His Ultimate Prize

‘And you’ve been fighting me and trying to drive me away ever since I arrived.’

‘If I’d wanted to be rid of you, I would’ve succeeded.’

‘So you want me to stay?’

He shrugged. ‘One of the many discoveries I made while stuck in a hospital bed was this—I like being alone. But I don’t like being alone in León.’

She sensed the revelation behind the statement. ‘Another of your nightmare scenarios?’

He didn’t deny it. He just shrugged. ‘Tell me more about your mother.’

‘Tell me about yours.’

‘She’s dead.’

In what felt like mere seconds between one and the other, another forceful blow punched through her middle at the stark announcement. ‘How—?’

The word stuck in her throat when he shook his head and picked up his newly delivered espresso. ‘You’re one of a handful of people outside of my family circle I’ve disclosed that to. It’s not a state secret, but it’s not a subject I wish to discuss either, so don’t ask any more questions. And yes, I know it’s hypocritical of me to demand everything from you and give nothing in return, but we both know I do what I like. Your mother?’

She moistened her lips and tried to arrange her thoughts. ‘For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about your mother.’ She sucked in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. All of a sudden, it wasn’t so bad to reveal just that little bit more. Because Rafael had shared something.

‘Mine is alive but barely conscious half the time. You know why? Because she’s completely and utterly hung up on a man who can go for months, sometimes years without giving her a single thought. And yet he only has to crook his finger to have her falling into his lap. At least you know your mother loved you. Do you know how devastating it is to find out your own mother would gladly give you away for free if she could have her one true obsession?’

‘Is that why you lived with your father?’

‘No. Aside from her obsession with my father, she was also diagnosed with severe bipolar disorder when I was seven. For a few years she took the prescribed medication, but as I got older, she would miss a few days here and there. Then days would turn into weeks, then she would stop altogether.’

His frown was thunderous. ‘Did you not have any relatives that could step in?’

‘None that wanted to add the burden of a pre-teen on top of the responsibilities they already had. And, frankly, I felt I was better off on my own. By ten I could take care of myself. Unfortunately, my mother couldn’t. One day she had an episode in a shop. The police were called. Social services got involved. Eventually they tracked down my father and threatened to report him to the authorities when he wouldn’t step up.’ Bitterness made her throat raw. ‘They made him take me. And you know what? Every day until I turned eighteen I wished they hadn’t.’

‘Did he hurt you?’ he rasped.

‘Not at first. When I initially arrived at his doorstep, he didn’t even care enough to resent me for my sudden appearance in his life.’ She laughed. ‘And he was rich enough that I had my every material need catered for.’

‘But?’ he demanded.

Ice drenched her skin as the dark memory surged, its oily tentacles reaching for her.

A tinkle of laughter from a table nearby slammed her back into the present. Chilled and exposed, she rubbed her hands over her arms. ‘I don’t want to relive it, Rafael.’

His jaw tightened. ‘It was that bad?’

‘Worse.’

His fingers curled around the small, fragile cup in his white knuckled grip before he carefully set it back in its saucer. ‘Dios mío. When did it—?’

‘Rafael...please...’

He sucked in a sharp breath, his gaze still fiercely probing as he sat back in his seat. After several seconds, he nodded and pushed back his chair.

Silently he held out his hand. Before the start of the evening she’d have hesitated. But after what she’d shared with him, after seeing his reaction to how she’d grown up, a tiny voice urged her to trust him a little.

She placed her hand in his and let him help her up. ‘I should be helping you, not the other way round.’

‘Let’s forget we’re patient and specialist, just for a few hours, sí?’ The low, rough demand made her breath snag in her throat.

When she glanced up at him, he watched her with hooded eyes that held no hint of their usual teasing. Swallowing, she nodded.

They walked in the unseasonably warm evening along the dock that held some of the world’s most extravagant and elegant yachts. Or they tried to walk. Rafael was stopped several times along the way by wealthy Monégasques and visiting celebrities. Again and again, Raven tried not to be enthralled by the sight of his breathtaking smile and easy charm. Even when a paparazzo’s camera lens flashed nearby he didn’t seem to care. But then she caught the clenched fist around his walking stick. She wasn’t surprised when he signalled his driver a few moments later.