Chapter Three #3
He did not usually enjoy physical contact, was not a naturally tactile man, unless erotic pleasure was involved. Nor was he a man who had any gift for comforting distraught women—just ask Ana, or his mother for that matter, whose distress he had failed to alleviate when he was a boy.
He shook his head, determined to dispel the wave of old guilt. And grief.
But how could he have controlled the urge to comfort her?
The girl had looked so forlorn and lost in that moment.
He had not lied when he told her he hated to see any woman abused.
That was surely why he had lost his cool so spectacularly with the thief in Barcelona.
The sight of the brute swatting the girl off him like a fly had stirred a deep-seated rage he remembered also from his childhood, which had exploded like a storm.
But this morning the instinct to protect her had felt more personal—and all the more disturbing for it.
‘You do not think she is faking this memory loss then?’ he asked, his usual cynicism kicking in.
She had no money and no possessions, how easy would it be to throw herself on the mercy of a wealthy man, by pretending to have no recollection of who she was?
‘This very convenient confusion about her identity,’ he finished, in the hope that maybe the girl was not as vulnerable as she appeared.
‘I do not believe so. She was distressed about her lack of memory, Your Excellency. As anyone would be in such circumstances,’ the doctor replied, the faint rebuke in his tone making it clear he thought such an assessment of the girl’s symptoms was beneath Santiago.
Santiago ignored Mendoza’s gentle reprimand.
His cynicism had served him well over the years.
But, unfortunately, his common sense—and his ability to read people—was telling him the girl was not lying.
Despite her vulnerability, she had been determined not to appear defenceless, had even taken him to task for his hectoring questions.
‘She informed me she wishes to pay for her stay if she remains here,’ the doctor added, clearly having been charmed by Santiago’s new house guest. ‘Although I have advised another couple of days of bedrest before she contemplates finding employment. I would also suggest having her referred for a scan at the Girona hospital, just to ensure there are no underlying issues.’
‘Okay,’ Santiago replied.
Her insistence she pay her way was of course ludicrous, especially when she was still suffering from the effects of that brute’s blow. Perhaps the sight of the yellowing bruise on her cheek was another reason why he had taken pity on her and made a foolish attempt to prevent her crying.
Although again, pressing his hand to her shoulder had not felt entirely like pity when she had responded to his touch, her gaze darkening with…
He cursed inwardly.
Forget that look. It meant nothing. And you certainly do not wish it to mean anything.
It seemed he would be stuck at the castillo at least until the end of the summer now—before he could find a new school that would enrol his troublesome sister for the autumn semester. He’d already exhausted all the best private institutions in Spain, which meant looking further afield.
Although at seventeen she was nearly a woman, Ana remained as stubborn and disobedient as ever.
Leaving her in the care of the staff here for the summer would be a recipe for disaster.
She had the ability to charm them all into becoming her partners in crime—even María was not always immune to her exuberant determination to be a thorn in everyone’s side, most of all her oldest brother’s.
And the many governesses he had hired over the years had never been able to control her either.
All of which meant he had already had to make the infuriating decision to relocate his business interests here for the next two months to watch over her himself.
The good news was, after a few months of having him punishing her bad behaviour, by the end of the harvest she would be begging him to attend whichever new school he picked—and it would also give him time to prepare her for his impending marriage, once he found a bride.
The bad news was, he would be spending a whole summer in this mausoleum, which held far too many unpleasant memories. And now, added to that, there would be this girl here indefinitely too—whose presence provoked him in a way he had never experienced before. Not even while dealing with Ana.
‘How long do you think it will take for her to regain her memory?’ he asked.
And leave, he wanted to add, but didn’t.
Because he suspected Mendoza would be less than impressed with the callous sentiment.
Not that he cared what people thought of him, but Mendoza had been here the night his mother had died…
And he did not want the man suggesting grief counselling again to cure Santiago’s ‘detachment issues’, when Santiago had never considered his ability to contain his emotions a problem.
‘That is impossible to say with any certainty, Your Excellency. Although usually these episodes do not last very long, amnesia is not something you can cure. The brain adjusts to trauma at its own pace and in its own way. But you could perhaps consult a psychiatrist for a more thorough assessment.’
‘Let’s see how it goes,’ he said noncommittally, already discarding that idea.
If they couldn’t cure the problem, what was the point of letting a psychiatrist poke around in the girl’s head? In his experience, such an intrusion would only make the whole episode more traumatic. She certainly had not lost her ability to stand up for herself, which was the main thing.
‘She is well otherwise?’ he asked.
‘She is tired and still bruised, and distressed obviously about the amnesia, but otherwise she is fit and well, yes. There are no signs of any more concerning injuries. The scan would just be a precaution.’
‘Okay, arrange the scan and send me the bill for her treatment,’ he said. It was the least he could do to ensure she was healthy and could leave as soon as was humanly possible.
But when the doctor nodded and headed out of his study, he called after him.
‘Do you know how old she is, Mendoza?’ he asked, because it was another aspect of his unexplained reaction towards her that he found deeply unsettling.
She seemed so young, innocent even—what if she were even younger than Ana?
Wouldn’t that make Santiago’s awareness of her—that jolt of arousal when her breath had guttered out and she had trembled under his touch—nothing short of depraved?
The memory of his father—and his unscrupulous dealings with women—loomed large.
‘She says she has just turned twenty.’
Not younger than Ana, then. Thank God.
Santiago frowned, his suspicions aroused again, even as relief flooded him. ‘How does she know her age, if she has no memory of her own name?’
‘Random pieces of information are not unusual in these circumstances.’
What a shame she does not have any more useful pieces of random information then .
After the doctor left, he called María and gave his housekeeper the news that Cerys would be staying until she regained her memory. Or they could find out more about her.
He had already contacted the Barcelona police about the assault and given them a description of the thief.
Maybe he would get lucky, and her documents would be found.
Her accent suggested she was English. Mateo had contacted the British consulate in Barcelona, so they could alert them if anyone enquired about a missing girl.
The housekeeper took the news with her usual competence, but then reiterated what Mendoza had said about the girl insisting on paying for her room and board.
‘Once she is fully recovered, find her something to do then. And pay her accordingly,’ Santiago replied.
If she were faking her amnesia to play on his sympathies this would disabuse her of the idea that he was in any way a soft touch.
‘I have no objection to her working here once she is well enough.’ And there was always work to do during the summer—he had frequently had to lend a hand himself in the fields during the harvest. Then an idea struck him.
‘Ana needs someone to watch her. I simply do not have the time to be my sister’s keeper twenty-four-seven.
Give the girl the task and tell her to report back to you if Ana gets up to her usual mischief.
’ He huffed out a breath. ‘Especially with any of the local boys or my male employees.’
His sister was vivacious, beautiful, completely uncontrolled and also dangerously na?ve—but because she was also extremely intelligent, she had realised her ability to enslave the opposite sex as soon as she had reached puberty, and had become even more of a handful as a result—which was precisely why she needed a woman’s guidance.
But until he found a wife to provide that, this girl could keep her company.
She wasn’t much older than his sister, but maybe she could distract Ana from her usual tricks.
Plus, they both spoke English. Keeping his sister entertained and out of trouble would certainly be a way for Cerys to more than earn her keep.
And it would relieve him of the onerous task of dealing with Ana while he was also juggling vineyard business, the upcoming harvest, all his other businesses and investments…
And rebooting his quest to find a suitable bride, which had been put on hold for the past forty-eight hours.
He had to host the annual Cantada Summer Fiesta in three weeks, so he would endeavour to find a date for the event who he could add to his shortlist—a shortlist which had precisely zero names on it at present.
As he tucked his phone into his back pocket, he congratulated himself on finding an excellent solution to the problem presented by his unwanted houseguest.
Now all he had to do was get on with his life and ignore her existence—which would be easy.
The seventeenth-century castillo had over six hundred rooms in four separate wings, the vineyards stretched for over two thousand hectares, the winery and bodega was a huge operation which would be full of people working—and tourists doing tours—as they prepared for the harvest during the coming weeks.
He was going to be extremely busy. And if the girl was going to ride herd on Ana she would have her hands full, too.
So there was no reason he would ever even need to see her or speak to her again. Let alone touch her.
Excelente! The problem of his unwanted houseguest was solved.
Now all he had to do was find a wife.