He stood so quickly his chair scraped on the stone floor, and the physical dissimilarity between the two men was immediately apparent. Diego de la Vega was good-looking, but he didn’t have Xavier’s height or the same powerful build, and he didn’t possess one iota of the raw masculinity and charisma Xavier exuded.
He looked at her. ‘Let’s go,’ he said evenly, and she didn’t need further prompting.
Whoever he was, Diego de la Vega made her uneasy; she was more than happy to leave.
Fortunately Xavier had already paid the bill. He said a curt ‘Buenas noches’ to his relative, and then they made a quick exit—though not before Jordan had fielded a look from Diego that not only glinted with ill-concealed curiosity but also, she thought, a hint of malevolence.
Suppressing a shudder, she emerged onto the street and turned to Xavier. His jaw was still tight, his mouth compressed. ‘Who was that?’
‘My cousin.’
Hand on her elbow, he guided her into the back of the chauffeured vehicle that waited at the kerb for them. He joined her from the other side and then stayed frustratingly silent.
After two minutes of his brooding, she could no longer hold her tongue. ‘Why is there so much animosity between you two?’
He continued to look out of his window. ‘We don’t get along.’
She stared at his profile, so strong and proud. So achingly handsome. ‘I could see that,’ she said patiently. ‘I’m asking you why.’
He paused for so long she thought he wasn’t going to answer. ‘We fell out over a woman.’
Jordan was silent as she absorbed that. So he had once felt strongly enough about a woman to feel territorial over her?
‘Recently?’ she asked, conscious of a hot, unaccountable twinge of jealousy.
‘Ten years ago.’
Foolishly, she felt relieved. ‘Is that why you didn’t introduce me?’
He turned his head to look at her, and she cringed inwardly, knowing that he must have heard the hint of hurt in her voice.
The truth was she did feel hurt. Regardless of this spat the two men had had a decade ago, Diego was Xavier’s family—and yet he hadn’t thought her important enough to introduce her. Perhaps he’d thought he was protecting her—and admittedly Diego had unnerved her—but at the same time Xavier had made her feel small. Insignificant.
‘He’s not a nice man, querida.’
His voice was gentler now, but Jordan sensed he was holding something back. Something more serious than a fight over a woman.
‘What else?’
He frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
‘There’s something else,’ she pressed, running with her instincts. ‘Besides the woman. Some other reason you and Diego don’t get along.’
He looked out of his window again, silent for another long moment. ‘Sí,’ he said at last. ‘But it’s...complicated.’
‘You don’t think I can understand “complicated”?’
‘I don’t think it’s anything you really want to hear about.’
‘If I wasn’t interested,’ she said gently, ‘I wouldn’t have asked.’
He pulled in a breath and released it slowly. Then he turned back to her. ‘There are certain members of the extended de la Vega family—including Diego and his father, Hector, who is my father’s first cousin—who have never accepted me as one of them.’
It was Jordan’s turn to frown. ‘One of “them”?’
‘A de la Vega.’
She was silent for a moment, trying to make sense of what he was telling her. She thought she understood, and yet it seemed ludicrous. Unbelievable.