Mistress of His Revenge (Bought by the Brazilian #1) (19 page)

‘You need to eat,’ Cruz insisted when they were alone again. Sabrina doubted she could swallow food, but he had gone to such effort, and to please him she forced herself to eat some of the herb omelette he served her. To her surprise she felt better after she’d eaten a few mouthfuls. The experience of being cared for was new to her and she was reluctant to say anything that might shatter the fragile bond she felt with him.

After they had finished the meal he led her back into the bedroom and pulled back the covers for her to slide into bed. The sheets felt deliciously cool against her skin, and as she watched him strip off his jeans, tee shirt and boxer shorts she felt a familiar throb of desire low in her pelvis.

Cruz lay down beside her and drew her into his arms, but to her disappointment he turned her onto her side. ‘You need to sleep,’ he told her in a curiously taut voice. ‘We’ll talk in the morning.’

For a reason she could not define the promise filled her with unease and she stayed awake long after she heard his breathing settle into a steady rhythm.

She was unaware that Cruz’s will power was tested to its limits as he remained awake and forced himself to resist the temptation to make love to Sabrina. He bitterly regretted that he had coerced her into being his mistress, and the price of his shameful behaviour was the knowledge that she would never be his.

Sabrina was woken by a persistent noise that as the fog of sleep cleared from her brain she recognised was her phone. The clock revealed that it was nearly ten a.m. and she discovered that she was alone in the bed. Tristan’s name flashed on the phone’s screen and she quickly answered the call.

‘Tris—is everything okay?’

‘Good news. Dad’s come home,’ Tristan announced. ‘He turned up at the British Embassy in Guinea a week ago without money or belongings and told them he had been seriously ill after contracting a tropical disease. He had been staying in a remote village and as a result of a high fever he had lost his memory for months. He arrived at Eversleigh yesterday and he’s impatient to see you. Apparently he has an idea for making money for the estate and he wants to put you in charge.’

It was typical of her father to make plans that involved her without pausing to consider that she had her own life, Sabrina thought ruefully. But she was relieved that he was safe and well. She was used to the earl’s eccentricities and although he had not been the best father when she had been growing up, she was fond of him.

Cruz was outside on the balcony. He appeared to be deep in his thoughts and although he smiled when he saw her, Sabrina noted that his smile did not reach his eyes. She relayed Tristan’s message. ‘I’d like to go home to see Dad,’ she said. ‘We were due to go back to Eversleigh in a few days anyway.’

Cruz did not immediately reply and his shuttered expression gave no clue to his thoughts. Sabrina felt a strange sense of unease as she had done the previous night when he had said that they would talk in the morning. Something about him had changed. Was it coincidence that he seemed tense this morning after she had confessed that she had loved him in Brazil? His words confirmed her fears.

‘It will be better if you go back to Eversleigh and see your father on your own.’

‘I thought you would want to ask him about the map.’

‘I no longer care about finding the map.’

She stared at him. ‘But the map was the reason you moved into Eversleigh Hall.’

‘That’s what I told myself,’ he said in an odd voice that sounded as if he was mocking himself. ‘I have decided to give my share of the Montes Claros mine to Diego. He will have geological surveys carried out to find out if there are old, deeper mineshafts, and if he finds more diamonds I wish him well. But the mine holds too many bad memories and I want to sever my connections to the past.’

He sounded so grim, and so final. Sabrina bit her lip. Was she part of the past that Cruz wanted to leave behind?

‘If you don’t want me to go to Eversleigh I’ll stay here...or go with you to wherever your next business meeting is as I agreed when we made our deal,’ she offered tentatively.

‘Ah, yes, our deal!’ He looked at her broodingly and she was startled by the flicker of pain she thought she glimpsed in his eyes before his expression hardened. He swung round and looked out over the balcony at the gardens. Sabrina had the idea that he would rather look anywhere than at her.

‘It’s over,’ he said tersely. ‘I am releasing you from our arrangement and you no longer have to be my mistress.’

Shock stole her breath so that she could not speak. But even if she could, she did not know what to say. Pride prevented her from asking him
why
, and she would not plead with him to allow her to stay. It was clear to her that by revealing that she had loved him ten years ago she had overstepped a boundary. He had not wanted her love then and he did not want it now.

Her throat ached with tears, but she swallowed hard, determined not to break down in front of him. She dug deep into her reservoir of mental strength and managed to answer him with cool composure. ‘In that case I had better go and pack.’

Cruz did not turn round but he sensed that Sabrina had walked into the bedroom and minutes later he heard the sound of a suitcase zip. He clenched his hands on the balcony rail until his knuckles felt as if they would split open. This was what he had to do, he reminded himself. He had to let her go because she deserved to meet someone far better than him. He was so bitterly ashamed of how he had treated her that he could not even bring himself to look at her because surely he would see disgust in her eyes where once there had been love, if only he had not been too blind to see it.

* * *

It had been raining ever since Sabrina had arrived back at Eversleigh Hall three days ago. The depressing weather echoed her mood as she stared out of the window and watched the geraniums being battered to death.

‘You don’t look very happy,’ Earl Bancroft commented. ‘What’s the matter with you?’

‘Nothing.’ She blinked away her tears before she turned to face her father.

‘Tristan told me you were dating Cruz Delgado again. Do you think that was wise after he broke your heart years ago?’

‘Probably not,’ she said dully. ‘Anyway, I won’t be seeing him again.’ Ever. The knowledge felt as if a knife had been plunged through her heart. She forced herself to concentrate on her father, who looked in remarkably good health. ‘I’m glad you are okay. I was worried about you.’

‘Were you?’ he said casually. ‘You should have known I’d turn up sooner or later.’

‘Tris mentioned that you have plans for Eversleigh Hall.’

‘Ah, yes. I’ve had the brilliant idea of turning the estate into a wild animal park.’ The earl ignored Sabrina’s startled expression. ‘You know the sort of thing, lions and tigers in enclosures, and monkeys. I thought of basing myself in Africa so that I could arrange for animals to be shipped over to England.’

‘So, who will organise the animal park here at Eversleigh?’

‘You will, of course.’

She stared at her father, feeling exasperated by his assumption that she would remain at Eversleigh for ever, like a lonely Victorian spinster, she thought bleakly. ‘Have you ever thought that I might have other plans for my life?’

Earl Bancroft looked intently at his daughter. ‘I have a feeling that you would like your plans for the future to include Delgado.’

Sabrina did not deny it. ‘When I left Brazil and came back to Eversleigh ten years ago, why didn’t you tell me that there had been an accident at the mine and Cruz’s father had been killed?’

Her father sighed. ‘I felt guilty that I hadn’t tried harder to convince Vitor not to go into the deepest section of the mine. I knew the roof supports were unstable and I had arranged for them to be reinforced, but the work was delayed.’

‘Did you send Vitor back to look for more diamonds that might have been as valuable as the Red Star?’

‘Good heavens, no! I pleaded with him not to go back, but he was obsessed with finding a diamond that would make him rich. They call it diamond fever, and Vitor had it badly. After his death, I decided to sell the mine. When I came back to Eversleigh that summer I didn’t tell you about the accident because I knew you were suffering after you had lost a baby. You were so thin and pale, drifting around the house like a ghost. I was relieved when you decided to go to university that autumn and it seemed best not to mention what had happened in Brazil.’

The earl gave her a speculative look. ‘Cruz is a decent man, from what I’ve heard. He and his business partner, Cazorra, have pushed for improvements to safety in Brazil’s mining industry, and they pour money into a charity they set up to help children living in the
favelas.
I guessed that you fell in love with him ten years ago. Is there a chance that the two of you will get back together?’

Sabrina turned her head towards the window so that her father would not see her tears as she remembered Cruz’s unyielding expression when he had sent her away from Quinta na Floresta. ‘No, there is no chance,’ she whispered.

* * *

‘Why didn’t you tell me the truth about Papai’s accident before now?’ Cruz spoke in Portuguese. He leapt up from the sofa in his mother’s house and dragged oxygen into his lungs as he tried to come to terms with her shocking revelation. ‘Why did you allow me to think for all these years that Earl Bancroft had forced Vitor to go back into an unsafe area of the mine?’

‘I was afraid that if I told you what had really happened, you would think less of your father.’ Ana-Maria wiped tears from her face. ‘Vitor was a good man but he became obsessed with finding another valuable diamond like the Estrela Vermelha. His obsession became almost like an illness. He would not listen to me or to Earl Bancroft, who pleaded with Vitor not to go into the deepest part of the mine until the roof supports had been strengthened. Your father ignored the earl’s advice and lost his life as a result.’

‘Deus.’
Cruz dropped his head into his hands. ‘I wish I had known.’

‘You blamed the earl and believed that Vitor was a hero, and I saw no reason to tell you the truth,’ his mother admitted. ‘You had idolised your father when he was alive, and I wanted you to carry on feeling proud of his memory. I realised I should tell you how the accident had really happened when you brought the Bancroft girl here and I saw your face when you looked at her. But I did not say anything these past weeks because Sabrina broke your heart once and I was worried she might do so again.’ She hurried after Cruz as he strode towards the front door. ‘What will you do now?’

His jaw clenched. ‘Obviously I need to apologise to Sabrina for my unfair accusation that her father was responsible for Vitor’s death.’

Deus
, he had so much to apologise to Sabrina for, Cruz thought grimly. He kissed his mother’s cheek and walked out of her house, craving solitude while he tried to come to terms with what she had told him. It was true he had idolised his father, and with hindsight he realised that he had
wanted
to blame Earl Bancroft for Vitor’s accident rather than accept that Vitor’s obsession with diamonds had ultimately resulted in his death.

He had allowed his skewered view of events that had happened ten years ago to affect his opinion of Sabrina, Cruz acknowledged grimly. When he’d taken the time to get to know her properly, he had discovered that she was as lovely as the girl he had fallen for years ago. He’d sent her away because he was consumed with guilt at the way he had treated her and he believed he did not deserve her.

But she had loved him once.

Perhaps she could fall in love with him again?

His heart was hammering and his steps slowed as another thought rocked him to his core. Was he allowing his guilt at how he had behaved with Sabrina to stop him from fighting for her? He had told himself he was doing the honourable thing by letting her go. But he was a coward, Cruz told himself contemptuously. All his life he had fought for the things that mattered to him. He had escaped poverty and fought to take care of his family. So why the hell wasn’t he fighting for the person who he now realised mattered to him more than anything in the world? Yes, he was ashamed of how he had treated Sabrina, and if she rejected him it would be nothing more than he deserved. But he could not,
would
not, allow his guilty conscience to hold him back from going after her.

* * *

Sabrina was thankful that her father quickly lost interest in his idea of creating a wild animal park but her relief was short-lived when he announced that he was thinking of starting an alpaca farm. The truth was she did not care what happened to Eversleigh Hall, which, a few months ago, would have been unthinkable. For the past ten years she had devoted all her time and energy to her family’s stately home, but she had poured her emotions into Eversleigh to hide from the fact that she had never stopped loving Cruz.

Unable to concentrate on her latest furniture-restoration project, she walked listlessly around the estate. The hawthorn bushes along the lane were covered with tiny white flowers that smelled divine, but the beauty of the Surrey countryside in early summer failed to lift her from her black hole of misery. Out of habit her feet took her in the direction of the stables. She was even imagining that she was hearing things, she thought despairingly. But her heart gave a jolt when she recognised a familiar whinnying from the other side of the beech hedge.

As she walked across the yard she told herself she must actually have lost her sanity, and her eyes were deceiving her. But there was no mistaking the chestnut-coloured head that appeared over the stable door. Monty greeted her with the snuffling sound she had missed so much, and when she lifted a trembling hand to pat him, he nuzzled his face into her neck.

Nothing made sense. How could her beloved horse be back at Eversleigh? Something at the back of the stable caught her attention and she discovered it was a package addressed to her. She opened it with trembling fingers and stared at the painting of a horse that Cruz had bought for her from the market in Portugal. She had forgotten to pack the picture when he had sent her away from Quinta na Floresta.