Jess and Olivia were the only ones to greet her with genuine warmth, perhaps sensing there was more to Sofia’s story than they knew. When Cesar had collected his food and joined them, there was another discernible rustle of interest around the table, but everyone was too cool to comment. He soon put them at ease with easy banter, culminating in, ‘I’ll take any seat.’ Which just happened to be thigh to thigh with Sofia.
It was hard to breathe. How hard would it be to fall in love with him? She covered her concerns with a grin as she turned to Jess. ‘Work us harder tomorrow.’ Exhaustion might help. Something had to.
Jess winked, as if she understood everything. ‘Don’t worry, I intend to,’ she promised.
‘Good.’ Cesar was the only one at the table who responded. Pushing his chair back, he stood up. ‘We’ll all benefit from another good workout tomorrow.’ He glanced at Sofia. ‘I’m going to take a sluice down in the yard.’
Sofia flicked a quick glance at Jess. It felt good to have an ally. She had no idea how much Jess knew, but she could feel her sympathy coming in waves across the table.
Was she expected to join him? Sofia wondered when Cesar paused at the door. Turning away, she continued her chat with Jess. They had a lot to talk about. They both had to put up with her brothers.
Her gaze strayed out of window. Cesar was tipping well water over his head. She clenched and unfurled her fingers, remembering how he’d felt beneath her hands.
Droplets of water went flying from his thick black hair when he shook his head like an angry wolf. His torso was gleaming and wet. How was she supposed to feel nothing for this man?
‘Sofia?’
She turned to face Jess. ‘I’m sorry... Forgive me. I was distracted.’
Jess grinned. ‘Who wouldn’t be? Anyway, I was just saying, prepare to be exhausted tomorrow. There’s less than a month to go before the first match. These might be exhibition matches, but you know as well as I do that when your brothers and Cesar are playing against a rival like Nero Caracas, there’s no such thing as a friendly game.’
Jess wasn’t exaggerating. Nero and his team Assassin were their closest rivals. ‘Work us hard. Give us every advantage you can. The rest is up to fate, and how we play on the day.’
Placing her hand over Sofia’s, Jess gave it a squeeze as she whispered discreetly, ‘I know how worried you are, but you don’t need to worry about Cesar. He’s overcome mountains before, and knows how to handle himself. Concentrate on looking after yourself.’
‘Thank you.’ For being my friend didn’t need to be said.
Sofia glanced through the window at Cesar. Another lonely night beckoned, and then a new day with all that that entailed.
‘Need a leg-up?’
She looked around to see Cesar standing behind her. Feelings swamped her.
‘No, thanks. I can manage.’
‘Please yourself.’ With a shrug, he sprang into the saddle and cantered into the arena.
Jess placed Sofia behind Cesar in the line, which taunted Sofia with the sight of a back view as good as his front. Powerful and unyielding, Cesar’s mighty shoulders and straight spine could have been a metaphor for the way he lived.
Her heart clenched at the thought of any harm coming to him during the matches. They would be rough, they would be hard; neither side would give way without a fight. And then there was the blackmailer she had to deal with, which was like coping with a virus, sneaky and unpredictable, working in the shadows to bring a victim down—
‘Sofia, are you with us?’ Jess was calling from across the ring. ‘Change direction now!’
Sofia wheeled her pony around just in time to avoid a collision with Xander, who blasted her with a derisive look as he cantered past.
In the unlikely event that Cesar spares the time to actually hold a conversation with you, how likely is it that he’ll jump at the chance to help you with your blackmailer?
She had to hope pretty high. Like her brothers, Cesar was a man of principle—
‘Sofia!’ Jess rode up alongside. ‘Do you need to take a break?’
‘No. Sorry. I’m on it.’
‘I hope so. Carelessness leads to accidents at this level of training.’
‘It won’t happen again, Jess.’
Just as she would never, ever write another article. Now all she had to do was persuade Cesar of that, and that the original article had been so heavily doctored she’d hardly recognised it.
