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He flashed something at her in Spanish that sounded ugly. It didn’t need a translation. She understood him perfectly.
‘Get out of my way,’ he snarled, moving to block her out.
‘We should help Colonel up as soon as we can,’ she said, glancing around to enlist the help of Ignacio and the other gauchos.
‘Are you going to lift him?’ Nero rapped without turning to look at them as he knelt at his horse’s head. ‘Where’s the vet?’
‘Coming—he’s coming,’ Ignacio soothed in their own language.
Bella looked round with relief as the vet came running up.
Ignacio grabbed her arm. ‘I want to thank you, Bella, for what you did—’
‘Thank you,’ she replied, holding Ignacio’s gaze. ‘We helped each other. It could have been so much worse—’ Though she doubted Nero would see it that way, Bella thought, staring at him, shoulders hunched and tense as he crouched over his horse.
The game had been suspended and uneasy murmurs swept the crowd while the vet made his examination. When he had finished, Nero drew him aside so they could talk in private.
Knowing no boundaries when it came to the animals under her care, Bella followed them. She waited until there was a pause in the conversation, and then she touched Nero’s arm. ‘This wasn’t your fault, Nero.’
The look Nero gave her should have warned her to leave it, but she was too upset by the fact that Nero had risked Colonel by riding the horse into the collisio
n to save her. ‘Thank you.’
‘For what?’ Nero’s fierce black eyes drilled deep into her confidence.
‘For saving me.’
The aggressive stare narrowed. Did Nero regret his actions? Turning away, he resumed his conversation with the vet in rapid Spanish, leaving Bella on the sidelines until Ignacio offered to translate for her.
Thank goodness Colonel wasn’t so badly injured he would have to be destroyed. For all their power and bulk, horses were such fragile animals, but iced bandages followed by a stint in the hydrotherapy unit would be enough on this occasion.
They all stood round as a team, supervised by the vet, arranged a sling to hoist Colonel onto the recovery vehicle. Nero stood apart from the rest as the transport drove slowly away. The space between them might as well have been a continent, Bella thought.
Once the field was clear the game would be restarted. It was good news for a crowd relieved to discover there had been no serious casualties. Applause followed Colonel in his transporter across the field, though Nero remained staring after it with an expression that suggested the sky had just fallen in. ‘It will be his last match,’ he said to no one in particular.
And Nero blames me for that, Bella realised.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
‘THE game is about to restart, Nero,’ Bella prompted gently.
Nero didn’t turn until the transporter had disappeared and then he said, ‘Where’s my next horse?’
She flinched at the tone of his voice. There wasn’t an ounce of compassion in it. Nero was angry with himself, but he blamed both of them for bringing Colonel’s career to an abrupt close.
And she was also badly shaken, Bella realised as she offered to bring a fresh horse up. A near fatal accident had almost taken out Ignacio, an elderly man she considered her friend now. Waiting for the vet’s verdict had left her in pieces. And the children! How must they be feeling? ‘I’m sorry—you’ll have to excuse me,’ she said, waving to one of the grooms.
‘Where the hell do you think you’re going?’ Nero rapped. ‘Do you have any idea what just happened?’
‘Yes, and I’m sorry, but the kids from the scheme have been watching all this and they will be just as shocked as we are.’ Without waiting for Nero’s reply, she left him and ran. The sooner the children were reassured, the sooner she could get back to work.
Every cloud had a silver lining, Bella thought as she returned to the pony lines. None of the kids had realised the dangers of polo, and those who had dismissed the sport as girlie had been transformed into fervent fans, insisting polo was every bit as dangerous as motor racing and a lot more exciting to watch. Strange how fate worked sometimes, she thought wryly. And now there was just Nero to deal with. Her smile faded as she started to run.
‘So you’ve turned up at last,’ he said as he checked the bridle on the grey.
‘Didn’t the groom look after you?’ Bella shot a quick smile of reassurance at the hapless girl whose bad luck it was to have her good work double-checked by Nero.
‘You’re in charge, Bella,’ Nero said sharply, springing into the saddle. ‘You should be here to supervise the grooms. This is not what I expect of you in a top-class game.’
