is one of Mills & Boonâs most popular and

bestselling novelists. Her writing was an instant success with readers worldwide. Since her first book, Bittersweet Passion, was published in 1987, she has gone from strength to strength and now has over ninety titles, which have sold more than thirty-five million copies, to her name.

In this special collection, we offer readers a

chance to revisit favourite books or enjoy that rare treasureâa book by a favourite writerâthey may have missed. In every case, seduction and passion with a gorgeous, irresistible man are guaranteed!

LYNNE GRAHAM was born in Northern Ireland and has been a keen Mills & BoonÂ® reader since her teens. She is very happily married, with an understanding husband who has learned to cook since she started to write! Her five children keep her on her toes. She has a very large dog, which knocks everything over, a very small terrier, which barks a lot, and two cats. When time allows, Lynne is a keen gardener.

Duarteâs Child
Lynne Graham

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER ONE

âWHAT action do you want me to take?â the private investigator enquired.

Duarte Avila de Monteiro let the silence linger and continued to gaze out at his stunning view of the City of London. Sheâd been found. Sudden success after so many fruitless months of searching felt intoxicating. He would retrieve his son. Her too, of course. She was still his wife. He refused to think of her by name. He refused to personalise her in any way.

âDo nothing,â Duarte responded without expression.

His wealthy client was a total emotion-free zone, the investigator decided in fascination. Heâd just given the guy the news that he had finally traced his runaway wife and the infant son he had still to meetâand yet nothing was to be done?

âLeave the file on my desk,â Duarte continued in a tone of dismissal. âThere will be a substantial bonus when you present the bill for your services.â

On his way past what he assumed to be the secretaryâs desk in the ante-room outside, the investigator paused: the secretary was the most stunning Nordic blonde he had ever laid eyes on. âYour boss is kind of chilling,â he murmured confidentially.

âMy boss is a brilliant financial genius and also my lover,â the blonde whispered in a voice as cutting as slashing glass meeting tender skin. âYou just lost your bonus.â

Rearing back in startled disbelief at that poisonous response, the young investigator stared at the beautiful blonde, aghast.

âShall I call Security to have you removed?â she added sweetly.

Within his imposing office, Duarte was pouring himself a brandy and contemplating the immediate future. He had an overwhelming desire to muster his entire security team and spring a middle-of-the-night assault on his estranged wife and childâs accommodation. He had to move fast before she disappeared again with his son. His mobile phone gripped between lean brown fingers, he tensed and then frowned. For an instant, he could not believe that he had even contemplated such an act of madness. He could wait until morningâ¦ Well, he could wait until dawn at least.

He stabbed out the number for the head of his protection team. âMateus? You will proceed to the address I am about to give you. There you will find a caravanââ

âA caravanâ¦?â

âWhich contains my wife and my child,â Duarte admitted with a grimace at the sheer incredulity he could hear in Mateusâs voice. âYou will ensure that if that caravan moves so much as an inch it will be followed. You will also be discreet while treating this as a matter of the utmost urgency and importance.â

âWeâll leave immediately, sir,â Mateus confirmed, sounding shaken. âYour faith in us wonât be misplaced.â

âDiscretion, Mateus.â

Duarte made a second call to put his private jet on standby for the next day. Was he planning to kidnap them both? She was his wife. Kidnapping was a crime. She had kidnapped his son. Inferno! A bloody caravan! Duarte gritted his even white teeth, a flash of white-hot rage threatening his hard self-discipline. She was bringing his son up in a caravan while she mucked around with horses. Who was looking after their child while she devoted her attention to four-legged animals?

Emilyâsafe, quiet, humble and as easily read as an open bookâa young woman unlikely to rock any boats. How had he ever thought that? With a raw-edged laugh, Duarte drained the brandy. He had picked her quite deliberately for those unassuming qualities. Heâd given her everything that would have kept most women purring with delighted contentment. Fabulous wealth, a selection of luxurious homes and glittering social occasions at which she could show off her equally fabulous jewellery. His reward for his unquestioning generosity? Sheâd betrayed her marriage vows and his trust: sheâd got into bed with another man. Obviously quiet women needed to be watched.

One of his medieval ancestors had murdered his unfaithful wife and got off scot-free because it had been regarded as an act of cleansing the family honour, rather than a crime. Duarte could not contemplate ever laying rough hands on any woman, even his estranged wife, no matter how enraged he was by her shameless behaviour. Then, Duarte never lost control in any field. He would deal with the situation as he saw fit. Walling her up alive would not have given him the slightest satisfaction and he could only assume his ancestor had been a seriously sick pervert.

There were other infinitely more subtle ways of controlling women. And Duarte knew all the ways. Duarte had never practised those arts on his seemingly innocent and shy little wife. So she was in for a surprise or two in the near futureâ¦

âI just donât understand why you have to move on,â Alice Barker confessed. âI can drum up enough eager learners to keep you employed right through the year.â

Stiff with tension, Emily evaded the older womanâs questioning gaze. Small in stature and slight of build, she wore her long curly red hair in a sensible plait. âI donât usually stay anywhere for longââ

âYou have a six-month-old baby. Itâs not so easy to stay on the move with a young child,â Alice pointed out. âI need a permanent riding instructor and the jobâs yours if you want it. My stables would profit from you staying on just as much as you wouldââ

Feeling the dialogue had gone far enough when there was not the smallest chance of her changing her mind about leaving, Emily lifted her bright head. Her aquamarine eyes were troubled and embarrassed, for she hated to turn down an offer that she would have loved to accept. However, telling the truth about why she had to refuse wasnât an option. âIâm sorry, but we really do have to leaveââ

âWhy?â The older womanâs weathered face was set in stubborn lines.

Emilyâs fair complexion was flushed with discomfiture. âI guess Iâm a rolling stoneââ

âI donât believe that. I know travelling folk and you donât have that restlessness. You could have a comfortable home and job here with friendsââ

âYouâre making this very difficult for me, Aliceââ

The older woman tilted back her greying head and studied Emily with wry eyes. âMaybe Iâm hoping that youâll come clean and admit that youâre running from something or somebodyâ¦and that the only thing keeping you on the road is fear of that somebody or something catching up with you!â

Emily turned very pale at that disturbingly accurate assessment.

âOf course, I suspected that you might be in some sort of fix,â Alice Barker admitted with a sympathetic look. âYouâre too reserved and, by nature, Iâd say you were a much more relaxed person. Youâre also too nervous of strangers.â

âI havenât broken the law or anything,â Emily responded in a strained undertone. âBut Iâm afraid thatâs as much as I can say.â

But even as she made that assurance, she wondered if it was still true. Had she broken any English law in what she had done? How was she to know when she had not taken legal advice? Sheâd been on the run for eight months and sheâd not got back in touch with her family or indeed anyone else during that period.

âAre you trying to shake off an abusive boyfriend?â Alice was keen to get to the root of Emilyâs problems. âWhy donât you let me help you? Running away never solves anything.â

Dismayed by her companionâs persistence, Emily muttered in a rush, âYouâve been really great to us. Iâll never forget that but we have to leave first thing tomorrow.â

Recognising the sheen of tears in Emilyâs eyes, Alice sighed and gave the younger woman an awkward hug. âIf you change your mind, thereâll always be a bed here for you.â

Closing the caravan door behind her, Alice trudged back down the lane to the stable block to lock up for the evening. Emily drew in a slow, deep, shaken breath. One thing that Alice had said had hit Emily on a very tender nerve. Running away never solves anything. That was so horribly true, Emily conceded heavily. Nothing had been solved or settled. It was eight months since she had left Portugal. She had run home to her family for support but her family had treated her like an escaped convict.

âDonât think that weâre going to get involved!â Emilyâs mother had pronounced in furious dismissal. âSo please donât embarrass us with the details of your marital problems.â

âGo home to your husband. Youâre not staying here with us,â her father had told her in outrage.

âHave you gone out of your tiny mind?â Her eldest sister, Hermione, had demanded. âWhat do you think your walking out on your marriage is likely to do to the family business? If Duarte blames us, weâll all be ruined!â

âYou really are an absolute idiot to come here,â her other sister, Corinne, had said with stinging scorn. âNone of us are going to help you. Did you really expect us to react any other way?â

The answer to that frank question would have been yes but Emily had been too devastated by that mass rejection to respond. Yes, time and time again through childhood and adolescence and indeed right up to the age of twenty when she married, Emily had fondly hoped to receive some small sign that her family loved her. That blind faith had sunk without trace for the last time. Sheâd finally accepted that she was the cuckoo in the family nest, an outsider who was both resented and unwelcome and that nothing was ever likely to change that reality.

Why it should be that way sheâd never understood. Yet she was painfully aware that had she got the chance to sit down and tell the honest truth about why her marriage had fallen apart, she would undoubtedly have been shown the door by her family even more quickly.

Sheâd had to face the fact that, whatever she chose to do, she was on her own. So sheâd sold her engagement ring. With the proceeds, sheâd bought an old car and a caravan and she had hit the road to make a living the only way she could. Travelling around the countryside from one stables to another, she offered her services for a few weeks as a riding instructor and then moved on to pastures new. The longer she stayed in one place, the greater the chance that she would be tracked down.

Of course, Duarte was looking for both her and his child. Duarte Avila de Monteiro, the terrifyingly powerful and even more terrifyingly wealthy banker she had foolishly married. His brilliance in the world of finance was a living legend.

When Duarte had asked Emily to marry him, she had been stunned for she hadnât been beautiful, sophisticated or even rich. Furthermore, her relatives might like to give themselves airs and graces in polite company but, though her family could not bear to have it mentioned, Emilyâs grandfather had been a milkman. So, understandably, Emily had been overwhelmed that Duarte Avila de Monteiro should decide to marry her humble and ordinary self. That he didnât love herâ¦well, so nothing was perfect, she had told herself. At the outset, sheâd been full of cheerful and trusting hopes for the future. Adoring him like a silly schoolgirl, sheâd simply marvelled at her own good luck.

Although she had been in awe of her husband, she had never feared him, not the way others did. People were afraid to cross his reserve and offend him. People were afraid of his unapologetic ruthlessness. Sheâd been stupid not to fear him, Emily conceded heavily with the knowledge of hindsight. A wretched light in her troubled eyes, she reached into her son Jamieâs cot and lifted his warm, solid little body up into her arms. Eight months ago, Duarte had threatened to take her baby from her as soon as he was born and raise him without her. Within days of being told of that appalling threat, Emily had fled Portugal in a panic.

But unhappily there was no escape from the reality that she had destroyed her own marriage. She had been the guilty partner. It was her fault that Duarte had demanded a separation, her fault that Duarte had ultimately decided that she ought to be deprived of their child as well. Indeed, in recent months, Emily had started feeling even worse over the fact that Duarte was being deprived of the right to even see his own son. Only her terror of losing custody of Jamie and her fearful awareness that she had neither Duarteâs money nor influence had triumphed over her guilty conscience.

Now, however, Emily was finally facing the immaturity of her own behaviour. It was time that she went to see a lawyer and found out exactly where she stood. It was time she stopped runningâ¦

Yet how did she deal with Duarte? And how would Duarte now deal with her? In spite of herself, she shivered as discouraging memories engulfed her. During their separation, Duarte had exiled her to the country house in the Douro for the winter. She had lived there alone for three months, hoping against hope that he would eventually agree to see her and talk to her again and that the great divide between them might somehow be miraculously mended. But that had been such a naive dream.

For Duarte, Emily thought painfully, would be happy to acquire a son and dispense with the baby machine who had produced that son. For really that was all she had ever been to her gorgeous husbandâ¦a baby machine. For what other reason had he married her? Certainly not for love, lust or loneliness. Childlessness was a disaster to the average Portuguese male and Duarte had an illustrious name. The Monteiro family could trace their aristocratic lineage back to the thirteenth century and, naturally, Duarte had wanted a child to carry on into the next generation.

Accustomed to early rising, Emily was up before dawn the following morning.

Sheâd packed the night before. After feeding Jamie and making herself some toast and tea, she collapsed his cot and stowed it safely away. Living in a small caravan had taught her to be tidy. As she slid into a pair of old navy jodhpurs and pulled on a voluminous grey sweater to combat the early morning chill, she watched her son. Sitting on the carpet in the compact seating area, Jamie was chewing industriously on the corner of a horse magazine.

Emily darted over and detached the magazine from his mouth. âNo, Jamieâ¦hereâs your ring.â

Presented with the teething ring which had been chilled specially for his use, Jamie dropped it again and his bottom lip came out, brown eyes filming over with tears as he tried without success to reach for the magazine again. Sweeping her son up into her arms, Emily cuddled him and wondered why he loathed the teething ring which would have been so much kinder to his sore gums.

As always the warm baby smell of Jamie sent a great wave of love through her and she hugged him tight. He had Duarteâs black hair and golden skin and the same shape eyes as her. Right now, because he had another new tooth on the way, he had pink flushed cheeks and he looked absolutely adorable in his red sweatshirt top and tiny jeans.

Checking that she had secured everything moveable, Emily decided to put Jamie out in his car seat. She had said her goodbyes the night before and all she still had to do was hitch up the caravan to the car.

It was a fresh spring day and the breeze blew back the Titian red curls from her brow. With Jamie balanced on her hip, she unlocked the passenger door of the car. Strapping her son into his seat and stowing the baby bag of supplies that went everywhere with them, she chatted with greater cheer than she felt to him. âI timed this so that we would see the six oâclock train passing at the crossing. Choo-choo, Jamieââ

âChooâ¦â he seemed to sound out but she was prepared to concede that it might have been the wishful thinking of a proud mother.

Another day, another place, Emily reflected wearily and it was no longer the smallest thrill to contemplate the unknown that lay ahead. She had stayed longer than was wise at Alice Barkerâs stables, not only because she liked the older woman but also because she had been in dire need of a period of regular employment and earnings. Running even an old car was expensive; she had recently had to renew her insurance and replace the whole exhaust system. So, once again, she had little cash in reserve.

As she stuck her car keys in the ignition and turned, intending to hitch up the caravan, she heard an angry shout and then another. It sounded like Alice. Frowning in dismay, Emily hurried past the caravan to see what was happening. At the rear entrance to the stables, she saw a sight that shook her. Alice Barker was standing with a shotgun trained on a man.

âJust you tell me right now what you were doing!â Alice was demanding furiously.

As Emily rushed automatically to support the older woman, she heard the man speak and she caught several words. Aliceâs trespasser was striving to apologise in Portuguese. Emily froze in her tracks. Portuguese?

âI caught this chappie trying to creep up on your caravan!â Alice called to Emily with patent disgust. âOne of the peeping Toms, one of those filthy pervertsâ¦thatâs what Iâve caught. Just as well he doesnât seem to speak a word of English. I shouldnât think heâs saying anything any decent woman would want to hear! Reach into my pocket and get my phone, and weâll ring the police!â

But Emily did not move an inch. Every scrap of colour draining from her slanting cheekbones, she stared at the stocky, well-built Portuguese male in his smart city suit. It was Mateus Santos, Duarteâs security chief. Her tummy churned, her brain refusing to move at speed. The older man was as white as his own shirtfront, evidently not having expected to be greeted by a very angry woman with a shotgun when he came snooping.

âEmily!â Alice barked impatiently.

Mateusâs strained gaze swerved to Emilyâs stilled figure with perceptible relief. âDoÃ±a Emiliaâ¦â he greeted her and followed that up with a hasty flood of Portuguese.

Emily understood a little more of the language than she could actually speak and she caught the gist of his appeal. Mateus was asking her to tell Alice that he was no danger to anybody. Only that wasnât quite true, Emily decided in sudden total panic. If Mateus was at the stables, it meant that Duarte had tracked her down and that Duarte now knew where she was. âI know this man, Alice. Heâs no threat, but please keep him here until I can get awayââ

âEmilyâ¦what on earth is going on?â Alice demanded in bewilderment.

But Emily was already speeding back towards her car. Where Mateus was, Duarte would soon follow. She jumped into the driverâs seat and then realised that she had still to hitch up the caravan.

With a gasp of frustration, she began to reverse the car and then dashed out again to haul at the caravan with frantic hands. The task accomplished, she was in the act of swinging back into her car when she saw the bonnet of a big silver vehicle filter into the mouth of the lane she needed to go down to make her exit.

Heart thumping somewhere in the region of her convulsing throat, Emily stared in absolute horror at the limousine. Duarte! It could only be Duarte behind those tinted windows. Just as suddenly, she unfroze again and flung herself into her own car. The ground siding the lane was unfenced and reasonably level. She could drive around the limo! Firing the engine, she slammed the door. Within six feet of the long luxury vehicle seeking to block her escape, she turned the steering wheel and took her car off the lane on to the rough grass verge. The caravan bounced in protest and the vibrations shook the car but, within the space of thirty seconds, she was back on the concrete lane again, the caravan still in tow.

She would go to a lawyer, Emily told herself frantically. She would stop at the first legal firm she saw and beg for an appointment and advice. She was not going to risk facing Duarte alone in case he simply took Jamie from her and flew him out to Portugal. Hadnât she read horror stories about disaffected foreign husbands taking that kind of action when their marriages to their British wives broke down?

And, worst of all, wouldnât Duarte have grounds to argue that she had virtually pulled the same stunt on him? Jamie was six months old and his own father had yet to meet him. What right did she have to keep them apart? An agony of conflict and guilt in her gaze as she questioned what she was doing, Emily pulled out of the lane on to the twisting country road that lay beyond.

Duarte would attempt to follow her but she was at an advantage for she knew the area. How could she take the chance of trusting Duarte when he might take Jamie away from her? She would be lucky to ever see her child again. Where she was concerned, her estranged husband would not be feeling the slightest bit sympathetic or reasonable. Why, oh why, oh why had she waited this long before acknowledging that it was past time she sorted out the whole mess?

Rounding a corner on the road, Emily had to start immediately slackening speed. A shaken laugh shorn of any humour was torn from her tight throat. The railway crossing lay ahead. The warning lights were flashing and the automatic barriers were coming down signifying that a train was about to pass through. She was trapped for a good five minutes by the very train she had promised Jamie he would see as a treat. By the time the express finally thundered past the barriers, Emily was studying her driving mirror and watching the silver limo appear behind her on the road. Caught! Fate had not been on her side. In a gesture of frustrated defeat, Emily lifted one of her hands from the steering wheel and struck it down on the dash board.

She felt a prick like a sharp stinging needle in the side of her hand. Blinking, she glanced down and gaped in dawning horror at the big bee crawling away. It wasnât the season, a little voice screamed inside her, it wasnât the season yet for bees! She hadnât replaced her allergy kit when she had mislaid it over the winter. She dropped her hand down to open the driverâs door. Already she felt like she was moving in slow motion; already she could feel the sensation of her heartbeat starting to race.

She lurched out of the car. She struggled to focus on the formidably tall and dark male striding towards her but she raised her hands to her face instead, feeling the tenderness and the heat there, knowing that her skin had probably begun to swell and redden. âStingâ¦bee!â she framed jerkily.

âWhereâs your adrenaline kit?â Duarte demanded, instantly grasping the crisis and reacting at speed.

With enormous effort she blinked and connected momentarily with stunning dark golden eyes that she would never have dared to meet had she been in full control of herself. âLostâ¦â

âMeu Deus! The nearest doctor?â Duarte caught hold of her as she doubled over with the pain piercing her abdomen and vented a startled gasp. âEmilyâ¦a hospitalâ¦a doctor?â he raked down at her with raw urgency. âWhere?â

It was such an effort for her to concentrate, to speak. âVillage through the crossing,â she wheezed.

She was conscious of movement as he carried her, the roar of car engines and raised voices in Portuguese but she was in too much pain to try to see what was happening. She opened her swollen eyes with a grimace of discomfort, for her whole body was hurting. She registered that she was lying in Duarteâs arms inside an unfamiliar car and was suddenly terrified that everyone had forgotten about her baby. âJamieâ¦?â

âHe will be OKâ¦â

Even in the state she was in, the sense that she was now hearing his voice from the end of a long dark tunnel, she picked up on that stress. She might not be OK. She had been fifteen years old when it was impressed on her after an adverse reaction to a bee sting that she must go nowhere without her adrenaline kit. She had been too scared not to be sensible but, as the years passed without further incident, she had gradually become rather more careless. âIf I dieâ¦â she slurred with immense difficulty because the inside of her mouth and her tongue were swollen, âYou get Jamieâ¦only fairââ

âPor amar de Deus, you are not going to die, Emily,â Duarte cut in savagely, lifting up her head, rearranging her with careful hands because she was starting to struggle for breath. âI will not allow it.â

But before she lost consciousness, all she could think about was that it would be only fair if Duarte got Jamie. It was a punishment for her to be near Duarte again. It made it impossible for her to evade her own tormenting memories. Eleven months ago, one instant of hesitation had cost Emily her marriageâDuarte had found her in the arms of another man.

Sheâd let Toby kiss her and she still couldnât explain why, even to herself. At the time she had been desperately unhappy and Toby had astonished her when he had told her that he loved her. In her whole life, nobody had ever told Emily that they loved her and she had never expected to hear those words. Certainly, sheâd given up hope of ever inspiring such high-flown feelings in her gorgeous but essentially indifferent husband.

While sheâd been frantically wondering what she could say that would not hurt Tobyâs feelings, Toby had grabbed her and kissed her. Why hadnât she pushed him away? Sheâd not been attracted to Toby, nor had she wanted that bruising kiss. Yet sheâd still stood there and allowed him to kiss her. Sheâd been unfaithful to her husband and there was no justifying that betrayal of trust to a male as proud and uncompromising as Duarte. In the aftermath, sheâd been so distraught with shame that she had made a total hash of convincing her husband that that single kiss had been the only intimacy she had ever shared with Toby. Convinced that sheâd been having an affair, Duarte had demanded a separation, even though she was four months pregnant with their child.

Emilyâs eyes opened and she snatched in a great whoosh of oxygen to fill her starved lungs.

The injection of adrenaline brought about an almost instantaneous recovery but she was severely disorientated and she didnât know where she was. As she began to sit up, scanning the unfamiliar faces surrounding her and recognising a nurse in her uniform, she gasped, âWhatâ¦where?â

âYou just had a very narrow escape. You were in anaphylactic shock.â The older man gave her a relieved smile. âYouâre in the cottage hospital. Iâm the duty doctor. We administered the adrenaline jab in the nick of time.â

âTake it easy and lie down for a minute,â the nurse advised. âDo you feel sick?â

As Emily rested back again, she moved her swimming head in a negative motion. After that initial buzzing return of energy which had revitalised her, she now felt weak as a kitten. She was on a trolley, not a bed, and as the cluster of medical staff surrounding her parted because the emergency was over she saw Duarte looming just feet away. She raised trembling hands to her still tender face, felt the swelling that was still there and knew that she had to look an absolute fright. In addition, the very minute that foolish thought occurred to her, she became aware of her own demeaning vulnerability.

For a split second, it was like time stood still. Her dazed aquamarine eyes wide above her spread fingertips connected with his spectacular dark golden gaze. His eyes were rich as the finest of vintage wine but utterly without expression. She could feel her heartbeat quicken, the wretched inescapable burst of liquid heat surge between her slender thighs. He came, he saw, he conquered, she misquoted, shaken to her depths by her own helpless response. From the first moment it had been like that with Duarte.

There had been a wild uncontrollable longing that had nothing to do with sense or caution. Something that had come so naturally to her, something that had been rooted so deep in her psyche that only death could have ended her addiction to him. Heâd drawn her like a magnet and, what was more, he had known it from the first instant of their eyes meeting.

But their marriage had been a disaster for both of them, she reminded herself miserably. The more sheâd loved him, the more she had become agonised by his inherent indifference. Impervious to her every attempt to breach that barrier, he had broken her heart. She had even been hurt by his satisfaction when she fell pregnant, for it was a satisfaction he had never shown in her alone. The old sick shame filled her as she recalled that fatal kiss which had cost her everything that mattered to her. She had finally broken through Duarteâs reserve only to discover that all she could touch was his pride and his honour.

âI could strangle you for your carelessness, Emilyâ¦â Duarte breathed in a curiously ragged undertone.

âWhat you need is a good cup of tea. Youâve had a nasty shock too,â the middle-aged nurse informed Duarte in a brisk and cheerful interruption. Unaccustomed to being addressed as if he was a large child, he looked sincerely startled.

A porter began to wheel out the trolley on which Emily lay. As the nurse had spoken, Emily had finally recognised the ashen quality of Duarteâs usually vibrant skin tone and the sheen of perspiration on his sculpted dark features. She closed her eyes, acknowledging the truth of the older womanâs assurance. She had almost died on him. Evidently, he was relieved that she had survived. Maybe he did not hate her quite as much as she had assumed he did.

But then hatred meant a strong emotion where the target was concerned, didnât it? And Duarte had never felt any particularly strong emotion in her direction. A pain that felt almost physical enclosed her and she shut her eyes in self-defence. She knew that she had never had the power to hide her feelings from him and she had not the courage to meet his eyes levelly.

âYour husband has had the fright of his life,â the kindly nurse soothed her in a small empty side ward. âWhen your child runs out in front of a car, you shout at him afterwards because youâre angry and afraid that you almost lost him.â

âYesâ¦â Emily was rolled gently into a bed. She did not like to say that Duarteâs most likely feeling now was one of complete exasperation and contempt. In her position, he would never have made the mistake of being without that life-saving adrenaline kit.

âWhy am I being put to bed?â Emily asked, finding herself being deftly undressed.

âThe doctor wants us to keep you under observation for a few hours just to be sure that you have no adverse reactions.â

Helped into a hospital nightdress in a faded print and left alone, Emily lay back against the pillows, anxiously wondering who exactly had charge of Jamie and how her baby was coping with her sudden disappearance. Almost at the same moment as she was thinking that the nurse reappeared, cradling Jamie, who was howling at the top of his lungs. âI believe this little soul is yours and he wants his mum!â

Emily opened her arms and Jamie grabbed on to her the instant he was brought within her reach. âWho was looking after him?â

âThe older man, who arrived just after your husband brought you in. He doesnât speak any English. He was out at Reception trying to calm your little boy down.â

Mateus Santos, she assumed, a committed bachelor who was probably pretty useless with young children. Jamie snuffled into weary silence against her shoulder just as Duarte appeared in the open doorway. He stilled when he saw the child in her arms and the nurse slipped out, leaving them alone.

Her tummy twisting, her eyes veiled, Emily muttered awkwardly, âHave you seen Jamie yet?â

âNoâ¦Mateus brought him here in your car. My time was taken up tending to you,â Duarte admitted curtly.

Jamie had a death grip on her. He was going through that stage of disliking strangers that many babies went through around his age. He resisted being turned round and pushed his dark head under her chin. Heâd had quite enough of excitement and strangers for one morning. It was anything but the best moment for Duarte to meet his son for the first time.

âDuarteâ¦Iâm so sorry!â Emily heard herself admit with her usual impulsiveness, a sob catching in her aching throat. âI am so very sorry for everythingâ¦â

âThat cuts no ice with me,â Duarte responded with eyes that were as hard and bright as burnished steel, cold derision etched in every line of his starkly handsome features as he studied her shaken face. âHow dare you drag my son round the countryside in a caravan like a gipsy? How dare you put me in the position where I have to answer to the police merely because I attempted to see my own child? And how dare you look at me now and insult my intelligence with that pathetic excuse of a word, âsorryâ?â

CHAPTER TWO

âTHEâ¦police?â Emily stammered even more aghast.

âSince I married you, you have brought me only shame and dishonour.â Duarte breathed starkly, his controlled lack of volume far more dramatic than any shout.

âThe police?â Emily whispered again shakily, her sensitive tummy tying itself into sick knots.

âYour employer, Mrs Barker, reported your great escape from her property and my natural pursuit. She expressed concern for your safety. Two police officers are now waiting outside for my explanation.â Duarte drew himself up to his full imposing six-foot-four-inch height and squared his broad shoulders with all the fierce pride of his ancestors in his bearing, but sheer outrage glittered in his condemning gaze.

âDuarteââ

âIf you dare to lie and suggest that I have abused you or mistreated you in any way whatsoever, I will fight you for custody of my son! Is that quite clear?â

As crystal. Chilled to the temperature of ice by that announcement, Emily trembled. Her arms wrapped more tightly still round Jamie. Impervious to that old chestnut that children were always disturbed by maternal tension, Jamie had dropped off to sleep against her shoulder. With that single threat, Duarte had deprived Emily of voice, breath and hope that their differences could be resolved. She was in shock and could not have said why. After all, if Duarte had been prepared to separate her from her child the instant he was born, he could only be even keener to do so after the months that had since passed.

But then, eight months ago, Duarteâs words of threat had not been spoken to her face. It was only thanks to her friend, Bliss that Emily had learned of Duarteâs plans. Bliss had overheard Duarte state his punitive intentions to his lawyer and had forewarned Emily of her estranged husbandâs intentions.

Now quite unable to dislodge her arrested attention from Duarte, she scanned his fabulous bone structure for some sign of softening and found none. He meant what he was saying. Standing there straight and tall and unashamed and more beautiful than any male had the right to be. Like a dark angel. Even emanating aggressive vibrations, he was absolutely gorgeous, possessed of the kind of sleek, dark, bronzed good looks that turned female heads wherever he went. Why the heck hadnât she smelled a rat the size of the Titanic when he proposed marriage to someone as ordinary as she was? And why on earth had he neglected to mention his tragic first marriage? For any heart that Duarte ever had was buried in the grave with his childhood sweetheart.

âIs that understood, Emily?â Duarte prompted lethally.

Dully she nodded, dredging her attention from him in shrinking apprehension. To think that on several occasions recently she had anxiously wondered if she had misjudged him! No, there was no room to suspect now that Bliss might have misunderstood what sheâd overheard or that Emily herself had overreacted to something said in anger and never ever intended to be acted upon. After the way sheâd behaved, Duarte did not believe she deserved to have their child.

âYesâ¦â Emily turned her pinched face away and rested her cheek against Jamieâs soft, sweet-smelling baby skin to comfort herself. Every which way she looked, she had done wrong, and there was no point offending even more by seeking to defend herself.

âI have no wish to part you from our son,â Duarte stated in a grim undertone. âHe needs you very much.â

âDo you really think that?â she whispered shakily.

âI say nothing that I donât mean. Give me Jamie now that he is asleep,â Duarte urged moving forward. âMrs Barker followed my security team here. She has offered to take care of our son until you are released from hospital. I understand she is familiar to him.â

Taut with suspicion, Emily held fast to Jamieâs precious weight, but then she saw Alice appearing in the doorway with a look of discomfiture on her face. The older woman was carrying Jamieâs baby bag. âIâll look after Jamie, Emily. Itâs the least that I can do.â

âI will leave you both and deal with the police,â Duarte delivered coolly.

Alice grimaced and sank down at the foot of the bed. âHow was I to know he was your husband? I thought Mafia hitmen were descending on us and I was really frantic when they took off after you!â

âYou didnât know what was happeningâ¦and I was totally stupid,â Emily groaned in remorse. âI made things even worse by trying to run again. I just panicked and then I got stungââ

âAnd your husband, whom I thought was a dead ringer for the Godfather at his most glamorous, saved your life.â Alice winced. âI feel so awful now for calling in the police and now they wonât go away until everyoneâs explained themselves about twenty times over.â

âItâs OKâ¦ Itâs all my fault. I always do the wrong thing,â Emily mumbled heavily. âParticularly around Duarteââ

âNot much of a husband if he makes you feel like that. Maybe, to make me feel a little more relaxed about all this, you could tell me that he is really wonderful.â

âHe isâ¦ I was the one who wrecked everything.â Emily sighed.

By wanting more than Duarte had ever offered, sheâd made herself unhappy. Sheâd had a hunger to be loved and, if not loved, at least needed. But Duarte had not needed her either. She had just felt like another one of his many possessions with no true existence or purpose without him. She had never had much confidence but, flung in at the deep end of a world so very different from her own, she had sunk like a stone, becoming even more shy and awkward. By the time of their separation, sheâd gone from having low self-esteem to having no self-esteem at all.

Alice left with Jamie. Then a very weary-looking police sergeant made a brief visit to Emilyâs bedside to confirm that she had no complaint to make against her husband. Having made that assurance while cringing at the thought of what Duarte must have undergone, Emily fell asleep and did not awaken until lunch arrived on a noisy trolley. The doctor called in to have a brief word with her and tell her that she was free to leave. As she had no appetite for food, she slid straight out of bed. Removing her clothes from the cabinet, she got dressed again.

Mateus Santos was waiting at Reception to escort her out to the limousine.

Duarte was seated in the back of the limo. Emily climbed in and sat down at the furthest point from Duarte that she could contrive. âWhat now?â she asked tightly.

âWeâll pick up Jamie and then weâre going home.â

The silence lay between them, deep as a swamp and twice as treacherous.

Emily swallowed hard. Going home? She had not yet given him a direct look. Now she turned her head, her throat tight, her sea-green eyes strained. âJust like that?â

âJust like that,â Duarte confirmed, skimming her a veiled glance from his dark, deep-set eyes. âI had your possessions cleared from the car and the caravan and packed. I also told Mateus to dispose of both vehicles as you will have no further use for them.â

That was the moment that Emily appreciated that she now possessed only the clothes she stood up in. Her fingers closed over the ragged cuffs of her old sweater in an effort to contain an almost overwhelming sense of being trapped. âIt would have been nice if you had asked me what I wanted to do with them.â

âBut then, all that concerned me was what I wanted,â Duarte murmured with velvet soft cool, reaching forward to sweep up the car phone as it buzzed.

Going home? He was taking them straight back to Portugal. From below her lashes, she studied him, nervous as a cat on hot bricks. The hard smooth line of his high cheekbones in profile, the classic perfection of his arrogant nose, the tough angular jawline slightly blue-shadowed by the hint of returning stubble. He was incredibly good-looking and sexy and she found it very difficult to resist the urge to stare when his attention was distracted from her. She listened to him talk in Portuguese, as smooth and cool as if he had not just dramatically reclaimed his runaway wife and child. No, indeed, it might have been any ordinary day and she might have been any woman.

âDuarteâ¦â she framed jerkily as soon as he had replaced the phone. âIâd like to stay in Englandââ

âThatâs not possible unless you insist on a divorce.â

Emily did not feel that she was in a position to insist on anything. Duarte had slaughtered all the protest in her the very instant he had threatened to fight her for custody of Jamie. Sheâd already spent far too many months fretting about how poor a parent she might seem in comparison to him in any courtroom. Her evident lapse in fidelity, her flight to England, her fear-inspired failure to deal with matters like an adult which had forced Duarte to mount a search. Nothing that she had so far done would impress a judge. Nor would her case be helped when it came out that she had been raising Jamie in a caravan while she roved around taking casual employment. In a Portuguese court, she had not the slightest doubt that Duarte would win custody of their child.

She curved her trembling hands together to steady them. âI thought you would want a divorce.â

âNot at present.â

Emily wanted to scream. He was shutting her out. He had always done that, depersonalising every encounter, holding her at a distanceâ¦except in bed. Her fair complexion reddened to ferocious heat at that inadvertent thought. Just then, she could not bear to recall the physical intimacy which she had once cherished as evidence that he must care for her to some degree. Now it pained her to recall her own humiliating naivety. They had had separate bedrooms from the start. Sex had always seemed to have a faint aura of the forbidden. But it also had been wildly excitingâ¦for her. The only time she had dared to touch him had been in the privacy of her own bed. In daylight, Duarte had been way too intimidating.

In a fierce struggle to control her wayward mind, Emily made herself focus on the childâs car seat anchored opposite. Jamieâs seat. Duarte was taking them both back to Portugal. Duarte was not thinking of a divorce. Duarte was not currently planning to deprive her of her son. Those facts were the only facts that mattered right now, she told herself urgently. She was tired of running and exhausted by living on her nerves. All these months, she had had no real life. What lay ahead could surely be little worse than what she had experienced in the pastâ¦

âAre you going to have other womenâ¦again?â Emily heard herself ask and almost died on the spot because that dreadful question had just come out of nowhere and leapt on to her unguarded tongue.

The silence seemed to flex like a stranglehold ready to tighten round her slender throat.

Slowly, Emily looked up, aquamarine eyes aghast.

Duarte gazed back at her as if she had just dropped down through the car roof, a fully fledged alien with two heads. âWhat do you mean byâ¦again?â he prompted very softly.

Emily connected with electrifying dark golden eyes and gulped. âI didnât mean anythingâ¦Iâ¦I just wondered.â

âYou made an accusation,â Duarte contradicted with razor-edged cool. âA specious feminine attempt to justify your own behaviour by implying that I played awayââ

Emily was backtracking so fast she was literally into full-throttle reverse. Not because she was a coward but because she could not afford to antagonise Duarte, lest he change his mind and decide that Jamie did not need his mother as much as he believed he did. âNo, I didnâtâ¦I didnâtââ

âDonât try it again,â Duarte warned steadily, shimmering eyes resting on her like a slowly uncoiling whip lash.

Turning away in turmoil to stare fixedly into the middle distance, Emily only then appreciated that the car had already pulled up outside Aliceâs farmhouse. The chauffeur opened the passenger door and she leapt out like a rabbit with a fox on her tail. The older woman was already coming outside with Jamie clasped in her arms. âWill you and Duarte join me for coffee?â

Emily reclaimed Jamie, her heart beating very fast. She didnât want to get back into the limo. She wanted to run again and she knew that this time there was no place to run. âIâll ask Duarte if weâve got timeââ

But Duarte was right behind her. He greeted Alice with a courteous charm which Emily had only got to enjoy briefly during their even more brief courtship. Emily stared at her husband, marvelling at the tone of regret he contrived to employ as he refused an invitation he could not have had the slightest desire to accept. She said goodbye in a dulled little voice and got back into the car to fix Jamie into his seat.

âStop cringing around me,â Duarte instructed grittily as the chauffeur closed the door on them again.

At least the previous unfortunate subject which she had opened was forgotten. But she noted that he had given her no answer. Not that she cared any more, she told herself. They would hardly be living together again but wasnât it peculiar that he wasnât talking about what they were going to be doing? Or was exerting that kind of power over her part of the punishment?

Becoming only slowly aware of the silence, Emily turned her head. Only then did she recall that Duarte was really only now having his first meeting with his son. Duarte was studying Jamie with an intensity she could feel. Jamie was kicking his feet, smiling and in the mood to be admired. Emily watched Duarte. The tension etched in his bold bronzed features, the movement of the lean brown hand he semi-raised and then settled back on a long powerful thigh again.

He wanted to touch Jamie. He wanted to connect; naturally he did. Her throat thickened in the weighted quiet. She slid Jamieâs little blue teddy towards Duarte, nudging his braced fingers with the toy. âYou could give him thatââ

âWhen I need your advice, Iâll ask for it.â Lean strong face clenching hard, Duarte dealt her a flaring glance of bitter hostility. âItâs not a lot of fun wondering whether my own child will scream if I try to touch him.â

Emily paled. âI knowâ¦Iâm sorryââ

A tiny muscle pulling tight at the corner of his hard jawline, Duarte thrust his broad shoulders back against the seat. âIâve got plenty of time to get to know him. Iâll do it without an audience.â

He was so incredibly proud. Had she not seen the yearning in Duarteâs body language as he contemplated his infant son, she might have believed that he felt nothing.

âI was scared to get in contact with youâ¦I was scared of losing himââ

âIâm not about to discuss your behaviour in front of him. Youâre his mother. You sound distressed. Look at your sonâ¦heâs listening to your voice and watching your every move and youâre scaring him,â Duarte condemned.

Emily saw the truth of that censure in Jamieâs anxious air and her strained eyes stung, forcing her to blink rapidly. She compressed her lips on all the words that wanted to spill out of her but which Duarte did not want to hear. And could she really blame him? She was making excuses again. Right at that moment, Duarteâs sole interest was in his son. She was just an adjunct, along for the ride because Jamie needed her. However, it was painfully obvious to Emily that Duarte was barely tolerating her presence.

From the instant they entered the crowded bustling airport, Emily became conscious of her scuffed shoes, faded jodhpurs and ancient sweater. The outfit had been practical for the long drive she had expected to have but she felt like a tramp beside Duarte, immaculate in a charcoal grey suit exquisitely tailored to his tall athletic physique.

âI could have done with getting changed,â she said uneasily. âBut I donât really have anything suitable.â

She had left all her expensive clothes behind in Portugal. Not that that much mattered, she conceded ruefully, for that wardrobe had rejoiced most in fashion accidents. If she got the colour right, she invariably got the style wrong. Growing up, she had been a tomboy, living in jeans and riding gear. Her attempt to experiment with a more feminine look had been squashed in her sensitive teens by her sistersâ scorn. It had been poor preparation for marriage to a rich man and entry into a daunting world in which her appearance really seemed to matter.

âYou can buy an outfit here and change,â Duarte pointed out.

To Emily those words were confirmation that she looked an embarrassing mess. Her throat thickened and her eyes stung and she reddened fiercely for she had no money either. She hovered over Jamieâs buggy with a downbent head.

Through swimming eyes, Emily focused on the gold credit card extended in silence by her husband. The most enormous bitterness and pain seemingly rose out of nowhere inside her and she whispered helplessly, âYou shouldâve married some fancy model, a real fashion plateâ¦not someone like me!â

âIt is a little late now.â Duarteâs deflating tone was more than equal to capping even the most emotional outburst. âAnd this is not the place to stage an argument.â

Emily swallowed hard. When had she ever had the nerve to argue with him? Yet it was odd how much she now wanted to argue but she was far too conscious of being in public where angry words would be overheard. Accepting the credit card without looking at him, she released her hold on the buggy and headed for the closest dress shop. There she scanned the packed displays. Choose really bright colours, Bliss had once advised Emily, saying that such shades flattered Emilyâs pale skin tone and balanced her red hair. Emily sped over to a rack of cerise dresses but they were way too plain in design to conceal a figure that Bliss had gently pointed out was more boyish than lush. Browsing at speed, she picked a jazzy orange handkerchief top with bell sleeves and a big glittery lime green motif on the front. Nobody was likely to notice her lack in the bosom department under that, Emily thought gratefully. She teamed the top with a long orange skirt that had the same fancy hem.

Both garments matched in colour and style, she reflected with relief, thinking that that should definitely ensure a presentable appearance. She picked up a pair of high-heeled leopard-print mules because she knew they were the height of fashion. Her purchases made, she made harried use of a changing cubicle. Emerging from the shop again, hot and breathless, she saw Duarte and his security men standing around Jamieâs buggy in the centre of the wide concourse.

Mateus and the rest of his team focused on her and momentarily stared before lowering their heads. Then Duarte glanced in her direction and froze. Not a single betraying expression appeared on his darkly handsome features but he seemed to breathe in very deep and slow. And she knew right then that she had got it wrong again. Her heart sank right down to the toes of her horribly uncomfortable mules and she despised herself for her own weakness, her pathetic attempt to please and win his approval in even the smallest way.

âSorry I took so long,â she mumbled, reclaiming the buggy without glancing back up at him but conscious of his brooding presence with every fibre of her wretched being.

âNoâ¦problem,â Duarte sighed.

In the VIP lounge, she caught an involuntary glimpse of herself in a mirror and she was startled. She looked like a fluorescent carrot, she decided in stricken recoil. Flinching, she turned away from that mortifying reflection. Sitting down, she tried to disappear into herself and her own thoughts in the manner she had begun to practise within months of marrying Duarte. He never had been any great fan of idle chatter. She just wanted to sink into the woodwork, sitting there in an outfit that he most probably thought was ghastly. So why did she care? Why did she still care?

Emily had always been conscious that she was neither pretty nor beautiful. Her mother and both her sisters were tall shapely blondes with classic bone structures. Even in appearance, she had not fitted her family. At the age of ten, she had asked her mother where her own red hair came from in the family tree as even her father was fair. Her mother had dealt her a angry look as if even asking such a question was offensive and had told her that she owed her âunfortunateâ carroty curls to the genetic legacy of her late grandmother.

Seeing no point in bemoaning what could not be altered, Emily hadnât ever really minded being short, red-haired and small in the chest and hip department. But the same moment that she first saw Duarte Avila de Monteiro, she had started minding very much that she would never have what it would take to attract him. Of course, it had not once occurred to her that a male of his calibre and wealth would look twice at her anyway but she still remembered her own foolish feelings of intense sadness and hurt that it should be that way. That Duarte should be so utterly detached from her when her own senses thrilled to even his presence a hundred feet away.

And she still recalled the very first moment she had laid eyes on Duarte and very much doubted that he didâ¦

CHAPTER THREE

BY THE time she was nineteen, Emily had qualified as a riding instructor.

Her two older sisters had found lucrative employment in their fatherâs wine-importing business but Emily had not been offered the same opportunity. Indeed, urged by her mother to leave home and be independent long before she was earning enough to pay a decent rent, Emily had finally given up on the job she loved. She had taken work as a live-in groom at Ash Manor, Duarteâs English country house.

The stable manager had hired Emily and, working at the manor, she had had an interesting insight into the lifestyle of a super-rich and powerful banker. Aside from his private jet, his fleet of helicopters and luxury cars, Duarte owned half a dozen palatial homes, superb horseflesh and a priceless art collection. He was the guy with everything, the target of endless awe, speculation and envy. But the one thing Duarte Avila de Monteiro did not have, it seemed, was the precious time to enjoy his innumerable possessions.

It had been weeks before Emily actually saw her wealthy employer in the flesh but she had already been told what he was like. Cool, polite, distant, formal, not the type to unbend with lesser beings, very much the product of a Portuguese aristocratic lineage said to stretch back to the thirteenth century.

His incredible silver sports car pulled up one afternoon while Emily and another female groom were cleaning tack. The stable manager hurried from his office to greet Duarte.

âThat carâs a MacLaren F1, worth six hundred grand,â Emilyâs companion groaned. âAnd just wait until you see him. When I first came here, I assumed the banker boss was some old geezer, but heâs only twenty-eight and heâs pure sex on legs. If you got him on his own without his bodyguards, youâd lock him in your bedroom and throw away the key!â

Even more than two years on, Emily still remembered that first shattering sight of Duarte. Sunlight gleaming over the luxuriant black hair stylishly cropped to his proud head as he climbed out of his car, a crisp white shirt accentuating his bronzed complexion but most of all she had noticed his stunning eyes, deepset and dark as sable at first glance but tawny gold as a hunting animalâs the next. She was shocked and bemused by the unfamiliar leap of her own senses and the quite ridiculous stab of loss which assailed her when he turned away to open the passenger door of his car.

In place of the beautiful woman she had expected to see in Duarteâs passenger seat was an absolutely huge shaggy dog curled up nose to tail into the smallest possible size.

The other groom backed into the tack out of sight. âIâm not going to get stuck with that monster again. That dogâs as thick as a block of wood, wonât come when you call it and itâs as fast on its feet as a race horse!â

Before the other girl even finished speaking, the stable manager called Emily over and told her to exercise the dog.

It was an Irish wolfhound. Unfolded from the car, it had to measure a good three feet in height and Emily was just one inch over five feet tall herself. But although Emily had not been allowed to have a pet as a child, she adored dogs of all shapes and sizes.

âBe kind. Jazz is getting old,â Duarteâs rich, dark, accented drawl interposed with cool authority.

Emily angled a shy upward glance at him, overwhelmed by his proximity, his sheer height and breadth and potent masculinity. She had to tip her head right back to see his lean, dark, devastating face. She collided with sizzling dark golden eyes and for her it was like being knocked off her feet by a powerful electrical charge. She trembled, felt the feverish heat of an embarrassing blush redden her fair skin, the stormy thump of her heartbeat and the most challenging shortness of breath. But Duarte simply walked away from her again, apparently experiencing no physical jolt of awareness, feeling nothing whatsoever, indeed not really even having seen her for she had only been another junior employee amongst many: faceless, beneath his personal notice.

And, no doubt, had not fate intervened, her acquaintance with Duarte Avila de Monteiro would never have advanced beyond that point. However, in those days, Duarte had left Jazz behind at the manor when he was out of the country. The dog should have stayed indoors but the housekeeper had disliked animals and as soon as Duarte departed, she would have the wolfhound locked in the barn. Exercising Jazz fell to Emily for nobody else wanted the responsibility.

âThe boss is fond of that stupid dog. If it gets lost or harmed in some way, well itâll cost you your job,â the stable manager warned Emily impatiently. âThatâs why we just leave it locked up. I know it seems a little heartless but the animalâs well fed and it has plenty of space in there.â

But Emily was too tender-hearted to bear the sound of Jazzâs pathetic cries for company. She spent all her free time playing with him in a paddock and she gave him the affection he soaked up like a giant hungry sponge. So, the evening that the barn went up in fire, when everyone else stood by watching the growing conflagration in horror, Emily did not even stop to think of her own safety but charged to the rescue of an animal she had grown to love.

Although she contrived to calm Jazzâs panic and persuade him out of the barn, she passed out soon afterwards from smoke inhalation. Surfacing from the worst effects, she then found herself in a private room in the local hospital with Duarte stationed by her bedside.

The instant she opened her eyes, Duarte sprang up and approached the bed, his appearance startling her out of what remained of her scrambled wits. âRisking your own life to save my dog was incredibly foolish and incredibly brave,â he murmured with a reflective smile that in spite of its haunting brevity had more charm than she had believed any smile might possess.

âI just didnât think,â she mumbled, transfixed by the drop-dead gorgeous effect of him smiling.

âYou are a heroine. I contacted your family.â His strong jawline squared. âI understand that they are very busy people and, of course, I told them that you were already recovering. I am not sure whether or not they will find it possible to visit.â

Paling at that sympathetic rendering of her familyâs evident lack of concern at the news that she had been hospitalised, Emily veiled her pained gaze. âThanksâ¦â

âIt is I who am in debt to you. One of the grooms had the courage to confess that, but for you, Jazz would have spent every hour of my absence imprisoned in that barn,â Duarte admitted grimly. âYou are the only one in a staff of almost twenty who had the kindness to take care of his needs.â

Embarrassed by that unsought accolade, Emily muttered, âI just like animals and Jazz may be a bit daft but heâs very loving.â

The forbidding look on his lean dark features dissipated and he vented a rueful laugh. âJazz has a brain the size of a pea. He was my sisterâs dog. After her death, he should have been rehomed but I did not have the heart to part with him.â His face shadowed again. âPerhaps that was a selfish decision for I am often away on businessââ

âNo. He just adores you. I couldnât get him to settle at night until I got the housekeeper to give me an old sweater of yours to put in his bed,â Emily volunteered in a rush.

There was an awkward little silence. Faint colour now scored his superb cheekbones. He studied her through black lashes lush as silk fans, palpably questioning why he had unbent to such an extent with her. A minute later, he had been the powerful banker again, politely taking his departure, having done his duty in visiting her. A magnificent bouquet of flowers and a basket of fruit had been delivered soon after his departure. She had not expected to see him again except at a distance when he was at the manor.

But the next day when she was released from hospital, Duarte picked her up and insisted on driving her home to convalesce with her family. She spent the whole journey falling deeper and deeper in love with a guy so out of her reach he might as well have come from another galaxy. There was only a little conversation during that drive for Duarte was often on the phone.

Her family took one astonished but thrilled look at Duarte and his chauffeur-driven limousine and invited him to stay to dinner. Billionaire single bankers were hugely welcome in a house containing two young, beautiful single blondes. Indeed, her sisters Hermione and Corinne had competed for Duarteâs attention with outrageous flattery and provocative innuendoes. Sunk in the background as usual by their flirtatious charm, Emily had felt painfully like the ugly duckling amongst the swans.

Emily was sprung back to the present by the necessity of boarding the jet. Soon after take-off, she realised that Jamie was overtired and cross. The steward showed her into a rear compartment where a special travel cot already waited in readiness for its small occupant. It took Emily a good twenty minutes to settle Jamie and then, with pronounced reluctance, she returned to the luxurious main cabin again.

Duarte rose from his seat and straightened to his full commanding height. âIs Jamie asleep?â

Emily nodded jerkily, her tension rising by the second.

âVerbal responses would be welcome,â Duarte added drily.

Encountering brilliant dark golden eyes, she reddened hotly. âYes, heâs asleep but maybe I should sit with him for a while in case he wakes up again.â

âTrying to impress me with maternal overkill? Tell me, who looked after Jamie while you were giving riding lessons?â

âNobodyââ

âNobody?â Duarte queried with hard emphasis.

Emily frowned in surprise. âIt really wasnât a problem. I was only instructing a couple of hours a day and I would park Jamieâs buggy outside the paddock. He was never more than a few feet from me and he usually had the company of parents watching their childâs lesson.â

As Duarte listened, his lean powerful face tautened, his wide sensual mouth compressing. âUsually? A working stables is no place to leave a baby unattended. You know as well as I do that riders canât always control their mounts and that your attention mustâve been on your pupilââ

Under that attack, Emily had stiffened and lost much of her natural colour. âJamie was always safe. I did the very best that I couldââ

âBut your best wasnât halfway good enough,â Duarte cut in with biting derision. âYou left my son at the mercy of passing strangers instead of ensuring that he received proper careââ

âI wanted to spend every minute with him that I could and youâre making this sound much worse than it was,â Emily protested defensively. âEverywhere I worked, Jamie got loads and loads of attention. Most people like babies, especially happy onesââ

âThatâs not the point,â Duarte said coldly.

Emily worried at her lower lip and then said heavily, âEven if I had wanted to, I couldnât have afforded to pay someone to look after himââ

âAnd whose fault was that?â

As her tension climbed, Emily trembled and her tummy churned. Thinking straight had become a challenge; she had never been much good at confrontations. However, on this occasion she found herself struggling to speak up in her own defence. âWhose fault was it that I left Portugal in the first place?â

Far from looking impressed or indeed startled by that comeback, Duarte inclined his arrogant dark head to one side and levelled his incisive gaze on her in the most formidable way. âPresumably you are about to give me the answer to that strange question?â he prompted.

âI only left Portugal because I thought that you were planning to try and take my child off me the minute he was born!â Emily countered in an accusing rush.

Duarte angled an imperious brow. âWhat kind of a nonsensical excuse is that? Before this morning, I never made a threat in that line. To be frank, my patience with you came to an end today. But who or what gave you the idea that I might have been considering such a dramatic move last year?â

Emily flinched and dropped her head, shaken at how close she had come in her turmoil to revealing Blissâs role in events eight months earlier. Had she done that, she could never have forgiven herself. Bliss had been the truest of supportive friends during Emilyâs troubled marriage, cheering Emily up when her spirits were low while offering helpful advice and encouragement. Although Emily had not contacted the other woman since leaving Portugal, she assumed that her friend still worked as Duarteâs executive assistant. Bliss had eavesdropped on that confidential dialogue between Duarte and his lawyer and had forewarned Emily. Were Duarte ever to discover that a member of his own staff had been that disloyal, Blissâs high-flying career would be destroyed.

âI just got the ideaâ¦at the time, the way you were treating meâwell, erâ¦it seemed to make sense to me and I was afraid that you were planning to separate me from my childââ

âSo you chose to separate our son from me instead. Is that how this sorry story goes?â Duarte dealt her a look of shimmering challenge that made her breath trip in her already tight throat. âThis convenient angle that continually seeks to turn you into a poor little victim? Well, I have news for youâIâm not impressed, querida.â

âIâm not trying to impressââ

âNo?â Without warning, Duarte sent her a sudden slanting golden glance as hard and deadly as an arrow thudding into a live target.

Feeling the sudden smouldering surge in the atmosphere but unable to comprehend what had caused it, Emily untwisted her laced hands and made a jerky move with one of them as if she was appealing for his attention. âI know Iâve made mistakesââ

âMistakes?â

ââbut now Iâm just being open and honestââ

âOpenâ¦and honest,â Duarte repeated with a brand of electrifying soft sibilance that danced down her rigid spine like a fullscale storm warning. âQue absurdo! An honest whore you were not!â

Emilyâs lips parted company and she fell back a faltering step in dismay at the proclamation and that particular word being aimed at her. Even in the aftermath of finding her in another manâs arms, Duarte had not employed such an emotive term. âB-butââ

âBut what? You were carrying my baby when you slept with another man. How many women have affairs while theyâre pregnant with their husbandâs child?â Duarte demanded in a derisive tone of disgust that nailed her to the spot. âBut no such fine sensibilities restrained you. You even dared to introduce me to your lover. You also brought him into my home. Only a whore would behave like that.â

Forced to recognise the extent of the sins being laid at her door, Emily gasped strickenly, âDuarte, it wasnât like that and Toby was never myââ

âDo you really think Iâll listen to your pathetic excuses? You are nothing to me.â Duarte made that wounding statement with a savage cool that bled all remaining colour from her shaken face.

You are nothing to me. That he should feel that way was hardly news but spoken out loud that acknowledgement cut Emily in two.

âBut you belong to me. Minha esposaâ¦you are my wife,â Duarte completed with sardonic bite.

Under the onslaught of that ultimate putdown, Emily felt something curiously akin to a re-energising flame dart through her slim tense body and she flung her head back. âNoâ¦I donât belong to you like your cars and your houses and your wretched art collection,â she heard herself asserting. âI may be your wife but Iâm not an object without any thoughts or feelings or rightsââ

Although she had no recollection of him moving, Duarte was now a step closer, threateningly close. Even as she was still fighting to understand quite where her own unusually spirited defence had come from, she was awesomely conscious of the expanse of all that lean, taut masculinity poised within inches of her own much smaller frame.

In the electrifying silence that had fallen, shimmering golden eyes sought and held her scrutiny, all the powerful force of will he possessed bearing down on her. âYou have no rights in this marriage.â

âI donât believe you mean thatâ¦you couldnât,â Emily reasoned, tearing her gaze hurriedly from his as her heart rate speeded up. âYouâre just very angry with meââ

âI am not angry with you,â Duarte growled like a leopard about to spring on an unwary prey. âBut I cannot and will not trust you with the kind of freedom I gave you before.â

âThatâ¦was freedom?â A startled laugh empty of humour was wrenched from Emilyâs working throat, for she had found her duties as a Monteiro wife as rigid a constraint to her days as a prison cell. Every daylight hour had been rigorously organised for her with a weighty yoke of responsibilities that took no account of her own personal wishes.

Hard dark colour scored the hard set of Duarteâs proud cheekbones. âSo you find my former generosity a source of amusement?â

âOh, you mean your moneyâ¦â Emily very nearly let loose a second nervous laugh as comprehension finally sank in and her soft mouth tensed. âWell, it wasnât much consolation when you were never around and I never did take to shopping, although I did try hard to like it. You see, I wasnât the sort of woman you should have married and I still canât really understand why you didâ¦â

Duarte stared down at her with eyes as dark and fathomless and deep as the midnight witching hour. As he ensnared her fraught gaze afresh, she forgot what she was saying at the same time as she forgot to draw another breath. The atmosphere surged around her like a slow smouldering fire closing in, using up all the oxygen. But still she stood there, plunged without warning into a welter of physical sensations she had never been able to fight. As a wave of excitement as terrifying as it was thrilling washed over her, her heart thumped like a frantic bird trapped inside her, every tiny muscle tensing in reaction to the rush of liquid heat burning between her slim thighs.

âCanât you?â he murmured huskily.

The very sound of that silken dark drawl sent a responsive shiver down her spine. She snatched in a stark audible breath to flood her depleted lungs. She was tormentingly aware of the stirring heaviness of her small breasts and the painful sensitivity of her swollen nipples pushing against the bra she wore beneath her top.

âAside from my wealth, I had nothing to offer you but you appeared to want very little.â Duarte studied her with spectacular dark golden eyes that had the most scorching effect on her already heated flesh. âApart from meâ¦and you wanted me like you wanted air to breathe. At the time it seemed a fair exchange.â

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