A Spanish Inheritance

‘You haven’t answered my question yet,’ she reminded him in a low, challenging voice.

‘Where are you staying?’ he demanded.

‘Answer my question first,’ Annalisa insisted.

Ramon did—with an amused look and then silence.

‘You really are the most infuriating individual.’

‘So I’m told,’ he agreed. ‘So, where are you staying?’

With a look of exasperation she gave in. ‘At the Elm Tree.’

He thought for a moment. ‘Never heard of it.’

Hardly surprising, Annalisa thought. The simple accommodation was more likely to be rated in meteors than stars.

‘Let’s go back to my place,’ he suggested.

‘Actually, I can’t,’ she said, reminding herself why she was there. ‘I have an appointment with my solicitor.’

‘Patterson?’ he queried. ‘I’d like you to see someone else.’

‘How do you know the name of my mother’s solicitor?’

‘Don’t be so naïve,’ Ramon insisted. ‘What do you think it takes to stay ahead in business?’

‘I don’t see the connection between my mother’s solicitor and your business,’ she said suspiciously.

‘Like I said, Annalisa,’ he murmured, ‘Don’t be so naïve.’

‘Don’t you know how unethical it is for Patterson to discuss my business with you?’ she said, hardly knowing whether to be more concerned about his interest in her private life or the subtext in his eyes.

‘Don’t be so defensive. I might know his name, but I wouldn’t expect him to divulge any secrets—’

‘So how did you know when I would be here?’ Annalisa cut in.

‘Patterson’s secretary was less discreet,’ he admitted, in a way that made Annalisa picture the secretary’s rush to be as accommodating as possible.

‘So, who is this other lawyer?’ she demanded.

‘He’s a barrister. Would you like me to take you to see him?’

‘No, thank you,’ she said, determined to play it cool. ‘I’m sure that Mr Patterson will tell me everything I need to know.’

‘Well, if you encounter any difficulties—’

‘I won’t,’ Annalisa said confidently. But just as she was about to move past him something in his eyes held her back. ‘Why are you here, Ramon? Surely Finca Fuego Montoya is a very small project on the scale of your usual business?’

‘I’m committing no crime,’ he said obliquely.

Annalisa’s keen gaze tacked around his face, searching for clues. ‘Are you seriously telling me you couldn’t find a lawyer closer to home?’

She couldn’t help noticing how his eyes crinkled attractively at the corners when he smiled—she tore her gaze away. Ramon kept a whole legal team on his payroll. So what was he playing at?

‘I don’t have anyone working for me who had the right qualities to take on a case like this,’ he said.

Pressing her lips together, Annalisa narrowed her eyes. Was she going to call him a liar? It was hard to think straight when Ramon was standing right in front of her. ‘Well, if you’ll excuse me,’ she said evenly, ‘my appointment is in five minutes—’

‘I’ll wait for you.’

‘If you like.’ She could only hope she sounded calmer than she felt. Her heart rate was right off the scale. ‘I’d better go. I don’t want to be late.’

As he gave her a courteous half-bow Annalisa was left with the identical feeling she had experienced when they first met…that he knew a whole lot more than she did…and about far too many things.

CHAPTER SEVEN

‘YOU mean there’s nothing?’

‘I mean there’s not enough to furnish you with sufficient funds to save the finca. I’m very sorry, Miss Wilson.’

Annalisa swallowed and looked at her hands folded neatly in her lap, then up again into the concerned, bespectacled face of her mother’s lawyer. ‘Well, thank you, Mr Patterson, for being so frank with me.’

‘I only wish I had better news for you.’

‘I always knew it was a long shot,’ she said, sighing. ‘But I had to try.’

‘As I understand it,’ the solicitor continued in a more positive tone of voice, ‘if you sell the finca you will be a very wealthy young woman.’

Annalisa laughed mirthlessly. ‘That’s true. But I had hoped…’ She sighed again.

‘I know,’ Patterson said sympathetically. ‘Life seems to give with one hand and take away with the other. I see cases like this all the time.’