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He gave me an enigmatic glance. ‘That’s exactly why. Because it’s a long way from Madrid. There’s no cell phone service either, which makes it the perfect place to retreat to.’
‘From Domingo?’
‘Sí.’He looked away from me, out over the loch. ‘In the past when I came here I would dismiss all my staff for a week or so. Live in the house completely alone.’ His mouth twisted wryly. ‘Well, apart from Mrs Mackenzie.’
‘Oh, you let her stay?’
He glanced back at me, wry amusement clear in his gaze too. ‘I didn’t “let” her do anything. She refused to leave. Said I needed someone to look after me.’
I grinned, charmed at the thought of Mrs Mackenzie bullying one of the most feared businessmen in Europe into being looked after. ‘She’s difficult to say no to, it’s true.’
‘Stubborn women plague my life.’
‘Poor you.’ I squeezed his hand, then after a moment asked, ‘Why did you stay in Madrid? Why didn’t you ever leave and go somewhere else?’
Something furious glittered briefly in his eyes. ‘What? Run away like Valentin? No. I couldn’t leave. Silver Inc is one of Europe’s largest companies, and that made Domingo powerful. His influence spread everywhere, affecting many other companies and many other people. And no one knew what he was really like except me, so I had to stay to mitigate the damage he could do, to manage him.’
‘Did that person have to be you?’
‘He listened to me. I’d spent years turning myself into a carbon copy of him and, while I don’t believe he was capable of trusting anyone, he certainly gave more weight to my opinions that anyone else’s. I was able to guide him on certain policy changes.’
That didn’t surprise me, not considering Con’s deep protective streak. But I could also see that he was very angry with Valentin, and I wanted to know why. Obviously pretending you were dead for fifteen years wasn’t going to endear you to anyone, and I could understand why Con was upset with him for that. But...there was more. Even when Con had spoken about Valentin rescuing his toy soldier he’d been furious. He’d said that Valentin had made things worse, and I could see that too, but... I was curious. I wanted to know more.
I wanted to know everything.
Still, there was a time and a place, and while I knew I could push him if I wanted to, I didn’t want to right now. This was supposed to be a nice day for the two of us, so I squeezed his hand and changed the subject.
We talked about other things, such as how he preferred riding to hiking, and that there were stables here if I wanted to ride too. I’d never ridden a horse before, and of course he insisted that I needed to learn and that he would teach me himself. Then he went off into a long description of the whisky distillery he’d had built on the other side of the loch, an interest he’d been pursuing for a few years, and how their first single malt was due to be released soon.
It was clear from the gleam in his eyes that this was something he was passionate about, and I loved listening to him talk about it. That passion coloured his voice, softened the hard planes and angles of his face, making him even more ridiculously beautiful than he already was.
The picnic place Mrs Mackenzie had recommended was half an hour from the manor—a lovely flat area just across from the pebbly beach of the loch. A thick rug had been spread out over the heather, and all the picnic things laid out. There was no sign of paper plates or plastic cutlery and plastic glasses. Instead, the plates were porcelain, the cutlery silver, and the glasses cut crystal.
I watched Con’s face as he examined the picnic and saw him smile. And when he looked at me his dark eyes were full of intensity. ‘This is wonderful, Jenny. Thank you.’
He meant it, and that made me glow with pleasure.
I tugged on his hand to lead him to the rug. ‘Come on. Let’s have something to eat.’
He sat down and I insisted on serving him, putting on his plate all the delicacies I knew he liked—including the strawberries—then handing him a glass of champagne that was already opened and sitting in an ice bucket for us.
I loved doing things for him. I loved looking after him.
A peaceful silence reigned as we ate, and then, when Con finally put down his plate, he said, ‘These are all my favourite foods. How did you know what I liked?’
‘I paid attention to you,’ I said, pleased that he’d noticed. ‘And I remembered what you like.’ I paused, then added, ‘I always liked taking care of you, too.’
The expression in his eyes shifted. ‘Why did you sometimes take Domingo’s hand? Those times he came into my study, when I’d tell you to leave and you wouldn’t. You started talking to him instead.’
I shrugged. ‘Domingo didn’t like me. I made him uncomfortable. I’m not sure why. When I tried to talk to him he’d ignore me and just...leave. So when I noticed that you didn’t seem to like his visits, I did it more.’
The look on Con’s face was impenetrable. ‘You were protecting me?’
I had my legs tucked under me, my plate at my side, sipping on my grape juice—which was delightfully dry and not at all as sweet as I’d dreaded.
I blushed. ‘I know, it’s stupid. It’s not like I’m tall or powerful or anything, but... Well, I tried.’
His eyes were as black as space and they watched me keenly, though I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
