had put down the tray she had brought. ‘Shall I pour you some coffee?’

‘Forget the damn coffee! What do you think you’re playing at?’

His bitter, chastising tone shocked her blood to ice. ‘I’m not playing at anything. This situation is as unexpected and shocking for me as it is for you.’

‘But you did play me for a fool—didn’t you Briana?’ His dark eyes narrowed furiously beneath their long-lashed hooded lids. ‘I still find it hard to believe you did what you did…even after all this time!’

‘It was never my intention to make you feel like a fool.’

Feeling her lips tremble, Briana desperately sought to hold it together—not to break down in front of him and confess all. What would it serve to fully explain now why she had left him? Five years had passed by. He hadn’t wanted to listen to her then, so why should he listen now? Anyway…right then she was hardly prepared or willing to rake over old coals and engage in a row—which was no doubt what would happen. As for Adán’s existence—she couldn’t tell him about that just yet. She needed more time…

‘I’m really sorry things turned out the way they did, but perhaps it was for the best?’

It was a stupid thing to say, and it sounded totally banal.

‘For the best?’

The words reverberated round the room on a savage breath, and Briana registered the emotion Pascual was feeling like a punch. Confusion, anger, frustration…it was all there.

Scraping his fingers agitatedly through silken layers of rich dark hair, he moved his head from side to side, staring at her hard. ‘I can get over being made a fool of in front of my friends and family, but what I cannot come to terms with or forgive is that you gave me no indication that your professed feelings for me could be broken off so easily. Or that you would leave without even giving me a chance to hear why from your own lips instead of reading it in some cold, unemotional letter! You must be a consummate actress, Briana…You seemed happy and in love and I believed you. What an idiot I was!’

CHAPTER TWO

HIS heart was thundering as hard and as fast as any express train. It was difficult to take in the fact that the woman he had once loved, who had so callously deserted him mere days before their wedding, was standing there in front of him.

Pascual discovered that his memory of her had not served him as well as he’d thought. In the flesh Briana Douglas was far more beautiful than any mental picture he could call up. Right then she reminded him of an exotic intense port wine, and even though he deplored what she had done he still wanted to drink in every inch of her until he was intoxicated. She had always had a figure to make his pulse race, and in the slim pencil skirt and smart tailored jacket she wore he saw that it was Marilyn Monroe hourglass perfect. Her very presence exuded an earthy sexiness that heated his blood. Would heat any man’s blood! But it was her face that arrested his attention the most.

With her almost feline smoky-grey eyes, apple cheeks and lush enticing mouth, she was a woman to entertain the most sensual private fantasies about. With that face and body she would stop rush-hour traffic in any major city of the world in a heartbeat. Suddenly Pascual was intensely excruciatingly jealous at the idea of her with somebody else—the idea that she might have left him because she preferred another man to him. It took him a moment to get his bearings as well as his sudden inconvenient and shocking desire under strict control.

‘There must have been some other reason you left me besides the one that you stated in your letter. Did you leave me for another man? Is that it?’ However controlled he strove to be, he still had to voice the question that had been burning in his mind all these years. She flinched, and his gaze clung to hers, fear of her answer making him as tense as a string on a harp.

‘Of course I didn’t! I’m sorry if you thought that, but there was no one else…there still is no one else.’

Exhaling a long, relieved breath, he was still infuriated by her apparent calmness when inside everything in him was churning as turbulently as the Atlantic in a squall.

‘And what about you?’ she ventured tentatively. ‘Did you get back with your ex?’

‘My ex?’

For disturbing seconds Pascual recalled something that had happened the night before Briana had left. The Brazilian model he had briefly dated before he had met her had unexpectedly turned up at the family party, on the arm of his cousin Rafa. His mother, being the perfect hostess, had not turned her away. During the evening Claudia had drunk a little too much cachaca, and when Briana had been out on the terrace talking to Marisa and Diego she had pulled a stupid stunt on him. She’d circled his neck with her arms, pressed her body hard against his and kissed him full on the mouth…

Pascual’s blood ran briefly cold as he remembered the incident with renewed distaste and anger. He wasn’t remotely interested in taking up with Claudia again…either then or now. It was Briana he had loved. But clearly she had not loved him. Why else had it been so easy for her to walk away? The idea pierced his very soul. No man liked to think the loving relationship he believed to be real was based on a lie. A lie that meant his sweetheart did not feel as strongly for him, her lover, as she had insisted she had. Renewed hurt and fury coursed through his bloodstream that the woman in front of him had treated him so abominably.

Raising her bewitching gaze to his, she attempted a smile of sorts. She wasn’t quite successful, and he saw the worry and concern reflected clearly in her eyes. Good. He was glad he had unsettled her. God knows, she had unsettled him!

‘When she showed up at that party…I just thought that you and she—’

‘Well, you were wrong. She was dating my cousin and he brought her with him. End of story!’

‘Well, then…I’d better just leave you to have your coffee,’ she remarked. ‘Your hosts are waiting for you in the drawing room downstairs. Shall I tell them you’ll be ready in about twenty minutes or so? I can meet you in the lobby and take you to them.’

‘I will be ready when I am ready, and not before!’ Pascual snapped, turning his back on her and moving towards the tray of coffee.

Choosing to remain silent for a few moments, he poured some of the hot aromatic beverage into the porcelain cup and took a sip. Definitely particular about the type of coffee he drank, he found he could not fault whoever had chosen this particular blend on his behalf.

Facing Briana again, he observed the slight pink flush across her cheekbones. ‘You are here the entire weekend?’ he asked, knowing this conversation they had started had only just begun.

‘Yes…my job dictates it.’

‘And how long have you been working for this company that provides “hospitality services”?’

‘About three years. It’s my own company.’

‘So you are a businesswoman now? You have managed to surprise me again!’

Unable to keep the cynicism from his voice, Pascual was actually genuinely taken aback by the revelation. The Briana he had known had never given any indication of being remotely interested in starting up her own business. Back then she had vowed she was only happy working with children and animals. On her arrival in Buenos Aires she had found work as a professional dog-walker, then as a children’s nanny. But he had learned to his cost that she had not been entirely frank with him about many things, and her dishonesty still cut him to the quick.

‘I’ll leave you to enjoy your coffee in peace and go and wait downstairs.’

Moving towards the door, Briana could not disguise her eagerness to get away, and it incensed Pascual that she should want to effect distance between them again.

‘Before you run away I want you to tell me something of these businessmen I am meeting with. No doubt you have some information that might be useful?’ Staring at her pointedly, he knew a sudden desire to test her out and see if she was at all competent at the business she had chosen for herself. If he himself had been in this line of work the first thing he would want to know was about the kind of people who were employing his services.

‘What do you want to know?’ she asked, clearly discomfited that she could not escape as easily as that.

‘I want to know the things they have not revealed in their bid to buy my horses. You know the kind of information I am getting at? It is important that my ponies go to the very best homes. As I am sure you are aware, I do not make these transactions just for money.’

‘All their credentials are first class, but if you want to ask me about specifics fire away. I can assure you that I’ve done my homework in that regard.’

‘Really? But you clearly did not know that it was me that was the VIP guest this weekend, did you? Is that not somewhat remiss of you?’

A scarlet brand seared even hotter colour into her cheeks. ‘It wasn’t a mistake I would ever make normally, I can assure you! It’s just that I’ve had a lot on my mind lately, and I—’

‘Your personal concerns should never impinge on your ability to do your job well.’

‘In a perfect world that might be so, but in case you hadn’t noticed this world isn’t perfect, and from time to time people do have worries that cannot help but disturb them.’

‘What kind of worries do you have nowadays, Briana?’ Pascual shot back, no small amount of bitterness edging his tone. ‘I thought you must be perfectly happy and content. After all…you escaped from a man and a marriage you clearly did not want, did you not? I imagined that you must have got exactly what you wanted when you walked out on me.’

‘Can we not do this? It’s painful enough that we should meet up again like this without us sniping at each other. We’re both here for more important reasons than what’s between us personally. I know we need to talk, but this is hardly the right time.’

Wanting to, but hardly able to refute her argument right then, Pascual took another sip of his coffee, then placed the cup and saucer back on the tray. ‘Give me five minutes and then I will meet you downstairs,’ he responded tersely. ‘No doubt we will indeed have an opportunity to discuss our personal issues over the weekend. If it looks like we will not—then we will have to make sure we create an opportunity. I can assure you of one thing: you are not leaving this establishment until I hear the full account of why you ran away from our marriage. And even then I will not let you go until I am satisfied that you have told me the truth!’

After her encounter with Pascual, Briana was still inwardly shaking as she attempted to chat to Tina in the lobby, and she knew her colleague saw that she was unusually distracted. Priding herself on her ability to remain unflappable in most situations—especially when it came to her work—she feared she was going to have to dig deep for resources she wasn’t even sure she had to get her through the rest of this weekend.

When Pascual descended the thickly carpeted staircase, only moments later, her breath all but got locked inside her throat. If he’d meant to make a statement that there was no question it was he who was the VIP guest this weekend, then he had more than succeeded. He had teamed the most exquisite bespoke black jacket with beautifully tailored trousers and a deep blue shirt, and Briana’s knees almost gave way beneath her at the sight of him. He had always looked amazing in a suit—elegant in a way that most very masculine men couldn’t attempt to carry off, as well as effortlessly stylish, fit, and sexy enough to make a woman forget what she was thinking about the second she clapped eyes on him. No matter what her age or marital status!

It was no surprise when Tina leaned over to her and whispered, ‘My God! He’s the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen. How lucky are we that he’s the VIP client!’

Lucky? That wasn’t exactly how Briana would describe what she was feeling as Pascual turned his disdainful dark gaze her way and silently warned her that he was not finished with her yet…not by a long chalk.

‘Señor—Mr Dominguez…your meeting is this way. Please come with me.’

As she led him into the elegant drawing room where the three businessmen were waiting to meet him, they rose in unison from their pin-tucked armchairs round the fireplace. Her voice had a slight tremor in it as she made the formal introductions. There was no doubt in her mind that the men were relieved that Pascual had finally appeared, and straight away she sensed how deferential they were towards him. Her ex-fiancé had always seemed to elicit that kind of response from other people. There was something almost aristocratic about him that, along with his sensational looks, guaranteed he commanded instant attention wherever he went.

After five years of not seeing him the impact he made when he walked into a room had not lessened one iota, Briana discovered, and she wondered what Tina would say if she ever found out that this ‘gorgeous man’, a wealthy Argentinian, was the father of her little boy Adán. Surveying him now, she could hardly believe it herself. Their whirlwind romance seemed such a long time ago. A long, lonely time ago, she thought with a sudden profound ache in her heart.

‘Can we get some more coffee in here—and maybe some brandy, sweetheart?’ Steve Nichols, MD of an advertising agency in Soho and lately coowner with his two colleagues of highly desirable stables in Windsor, took Briana aside.

Glancing into his pale blue eyes and looking at his slightly shiny pallor, she couldn’t help shivering with distaste. Unfortunately she knew his type. He might be on a business trip, but he would consider any reasonably attractive female between the ages of sixteen and forty fair game. Briana knew she would have to keep her wits about her around him. His business credentials might be impeccable, but that didn’t mean his manners or his behaviour towards women followed suit.

To Pascual—a fellow entrepreneur, with a commodity to sell that he very much desired—he would be sycophantic and deferential to a tee. But to her and Tina he could potentially be a nuisance.

‘Of course…Was there anything else?’ Glancing deliberately over at the other men she waited until they all agreed that coffee and brandy was just perfect for now.

As she turned to leave Steve Nichols leaned over to her and whispered conspiratorially, ‘Hurry back, sweetheart,’ and winked. At that very moment she sensed Pascual’s deeply disapproving gaze come to rest on her, and then on the man beside her. Briana’s face flamed again. She hoped to God he didn’t think she was encouraging him!

The meeting went on for at least three hours, and by then it was nearly dinnertime. The hosts had requested that dinner be provided and catered for by a local well-known Michelin-starred restaurant, and while Briana and Tina dealt with the staff from there, who had arrived with their supplies and were currently ensconced in the house’s ample kitchen, the three businessmen retired to their respective rooms to get ready.

To be honest, Briana was glad of the breathing space in which to busy herself with the practicalities of her job and stem the tide of anxiety and emotion that had swept over her since she’d seen Pascual again. But she knew she couldn’t avoid him for ever. Sooner or later he would confront her about the events of the past and the unexpected and abrupt manner in which she had left Argentina.

He would demand a fuller account of why she had left.

The plain fact of the matter was that her reasons for leaving had not become any easier to come to terms with over the years. In fact, some days she worried that they would be with her, spoiling her chance of happiness with a man, for ever…Not that she even wanted any other man. After all that had happened, Pascual’s trust in her was obviously going to be in very short supply. Would he even believe her when she did finally explain things?

About halfway through the evening Tina emerged from the private dining room that overlooked the beautiful gardens which now, as darkness fell, were hidden from view by the heavy velvet drapes at the windows. Briana rose up from the padded love-seat in the lobby and asked, ‘How’s it going in there? Everybody happy?’

‘The food looks amazing! Everyone is tucking in, but our gorgeous Argentinian looks bored, frankly—as if he’d much rather be somewhere else than here.’

Briana’s stomach sank. Their personal business was one thing, but if Pascual was looking bored then the businessmen who had hired her company’s services would not be so thrilled, and she felt responsible for that. Somehow she had to rescue the situation.

‘I was thinking everyone might like to go out somewhere afterwards. There’s a private members’ club with a casino in town. I’ve already been on the phone to them and they would be more than happy to have our party visit.’

‘Great idea! Why don’t you go in and tell them?’ Tina replied, with a wink of her plum-coloured eyelid. ‘They’ll probably appreciate the suggestion more coming from you…I’ve noticed how they’ve all hardly been able to take their eyes off of you—especially the heavenly Mr Dominguez!’

‘You’re imagining things.’

‘All I know is if I had even half the sex appeal you’ve got, Briana Douglas, then I’d be milking it for all I was worth! Every one of those men in that dining room is a multimillionaire, and Mr Dominguez—who’s by far the yummiest of the lot—is apparently a billionaire! Haven’t you ever fantasised about some outrageously rich and gorgeous man sweeping you off your feet and marrying you?’

Briana would have laughed out loud if the irony of her colleague’s words hadn’t been quite so acutely painful. Touching her fingers briefly to her burning cheek, she dismissed the younger girl’s comments with a deliberately distracted air, and gave the black velvet waistcoat she wore over a white silk blouse a little tug to bring it better into alignment with the waistband of her matching fitted skirt.

‘I’ll go in and talk to them…In the meantime, Tina, could you get me a cup of coffee and a sandwich from the kitchen? I don’t think I could face a meal tonight. Do you mind?’

‘You’re mad, turning down the chance to try some of that fantastic food that’s been brought in! They brought enough for us with them, you know.’

‘Then why don’t you have my share?’

Heading down the rich maroon carpet of the hallway that led to the dining room, Briana thought she’d be hard pressed even to eat the sandwich she’d requested, let alone a full meal. Her stomach was deluged with butterflies at just the thought of having a private conversation with Pascual, as she knew she must. She felt doubly unsettled when she thought about her little son…the child he had no idea that he’d fathered when she’d left Argentina in such an unseemly hurry. Following on from that came the realisation that someone with the wealth and status he had at his fingertips could all too easily take Adán from her if he had a mind and a will to…

‘A casino? What an inspired idea—if you don’t mind my saying so, Miss Douglas!’ Steve Nichols leant back in the rather grand Tudor dining chair he occupied as his colleagues readily concurred, and gave Briana another one of his irritating winks.

Compressing her lips in mild irritation, she quickly glanced round the rest of the table and endeavoured to engage the other diners with her pleased smile. But the gesture faded prematurely when her anxious gaze inevitably collided with Pascual’s. He did not simply look bored, as Tina had suggested. Quite clearly he was more annoyed than anything else! Was that because she had walked in and soured his mood?

Once upon a time his face had lit up whenever she came into a room where he happened to be, and again Briana’s heart couldn’t help but yearn for those happier times. To be young and in love with the man of her dreams, living in a vibrant and amazing city like Buenos Aires, had been more than incredible! Sometimes she had to pinch herself to remember that it had ever happened at all…Perhaps it was something she’d dreamt up, because of her loneliness now? But she only had to glance at her son’s sweet dark-eyed face to see the startling resemblance to his charismatic father, and she told herself to simply count her blessings. Having Adán reminded her that she hadn’t lost everything, after all. She had her precious child.

‘What about you Mr Dominguez?’ she forced herself to ask. ‘Would you like to go the casino?’

‘Only if you will agree to accompany me, Miss Douglas,’ he answered smoothly, with an arch of his eyebrow. ‘I always like to have a beautiful girl on my arm when I go to a casino…for luck, you understand…’

‘I…I’m afraid I have work to do.’

All eyes were upon her, and Briana wanted the floor to open up and swallow her. What was Pascual playing at, inviting her to go with them? He must know it was completely inappropriate and would put her in a most awkward position.

‘Come, come, Miss Douglas,’ coaxed Mike Daniels, one of the other businessmen. ‘Mr Dominguez is our guest tonight. He’s come all the way from Argentina for our meeting—the least we can do is grant him this one request, don’t you think? Think of it as one of the perks of the job. Myself and my colleagues will gladly foot the bill.’

Still doubtful, Briana easily guessed that Pascual was taking the utmost pleasure in her obvious discomfort and embarrassment. She wanted to tell Mike Daniels that acting as escort to his VIP guest on a visit to a casino was definitely not part of the services her company provided. But she sensed her ex-fiancé’s potential to make life very difficult all round for everyone if she refused.

Her grey eyes beseeching, she gazed back into the compellingly handsome face that still lazily studied her, and disturbingly saw that a small mocking smile was playing around his lips.

‘I haven’t brought anything suitable with me to wear to a casino.’

‘What you have on is absolutely fine.’ Her tormentor’s smile widened, and his dark eyes lit with mischief as he deliberately swept his gaze up and down her figure, letting it linger in particular on the lush curve of her breasts outlined by the snug black velvet waistcoat.

His aim was obviously to embarrass and belittle her as much as he could, Briana saw, and she would have had no bones about demonstrating her fury with his behaviour if only they had been alone. As things stood, she couldn’t do that. Not without making a scene and besmirching her hard-won reputation as a professional businesswoman.

‘Very well, then. I’ll go and ring the casino and let them know how many of us are coming.’

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