The Gold Collection. Maggie Cox

She had never had a job or earned her own money, you see. Her parents had been well-off, and she’d married my father straight after she left finishing school. But with no income to pay the mortgage the house had to be sold, and I had to leave my private school and transfer to the local comprehensive. Most of Mum’s friends from the bridge club didn’t want to know her any more, and she took to drowning her unhappiness in gin and tonic.’

      ‘Dios!’ Ramon frowned. He had always assumed that Lauren had enjoyed a comfortable middle-class upbringing, but the truth was clearly very different. ‘What happened to you? You were little more than a child.’

      ‘I had to get a job—well, three jobs actually—that fitted around going to school. I worked in a shop and did cleaning—anything to earn a bit of money to pay the rent on our flat and buy food. Luckily I was able to keep up with my school work, and I managed to get to university. I was determined to have a good career. You wonder why I want to retain some measure of independence?’ she said fiercely. ‘Well, the reason is that after what happened to my mother I vowed that I would never be reliant on another person, as Mum was on my father. When Dad left I was forced to grow up fast. I learned to get on with things, and now when problems occur I prefer to manage on my own rather than seek help from anyone.’

      ‘Including bringing up your child on your own,’ Ramon said slowly.

      He had never really understood why Lauren had kept Mateo’s birth a secret from him. It seemed such a cruel and vindictive thing to do, and that had puzzled him, because he knew she was not a cruel person. Her words gave him a sudden insight into why she had behaved as she had.

      ‘Is that the reason you did not tell me you were pregnant?’ he demanded.

      She nodded. ‘You regarded me only as your mistress, and I honestly believed you would not want our baby. But I was afraid you would feel an obligation towards your child, and I couldn’t bear the thought of Matty growing up wondering why you did not love him, as I have wondered all these years why my father did not love me. I was scared at the prospect of being a single mother,’ she admitted, looking away from him so that she missed the flare of anger in his eyes. ‘But I had a good job, I knew I could cope, and so I decided to just get on with it.’

      ‘You should not have had to cope alone,’ Ramon said roughly, but his anger was directed solely at himself.

      If he had been more open with Lauren during their affair, instead of allowing her to believe in his playboy reputation, she might have turned to him for help when she had needed it most, and he would not have lost the first precious months of his son’s life.

      From Ramon’s tone it was clear that he had not been able to forgive her for keeping Matty from him, Lauren thought bleakly. She saw every day how deeply he loved his son, and she bitterly regretted the decision she had made when she had discovered that she was pregnant. But she couldn’t change the past. It still hung between her and Ramon, and with a flash of despair she realised that it would always define their relationship.

      ‘I thought that if you didn’t know about Matty you would be free to choose a bride better suited to being a duquesa.’ She hesitated. ‘Someone like Pilar. Juanita told me that everyone expected you to marry her,’ she muttered when Ramon frowned.

      ‘My sister has always allowed her tongue to run away with her,’ he said tersely.

      But, like a dog with a bone, Lauren found that she could not drop the subject. ‘You can’t deny that with her aristocratic background Pilar would have been an ideal wife and an ideal duquesa.’

      Ramon shrugged. ‘Perhaps so. But I didn’t marry Pilar. I married you.’

      He did not sound overjoyed by that fact, and Lauren was unaware that his mind was reeling as he tried to assimilate all that she had told him.

      His jaw was tense when he picked up the suitcase and strode over to the door. ‘To quote the words you used earlier—we just have to get on with it. I’ll be back in a couple of days,’ he told her curtly, and walked out of the room without a backward glance.

      He phoned several times while he was away, but their conversations were stilted and entirely about Mateo.

      ‘He’s fearless,’ Ramon said, laughing, when Lauren recounted one day how she had caught their daredevil son trying to climb out of his cot.

      The mixture of pride and love in Ramon’s voice tugged on her heart, and she felt a wistful longing that he would love her even half as much as he loved Matty.

      He had said he would be home the following day, but when at midnight he hadn’t arrived, or even called her, Lauren went to bed, made a half-hearted attempt to read a book, and finally buried her face in the pillows and wept silent tears.

      He wasn’t worth crying over, she told herself angrily, when she sat up to blow her nose. Her mother had cried constantly after her father had left, and she had vowed then that she would never allow any man to mean that much to her. But she had underestimated the power of love, she acknowledged wearily. She did not want to love Ramon, but her heart had a will of its own and it seemed hell-bent on self-destruction.

      She was about to switch off the bedside lamp when the door suddenly opened and he walked in. Lauren’s eyes flew to his face, and then to the bouquet of red roses he was holding. Her heart skittered in her chest.

      ‘Thank you,’ she murmured, when he silently handed the flowers to her. She buried her face in the velvety blooms and inhaled their exquisite fragrance. ‘They’re beautiful.’

      She wished he would stop looking at her with that curious, unfathomable expression in his eyes and say something. But when he did finally speak his words evoked a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach.

      ‘I need to discuss something with you.’

      ‘I see.’ She had hoped the roses were a peace offering, but maybe they were a prelude to him announcing that he was no longer prepared to try and make their marriage work.

      He sat down on the bed, and her senses instantly flared when she breathed in the evocative scent of his cologne.

      ‘I’ve been to Bilbao.’

      She frowned. ‘I thought you went to Madrid?’

      ‘I did. I flew up to Bilbao this afternoon, instead of coming straight home.’ Ramon suddenly smiled, the golden warmth of his sherry-brown eyes easing a little of Lauren’s tension. ‘I have some information that I think you’ll find interesting.’ He opened his briefcase and took out a booklet. ‘This is the prospectus for the university in Bilbao. As I understand it you studied a different system of law to the system we have in Spain?’

      Lauren nodded, confused as to where their conversation was leading. ‘The UK follows the case law system, while Spain and most other European countries follow the continental system. The two are significantly different.’

      ‘But you could study for a Spanish law degree at the university—perhaps on a part-time basis while Mateo is a baby. Once you qualify and he starts school I thought you could join the legal department of Velaquez Conglomerates, or look for a position with a Spanish law firm—whatever you prefer,’ he said quietly, when Lauren stared at him in stunned silence.

      ‘I don’t understand. You were so against me going back to work,’ she said faintly, trying to suppress a little spurt of excitement as she flicked through the university brochure.

      ‘I want you to be happy,’ Ramon said simply. It had taken two miserable days and nights away from her to acknowledge that Lauren’s happiness was important to him.

      Lauren bit her lip. ‘It’s a wonderful idea, and when Matty is a bit older I’ll certainly consider it. But even studying part-time would mean leaving him for two or three days a week, and although Cathy is a great nanny—

      ‘He won’t be with Cathy,’ Ramon interrupted her. ‘I will look after him on the days that you are at university. I’ve already arranged for chief executives to take over