‘Alessandro!’ Señora Fernandez exclaimed, her voice pure steel. ‘Have you forgotten yourself entirely? Apologise to Señorita Parrish this instant, and keep your rough house behaviour for the polo field where your aggression can be safely channelled.’
If all these fierce-looking men were encouraged by their mothers to work off their aggression on the polo field no wonder they couldn’t be beaten, Maxie reflected as Diego stepped forward.
‘Señora,’ he said with a courteous bow to Alessandro’s mother, ‘may I offer you a refreshing drink before we return to our seats?’
But Alessandro wasn’t finished yet. ‘How could you allow this woman to come here?’ he hissed, staring at Maxie as his mother graciously accepted Diego’s offer.
‘Not now, Alessandro,’ Diego warned, conscious of Maxie standing behind him in a state of bewilderment. Alessandro’s expression of fury was nothing to the hurt he could see on Maxie’s face, which seemed to say, What haven’t you told me?
‘Will everyone please take their places?’ she said in a calm voice. ‘Ruiz?’ she prompted, escorting the groom towards the screen behind which his guests sat waiting. ‘You wouldn’t want Holly to be upset by any further delay, would you?’
Ruiz was instantly in the moment. ‘Of course not,’ he said, heading off.
‘Diego, Nacho, Kruz,’ she added firmly. ‘Please go with your brother.’
‘And leave you here?’ Diego demanded, as his brothers peeled away.
Holly was issuing instructions over her radio, and it was Señora Fernandez who took the floor. ‘Please remember this is a public occasion,’ she told her son. ‘If you care anything about family pride, as you say you do, then this is your chance to prove it.’
‘Gracias, señora,’ Maxie said gratefully as the men finally left the two women together. ‘I don’t understand what provoked this, but perhaps you and I can talk after the wedding?’
‘I would like that,’ Señora Fernandez agreed.
Having restarted the programme for the day, Maxie thanked Señora Fernandez again for her intervention.
‘You were doing very well on your own,’ Señora Fernandez insisted. ‘You seem to have a talent for handling hotheads,’ she added wryly.
There was iron in that voice, but also sadness, Maxie thought as the older woman reached out to touch her face. ‘Let’s go,’ Señora Fernandez announced, heading for the screen. ‘We have a wedding to celebrate, don’t we, Maxie?’
‘Yes, we do,’ Maxie agreed, hoping she’d stop shaking soon as she gave the go-ahead to the bride.
He had thought he’d lost everything after the accident, but that had been nothing compared to this, Diego realised. Getting through the wedding with good grace was the hardest thing he had ever had to do. He hadn’t had a chance to explain what had happened to Maxie, and now he wondered if he was about to lose everything he cared about. He had tried to draw Maxie’s attention during the long day, but she was always busy and there had been no chance for a private word. But every second he left her bewildered about what had happened was too long, and he had his speech to make yet.
Was it only she who was in the dark? The wedding ran as if on oiled wheels, but there was no chance to ask Diego about the heated exchange as Maxie would be on duty until the last guest went to bed.
She insisted on staying until everything had been cleared away, and Diego came looking for her to remind her that she had a baby to think of now.
‘I wanted to speak to Señora Fernandez before I turned in.’ She snatched a glance at her watch and grimaced when she saw the time.
‘Señora Fernandez will be fast asleep by now,’ Diego confirmed. ‘You should be too.’
‘What was that about, Diego?’
‘I’ll answer questions tomorrow.’
‘No. Tonight,’ Maxie insisted as all the hurt and bewilderment welled up inside her. ‘We promised we’d share everything,’ she reminded him.
‘And I will.’
‘Now, Diego.’
He took her to the stables, and they walked down the line of stalls where horses were breathing softly. ‘You never did tell me who won the polo match,’ she said.
‘Does it matter?’
‘You scored the winning goal.’
‘Lucia told you? All I could think of was getting back to you. I just wanted the match over with. The only irony was winning my place back on the team when I thought I’d lost everything.’
‘And today at the wedding?’ she prompted. ‘Why does Alessandro hate me so much, Diego? I don’t even know him.’
Opening a door onto the hay barn, he took her inside. ‘This is where I come when I have something on my mind,’ he said. ‘The horses are good company.’
‘You mean they don’t answer back?’ Maxie suggested wryly.
Diego huffed a laugh. Shrugging off his jacket, he tossed it on a bale of hay and brought her down with him. ‘Señora Fernandez and Alessandro are my best friend Oresto’s mother and brother. Many years ago Oresto met a man who promised him he could change his life. That man was your father …’
Maxie drew in a sharp breath. ‘Diego …?’
‘I introduced them, and together we thought we could make lots of money. But sadly this story does not have a happy ending. I think you know ho
w it ends …’
‘The boy who killed himself?’ Maxie exclaimed softly.
‘Now it all makes sense. That lovely woman—Diego, I can’t bear it. No wonder Alessandro was so angry when he realised who I was.’
‘We can’t change the past, but we can learn from it. I’ve laid my ghosts, Maxie. It’s time for you to do the same.’
‘I can’t believe you were so closely associated with my father all those years ago. It’s incredible to imagine it.’
‘Our lives were intertwined before we even knew it,’ he murmured, kissing her brow.
‘What a tragedy,’ she whispered, shifting restlessly in his arms. ‘I can understand why Alessandro hates me.’
‘Alessandro doesn’t hate you. He will see sense and calm down. He always does.’
‘But Señora Fernandez—’
‘—is a very special woman. She forgave me many years ago. She told me that no more young lives should be wasted because of money. And I think she likes you.’
‘I hope so,’ Maxie murmured, relaxing.
‘I repaid all the money Oresto lost—with interest.’
‘And my father?’
Diego would never speak ill of the dead, let alone remind Maxie of a bad time in her life. ‘I learned a lot from your father,’ he said honestly.
‘About what not to do?’ she suggested.
His answer was to kiss her, and when he released her he said, ‘I’ll do everything in my power to keep you safe and prove that love can last, that it can become stronger with each passing year.’
Reassured, she snuggled close—and was so exhausted she slept until dawn.
‘So, what shall we do now?’ he said, turning to look at her as she stirred sleepily.
‘I don’t know,’ she admitted. ‘Have you got any ideas?’
‘I’ve got a few,’ he said.
It was three months later when Diego led Maxie through the doors of a prominent London store. They were staying with Ruiz and Holly in their London home, and making the most of all the wonderful shopping opportunities.