Redeemed By His Stolen Bride (Rival Spanish Brothers 2)

After all, wasn’t that her role now? To be by her husband’s side to show support? Lazaro’s wife might not have the right name or lineage, but she appeared to be fulfilling her brief far better than Leonora was—on every level.

Gabriel shook his head and came and sat on the end of the bed. ‘Don’t be silly. It really wasn’t that important.’

‘But you’ve been working on it for a year and you hate Lazaro.’

Gabriel stood up, hands dug deep in his pockets again. His jaw was tense. ‘I don’t hate Sanchez...but he winds me up like no one else.’

Leonora squinted at him. ‘Are you sure you’re not related?’

Gabriel made a face, but before he could respond the doctor arrived in the room.

He looked at Gabriel. ‘You should go home for the night, Señor Torres. I’m afraid we’ll have to do more tests in the morning before we’ll be able to give you any conclusive results.’

A sense of dread filled Leonora and she forced herself to ask, ‘What do you think it is?’

The doctor looked at her, and she could see the gravity of his expression. ‘I’m sorry to say, my dear, that your endometriosis is no longer mild, and probably hasn’t been for some time. It appears to be extensive and acute. The fact that your symptoms haven’t necessarily been severe up until now is atypical. But every woman with this condition is different. We’ll know more tomorrow, when we conclude the tests. I’m sorry I can’t tell you more right now.’

A week later

A kindly voice came from a great distance. ‘How are you feeling, Leonora?’

She knew it wasn’t Gabriel. It was too kindly and he called her Leo.

She struggled to open her eyes, feeling the huge effort it took. When she opened them she shut them again quickly. It was too bright. She was aware of pain...dull, down low...in her abdomen.

There was something pressing on her mind—something urgent—but she knew she didn’t want to think about it.

She managed to croak out, ‘Thirsty...’

Whoever was there held her head up and pressed something to her lips. A straw.

The kind voice said, ‘Drink, Leonora, you’ll be feeling better soon.’

But she knew she wouldn’t be.

Before she could figure out why, she slipped back down into the dark, comforting place.

* * *

‘How are you feeling, Leo?’

Gabriel. She knew it was him because she’d been feigning sleep since he’d come into the room, like a coward. But she couldn’t keep hiding.

She opened her eyes and blinked in the light.

He looked huge, standing at the end of the bed. Worried. There was stubble on his jaw. For a moment emotion threatened to overwhelm her but she pushed it down. She remembered everything now. She had done as soon as she’d woken properly from the anaesthetic, two days ago.

He said, ‘The doctor said you can come home today. But there’s no rush. As soon as you’re feeling up to dressing.’

She opened her mouth. ‘We should...we need to talk about—’

Gabriel shook his head. ‘Not now, Leo. We can talk about it when you’re feeling better.’

Leonora might have laughed if she’d been able to. Right at that moment she couldn’t imagine ever feeling better. But she forced herself to push back the covers and swing her legs over the side of the bed.

Immediately Gabriel was there, but she put up a hand, terrified of what his touch would do to her in her emotionally brittle state. ‘I’m fine. I’ll have a shower and pack. You should go...have a coffee... I’ll be ready when you come back.’

He left the room and she let out a shuddering breath. She felt hollow. Aching. A kaleidoscope of images and memories from the past few days came back into her head before she could stop them.