‘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?

Now that he’d discovered his father had turned his back on a child and its mother, Raul wanted to deal with it. He’d grown up with a father in his life and another child hadn’t. It didn’t sit well and he was determined to do all he could to make some kind of amends for the past. He only wished his father were here to listen to the tirade of angry words he had for him. Given his father’s reputation, it was worryingly possible that more children had suffered the same fate.

He sat back and pressed his fingers together in a steeple, forcing all the hurt and rejection from his childhood down, trying hard to keep those negative emotions out of play. Now was not the time to relive that constant feeling that he’d never be good enough for his father, no matter what he did.

He had two choices. To ignore his half-brother and marry Lydia to settle a debt or take Lydia’s offer, find Max and hopefully free them of need to marry. He didn’t have to think too long about that answer. His father might have wished Max away by ignoring him, but he didn’t want to do that—just as much as he didn’t want to enter into the negative binds of marriage. If his father thought the threat of sharing his inheritance would be enough to force him into marriage, he had miscalculated—badly.

‘What if I don’t find your brother?’ The question slipped innocuously from her lips and he looked at them, briefly wondering how they’d taste and feel beneath his.

He bit down on such traitorous thoughts, focusing instead on the shock of all he’d discovered yet had been unable to uncover himself. ‘Half-brother.’

‘Half-brother, brother...what difference does it make? What if I don’t find him?’

‘It makes a great deal of difference, Lydia. You too are an only child. How would you feel if you’d just discovered you had a sibling?’

‘That’s not what we are discussing,’ she fired hotly back at him.

‘If you don’t find my half-brother within four weeks, then you will become my wife and your father’s debts will be cleared.’

‘For two years.’ The dejection in that statement almost got to him. Almost.

He nodded. ‘Sí. After which you can file for divorce.’

‘Four weeks is not very long to undertake such a task,’ she said as she took a sip of her wine, the action once again drawing his attention to her lips, causing his mind to wander in directions it shouldn’t be going in. ‘And it will be Christmas too.’

‘All the more reason to succeed. Four weeks is all you have. If you fail, Lydia, you will become my wife on Christmas Eve.’

CHAPTER THREE

MADRID WAS THE last place Lydia had expected to find herself and Raul’s overpowering presence made it seem even more unreal, as if she were in the middle of a dream—or a nightmare.

The flight to Spain on his private jet had been difficult and with just the two of them she’d wondered what they were going to talk about. Thankfully he’d used the time to read over some paperwork and she’d given the outward appearance of relaxing even though inside she’d been a jumbled mess of questions. Now however, as they travelled in the back of his chauffeur-driven car through the bustle of the city’s streets, lit up with festive cheer even in the late afternoon, she couldn’t escape the fact that his full attention was focused on her.

‘How long do you anticipate it will take to find my brother?’ It was the first time he’d referred to him not as his half-brother and she wondered why, when he was notorious for being a playboy himself, he had been so affronted by the discovery of another sibling. But then she knew better than most that families could portray a façade of happiness when underneath secrets and lies were hidden away. It was an art she too had now perfected.

‘I have no idea, not until you can give me some more information, but don’t forget this is not my profession. Researching family history is just an interest of mine. I’m not claiming to be an expert.’ She didn’t like the way his eyes narrowed, a sign she’d quickly realised was one of irritation. Neither did she like the rush of panic that swept over her. What if she failed?

You can’t fail, so you’re not going to.

‘What is your profession?’ The glacial tone of his voice held scorn and she had to fight hard against the urge to smile smugly at him because one thing was certain and that was the fact that he still labelled her a spoilt little rich girl—Daddy’s heiress who didn’t know how to do anything other than party and shop.

‘My profession?’

‘Yes, what is it that you do each day?’

Would he be surprised if she told him that she’d graduated from university with an honours in Spanish? What about if she told him she’d taken her love of fashion and now had two very successful luxury boutiques? One in London and one in Paris. She’d never linked them to her family name, wanting only to succeed on her own merit. And she had. Briefly she wanted to shock him with that piece of information, but what right did he have to know everything about her? All she needed to do was trace his brother and it could be done in a matter of a week or two—if she was lucky.

‘I think it’s fair to say my strengths lie in the retail market.’ She teased around the truth, played on what he still thought of her and couldn’t help but smile as he scowled at her. Let him think what he wanted to. Far better that he thought she spent money rather than earned it. After all she was here in Madrid to settle her father’s debts, so that she could move on and put the shambles that was her childhood behind her. She had only ever been an inconvenience to her mother, who now barely contacted her, and her father had always been a shadowy figure in the background of her life. It had been her grandmother who’d brought her up.

‘You will of course find plenty of opportunity for such retail strengths here in Madrid.’ The icy tone of his voice was almost enough to make the sun race behind the gathering rain clouds. If he tried hard enough he might even make it snow. She smiled at the thought as she watched him, his handsome face full of undisguised annoyance. ‘Especially at this time of the year.’

‘Yes, but there are of course more important matters than shopping right now—like which hotel do you suggest I stay at?’ She hadn’t been away from home for some time and was looking forward to the luxury of time out, satisfied that her recently appointed London manager would handle almost any problem that should arise. Not that she intended to stay for an extended length of time. Once she’d handed over the information Raul Valdez had requested, she’d leave, free of debt and free of obligation—to anyone. Even if it took two weeks she’d still be back in London before Christmas.

‘You will be staying with me.’ His words dropped into the ocean of her thoughts, shattering them as the waves of implications spread outwards.

‘With you?’ She looked across the car at him, suddenly feeling trapped. There was no way she could stay with him, not when he unleashed the kind of reaction that made her doubt her ability to ignore his presence or the sizzle of attraction that rampaged through her just from one look of those sexy dark eyes. She didn’t need or want the complications of a man in her life. Daniel had killed those silly dreams even if her parents’ hostile marriage hadn’t.

She looked away from those brooding eyes and the sensation that he could read every thought that ran through her mind. Instead she focused on the passing city streets. What was the matter with her? Since when did she go all gooey over a man? She’d never been like this before.

‘I have a perfectly adequate guest suite in my apartment.’ A smile teased around his lips as she looked back at him, instantly wishing she hadn’t as a zip of something she really didn’t want to acknowledge charged through her.

‘I thought you wanted to keep your search quiet and away from the press. What if they see you and I together and come up with the wrong answer?’ She scrabbled for a reason not to stay with him.

‘If that does happen, our romance will be much more of interest than the research you will be doing.’ The heavy line of his brows lifted and this time he did smile. One of satisfaction and she swallowed down against the flutter that rose swiftly from her stomach, making her head light. She wasn’t a teenager being chatted up by the hottest guy she’d ever met. She was a grown woman who knew her own mind, one who would make him regret ever looking at her with such disdain.

‘Our romance?’ A nervous laugh escaped with those words, intensifying her anger at the situation she was in.

‘The perfect cover for your investigation, no?’ The car stopped and he looked at her, the flirtatious mood of seconds ago disappearing. ‘Do not forget who has the debt to settle, Lydia. You are not in a position to make demands or question my decisions and we will act as if we are in a relationship, as if we both accept the terms of the contract your father signed with mine.’

Before she could hurl any retort at him, he got out of the car and seconds later her door was opened by his driver, making exactly what she wanted to say difficult, if not impossible. She had made the original bargain, striking a deal that would help her, and he had turned it around to suit his needs.

He spoke in a flourish of Spanish to the driver; the sexy undertones of his voice in a language she loved knocked her thoughts off balance. But that little nugget of information was one she’d keep to herself—for now. As the satisfaction of that thought settled over her, he turned to her and spoke softly in English, putting his hand gently in the small of her back. ‘This way, querida.’

The sensation of his hand, barely touching her, stifled any kind of reaction and like a meek lamb she did his bidding, glancing up quickly at the old but ornate building they were entering. The sound of the almost constant flow of traffic was snuffed out as the doors closed behind them.

‘I’m still not sure it is right that I stay with you. I could easily find a hotel near here and still be able to do the research.’ She tried one last time to avert the course of action he seemed set on.

‘You could, but you won’t.’ His hand moved away from her as he pressed the call button for the elevator, the firmness in his voice echoing around the large marble lobby. The elevator doors opened and he stepped inside, his handsome face set in stern lines as he looked at her. ‘We do have a deal, Miss Carter-Wilson, do we not?’

Damn him, he knew she was going to say yes—had to say yes. The amusement lurking behind the darkness of his eyes showed her that. She had no other way out of the mess her father had made.

‘Very well.’ She joined him in the elevator, alarmed at how small it became as the doors closed and they ascended. ‘But it is a deal for business, nothing else.’

‘Do you think I might seduce you?’ The amusement in his eyes increased and that sexy devil-may-care hint of a smile lingered at the edges of his mouth.

‘Isn’t that what you are renowned for, Mr Valdez?’ The flirty edge to her voice was unintended and inwardly she cringed. What was it about this man that made her say and do things she never normally would? ‘The waitress yesterday is testimony to that.’

He looked at her, a slight frown furrowing his brow, and she lifted her chin and glared at him. The elevator doors opened but he didn’t move and she couldn’t, pinned to the spot by his piercing, dark eyes.

‘Is that a hint of jealousy?’

She gasped in outrage. How dared he think she was jealous, that she craved his attention? ‘Absolutely not.’

Without a backward glance she flounced out of the elevator as his deep, sexy laughter chased after her. Moments later she was in a vast apartment. His apartment. His life.

* * *

Raul watched Lydia waltz into his apartment, enjoying the sway of her hips, outlined perfectly in a black skirt that hugged her body more than he suspected she’d want it to. The long black boots only emphasised her sexiness and the openness of his apartment seemed suddenly to close in on him. He’d watched many women wander around his apartment but never had he experienced the pull at emotions he kept locked away. He never let a woman close, never let her see just who he really was.

Yet somehow, Lydia had unlocked that door. He’d already told her far more about himself than he had anyone else. Was it because she was the first woman to be here for a reason other than merely sleeping in his bed? The idea of her in his bed sparked a shot of lust through him, making him want to forget the real reason she was here.