The Man From her Wayward Past
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‘I didn’t see you when I left the club. You were working, I expect.’
‘I’m sorry. I—’
‘Strange,’ he rapped over her. ‘The first time I saw you at the club you assured me you weren’t working there often. But the manager says you are. And he knows you as Anita. What’s going on, Lucia? Why are you lying to me?’
‘What I do or don’t do is none of your business, Luke.’
‘Nacho made it my business.’
‘So you’re my brother’s deputy now?’
‘I’m your brother’s friend,’ Luke argued quietly.
Luke couldn’t have disarmed her faster. There was no point starting a feud with someone Nacho loved when the very last thing she wanted was a total break with her family. ‘So why are you calling me?’
‘I’m concerned about you, Lucia.’
‘Well, don’t be. And if my brothers are so worried, why don’t they call? Or are they too busy playing polo?’
‘Why are you always so suspicious, Lucia?’
‘Because you’re all joined at the hip,’ she flashed. ‘And because my brothers never like me to have too long a leash. Isn’t that right, Luke?’
There was silence at the other end of the line.
Damn him! Luke had made her feel homesick, reminding her of all the warmth and support she received in Argentina. It made everything here seem bleaker—the wind rattling round the caravan, the freezing cold water, the hideous episode with the concierge which she was doing her best to block out, and then her subsequent high-speed drive through the night, reckless …
And her lousy job at the club.
A dead-end job to end all dead-end jobs.
Her heart sank like a stone. She couldn’t bear for gorgeous, glorious, successful Luke to know her life was a complete and utter mess. And she certainly couldn’t bear for him to share that little nugget of information with her brothers. If they knew what had happened … How they would blame her for her frivolous, careless party-girl lifestyle. She deserved this, didn’t she?
Sucking in a deep, steadying breath, she said briskly, ‘Is this a courtesy call, or does it have some purpose, Luke?’ She needed him to get off the line fast, before her voice broke.
‘I’ve never heard you in this mood before,’ he said suspiciously.
‘Independent, do you mean?’ Her fingers had turned white on the phone. It was one thing acting tough, but when she really wanted to cling to Luke’s disembodied presence like a brainless limpet until all the bad things went away it was far better to end the call as soon as she could.
‘Are you still there, Lucia?’
‘I’m here.’
Luke checking up on her was nothing new. She had been an object of amusement for Luke and her brothers for as long as Lucia could remember. They thought she was a fancy, frilly little joke—a novelty, a pet they would like to keep locked up in a box until they decided to bring her out and coo over her on those rare occasions when they weren’t trying to murder each other on the polo field.
‘Just tell my brothers everything’s fine.’
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