‘Which is why I came to the church on your sister’s wedding day. The minute I realised I might have lost you to another man, nothing else mattered!’ Joaquin shared in a raw-edged admission. ‘Not that you might have slept with him, not that the child might even be his…I still wanted you to be mine.’
‘Oh, Joaquin,’ Lucy muttered, her eyes glistening with helpless tears. ‘I can’t believe you loved me that much—’
‘Didn’t I rush to the church to tell you so?’ A forgivably grim smile of recollection momentarily curved his firm mouth. ‘Only to discover that you were not Cindy Paez and not the bride either. Never have I been made to feel like such a fool! In anger with you, I almost let my pride destroy us then.’
Lucy touched his hand with uncertain fingers. ‘You were allowed to be angry—’
‘But I might have driven you away. I wanted to punish you for having deceived me. Yet, when I thought about it, I had always known the real you,’ Joaquin stressed, spreading both hands in speaking emphasis on that point. ‘The whole time you were just yourself in Guatemala. Honest in every way you could be. Very shocked to hear of Fidelio’s situation, always attempting to show me that there were two sides to every argument—’
‘You know…’ Lucy broke in, so eager was she to share her own feelings at that moment. ‘I love you very much too!’
Joaquin surveyed her with shimmering eyes full of appreciation, and his smile became one of unalloyed satisfaction, his brilliant gaze softening to tenderness. Nothing was said. In that instant nothing more needed to be said. He pulled her into his arms with unconcealed impatience and kissed her with the most explosive hunger he had ever shown her.
There was nothing remotely cool about the way in which he got her out of her wedding gown, nothing measured or smooth about the manner in which he stripped off his beautiful suit. They were both on an emotional high of sheer relief and happiness that all the misunderstandings were now behind them. From that first drugging kiss she was on fire, aching for the glorious fulfilment that only he could give.
In the aftermath of that wild passion, which swept them both to the heights and then dropped them down gently to share a wonderful sensation of togetherness, Lucy recognised that she had never felt so happy in her life. And that sensation was made all the more intoxicating by the quiet awareness that Joaquin felt exactly the same way.
His bright gaze, semi-screened by his lush black lashes, smouldered over her with possessive intensity and then his mouth quirked. ‘There’s something I should tell you… I will personally replace the remainder of Fidelio’s savings. He will never know that the money did not come from your sister.’
Lucy could not conceal her total disconcertion at that announcement.
Joaquin smiled ruefully and skated his fingertip over her full lower lip. ‘Roger argued with me, but I insisted that clearing the debt would be my wedding present to them both.’
‘But why…why did you change your mind and decide to do that?’ Suddenly registering that this must be what her twin had referred to but refused to discuss before she’d set off on her honeymoon, Lucy was genuinely amazed that Joaquin had decided to make so generous a gesture towards her sister and her husband.
‘I now believe that Fidelio and Cindy were both victims, in their own way. If Mario hadn’t died, it would never have happened.’ Joaquin sighed. ‘But Mario was using my hotel suite when he met your sister. He was a very nice guy, but it is possible that in a desire to impress Cindy he somewhat exaggerated his circumstances and misled her entirely.’
Lucy nodded very slowly at this re-rendering of possible events. She had the tact not to comment. She saw that Joaquin had been realistically reappraising what he recalled of his former friend’s character. A nice guy, but possibly not above the kind of boastfulness which might have come close to actual lying, she translated for herself.
‘It is not a good idea for Roger and your sister to start their life as a couple with a substantial debt still hanging over them. They had already lost the value of that flat which was sold. Your sister is going to have a hard enough time living within their income,’ Joaquin pointed out wryly. ‘It occurred to me that to saddle them with so great a burden might put considerable strain on their relationship in the future.’
‘Yes.’ Lucy had been trying not to worry about that angle herself, but there was no denying that Roger would have had good reason for resentment when he found himself under such financial constraint. After all, he had not even known Cindy when the debt was incurred. Suddenly she was just filled to the brim with gratitude that Joaquin had had that much foresight and generosity.
‘It means so little to me, but so much to them.’
‘I just love you ten times more than I did a minute ago!” Lucy told him exuberantly, for he was every bit as clever as she had ever thought he was.
Joaquin lay back against the pillows and let her cover him with kisses. He gave her a wry smile. ‘Fidelio will also profit more from this less punitive way of resolving the situation. We will invite Roger and Cindy to Guatemala to meet the old man and that will make him very happy.’
‘You’re brilliant,’ Lucy assured him, even more impressed and quite unable to hide the fact.
‘I told you that you were made for me.’ Joaquin studied her rapt face with tenderly amused eyes. ‘The Latin male ego thrives on appreciation.’
Much later they ate by romantic candlelight in the dining room and Lucy unwrapped the gift which Joaquin had set aside and forgotten about when he returned earlier that afternoon. It was the most exquisite crystal angel.
‘I saw it in a store. It made me think of you,’ Joaquin confessed silkily.
‘An angel?’ Lucy queried a little tautly.
‘Not quite,’ Joaquin countered teasingly. ‘But I can see through you the same way I could see through crystal.’
After their meal they finished decorating the Christmas tree, which had to be just about the very last thing Lucy had expected to share with a male of Joaquin’s sophistication. But Joaquin, it turned out, was no more proof against the lure of happy childhood memories than she was, and he was drawn into the task the instant he recognised some of the vintage decorations which Lucy had already hung.
His mother, who had died when he was ten, had adored London. Christmas had never been the same after that for him. And Lucy had had much the same experience with her mother, after her parents had parted.
‘It made me sort of crave all the festive trappings while I was growing up,’ she confided ruefully. ‘Mum just had no interest after my father walked out.’
‘If you want to put a giant
Santa Claus on the roof and cover the whole house in naff lights, you can, gatita mia,’ Joaquin promised, appreciatively hugging her to him with all the affection and warmth she revelled in. ‘Yolanda will come in the door and groan about how sentimental you are, but secretly love it all.’
Actually, he got that wrong. His sister came through the door on Christmas Eve, took one look at the gorgeous tree and gushed with unhidden excitement, ‘Oh, wow, Lucy…you’re going to do the whole family Christmas bit! Are we having a turkey for dinner, like British people do? Crackers to pull? Silly games? Do I get to hang a stocking? Open my pressies at midnight?’
‘No, you’ll have to be seriously cool and control yourself until dawn breaks on Christmas morning,’ Joaquin delivered with gentle irony.
Yolanda gave him an amused look. ‘Joaquin…I’m adult enough now to be in touch with my inner child.’
On Christmas Day Yolanda left a happy trail of wrapping paper right round the drawing-room, glorying in every gift right down to the cute and cuddly teddy bear in her stocking, and then went into seclusion with her phone to amuse herself talking to her friends.
‘Next year will be our child’s first Christmas,’ Joaquin whispered huskily, banding his arms round Lucy, who was still dazedly studying the huge mound of gifts which had more than made up for all the disappointing Christmases in her past.
‘Yes…’ She sighed dreamily, thinking that the little inflatable Santa Claus which Yolanda had included as one of her jokey presents would no doubt be exactly what their child would like to poke and pummel.
‘Not many women would appreciate a teenager around within a few days of their wedding.’ Joaquin studied her contented face with deeply appreciative eyes. ‘But you don’t mind, do you?’
Lucy smiled. ‘I like the feeling that I’m part of a family just as much as she does.’
He kissed her breathless, and her heart sang and her pulses raced. Sensible talk receded for some time, until Lucy recalled that they were supposed to be attending a church service before lunch. Aghast at how late it was, she leapt off the sofa with pink cheeks, shocked at herself. ‘Joaquin…we nearly forgot about the service!’