Raul's Revenge

'Relax, Ava; no one rang it. But you can serve the coffee and cognac now. Only three.' It took every ounce of will power she possessed to speak normally in Spanish to Ava when what she really wanted to do was scream and bawl her fury and frustration at the injustice of it all. 'I'm going to have a cup here, and if any one asks I've gone to bed.'

'But senorita, you can't—'

'But I have, Ava. Please, no questions, not now.' And, slumping down on a plain pine ladder-backed chair, she rested her elbows on the scrubbed pine table and put her head in her hands.

She knew that she had been incredibly rude, but then she had been forced to share a table with two dinner guests from hell... And what of Raul? He had been no support. Instead he had attempted to manipulate her into an apology that he knew perfectly well she had no in­tention of making.

The door opened and she lifted her head. It was Ava. 'Everything all right?' Penny asked quietly.

‘They are drinking the coffee, but as for the rest... I have never seen the master look so angry. What on earth happened?'

Penny got to her feet and crossed to the worktop, where a multitude of dirty dishes were scattered. 'I'll give you a hand with clearing up, Ava.'

'But what did you do?'

'It was what I would not do that caused the problem,' Penny said drily, and as they worked side by side, loading the dishwasher and scrubbing the pans, Penny told Ava the whole story.

'You should not have argued with the master because of me,' Ava said when P

enny had finished. 'And I did warn you about Dulcie.'

'You are not paid to gossip about my life.' Raul's furious comment cut through the air over the rattling of dishes.

Both women turned in unison, flushed and looked de­cidedly guilty.

'Go to bed, Ava,' Raul ordered, his dark eyes flashing fire, and, striding towards Penny, he added, ‘I want to talk to Penelope.'

Ava, with one fearful glance at Raul and a pitying one at Penny, scurried out of the room, leaving Penny with her back to the bench-top and nowhere to go as Raul clamped his hands on her shoulders and dragged her to­wards him.

Changing to English he bit out, 'No one, but no one makes me look a fool in my own home.' His hard mouth narrowed to a grim line as he battled to contain his rage.

'You made a fool of yourself.' She tried to defy him, and lifted her hands to push him away, to put some space between them. But he crushed her to him, his head swooping down, his mouth covering hers in a brutal, savaging kiss—a parody of what a kiss should be.

She felt as if she was drowning; she could not breathe. Her lips were pushed back against her teeth and his hands were digging into her flesh. She beat his chest with her fists and kicked out with one foot, catching him a hefty blow on the shin, which finally brought him to his senses.

He lifted his head, his glittering eyes narrowed on her bruised mouth. 'It was either kiss you or kill you. Why, Penny? Why? What satisfaction does it give you to defy me?'

His hands squeezed her shoulders; her head fell back and she stared up at his harsh face. She saw the barely restrained anger and the enquiry in his expression. In that moment she recognised that Raul honestly did not understand her at all. She took a deep, calming breath. She hated to argue with him; perhaps if she tried to ex­plain, coolly, calmly...

'Raul, it was never my intention to make you look foolish; you did that yourself. I told you over and over again that I would not apologise to that woman.' She could not say the name. 'I know you don't believe me, but I swear she was absolutely horrible to Ava. Ask Ava if you don't believe me.'

'Ava's hearing is not that good. I suppose it never occurred to you that you might be wrong, you might be mistaken. Oh, no! You have to behave like the spoilt child you are,' he derided harshly.

'So my Spanish is no good and poor Ava is deaf.' All thoughts of staying cool deserted her; bitter bile rose in her throat and she had to swallow hard before she could continue. 'Well, at least I know where I stand.'

She was nothing to Raul—never had been. Now she knew why he had never introduced her to any of his friends; he thought of her as a spoilt child, an immature young woman good enough to go to bed with but nothing more. When it came to the crunch, and she needed his trust and support, his first allegiance was not to her.

'Yes. As an honoured guest in my house. And, as such, I expect you to behave with a modicum of good manners. Surely that is not too much to ask?' Raul said silkily, his voice hardening as he went on. 'I give you everything you want and I demand some loyalty in return. Instead of which you insult my oldest friends.'

Penny shook with temper and the fury of humiliation. 'You demand loyalty!' she shot back, and, further in­censed at his arrogance, nothing could stop her from telling him a few home truths. 'It is OK for your ex-fiancée to walk all over Ava and insult me. "English whore" was the phrase your lady-friend used.' She laughed harshly, without humour. 'Her old goat of a father can spend all evening trying to squeeze my thigh and I am supposed to apologise to that lot simply to humour you.'

She didn't see the shocked horror in his eyes because before he could take another swipe at her crumbling self-esteem she shoved blindly past him and walked straight to the door. She paused at the entrance and looked back to where Raul was standing, a wealth of emotions flitting across his rugged features. 'Sorry. I am not into self-debasement—not even for you, Raul. Goodnight.'

CHAPTER FOUR

'For heaven's sake, Penny! Will you stop pacing the floor and chewing your fingernails and sit down?' Amy said, exasperation lacing her friendly voice. 'I have told you all my news, but Tanya will be back in an hour and you have still not even begun to tell me what is wrong.'

Penny sighed and collapsed onto the battered sofa next to her friend. Tanya had been sharing the apartment with Amy in Penny's absence. Apparently she was a final-year student and had met and fallen madly in love with Mike, who owned the apartment above. The happy couple were getting married in ten days' time.