“Of course,” she said with a scathing smile.
“But, as luck would have it, he’s in Marbella this weekend. He’s meeting us in a friend’s office. Well? Are you getting out of the car, or are you going to stay here and sulk?”
Alyssa tossed her head, brushed his hand
away and stepped into the cobblestone courtyard.
Good, Lucas thought viciously. She was making it easy to forget any sentimental claptrap about what he’d felt in bed with her. Amazing, the spin even a sensible man could put on taking a woman’s virginity.
Madeira would review the contract. He’d agree that whole damnable stipulation was illegal, admit he had added it only because Felix had insisted. Lucas would pay the balance of what Reyes owed to Thaddeus Norton, the McDonough executor.
Then, as new owner of the ranch he didn’t want, he’d commit an act of charity and sign it over to Alyssa Montero McDonough, who would then get the hell out of his life.
He supposed he could have done all this without consulting his attorney but this would make striking out the marriage clause legal and official. If Felix recovered…No. When Felix recovered, it might upset him but Lucas would deal with that when it happened.
Right now, the important thing was voiding that damned stipulation without leaving any loose ends behind.
So simple. It was almost enough to make him smile.
It was a good thing he hadn’t actually gone ahead and smiled, Lucas thought two hours later.
Madeira expressed his sorrow at Felix’s illness. Lucas thanked him. Madeira offered coffee. Lucas brushed it aside and handed the attorney the copy of the contract Thaddeus Norton had given him.
Madeira didn’t bother looking at it.
“I had your grandfather’s files faxed to me, Prince Lucas, the moment you phoned.”
“Good, because I don’t want to waste time. I want your legal opinion on this as quickly as possible.” Lucas smiled knowingly. “Of course, I already know it’s not legal. Parts of it, at any rate…but then, you must know that, too, since you wrote it.”
Madeira smiled politely. “I am not in the habit of writing illegal contracts for my clients, Your Highness. If you will just give me a minute…”
An hour passed. Lucas glowered while the attorney read. Hummed. Tapped his pencil against his nose. Made notes.
Finally Madeira looked up.
“Not illegal,” he said. “Unenforceable.”
“The same thing,” Lucas snapped.
The lawyer sat back, crossed one leg over the other, steepled his hands under his dew-lapped chin and smiled.
“Not at all, sir. The contract lays out terms agreed upon by your grandfather and Aloysius McDonough. Legal? Absolutely. Unenforceable? Si. I apprised Felix of that fact at the time.”
Lucas felt a muscle flicker in his jaw.
“What,” he said carefully, “does that double-talk mean?”
“It means, Your Highness, that this is well-crafted document.”
The muscle in Lucas’s jaw flickered again. “Undoubtedly, but as we have already agreed, you wrote it.”
“Yes. But your grandfather had a hand in drafting some of the more unusual clauses.”
“Let’s get to the point.” The men looked at Alyssa. Of course, she thought coldly. They had all but forgotten she was there. “You said this thing isn’t illegal but it is. Selling women into slavery has actually been illegal for centuries.” She paused for emphasis. “In my part of the world, anyway.”
“No one sold you into anything,” Lucas said sharply.
The attorney nodded. “Certainly not.”