‘You guessed,’ he said, omitting to tell Lizzie that her mother’s expression had hardened as she’d regarded him coldly.
‘This isn’t a free choice, Chico,’ Serena had informed him. ‘You’re a groom here at Rottingdean, and as such you’re a servant who will do as you are told.’
‘I’m afraid not, my lady,’ he’d replied. Being innocent of such things back then, he had no doubt that his eyes had been wide as saucers.
‘You will be afraid if you don’t do exactly as I say,’ Serena had promised. ‘You’ve seen too much, so if you leave now I’ll say you raped me—and I have at least twenty witnesses to back me up.’
At that point he’d noticed Lord Fane for the first time. The grand aristocrat had been seated in a chair that looked something like a throne, with a naked girl kneeling at his feet. As their eyes had met across a scene more reminiscent of Sodom and Gomorrah than the respectable stately home Chico had thought he was staying in, the expression in Lizzie’s father’s eyes had assured him that what Serena said Serena would make good on, and that Lizzie’s father would have no hesitation in backing her mother up.
She suspected there might be more Chico could tell her, but was holding back, because it would damn her parents, rather than Chico, and the last thing Chico wanted was to hurt her. The idea of her mother hitting on Chico when he had expected so much more of the aristocracy sickened her. She was determined to get right to the bottom of it now. ‘Is there anything else?’ she asked him bluntly. ‘Anything you’re not telling me. You might as well get it all out now. Remember what I told you—I’m not that same girl now, and we trust each other, don’t we?’
‘What do you want me to tell you? I was naïve.’
‘And I was fifteen,’ she countered.
‘I had no excuse,’ Chico insisted, still determined to beat himself up. ‘I grew up in the barrio—I saw my brother killed in front of me—I had a father in jail and a mother on the game, and still I came here to the Highlands, and allowed myself to be seduced by the beauty of the countryside, and the kindness of the people, and I failed entirely to see the same rot in this grand old house that had existed in my tin shack.’
‘Only because you expected so much more of us,’ Lizzie argued, ‘and in the end we’re just people. It doesn’t matter where we come from. We’re all human beings—some flawed, some not. I’m only sorry that, having escaped the gutter, you found yourself here, mired in another type of filth. I’ve been surrounded by lies all my life, Chico. Tell me we’re not going to lie to each other now.’
‘You’re right,’ he agreed, ‘except for one thing. I don’t regret coming here with Eduardo. If I hadn’t come here, we wouldn’t have met.’ His lips curved in a smile and then, seeing her expression, he turned serious again. ‘Are you still worried about me buying the estate?’
Lizzie thought for a moment, and then said honestly, ‘I can’t deny it will take some getting used to—and I’m not sure where it’s going to leave the people who work here, and that’s what concerns me.’
‘It will leave them exactly where they’ve always been. This will be my tribute to a very special lady—your grandmother. I think she would be very pleased to know that more children from the slums will be coming here as I did.’
‘So that’s your plan?’ Lizzie exclaimed.
‘What did you think?’
‘I don’t know what I thought,’ she admitted, shaking her head. ‘But this is such a surprise—a wonderful surprise.’
‘I’ve bought the house and everything in it, so you can work with me. Or you can stand in my way, if you prefer, though I wouldn’t advise it,’ Chico said wryly. ‘When I’m set on a plan, I always carry it through.’
He wanted them to work together? It was an extraordinary, far-sighted plan, but what could she offer the children? She didn’t have a diploma, let alone a peg to hang her hat. Were the children supposed to wait until she resolved those issues?
‘Could I live here?’
‘I would hope so,’ Chico confirmed. ‘Where are you going now?’ he demanded, coming to stand in her way.
‘I have to think about this. I need to get back on my feet again first.’
‘Yes,’ he agreed. ‘You do. And?’
‘That means ploughing my own furrow, not walking in yours.’
‘But you’re a crucial part of my plan, Lizzie. I won’t let you go so easily this time.’
‘You can’t stop me,’ she said in her most reasonable tone.
Chico’s black eyes changed. She knew that look. ‘Don’t you dare,’ she warned him. ‘If you kiss me, I’ll—’
‘You’ll what?’ Grabbing her close, he cupped her chin and made her look at him.
Lizzie felt so good in his arms, he had to close his eyes for a moment so he could absorb just how good. She was like every Christmas gift come at once—better even than he remembered.
‘You barbarian,’ she flashed when he pulled back. ‘How dare you come in here and kiss me?’
‘How dare I? Really?’ His lips tugged with amusement, which only made her madder than before. Her eyes turned black, her lips were swollen, and her nipples thrust imperatively against the fine lace of her bra. ‘I might ride to your rescue occasionally, but I’m no saint.’
Before she had a chance to argue with him, he drove his mouth down on hers, claiming the last thing that interested him at Rottingdean. And then, with a fierce sound of hunger and need, she laced her fingers through his hair to keep him close.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
HE HAD NEVER experienced such a rush of desire before. This was a kiss like no other; an embrace he doubted either of them would ever f
orget. It was as if all the forces of nature had come together to bind them close. They could argue all they liked, but the fates would not allow them to defy their destiny. When he finally released her, Lizzie’s face was flushed to show that the blood was pumping fiercely through her veins. But it wasn’t just lust driving her.
‘You can’t have everything at Rottingdean, Chico,’ she told him. ‘You can’t buy me along with the Chippendale chairs.’
‘I don’t want to buy you,’ he fired back. ‘I don’t see you as one of the fixtures and fittings,’ and just as she was about to get started, he added, ‘but I don’t see why I can’t have you.’ And catching her close, he smiled down. ‘Why fight what we both want, Lizzie?’
‘I might want it,’ she argued angrily, ‘but I’ve got more sense.’
‘More sense than to do what?’ he challenged.
‘To love you,’ she blurted out, surprising him with her ferocity. ‘I’ve got more sense than to love you.’ With an angry huff, she turned her face away. ‘And now I’m going to check on the horses,’ she said gruffly, ‘and when I’ve done that, I’ll pack a bag and you’ll never have to see me again—’
‘Not so fast.’ He caught her close. ‘You’re not going to leave here, and desert everyone before you’ve even heard my plan?’
‘I no longer have a place here,’ she said proudly. ‘Rottingdean doesn’t belong to the Fane family. It belongs to you. The estate is no longer my responsibility.’
‘So, will you say goodbye to the staff on your way out?’ he demanded mildly.
She made an angry, impatient sound in reply.
‘Would you mind moving away from the door, please?’
‘Yes, I’d mind,’ he assured her, standing firm. ‘Don’t tar me with the same brush as your parents, Lizzie. I’m not here to take anything. I’m here to give. I want to restore the estate so that everyone has the chance of a good future. I understand the uncertainty you’ve all been through, and I want to bring it to an end. I know you’re angry now, because this change of ownership has happened so fast, but don’t act on impulse. Stay and we can work miracles here.’