After a lazy morning, they ate lunch on his plane. He was still stoned from their lovemaking, but Siobhan was unexpectedly quiet in a way that struck him as tense, especially on the drive into the hills from the Marbella airport.
“Are you feeling off?” he asked with concern.
“No. The new vitamins seem to be sitting better.” She looked up from fiddling with the bracelet he’d won for her at his company’s silent auction. It was an artistic blend of mismatched gold and silver links that she had seemed to love, but she looked on the verge of tears. “I’m nervous about bringing you here.”
“You think I’ll betray you or your family?” He captured her hand to still it, but was deeply unsettled. “You don’t trust me?”
“No, I do.” Her smile didn’t stick, though. “I’m being silly.”
He didn’t get a chance to delve deeper. They stopped at a gate that read,Sus Brazos. Their driver greeted the guard who angled to send a smile at Siobhan.
“Welcome home, señora.”
“Thank you, Baron.” She found a smile for him. “Joaquin is my guest. He should be on the list.”
“He is.” The guard glanced between a screen and Joaquin, ensuring his identity, then waved them through.
“Do you mind taking the lower drive?” Siobhan asked the driver, who turned in to a winding lane that took them through olive and orange groves. They circled a pond and some gardens. She pointed through an orchard and down paths. “Stables. Staff housing. That’s just a garden shed. There’s a playhouse for the children. You can’t see the tennis courts, but they’re behind those trees.”
Joaquin would have thought she was eagerly showing off the place she considered home if her nails hadn’t been digging into the back of his hand. She was putting off their arrival as long as possible.
“Siobhan.” He gently squashed her hand. “It will be okay. Nothing bad will happen.”
Her lip briefly quivered and he read the message in her eyes.You don’t know that.
They arrived in a cobbled courtyard with a fountain. Wide steps led up to a pair of huge doors on a Spanish colonial mansion.
Cinnia trotted out with a handful of staff behind her.
She was even more like Siobhan in person. They had similar figures, both slender yet curvy. They were the same height, had the same profile and sounded the same as they greeted each other with equally effusive hugs.
“You’ve made me so happy!” Cinnia declared, pressing her baby sister back to blink her wet lashes at her. “And you’ve goneback to blond.Muchbetter, but I may be biased.” She flicked at her bobbed hair, then hugged Joaquin. “Thank you for bringing her. You have single-handedly saved Christmas.”
“My work here is done, then,” he drawled, thinking for Cinnia, perhaps, but what about for Siobhan?
They entered an empty foyer with a curved staircase that swept up to a gallery. A huge, unlit crystal chandelier hung in the dome of colored glass that poured stains of red and purple and green onto the marble floor.
“Where is everyone?” Siobhan asked.
“Tennis tourney. I said I’d bring you down once you arrived, but the nannies have the children in the movie room, waiting for you.”
A gasp from the top of the stairs lifted all their eyes.
“You’re here!” The voice of wonder belonged to a girl of ten or so. She gripped the rail and beamed with joy over it. She turned her head and started to yell, “She’s he—”
“Wait!” Siobhan hurried up the stairs. “Hugs first. Come here.”
The girl hurried to meet her on the stairs and they hugged tight. Siobhan kissed her a dozen times all over her face, making the girl giggle, then Siobhan pointed down at Joaquin.
“Look. I brought someone and I don’t want to scare him. Your special job is to gather all the children and tell them to queue oldest to youngest. Bring them here so I can introduce them and we can all get our hugs. Can you do that for me?” She kept herself at eye level and tucked the girl’s hair behind her ear.
“I’ll tell Lettie to do it. She’s the bossiest.” The girl spun to race away.
“That’s the real reason Cin begged me to come,” Siobhan said as she came back to the bottom of the stairs. She flicked a teasing look at her sister. “I’m the only one who can literally keep these pelicans in a line.”
“True story,” Cinnia confided to Joaquin. “Bear with us. They’re very excited. Once we get this greeting out of the way, you can take cover in your room. Oh. Here we go.”
Giggles and stifled squeals accompanied the shuffle of footsteps as children appeared on the landing, dutifully walking in a line. They wore a range of outfits from jeans and pullovers to frilly dresses to a superhero costume and a pair of pajamas. They broke into big smiles and waved energetically through the rail when they saw her, but the girl at the front sent a stern look that kept them from breaking rank.
