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“Near Señor Bosque’s home?” She turned so that he could see the oil lamplight expose her expression.
“Not near. At.”
“Señor Bosque?” Shelene put her hands to her face. “Oh! There are days when I think I am clever and then there are days when I have to deal with you. SeñorForest.”
“It was never meant to be a secret. My solicitor in Cadiz made all the arrangements. I’ve only visited twice in the years since I purchased the land. Fisk arranged for the laborers who constructed the house and the farmers who till the fields. It was to be our home. Our family’s home.”
“Ah, Mr. Fisk. He facilitated your orders with astounding proficiency. Not that I needed him for anything.”
“He was to assist you in legal and financial matters, not pester you about the crops you planted.”
“I didn’t need a second spy in the family.”
“What are we going to do about your uncle? He can’t stay here. I won’t allow it. Your father won’t allow it.”
“I will manage my uncle. Besides, it seems you have your own estate to manage now.”
“Ignoring him won’t make it better. There will come a time when you and he will disagree and depending on the severity of it, you may be the one to suffer the consequences. Or Antonio. He is a vengeful and cruel man, Shelene. Worse than bedding down with a viper.”
“You should go home. Rest.” Shelene said. “I will always respect you, Roman. I know of your devotion to our family. To yours. To England. And I will never forget that you were the one who looked for and found my father. But it would be best if you left soon, taking Oliver home to England. For all our sakes.”
“I may have been gone for several months, but I haven’t changed, Shelene.”
“Do you want me to beg? If you ever loved me,” she said. “If youeverloved me, you would leave.”
“That’s not how my love works.”
She laughed. “You’ve done it before. I am not asking for something you haven’t been willing to do in the past.”
Roman squelched the uncharitable thought that ambushed him. In England, fathers could keep their children from their mothers at will. And he, as a father and husband, could never do that to Shelene.
“I’m a long way from agreeing to any such thing, but if I did, Antonio would have to visit me every day. Or I would have to visit Las Colinas every day to see him.”
“That isn’t part of the plan and defeats the purpose of you not being here.”
“My answer is no. This is my home now. England is no longer my mistress because I have a wife.”
* * * * *
This was how it always was with Roman. He would just show up and her life would be thrown into chaos. Roman’s life was nothing but chaos. He thought his reappearance in her life was natural and right, and maybe for him, it was peaceful.
He had no idea the turmoil churning inside her. The muscles in her stomach quivered. She’d been on the verge of tears, and murder, since her confrontation with Uncle Francisco. And a volcano’s worth of hot anger built inside, ready to erupt with the slightest provocation.
Roman always said her will was made of iron. Maybe. Maybe before she had Tono. Maybe before she was a mother. Not now.
She did not want to run into Roman’s arms; she wanted to collapse upon the floor and weep for the bitterness of it all.
“Durra will return shortly. I would like for you to leave soon. If, as you say, you have your own home now, you should return to it. I want Las Colinas to remain peaceful.”
“I’m not leaving until I see your uncle.”
“You will cause the thing you seek to avoid. And I asked him to leave last night.”
“Did he?”
“I’m not sure. He hates you, you know.”
“While I feel nothing for him. It was never personal. I thought you knew that. It was the work I was assigned by the Home Office.”
