“I care,” he ground out and jerked up his head.
Her breath cut in and her eyes flared wide at whatever she read in his face. Her mouth softened and her jaw went slack.
Angry with himself for revealing so much, frustrated at this sensation of being eaten alive, he said bitingly, “I thought youhad hard boundaries around adultery. He’s been married for years. They have children.”
“I know that,” she said with a flash of her own temper. “My sister is married to his brother.”
“Henri?” Joaquin had met Ramon’s identical twin on more than one occasion along with both their wives. “Your sister is Cinnia?” The resemblance seemed obvious now as he looked past Siobhan’s dark hair. “This is the wealthy family you’re related to?”
“Yes.” She folded her arms and radiated defensiveness. “Why does it matter?”
Becausewealthywas a gross understatement. Joaquin was wealthy. The Sauveterre family, two pairs of identical twins, were celebrities. The younger pair of girls wasroyalty. The family’s wealth and fame had made them targets, though. When Ramon and Henri had been teenagers, one of their sisters had been kidnapped. She’d been recovered and all the siblings were married with children of their own now, but they still maintained a heavy security presence as a precaution.
“When your boyfriend took those unauthorized photos, it was them?”
“Ex,”she corrected tightly. “Yes. Ramon’s children. I was staying with them while I went to Cambridge.”
“Why?”
“I was working on my language degree.”
“Why were you staying with them?” he spelled out.
“Because I was going to Cambridge,” she said with exasperation. “Ramon was working out of the London office. Izzy had just had their twins. They had nannies, but I had already helped Cinnia with their twins and Izzy doesn’t have siblings. She didn’t have a network in London and needed someone she…” She cleared her throat. “Someone she could trust. It seemed like a win-win for me to stay with them.”
“But it wasn’t? Because of what your ex did?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” Her shoulders hunched in disgrace.
“Why did Ramon call you Dorry?” he asked in confusion.
“I told you I changed my name.”
“Yes, but why?”
“Why do you want to know?” Her voice thinned with persecution.
“Because you don’t need this job.” He stabbed at his desktop. “Which makes me wonder why you fought so hard to keep it.”
“Oh, mygawd,” she muttered, striding toward the pair of sofas that faced each other over a coffee table. “You’re right. I don’t need to work. Henri has been paying me an outrageous allowance since I went to live with him and Cinnia at fourteen, when she hadtheirtwins.”
“They didn’t have nannies?”
“Yes, but Cin was actually very sick when she delivered them and they were taken by C-section. Plus, she and Henri had just got back together. He thought she would feel isolated if she didn’t have family around. I was already homeschooling and helping Cin with her estate practice so it made sense. I stayed because I liked being part of their family.” Her voice softened and she traced the seam on the back of the sofa. “Henri’s siblings all treated me like I was one of them. It was nice.”
“He still supports you?”
“No.” She crinkled her brow at him. “You must know their family history, that Henri’s sister was kidnapped when they were young?”
“Of course.” It had dominated the headlines, especially here in Spain.
“Henri is very careful about security because of that. He wanted me to live with them because he knew I was safe there. He put me through the self-defense courses that Cin and hissisters took and I was drilled on all the security protocols. I knew what was at stake and didn’t make social profiles, but Dorry Whitley was well-known enough that if people heard my name, they would ask me about them. I learned to spot when I was being befriended because someone wanted access to them. Then I missed one.”
“What’s his name?”
“Putrid McDogmeat.” She stood with her arms folded, back stiff. “I had always felt wrong about accepting Henri’s support. It felt as though I was being paid to be Auntie Dorry. When I put Ramon’s children at risk…” She shuddered. “I couldn’t be on the family payroll after that.”
“Did Henri blame you? Because Ramon doesn’t seem to be holding any grudges.”
