His Brother's Son

This would be the first and the last time they ever met because she certainly wouldn’t come here again after what had happened today. She was only grateful that she hadn’t made the mistake of telling him why she’d come.

Becky sighed as she thought back to that dreadful day when Antonio had told her that his former girlfriend, Tara Lewis, was pregnant with his child and that she intended to get rid of it. It had been a shock for her as well as for him.

Antonio’s affair with Tara had been over for some time by then, and he had made no secret of the fact that he regretted having got involved with her. Becky had been a little concerned that he might have been rushing into their own relationship too soon, and had insisted on them taking things slowly at first.

Antonio had had no such reservations, however. He had told Becky that he loved her and that he hoped one day that she might grow to love him in return. Becky had appreciated the fact that he hadn’t tried to rush her. She had sensed that she’d been falling in love with him and that all it had needed was a little more time for her own feelings to become clear. Then, just six weeks after they’d started going out together, Antonio had discovered that he had cancer and everything had changed. Time had been the one thing they’d no longer had.

Becky had known from the outset that she wanted to be there for him and had never once wavered in her decision. Antonio had been the sweetest, gentlest man she’d ever known and she’d loved him dearly. When Tara had dropped her bombshell it couldn’t have come at a worse time. Antonio had just been told that the treatment he’d needed so desperately would make him sterile, and there Tara had been, telling him that she wanted to abort his child.

He had been close to despair as he’d poured out the whole story to Becky, and that had been when she’d come up with the plan to pay Tara to have the baby. Antonio had inherited a large sum of money on his birthday, so she’d suggested that he use some of that. And then she’d told him that, no matter what happened, she would always take care of the child. It had been that which had convinced him to go ahead.

He and Tara had struck a deal. He would pay her fifty thousand pounds immediately with another fifty thousand when the baby was born, plus an allowance of five thousand pounds each month she was pregnant. If Tara had only stuck to their bargain there wouldn’t have been a problem, but there had been constant demands for more money. Becky had hoped that once Tara had received her final payment, that would have been the end of it. But two weeks earlier Tara had turned up at her flat and demanded a further twenty thousand pounds.

Becky simply didn’t have that kind of money and had told her so, but Tara had refused to believe her. She’d issued Becky with an ultimatum—either find the money or she would take her to court and claim that she’d been coerced into signing over custody of the baby.

Horrified by the thought of what might happen, Becky had tried to make her see sense. However, Tara had just laughed and told Becky that the courts would probably take Josh into care and then neither one of them would end up with custody of him. As Tara had pointed out, she didn’t care what happened to him. She never had. She’d only agreed to give birth to him because Antonio had paid her not to have an abortion.

Becky took a deep breath. She had promised Antonio she would take care of Josh and she wouldn’t let him down. Somehow, some way she would find the money she needed without asking Felipe Valdez for help.

‘Everything looks fine, Miss Prentice. There will be some tenderness for a few days, but once the drainage tube has been removed I am confident that you won’t have any further problems.’

Felipe stepped back as a nurse drew the sheet over the young woman. Lisa Prentice had been rushed into the Clinica Valdez with a seriously inflamed appendix. Felipe’s colleague, Silvia Ramirez, had performed the operation, and now he turned to her.

‘An excellent job, Dr Ramirez, performed under very difficult circumstances. I believe the appendix was ready to burst.’

‘That’s correct, sir,’ Silvia replied, smiling with pleasure at the compliment. She was an attractive brunette in her thirties, engaged to be married to another doctor on the surgical team which Felipe headed. He appreciated the fact that neither of them had allowed their relationship to intrude into their work, although he would have had no hesitation in doing something about it if it had. The welfare of the patients they treated at the Clinica Valdez came first and foremost, and always would.

‘Another half-hour and the outcome might not have been quite so fortunate. Sí?’ He turned to the young woman in the bed once again and frowned.

‘Did you have no indication that there might be something wrong before you set out on your holiday, Miss Prentice? I find it strange that you experienced no discomfort.’

Lisa flushed when she heard the scepticism in his voice. She was a pretty girl in her teens and had come on holiday to Mallorca with a group of her friends. Felipe couldn’t fail to see how uncomfortable she looked about having to answer the question.

‘I did have a few twinges the night before we were due to fly over here,’ she muttered. ‘I just hoped it was indigestion or something.’

‘I see.’ His black brows swooped upwards as he regarded her with cool, brown eyes. ‘It never occurred to you that it might be something more serious and that perhaps you should visit your doctor before you set off on your holiday?’

‘Not really. I mean, if Mum had found out that I wasn’t feeling too good she might have stopped me going…’ She tailed off uncertainly.

Felipe bit back a sigh. The young woman had preferred to run the risk of being seriously ill rather than cancel her holiday. It would take more than the promise of two weeks in the sun to get him on a plane if he were feeling under the weather.

That thought reminded him of what had happened earlier in the day, and he frowned. Had Rebecca Williams been feeling ill before she’d come to see him or had it been what he’d said that had had such disastrous consequences? Even the most consummate actress couldn’t have faked that bout of sickness, and it troubled him to know that he might have been responsible for it, troubled him more than it should, too. Why should he care about the wretched woman after the way she had used his brother?

His brows drew even further together and he saw Silvia glance rather nervously at him. She was obviously wondering if she’d done something to cause his displeasure so he quickly smoothed his features into their customary bland mask.

‘May I suggest that the next time you go on holiday you are a little more sensible, Miss Prentice? As it is you will not get to enjoy very much of your stay on the island, I’m afraid. We shall keep you here for the next two to three days then I shall recommend to your insurance company that you should be flown home immediately.’

‘Oh! I didn’t realise I would have to go home.’ Tears filled the girl’s eyes. ‘I thought I would be able to join my friends. We’ve been saving up for this holiday for months, you see, and now I won’t have a chance to enjoy any of it.’

Felipe sighed, although he couldn’t help wondering why the sight of the girl’s tears should have moved him. He wasn’t uncaring about the people he treated, but he’d learned a long time ago to distance himself. It puzzled him that he didn’t seem able to do so right then…

Unless it was that meeting with Rebecca Williams which had allowed his emotions to surface?

It was a deeply disquieting thought and he ruthlessly drove it out of his mind. ‘I feel that it would be far more sensible if you returned home as soon as you are discharged from the clinic, Miss Prentice. However…’ He held up his hand when Lisa started to say something and was unsurprised when she fell silent. Few people stood up to him, he’d found, although whether that was a good thing was open to question. Maybe he would be a better person if occasionally he had to bow to another person’s will? He couldn’t remember the last time anyone had contradicted him—apart from Rebecca Williams, of course.

It was an effort to hide his dismay as that thought slid into his mind, but hiding his feelings was something he was particularly good at. ‘However, I am prepared to review your case in a few days’ time.’

He shrugged when he heard the young woman’s gasp of delight, clamping down on the urge to smile at her because it wouldn’t be right to let her think that his agreement was a foregone conclusion. ‘If you continue making such excellent progress it might be possible to allow you to carry on with your holiday—with certain provisos, of course.’

‘Oh, thank you, Dr Valdez, and you, too, Dr Ramirez. That’s just brilliant news!’

Lisa was beaming when they moved away from her bed. Felipe sensed that Silvia was looking at him and glanced at her. ‘You disagree with my decision, Dr Ramirez? Please, feel free to say so if you do.’

‘Not at all,’ she said quickly. He saw a little colour touch her cheeks and sighed when it struck him what was wrong. Silvia was surprised because he’d changed his mind. Frankly, it was unheard of for him to go back on a decision once he had made it.

It made him wonder what was wrong with him that day and why he seemed to be acting so out of character. He had changed his mind about sending Lisa home once she was discharged and now he found himself wishing that he’d discovered what Rebecca Williams had wanted. It had seemed enough at the time that he’d been able to tell her what he thought of her, but all of a sudden he was beset by curiosity.

Why had she come to see him? He’d heard her telling the taxi-driver to take her to the airport so had it been a sudden whim that had made her spend her last few hours on the island visiting him, or had there been another reason behind it?

The question nagged at him for the rest of the day so that by the time he left the hospital he was tired of thinking about it. He made his way from the main building and followed the path through the trees until he came to a pink-washed villa. It was almost seven and the sun was sinking low in the sky, casting a burnished haze across the bay.

Felipe paused as he always did to admire the view, but that evening it didn’t soothe him. He felt too on edge and keyed up, a feeling of tension making his nerves hum. It had been years since he’d felt that way. The last time had been when he’d found out that his fiancée had been cheating on him.

He’d solved that problem by ending the engagement and hadn’t made the mistake of getting involved with anyone ever since. Any relationships he’d had in the intervening years had meant little to him apart from physically. If only he could apply the same objectivity to what had happened that day, but wondering what Rebecca Williams had wanted was eating away at him.

He let himself into the villa, bypassing the dining-room where his housekeeper had left his supper in the heated serving trolley. Usually he enjoyed her cooking but that night the smell of meat and vegetables made him feel sick, although not as sick as Rebecca had been that morning.

‘Madre de Dios!’ He slammed his hand against the study door, feeling pain shoot through his palm when it connected with the ornately carved wood. It stunned him to feel it and know that he was capable of such anger when he had always—always—been able to control his emotions before.

But this was different. This all had to do with Antonio, and there were too many emotions churning inside him. He felt guilt and anger, grief and pain, all laced with a deep contempt for the way that woman had used his brother when he had been so vulnerable.

Antonio hadn’t deserved to be treated like that!

Tears stung Felipe’s eyes but he blinked them away. In his heart he knew that he might be making a mistake, but he didn’t have a choice. He had to sort this out once and for all, bring everything to its rightful conclusion. Rebecca Williams must be made to pay.

He went to his desk and picked up the phone, his hand was rock steady when he dialled the number. It was the usual push-button service but he obeyed each command without experiencing his usual irritation until, finally, he was connected to an operator.

‘I wish to book a seat on the next flight to London. My name? Valdez, Dr Felipe Valdez.’

CHAPTER TWO

‘YOU’VE not got much of a suntan, I must say. Don’t tell me it was raining in Mallorca?’

Becky glanced round as her friend, Karen Hardy, came into the staffroom where she’d been making a cup of coffee. It had been a hectic morning on the paediatric intensive care unit of St Leonard’s Hospital, where she worked, and it was the first opportunity she’d had to take a break. She automatically reached for the jar of coffee and made Karen a drink as well.

‘It wasn’t raining, but I didn’t get much chance to enjoy the sun,’ she explained, handing her friend the mug.

She picked up her own cup, hoping that the hot coffee would help to warm away the chill which seemed to have invaded her since the previous day. She’d felt cold ever since she had got back from Mallorca despite the fact that the weather in London was surprisingly warm for the time of year. But maybe the chill she felt owed itself less to the outside temperature than to the frosty reception she had received at the Clinica Valdez.

Her grey eyes clouded as she recalled what Felipe Valdez had said to her. She had spent the night going over and over every cruel word, but nothing seemed to take the sting out of them. He honestly believed that she had used Antonio for her own ends. The thought still made her feel ill.

‘Hey, are you OK? You look as though you’d just swallowed something nasty.’ Karen sniffed her coffee suspiciously. ‘The milk isn’t off again, is it?’

‘No, it’s fine. Don’t worry, I’m not trying to poison you,’ Becky quickly assured her. ‘Here have one of these.’

She offered Karen the packet of chocolate biscuits which one of the doctors on the unit had given her in the hope that it would distract her from asking anything else. Karen was a good friend but Becky had deemed it wiser not to tell anyone too much since she’d taken the job at St Leonard’s. People would have been bound to gossip if the truth had got out, and that was the last thing she wanted to happen.

She’d told everyone the story that she and Antonio had decided upon—that she was a single mother, bringing up her nine-month-old son on her own. Whenever anyone asked about Josh’s father, she answered quite truthfully that he had died not long after the baby had been born.

Everyone had accepted it without question, and although she occasionally felt guilty about having to deceive them she felt she didn’t have a choice. She wouldn’t take any risks where Josh was concerned.

‘Thanks.’ Karen took a biscuit and carried on talking through a mouthful of crumbs. ‘So why didn’t you get much chance to enjoy the sun while you were in Mallorca?’

‘Oh, it was just a flying visit. I was there and back within a day.’

‘Really?’ Karen made no attempt to hide her surprise. Her blue eyes gleamed with curiosity as she stared at Becky. ‘You must have had a very good reason for not stopping. I mean, it’s a long way to go just for a few hours, isn’t it?’

Becky sighed as she realised her mistake. She shouldn’t have said that because her friend wouldn’t have been any the wiser if she’d let her believe that she had stayed in Mallorca. She’d had five days’ leave owing to her and had planned the trip to coincide with them. Not for the first time she rued the fact that being deceitful didn’t come naturally to her. Even when speaking to Felipe Valdez she had needed to watch every word she’d said.

‘I had something to sort out,’ she replied quickly, not wanting to dwell on the previous day’s events. Recalling the contempt on Felipe’s face still had the power to upset her, even though she didn’t understand why his opinion should carry any weight. So long as Josh was safe, nothing else mattered. And once she found the money she needed to pay Tara, her biggest problem would have been solved.

‘Something to do with Josh, do you mean?’ Karen guessed astutely. ‘You mentioned something about his father coming from Mallorca—did you go there to see his family?’

‘That’s right.’ Becky shrugged. ‘As I said, it was just a flying visit—that’s why I didn’t stay very long. Anyway, I wanted to get home to Josh.’

‘You didn’t take him with you?’

She groaned when she heard the surprise in Karen’s voice. What was that saying about the tangled webs we weave? One lie seemed to lead to another and if she wasn’t careful she would start tripping herself up.

‘He had an ear infection so I didn’t think it would be wise to take him on the plane. He stayed with the childminder so he was perfectly happy.’

She could tell that Karen was going to ask her something else so it was a relief when their new trainee nurse, Debbie Rothwell, put her head round the door.

‘I’m awfully sorry, Becky, but can you come? Holly is crying and I’ve no idea what’s wrong with her. All the monitor readings are fine. I’ve double-checked.’

Becky put her cup on the draining-board and smiled at the younger woman. Debbie was still very nervous about the responsibility involved with working in the IC unit and rarely trusted her instincts where the children were concerned. Whilst the monitoring equipment was invaluable it didn’t supply all the answers.

‘Have you tried asking her what’s wrong?’

‘Well, no, I haven’t, actually,’ Debbie admitted, looking even more flustered. ‘I suppose I should have thought of that first.’

‘Don’t worry. It takes a while to slot into the routine here,’ Becky said kindly, going to the door. ‘Let’s go and have a look at Holly and see if we can find out what’s the matter with her. She’s due to be transferred to a ward once Mr Watts has seen her, so there’s no need to be overly concerned. She’s well on the mend, I’m glad to say.’

They made their way into the IC unit and went straight to Holly Benson’s bed. The four year-old had been admitted the previous week after suffering a stroke. She had been gravely ill at the time and the prognosis hadn’t been good. However, dedicated nursing care, plus the child’s own will to survive, had pulled her through.

The good news was that young children were known to make an excellent recovery after they’d suffered a stroke. Nobody was exactly sure how it worked, but it had been proved that other parts of the brain took over the tasks performed by any damaged areas. With a bit of luck, little Holly would lead a full and active life.

‘Now then, sweetheart, what’s the matter? Does your head hurt or do you have a pain anywhere?’ she asked gently, bending down beside the child’s bed.

Although Holly had been removed from most of the monitoring equipment, she was still attached to the machine that was checking her blood pressure and heart rate. Becky saw the child pluck at the leads attached to her, and gently moved Holly’s hand away so that she couldn’t dislodge them.

‘Want to get up,’ the little girl said, her lower lip pouting. ‘Want to play!’

‘Oh, I see!’

She laughed as she kissed the little girl’s cheek, thinking what a good sign that was. When a child was fretting because she wanted to get out of bed, she had to be on the mend.

‘I’m afraid you can’t get up just yet, poppet. The doctor has to see how you are first.’

She turned to Debbie and grinned when she saw the relief on the young nurse’s face. ‘Panic over. How do you fancy reading Holly a story while we wait for Mr Watts to make his appearance? I wouldn’t like him to think that we don’t keep our patients happy while they’re with us.’

She moved away from the bed after both Holly and Debbie had agreed that it sounded like the perfect solution and made her way down the ward, automatically checking each child as she passed. There were ten beds in the paediatric intensive care unit and every one of them was in use. She had no doubt that the minute Holly was transferred to the medical ward, another young patient would arrive.

St Leonard’s was the only paediatric intensive care unit in that area of London, and beds there were always at a premium. It meant that her role as a staff nurse was a demanding one, but she’d never regretted her decision to work there. The fact that she’d been able to choose to work permanent days had been a real bonus because she didn’t know how she would have managed to look after Josh if she’d had to work shifts.

A smile softened her mouth as she thought about the little boy. Even though it was a huge responsibility, she had never regretted offering to take care of him. Josh was Antonio’s son and doubly precious because of that. She couldn’t have loved any child more than she loved him.

Becky left the ward and went to the office. Sister Reece was on holiday that week so Becky was in charge in her absence and there was a stack of paperwork to catch up with. She opened the office door then froze when she caught sight of the man standing by the window. For one horrible moment she thought she was going to faint as the floor seemed to rush up to meet her.

She saw him turn, saw the concern that crossed his face, saw him take a step towards her—and it was that which steadied her. The thought of Felipe Valdez actually touching her was more than she could bear.

‘Don’t!’

Felipe froze when he heard the total rejection in Rebecca’s voice. Frankly, he wasn’t sure what to do. She looked as though she was ready to keel over, yet the expression on her face dared him to go to her assistance.

He took a deep breath while he tried to think, but it was surprisingly difficult to assess the situation. Knowing that he was the object of all those waves of antipathy that were flowing across the room had thrown him off course. He could no longer take a rational view of what was happening and it shocked him to realise that he was in danger of acting instinctively and without thought.

‘What do you want?’

Her voice sounded cold and sharp, as though all the warmth and sweetness had been drained from it, and he frowned because it was strangely distressing to know that he was responsible for the change. He found himself wondering if he should apologise for what he had done before common sense reasserted itself. If there was any apologising to be done, it needed to come from her, not him.

‘I want to know why you came to see me yesterday.’

He saw her slender body stiffen but he refused to let himself be swayed by this act she was putting on. He had known that she was a nurse because Antonio had told him that in his last letter, but it had been a shock to discover that she worked in one of the most demanding departments in any hospital.

When he’d called at the house where she lived, a neighbour had told him that Rebecca worked in the paediatric intensive care unit of St Leonard’s Hospital. He had taken a taxi there, trying to reconcile himself to the thought of her doing such a demanding job. Yet why should he have been so surprised? Who better than Rebecca Williams to deal with sick children when she was incapable of feeling any genuine emotion? The thought made his heart ache for some reason.

‘You must have had a very good reason for coming to see me, Miss Williams, and I want to know what it was. Although maybe I could make an educated guess.’

‘I don’t know what you mean,’ she said quickly, but he could see the fear that had darkened her eyes. ‘I told you that I just wanted to meet you—’

‘And it was a lie.’

He smiled sardonically when she fell silent, wondering why he couldn’t seem to derive any pleasure from her discomfort. It felt on a par with pulling the wings off a butterfly to stand there and mock her, but he couldn’t afford to weaken, wouldn’t allow himself to forget what had driven him to come. He just had to think about Antonio and anything…anything…was justified!

‘Please, don’t insult my intelligence, Miss Williams. We both know that you wanted something from me. Was it money that you were after, by any chance?’