Valdez's Bartered Bride. Rachael Thomas

would appear so. My father knows that money will motivate me over marriage.’

      She tried not to feel insulted, tried not to feel glad that there was a way out of this mess and once she was out of it she’d insist her father sold the properties to repay the debt that, as far as she was concerned, he would still have to Raul. Debts had to be honoured.

      ‘I need to find my brother, preferably without any media attention. I have no wish for the circus they can create or to expose my father’s weakness, which will push the company further into the wrong kind of spotlight, not to mention destroy my mother.’ His eyes were harder than ever, like a heavy thundercloud about to unleash its fury. Did he hate the brother he’d never met?

      Questions raced through her mind, but one had to be asked. ‘So why trust me, someone you barely know, with such sensitive information?’

      ‘Because you’re as against the idea of marriage as I am and claim to have what I need. Added to that, you are your father’s only hope of clearing his debt without dragging his long-standing family name through the bankruptcy courts. That in itself should ensure your compliance with my request.’

      He was right about that. If there had been another way to settle this she wouldn’t have even met with him today. Her relationship with her father was strained to say the least, but she didn’t want the family’s name brought into disrepute. Her grandmother might be elderly, but it would break her heart and after what her mother and father had done to her with their selfish actions she would never do anything to upset the only person in the world who had shown her genuine love and affection.

      ‘And there is no other way?’

      He paused for a moment and, although those dark eyes were focused on her, she was sure his thoughts were far away. A pang of sympathy zipped through her for him. How would she feel if she suddenly discovered that she had a half-brother or sister?

      ‘I either find my half-brother or we must marry.’ His accented voice was sharp as he set out the alternative and totally obliterated that misguided sympathy.

      At least any marriage that did have to be made would be purely for the purpose of transferring her property assets to settle the debt. The fact that he wouldn’t contest a divorce went some way to settling the unease that still ran through her. He obviously didn’t have any intention of making her truly his wife.

      So why did disappointment filter through her? Surely she had got over that teenage crush? He might be handsome and possess a lethal charm, if the waitress’s reaction to him was anything to go by, but succumbing to his looks and charm was unthinkable. She would never give him the satisfaction.

      As if to prove the point, their meals arrived and that skilful charm once again melted the waitress into a puddle. Lydia shook her head in disbelief and looked down at the food she suddenly had no appetite for.

      ‘I don’t need to go to Madrid with you. I can work from here.’ She had her own business to run and in the final weeks before Christmas it would be busy. Added to that the idea of going to Madrid with this man was not one she welcomed, but the prospect of marriage, even if it was only on paper, was infinitely more unappealing.

      ‘Your enthusiasm for my company warms me.’ He mocked, but there was a hint of a mischievous smile on his lips, which she couldn’t help but respond to. ‘But you will come to Madrid. That is non-negotiable.’

      * * *

      Raul watched the battle play out in those expressive eyes. He could see every twist and turn of her doubt

      and reluctance, mirroring all he’d felt when he’d realised just what his father had done.

      ‘Neither of us have much choice in this arrangement.’ He tried to avoid becoming sidetracked by her long lashes as they lowered over her eyes, shielding his view into her soul. He hadn’t expected to find a solution to the problem of tracing his half-brother when he’d made arrangements to meet her, just as he hadn’t expected to find the spark of desire from the very first moment he’d seen her, anger sparking from her as she prepared to leave.

      ‘Before I go anywhere with you, or make any kind of formal agreement, I will need a written contract, Mr Valdez. I need it in writing that if I find your brother, my father’s debts will be settled.’ She hesitated. ‘And if the worst happens and we have to marry, it will be nothing more than a deal on paper.’

      So she didn’t trust him either. He admired her courage to sit there and demand a contract for the repayment of her father’s debt. ‘I will have it drawn up and you can sign it as soon as we arrive in Madrid.’

      He’d already decided they would leave tomorrow as he had no intention of giving her too much time to begin enquiries into the whereabouts of his half-brother, Max. He might not yet have given her any details, but he couldn’t risk her discovering the full extent of his father’s treachery, not until he could be sure she wouldn’t leak the story to the press. He had no intention of putting his mother, the only person to have shown him genuine love, through such a public humiliation.

      His father had treated him and his mother badly. For eight years he’d led a double life, deceiving not only his wife and son, but another woman and child. Raul remembered the day his mother had found out about his affair. He could still hear the hurt echoing from the past as she’d told his father the marriage was over, that he could do what he liked but she and her son were staying where they belonged. That was the start of the coldest example of marriage he’d ever seen. What if he too was destined for the same?