Bride in a Gilded Cage

Following their exchange before they’d gone out for the evening Isobel had fully expected Rafael to take her to his bed that night. But after bumping into Ana Perez he’d been abnormally quiet and subdued, barely bidding Isobel goodnight when they’d returned to the house. And she knew why—what it had to be. Because seeing her next to Ana Perez had reminded him of everything he was missing from his marriage.

Passion and love.

No matter how cynical his exterior, he couldn’t truly not want that.

It wasn’t hard to remember the passionate pictures of them all those years before, when they’d been engaged. He’d looked devastated to see his ex-fiancée that evening. Isobel turned on her side and stared sightlessly into the gloom, unwilling to acknowledge how much that thought hurt.

Isobel felt hollow-eyed the next morning when she came down to breakfast. She’d deliberately come down later to try and avoid Rafael, but he was sitting there in shirt and tie, finishing his coffee when she came in. He glanced up and took her in.

‘You look like hell.’

‘Thanks,’ she muttered, and sat down, feeling even more exposed.

Rafael cleared his throat. ‘I’m sorry you were subjected to Ana’s unique brand of social grace last night.’

Isobel affected blithe unconcern as she poured herself some coffee. ‘Oh, that? I’d forgotten all about meeting her.’

‘Yes,’ he said tightly. ‘Well, it won’t happen again. I can assure you of that.’

Isobel flicked him a quick glance so she wouldn’t have to look at him properly. ‘Look, really, it’s no big deal. You were engaged. It’d be weirder if she’d said nothing at all.’

Rafael went very still. ‘Just exactly what did she say?’

Isobel squirmed in her seat and cursed herself silently, especially when Rafael said grimly, ‘Isobel, I’m not leaving here until you tell me, and you can forget about pretending you talked about the weather. I know exactly what she’s like.’

Isobel’s insides felt as if they were being lacerated. His interest in what Ana had said had to be evidence that he still felt something for her, or else why the need to know?

So she blurted out, ‘Fine. She wanted me to know that if you hadn’t lost everything when you had, you’d be married to her by now.’ Rafael snorted indelicately, and Isobel was reminded of her curiosity of the night before. ‘What did she mean about losing everything?’

Rafael looked as grim as Isobel had ever seen him—face taut, the lines harsh. ‘What my dear ex-fiancée was alluding to was the fact that our engagement had disastrous repercussions. My father died just after we announced the engagement, leaving the company in disarray. When rumours emerged that Ana and I might elope, and thus break the legal agreement between our families, investors and banks washed their hands of me, sure that I wouldn’t be able to turn things around like my father always had.’

‘Elope?’ Isobel repeated faintly, recalling just then that Ana had mentioned it last night.

Rafael’s eyes were cold and black. ‘Ana thought it would be romantic. She played on the fact that I felt trapped by this agreement, that I was promised in marriage to someone who was barely a teenager at the time. She thought eloping would be the quickest way to entice me into marriage, but before we could get that far my finances collapsed overnight.’

Isobel shook her head, trying to absorb this information and ignore the way it made her feel to know that he’d been willing to elope for love. ‘But what about your brother? Wasn’t he—?’

‘My brother had his own concerns by then, in Greece. It was up to me to get things back on track. And I did—before we could lose our home and before we could lose the estancia.’ His mouth twisted bitterly. ‘However, Ana didn’t trust my ability. She ran, and within months she’d married a Swiss industrialist who could keep her in the manner to which she’d become accustomed.’

All Isobel could think of in that moment was how hollow and empty her belly felt. ‘I had no idea…’ she said ineffectually.

‘Why would you?’ He shrugged nonchalantly. ‘The press had a field day, but once I started to make money again it was soon forgotten and I was welcomed back into the fold.’

Rafael stood then, and his chair sounded harsh on the floor. Isobel flinched slightly.

‘Still flinching, Isobel?’ His voice sounded unbearably harsh, as if talking about the past had tapped into something within him. She looked up.

Rafael leant down and put his finger under her chin, tipping her face up to his. For a terrified moment she was afraid he was going to kiss her, just when she was feeling far too vulnerable. But then he said, ‘I’m bored with talk of the past and ex-fiancées. You are my wife now, Isobel, and I’m done with waiting. Tonight I’ll have you in my bed. But first we have to entertain a business contact. Be ready to go out at eight.’

Still a little dazed and stunned at what had just transpired, Isobel finished her breakfast and went out to the hall. She saw that someone had put the post in the door and went to pick it up. Along with it was one of the tabloid papers that Juanita liked reading.

When Isobel flipped open the paper fully there was a lurid headline proclaiming that Ana Perez was back in town, and an old picture of Rafael and Ana just after they’d announced their engagement. They were hand in hand, with Rafael curving his other hand protectively around Ana’s face to shield her from the paparazzi. Rafael looked so young, vibrant and handsome, with a softness to his face that she’d never seen.

Nausea surged again just as Juanita appeared. Isobel all but pushed the letters and the paper into her hands and fled, leaving Juanita to look at the paper curiously.

‘I believe you’re a professional dancer?’

Isobel turned to Rita, the wife of Rafael’s business contact and smiled weakly, trying to ignore the fact that her head spun a little with the movement. ‘Well, not professional. Although I did teach tango when I lived in Paris.’