Chapter Twelve
Agustin was tired of flying to and from the island, but spending the night posed too much of a risk. No amount of time away quenched his thirst for his assistant, and as long as an engagement was on the table with another woman, he could hardly cross any lines.
Even if he was currently rather fed up with the woman who wouldn’t commit to an answer.
The last he’d talked to the countess, she’d sounded like she was about to say yes, but she’d said she needed one more visit from him to be sure and that she wanted to go over the NDA one last time with her lawyers.
Agustin had never prodded into the reasons behind Lady Coralie accepting a business arrangement for a marriage, and she’d certainly never offered her motivations. He considered that her business.
In any other situation, he would have insisted she decide or bow out. But this was no other situation… A child’s life was at stake.
Which was dramatic, he knew. Julia would be alive and well regardless of what the countess decided. It was simply that marrying the countess and passing Julia off as theirs was the best way to ensure that her upbringing was easier.
He wanted everything for Julia. He would find some way to fix whatever mistakes had been made with Felipe to ensure that she grew up stable and successful and smart. Grounded. Not needing a wild, undulating public to worship her at the cost of everything else, even her life.
No, he had to give her the very best. Perhaps he didn’t know what that looked like, to be the best parental figure in a child’s life. His own parents had been…fine. Heavy in expectations, distant in connection.
Was that what Felipe had sought? That missing connection?
Did Agustin have it in him to give it to Julia? He had doubts, but he was also a driven, successful man. He would find a way.
Perhaps there was some tiny voice that told him Mara could help them both in that department—she was a caring and loving person. Organized. Principled. She would be an excellent mother. There was no doubt of that.
But he could hardly disagree with Mara’s own arguments that their business relationship would color how others viewed any personal relationships, and while he had no qualms about enduring a sneer or two, he would not stand it for Julia.
He remembered too well the way people had used his parents to tease him and Felipe growing up.
That his father would sometimes be seen and photographed with his mistress instead of his wife.
That his mother was known to drink too much and cause a scene—wanting to perform a song and dance at whatever function had overserved her.
He had never seen these things bother his parents.
Whatever their relationship had been behind closed doors, they had always been pleasant with each other around him.
He would not have said they loved one another necessarily, but there was no drama.
His mother did not drink to excess in the home, or at least not around him.
The drama was when the bullies at school had learned Felipe was an easy target, and Agustin protecting him an easier target still. Had that been the source of Felipe’s desperate need for something wild and uncontrollable? That Agustin had always stepped in and tried to thwart a fight?
“I was only trying to protect you,” he muttered to the ever-present ghost of his brother. “You could have talked to me instead of taking every unnecessary risk.”
Which brought up some guilt, because his brother would have needed to schedule an appointment to talk to him. As an adult, he’d found it better to keep his distance from Felipe. They didn’t understand each other, and distance was better than a fight.
But he would have taken the appointment. He didn’t avoid. He was just in his own world. Mother and Felipe had often said that was exactly where he belonged.
But with Julia as his responsibility, Agustin could not quite be on his own. Perhaps she would grow up without understanding him as well, but he would try to learn some lessons from his brother.
He entered the castle to the quiet silence of what he assumed was Julia’s usual late afternoon nap. He hesitated in the entry. He could go to her room and check on her, but Mara would likely be there. It was best to wait until they made their way down for dinner.
Why was best so hard here?
He moved for the stairs, but his phone rang, stopping him. He blessed it for its timing. “Delgado.”
“I have found her.”
It took Agustin a moment since he had not checked the readout, but it was Paulo’s voice. “Julia’s mother?”
“Yes. She took great pains to not be found, but once I started looking into the state of Felipe’s finances, I was able to trace where some of that money went.
To a woman named Adelina Sousa, and the rest was traceable from there.
She has a flat in Lisbon. I can be on a plane as soon as Ms. Valdez arranges it. ”
The next step. The final step aside from the countess. Things were finally coming together and…
All this would be over. Any relief Agustin had felt over Julia’s mother being found was faint under a cloud of something darker. As if he enjoyed this pretend little life in this old castle.
“Mr. Delgado?”
“Yes. I will tell Ms. Valdez to arrange our flight. I will be going with you. Sit tight for the time being.”
“Of course.”
He ended the call and took the stairs two at a time. He had to look at this as a positive. Something to be done. It was better than sitting around waiting, was it not?
Mara was in her room, as he’d guessed, sitting cross-legged on her bed. The light from the stained glass created odd, colorful patterns on her legs. She typed away at her laptop, and Agustin could see Julia sleeping through the crib slats.
For a moment, he could not find words. The scene struck him as oddly poignant: the baby asleep, the woman focused on her work. She had her hair back but loose instead of in its usual braids or twists, so the riot of curls fell down her back.
Her hair would smell of the floral notes of her shampoo. Her skin would be soft under his hands.
And he could not be thinking about that.
Particularly when she glanced up as if she’d sensed him there. Dark eyes wary and beautiful at once.
“Paulo has tracked down the mother,” he announced abruptly into the quiet.
Mara’s eyes widened, and she set the laptop to the side. “Has he approached her?”
“No, not yet. She lives in Lisbon. I will return to the mainland and then make the flight with Paulo to meet with her tomorrow. Surely she will sign all necessary papers, and that will be that.”
But Mara was shaking her head. “No.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“No, you cannot go.” She scurried off the bed. She took a step toward him, then stopped abruptly, as if remembering they should maintain their distance at all times. Especially with a bed in such close proximity. “You must let me.”
“Let you?” He eyed her. “Why?”
“I am your assistant. I am a neutral party. And I am a woman. If you and Paulo both swagger in there, she might feel intimidated, scared. It isn’t right.”
Agustin did not understand her need to defend Julia’s mother. “Need I remind you, she is the one who abandoned this defenseless child in the elements.”
Mara got that stubborn look about her. “You do not know what drove her to that. You do not know her.”
“I know what she did.”
Mara shook her head. So earnest. So sure. So damn beautiful. She took another step closer but remained out of reach. Still, her pleading dark eyes met his. “Let me. Please.”
He did not want to, but he found he could deny her nothing when she asked him so imploringly.
Not if he wished to remain true to himself and keep his hands off her now.
“Very well.”
Mara felt terrible. Agustin must have brought some kind of flu germ to the castle with him. She had no idea how else she could have gotten sick, and he was constantly coming and going.
Not that she had a fever. And no real congestion. Perhaps it was something more serious—less contagious. She couldn’t imagine anything Carmen cooked had not agreed with her, but perhaps she’d gotten a bad piece of something.
Of course, she’d been feeling rundown and achy for days now, but nothing ever seemed to get worse or better. Maybe there was something about the island bothering her. Allergies?
Regardless, she was headed to Portugal in a few short minutes.
To Julia’s mother. She had to do this. She had to see this through.
Julia might belong with Agustin and the countess, but the mother who had left her deserved a chance to…
to not be intimidated by men with money and power telling her what to do.
It wasn’t that Mara thought she would try to talk the woman into taking Julia back. Not at all. She just thought the woman deserved a chance to explain, to think through what she would need to sign away rather than simply sign it away in the face of two intimidating men.
She thought someone should know why the mother had left her child, so that Julia someday could know.
It was the not knowing that drove a person insane.
Her travel plans were ready, and her bags were packed.
She felt achy and out of it, but she could not let that thwart her.
And she could not leave without saying goodbye to Julia.
Even if she would be back tonight, it would be after bedtime.
She had barely been away from the baby for nearly an entire month.
So despite the fact she did not wish to face Agustin again, she went to the sitting room. Senor Silva had borrowed a playpen from his granddaughter, and they had taken to giving Julia time in it to roll and explore.
She was there now, while Agustin sat behind his desk. But his gaze was not on his computer or phone. It was on the baby.
Mara had no doubt he would take the best care of Julia, now and forever. She had no doubt Julia’s mother had left her for a reason, and that Julia belonged here.
But Julia deserved to have a full picture when she grew up. Of who her parents had been, and why they had not been able to stay for her.