The Disobedient Virgin

“I’m in charge, as you put it, because your parents wanted it that way.”

“They did not!” A surge of anger lent vibrancy to her voice. “They left me in the care of my uncle.”

“Yes.” His mouth seemed to soften. “And then you lost him, too. I’m sure it was quite a blow.”

The “blow”, as he’d put it, came of what had happened today, but why tell him that and lose some slight edge?

“It was. He was family.”

“And I’m not.”

“No.” Her head came up. “I don’t even know who you are.”

“I told you. I’m—”

“I don’t mean that. I mean, I don’t know anything about you.”

His teeth showed in a mirthless grin. “Then we’re even.”

“That’s not true. You knew where we were going when we left the convent. You know where we’re going after this. You knew you were going to control my destiny while I thought I’d be free.” Her voice shook. Damn it, Catarina! she thought, and swallowed hard. “At least tell me why you’ve agreed to this—this impossible arrangement.”

It was, Jake knew, a question she was entitled to ask. Her parents, fate and the damnable Enrique Ramirez had put her life in his hands. She’d put up a good front so far, but he was pretty sure a front was all it was. The tremor in her voice, the stripes of color across her cheeks that only emphasized her pallor, were dead giveaways.

Catarina Mendes had been whisked from the only home she knew, handed to a stranger, told that he controlled her existence even though she was of age, even though she was a woman…

Never mind that.

She was scared, and he couldn’t blame her. Maybe it was time to regroup.

“ Mendes,” Jake said gently, “why don’t you sit down?”

“I don’t need to sit.”

“Maybe not, but I sure do. It’s been a long day. I’m tired, irritable, and now that I think about it, I’m starved.” He reached for the phone. “What would you like?”

“My freedom,” she said, “that’s what I’d like.”

He nodded. “Yes. I’m sure you would. But—”

“But you’re not about to let me have it.”

“It’s not as simple as you’d like to make it sound.”

“It is,” she said, on a hint of desperation. “All you have to do is tell that attorney you’ve decided to step aside.”

“Okay. Let’s assume I said, sure, go ahead, you want to take off? Go on. Do it.” Jake tucked his hands in his trouser pockets and leaned a hip against the sofa. “What would happen next?”

“What do you mean, what would happen next? I’d be free.”

“Free? You’d be all alone in a city that can be as cruel as it is beautiful, sleeping in the streets, at the mercy of everyone who saw you. Does that sound like freedom to you?”

“I’d manage,” Catarina said, even though her stomach lurched at the thought of the abyss he’d so accurately described.

“I don’t think so. Besides, you’ve left something out. The most important item. You wouldn’t get your inheritance.”

“That’s not true. I’ll get a lawyer. He’ll understand that my parents never meant my life to be handed over to a stranger.”

“You’re right, I’m sure they didn’t.”