Read The Spaniard's Woman - Contemporary Romance Online
Authors: Kat Davidson
Tags: #love, #Contemporary, #Romance, #spanish, #pride, #children
The Spaniard's Woman - Contemporary Romance (18 page)
‘You came to Melbourne looking for me?’ Rhianna repeated incredulously.
‘It is so. I even went so far as to hire a private detective but he could not find any trace of you after you left Melbourne for Spain. I spent two weeks going over all I could find but there was nothing. You had disappeared completely.’ Gabriel ran a hand through his hair, as if the memory still had the power to frustrate him, ‘Sydney was my last stop before heading home. You can only imagine how surprised I was to find you there.’
Rhianna was astonished. The knowledge that Gabriel had come looking for her was so extraordinary that she couldn’t get her head around it. ‘But you didn’t say a word. I had no idea.’
‘No,’ he agreed and once again he hesitated. Rhianna had never seen him look so uncertain. Gabriel Ortega didn’t do uncertain; he usually radiated confidence like a beacon. ‘I would have, perhaps, except that I saw you with O’Farrell. I assumed... well, I think you know what I assumed. I assumed the worst about you - that you were sleeping with a man for what he could give you - because I was eaten up by jealousy. I knew before I left Spain that it was likely you would have found somebody else but still, I was not prepared for it.’
‘You came to Australia to find me.’ Rhianna repeated, watching his face. ‘To ask me to be your mistress again?’
Gabriel looked at her, his dark eyes tortured. ‘I do not know. I only knew that I wanted to find you. The thought of you would not let me be.’
It had never occurred to her that Gabriel could be in Australia because of her. She had assumed that it had been fate that had brought them back together. But did it really change anything, except to confirm what she had known all along? That what she had once shared with Gabriel had been exceptional. ‘I’m still not prepared to be your mistress,’ she told him quietly. ‘I’m sorry, Gabriel, but I won’t share you with another woman.’
Gabriel went very still. ‘No? And why is that,
mi dulce
Rhianna?’
Rhianna lifted her chin. The time for pretense was past. ‘I’d like to think it’s because I’ve got too much self-respect. I’m going to stand here and watch you marry again. I will never interfere with your relationship with Dylan, but I will not sleep with you anymore.’ She glanced down at the tickets in her hand, ‘And I still don’t understand why you’ve given me these when you’ve been so insistent that I come with you to Spain.’
Gabriel moved closer. He didn’t touch her but the space between them seemed to shrink a little. ‘I gave them to you because I realized what a fool I’ve been. I went to Australia to find the woman I loved. When I discovered that you were living with O’Farrell I couldn’t bear it and I was determined to take you away, you and Dylan.’ He looked down at her bleakly. ‘I do not want you to leave me. But I want to give you the space to choose,
mi querido
. When I went to find you I had no clear idea in mind of what our relationship would be. I admit that I thought we could go back to what we once had. I have always thought that I must marry a certain kind of woman. And I was right,’ his lips quirked upwards, ‘I have come to understand that I do need a certain kind of woman. A very
particular
kind of woman.’
‘A well born woman with the right kind of connections,’ Rhianna whispered. She would not hope. She couldn’t, not after all she’d been through. ‘A woman with family. A woman with a history...’
‘A woman who has
given
me a family.’ Gabriel corrected her softly, reaching out to stroke a finger down her cheek. ‘Ana was pregnant when she died. I did not tell you because I have never wanted to talk of it. But she had a lover, the man that she should have been with, if she had not married me. They were running away together... I do not even know if the child was mine but I do know that foolish preconceptions prevented her from being with the man she loved, just as my own stupidity made me waste years of my life, years that I could have spent with you.’ Gabriel bowed his head, ‘I am a fool. I have tried to do it my way but it seems that I am destined to do the wrong thing. Now I am trying to do it
your
way. I am giving you the choice. Stay with me or leave me... it is up to you.’
Rhianna stared up at him. Her heart was pounding so hard it threatened to drown out everything else. ‘You would really let me go?’
A light died out of his face, as if something essential had been extinguished. ‘
Si
, Rhianna. If that is what you want then I will accept it. I will let you go.’
The laughter came out of nowhere. It hovered on her lips, curving her full mouth in an irresistible smile. ‘Oh Gabriel!’ she murmured, closing the distance between them, ‘Gabriel, you fool, you know perfectly well that you’re not going to let me on that damn plane! I know you better than you know yourself, my love.’ And she reached out, making the only choice possible, her arms encircling his neck, pulling his head down so that his kiss could bring her to life once more. Gabriel’s mouth met hers, warm and hard and infinitely wonderful, giving her what she so desperately craved. The man she adored, absolutely. His arms were like vices, crushing her to him and she held on tight, knowing that finally, she had come home...
‘You do realize that we didn’t use protection last night?’ Rhianna murmured some time later, from the comfort of the sofa they had somehow ended up on. Gabriel’s arms were wrapped around her, holding her tight against him. As if he would never let her go.
‘I know.’ Gabriel was sounding a great deal more relaxed than he had been.
Rhianna shot him a suspicious look. ‘You know?’
He shrugged. ‘Our son wants a brother or sister,’ he told her softly. ‘And I would do anything to keep you with me.’
Rhianna’s lips quivered. ‘You’re the most ruthless man I have ever met.’
‘You know me so well. We will be married as soon as possible. I have gone through too much to face losing you now.’ His dark eyes glinted down at her. ‘If that suits you,
mi
querida
?’
Rhianna widened her green eyes at him. ‘Oh, you’re asking me now?’ Not that she minded his high handedness. From the moment Gabriel had told her that he had come to find her, she had discovered her choices had narrowed down considerably.
‘Did I tell you that I have one more gift for you? In case you decided against those tickets.’ He adjusted her position against him long enough to reach into his pocket and withdrew a small velvet box. ‘If it is not too late,’ he added, and she was amazed to hear the sudden note of uncertainty in his voice. ‘Please, Rhianna. Tell me it is not too late for us...’
Rhianna’s looked at the box in his hand. ‘I was wondering if you would actually propose to me.’
‘On bended knee, if that is what you wish.’
‘You believed the worst of me,’ she reminded him softly. ‘You thought I was sleeping with Grady for a roof over my head.’
‘No I didn’t.’ He sat for a moment in silence, his warm breath fanning her cheek. ‘I never believed it but I wanted to,’ he admitted finally. ‘It would have made things a great deal easier for me. I knew it was ridiculous to think that you had not had a relationship in the time we were apart. It had been three and a half years. But the thought of you with another man... it drove me mad.’
‘I haven’t ever been with another man,’ she told him quietly. ‘There has only ever been you.’
His arms tightened about her again, so fiercely that she felt her ribs might give way under the pressure. ‘It doesn’t matter!’ he said, voice harsh.
‘It does matter.’ Rhianna reached up to touch his face. ‘When I returned to Australia, I went straight to Sydney. Grady and I were at school together and we’d been friends. More than friends for a little while although it was never serious. I wanted a job and I thought that Grady might find me something. He did, as his personal assistant.’ Rhianna gave a wry smile. ‘It wasn’t as selfless as it sounds. Grady hates being in a wheelchair and he gets frustrated. When he gets frustrated, he gets tetchy. He’d gone through five PA’s before I came along because they couldn’t handle him.’
Gabriel stared down at her. ‘There was never anyone else?’ he whispered.
Rhianna gave small shrug. ‘You were a hard act to follow.’
Something very like a groan escaped him and he buried his face in her hair. ‘You must think me every kind of a fool!’
She gave a breathless laugh and wriggled a little closer, loving the feel of his body against her own. Rhianna turned her eyes back to the box and she took it from him. Opening it, she stared at the stunning solitaire diamond that nestled in on a bed of satin.
‘Do you like it?’
‘It’s beautiful! Put it on my finger, please.’ He removed the ring and slid it onto the third finger of her left hand. Both of them stared at if for a long moment. ‘There will be fireworks when you tell your mother,’ she murmured, but Isobel Ortega no longer had the power to worry Rhianna. The moment that she’d realized that she had Gabriel’s love, everything else seemed to fade away.
There was only the future to consider; their future.
‘My mother can go to the devil.’ reaching down, Gabriel tilted her chin up so that she was looking into his eyes, ‘Now tell me, Rhianna. I have been waiting to hear certain words again from the moment I was fool enough to say goodbye to you. Tell me what I need to hear.’
Rhianna smiled and turned her face up to his and her look told him everything he ever needed to know. ‘I love you Gabriel Ortega.’ she sighed, reaching up to pull his head down to her, ‘I always will... now shut-up and kiss me!’
