Stand-In Bride's Seduction

“Why are you telling me this?” Rey asked, still thoroughly confused. Had the sisters been setting up yet another mark?

“Because you deserve the truth, and you deserve far better than me. When I arrived here, and we met, I decided you were the perfect man for me. Uncommitted, fun, not looking for forever. And then you asked me to marry you. I was flattered, who wouldn’t be? But I said ‘yes’ for all the wrong reasons. I didn’t want to admit to myself that I’d fallen in love with Paul, but then I began to suspect I might be pregnant.”

“You stopped drinking coffee and alcohol.”

“Yes, I’m surprised you noticed.”

“What I noticed was that your sister had not. It was one of the first things that drew the truth to my attention, although I was distracted at the time with Benedict’s accident.”

Sara’s hands fluttered to her face, “I can’t believe I’d forgotten to ask you about that. How is he?”

“Recovering at the castillo for now.”

“I’m so glad. I never meant to leave you in the lurch at such a rough time—I had no idea anything had happened to Benedict until Rina told me. But by then, I was already in France. It wasn’t long before I started to question my acceptance of your proposal and I knew that before I could do anything, I needed to talk to Paul again. Things with us were still so new—I couldn’t tell you I had to run off to France to talk with an old lover, but how could I explain leaving?

“Then Rina called to tell me about her broken engagement, and the timing was just too good to pass up. She needed to get away, and so did I. I asked her to visit, and arranged my flight from France to get in at the same time as hers. We barely had a chance to say hello before I shoved the letter at her, asking her to take my place.”

The envelope with the ring, Reynard realized. The one that had had him worried that Sara planned to break their engagement. The one that had triggered their first kiss—and with it, the realization that Sara was not the woman who had been taking over his senses. It hadn’t been addressed to him at all, but to her sister—asking her to play along with the charade.

“I know it wasn’t fair—to you or to Rina—but I also knew that she wouldn’t tell me no. I flew straight back to France. At first, Paul wouldn’t see me, but eventually we got together and we’ve sorted things out. He still loves me and I know I love him also.”

“And if he had not wanted you? Were you going to foist his child upon me?” Rey was rocked by her revelations, but his wits weren’t so completely scattered to keep him from asking the obvious question. Sarina might not have been using him with financial motives, but Sara still could have been.

“I’ll be honest. When I first went to Perpignan, the thought had crossed my mind, but in the end, I know I would never have done that to you. Reynard, I’m so sorry I used you. Sorry I used Rina, too. I should have been honest with you from the start and explained why I had to go away instead of expecting my sister to pick up the pieces.”

“I can’t accept your apology, Sara. What the two of you have done—it has made me feel very manipulated and very angry.”

“I understand. Look, I haven’t seen Rina yet, and I need to tell her what has happened. Can I ask you not to say anything to her until then?”

Say anything to her? He’d ordered her from the island—from his life. He doubted that not speaking to her would be a problem. In response to Sara’s question he nodded.

“Rina is leaving the island later today. I suggest that you go with her.”

“I’m only here to clear things up with you, collect Rina and get my things. You won’t need to worry about us again.”

After Sara had gone, Reynard’s head began to pound. How could he have been so incredibly wrong about Rina? Had his earlier experience with Estella so poisoned him that he’d been incapable of viewing any woman without suspicion? She’d admitted she pretended to be her sister. Admitted everything, including her love for him. And he’d called her a liar and crushed her with his anger.

Yes, she had deceived him, but wouldn’t he have done the same thing for either of his brothers? Of course he would, if asked. In fact, his perpetuation of his engagement to Sara was no less a counterfeit than what the sisters had done to him. He’d done it to put Abuelo’s mind at rest, but the fact he had done it at all made him no different from Sarina and her twin.