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Yes, Oresto was dead—and Diego was responsible. His closest friend—a man he had known from childhood—and nothing would bring him back. Not this self-flagellation, that was for sure. His guilt wouldn’t soften the grief for Oresto’s family, and Diego must accept what couldn’t be changed or he would damage even more people, he realised, gazing at Maxie.
She sat up in bed, instantly awake the moment the light of a new day hit the window. She could hear Diego in the bathroom, shaving and cursing. He sounded in an extremely good mood, Maxie thought as he came back into the bedroom, wiping his face on a towel.
‘You’re awake,’ he said. Dropping the towel, he launched himself onto the bed. She screamed with laughter and embraced him.
‘You’re crazy—do you know that?’ she demanded, covering him in kisses.
‘Good morning, Señorita Parrish,’ Diego said, returning her kisses with interest. ‘I trust you slept well?’
‘I would have done, but this man kept me awake all night,’ she said, frowning.
‘No. Really? Where is he?’ Diego demanded, glancing fiercely round the room. ‘Let me kill him so my honour is satisfied.’
‘I think your honour is very satisfied,’ she observed, happily stretching.
And then her phone rang.
In the space of one strident peal, that carefree mood—her sense of completeness, togetherness, of sharing everything they were and had between them—shattered into tiny, ugly pieces.
‘You’d better answer it,’ Diego said, moving away to give her some privacy.
‘Sorry,’ she said, holding the phone to her chest until he was out of earshot. Winding the sheet round her body she rushed across the room to the window, where the reception was good and there was no chance Diego could hear her. She glanced at him with more apologies ready on her lips.
‘Go ahead,’ he said without expression. ‘I’ll get dressed.’
‘Your father has a small infection,’ the nurse was saying while Maxie stared at the empty space left by Diego. ‘But you should be fine to continue your business trip,’ the nurse added, ‘so enjoy it while you can.’
Maxie’s heart sank at the implied warning, and sank again when she thought what it meant for her tender new relationship with Diego. ‘You’ll let me know if anything changes?’ she urged, already feeling the ice of loss creeping through her veins.
‘Of course,’ the nurse assured her briskly.
Maxie stood still for a moment when she had ended the call. She’d seen the expression on Diego’s face. Goodness knew who he thought was ringing her at this time in the morning. How was she going to answer his questions? She couldn’t lie to him. She couldn’t pretend it was a business call. Since sleeping together something had changed between them. They had placed their trust in each other. Was she going to break that trust now?
She didn’t have to say anything unless Diego brought it up, Maxie reasoned. This was her problem and she would sort it out. She just had to hope there would be time to finalise everything for the charity event before her father’s condition worsened.
‘Problem?’ Diego asked, towelling his hair.
‘Nothing I can’t handle.’ Did her voice sound as false to him as it did to her?
‘Are you sure?’
‘I’m certain.’
‘That’s good,’ he said, tossing his towel onto a chair, ‘because I’ve got news for you. While you were on the phone I took a call from my brother. We’re leaving for the estancia today.’
‘Today?’
‘Do you have a problem with that?’
‘No, of course not.’ She would be moving further away from her father, but one step closer to finishing the job. Which meant she would be leaving Argentina and Diego for good. ‘Great,’ she said, forcing a smile.
No man was in for the long haul, Maxie reminded herself, not unless guilt held him close, she realised, with her mother’s experience clear in her mind. And she wanted more than that. Perhaps it was as well she would be leaving soon.
Diego explained their travel plans and seemed more concerned about her meeting his family than the mysterious phone calls she’d been taking. ‘I can’t wait to meet them,’ she said, thinking he had become a little reserved on the subject.
‘You may not see too much of me,’ he explained in a way that chilled her, ‘as I will be preparing for the match when we reach the estancia.’
‘I wouldn’t expect anything else,’ she assured him. Walking across the room, she rested her face against his chest. ‘I know how much this first match means to you.’
‘I wouldn’t be playing at all if it wasn’t for you.’
But there was chill in his voice, as if mentally he was pulling back. Even the arms that had held her so securely felt mechanical, somehow. ‘I’ll do anything I can to help you,’ she said, ‘and please don’t worry about me when we arrive at the estancia,’ she added, hoping that by teasing Diego she would restore his former good mood. ‘I’ll be so busy there’s no chance I’ll get in your way. So you’d better not get in mine.’
There was a pause, and then he responded as she had hoped he would. ‘I’ll still need my therapist,’ he said, in the warm tone that could sometimes be frighteningly elusive.
‘As I will need mine,’ she assured him.
Diego’s kiss was long and deep, and when he pulled his head back to look at her there was something in his eyes that should have filled her with all the reassurance in the world. But it vanished quickly. ‘Well, we’d better get on,’ he said briskly. ‘I imagine you have packing to do?’
‘Yes, I have,’ she said, knowing that nothing this good ever lasted.
She should also remember that Diego had shadows too, Maxie reminded herself. Let him get this first match out of the way, and then she would tell him about her father and there would be no more secrets between them.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THE flight from Buenos Aires to the airstrip at Estancia Acosta took no time at all with Diego at the controls, but the intimate look they’d shared when Diego secured her seat belt before returning to the cockpit made any separation far too long. It would be so easy to get used to having him around, Maxie reflected, and that was foolish.
The jet landed lightly on a bleached strip of sand set like a golden ribbon on a plain of richly coloured flat-lands. The airstrip was empty other than their jet and a solitary truck, beside which stood a traditionally dressed Argentinian cowboy. A gaucho, she realised, breaking free of her concerns. She had finally arrived on the pampas.
Their jolting journey to the estancia was a great introduction to the local scenery. Diego sat up front while Maxie leaned out of the open window, letting the warm breeze mess with her hair and her senses fill with the scent of ripe corn and lush green grass. Everything was on such a vast scale—from the huge skies to the seemingly endless grasslands that stretched away to the misty purple horizon. The flat land was punctuated by paddocks populated with herds of wild horses, and there were more ponies clustering by the fence as they approached the towering gates of the Acosta family home, which loomed out of the ocean of grass like the entrance to some Wild West ranch.
The moment they drove up to the front door people poured out, and when she climbed down from the truck Maxie was engulfed in a whirlwind of warm-hearted greetings. Diego was at her side throughout, though to her disappointment he insisted it was too soon for lengthy introductions as Maxie was tired from their journey. It was almost as if he didn’t want her to meet his family properly, she thought as everyone said they understood, and agreed that Maxie must retire to her suite of rooms and that a dinner tray should be sent up.
‘What a wonderful family you have,’ she exclaimed as Diego escorted her into the house.
‘I’m pleased you think so,’ he said, with that same chill note. ‘They certainly took to you.’
Was that a criticism? she wondered, trying to read him.
‘I’ll see you in the morning,’ he said as the housekeeper loomed. ‘
