Susan Stephens - Dreaming Of... Brazil - At the Brazilian's Command / Married for the Prince's Convenience / From Enemy's Daughter to Expectant Bride

She glanced at Tiago as he gave instructions to the security guards, thinking how different he was. Tiago’s command of the situation was reassuring. He was everything the sorry excuse for a man at their feet was not.

Did the fates see any humour in the situation? she wondered. Tiago Santos, the world’s most notorious playboy, was no playboy but a protector—strong and caring. He might look dangerous, but his character was different from the way it was described in his press.

‘Where do you think you’re going?’ he called after her as she started back to the house.

‘We’ve spoken to the police. Pintos has gone—’

‘I’m heading your way, remember?’ he said, catching up with her. ‘Go straight up to your room and I’ll tell Lizzie what’s happened.’

‘No, you won’t. Lizzie’s been upset enough tonight. She must have noticed I’m missing. She will have seen the lights of the police cars. This is her day, not mine. Let’s not spoil it for her,’ she said, desperate not to ruin Lizzie’s day. ‘Just tell her the fuss is over and there’s nothing for her to worry about. Say I went to check on the horses and lost track of time. Tell her I tripped in the mud and had to clean myself up—I’ve gone upstairs to change my clothes and I’ll be back at the party soon.’

‘I’ll do what I can,’ Tiago promised. ‘But I won’t lie to her. Danny, you can’t pretend nothing’s happened,’ he insisted when she scowled at him.

‘That’s not what I asked you to do. What?’ she demanded impatiently, when Tiago continued to stare at her.

A faint smile touched his mouth. ‘You might not be able to keep it a secret.’

‘Why not?’

‘You won’t win any beauty contests tonight.’

She touched her face and groaned, remembering the bruises. She’d forgotten about them.

‘Do you have anything you can put on them?’ Tiago asked with concern.

‘I’m sure there’ll be something in the house.’

‘Maybe I should call a doctor for you?’

‘A doctor won’t come out at this time of night—and why would we trouble one? Thank you for your concern—seriously, Tiago—but it’s only a bruise, and bruises fade.’

‘And you don’t have to be strong all the time,’ he fired back.

‘What’s it to you?’ Biting back tears, and hating herself for the weakness, she confronted him in the way they had squared up to each other on so many occasions on the ranch in Brazil.

It was a terrible mistake to stare into Tiago’s eyes. Her awareness of him only grew. But she couldn’t allow him to patronise or pity her, if only because it was so dangerous to wonder, even for a second, how it might feel to have a man like Tiago Santos care for her.

The first thing she had to do was get over tonight. Bruises would fade, but the disappointment she felt in herself for not progressing her career as she would have liked, for not moving away from her home town, and most of all for getting mixed up with a man like Carlos Pintos, would take a lot longer.

‘I should thank you properly,’ she said, remembering her manners belatedly. If nothing else, Tiago had been her saviour tonight.

He shrugged it off. ‘No medals, Danny. They’d only spoil my suit.’

He could always make her smile. The playboy was still in him, beneath that white knight’s shining armour. She must never allow herself to forget that Tiago Santos possessed a glittering charm that had led many women astray. She must never be guilty of romanticising that charm, because there was another man underneath it.

Brutal tattoos showed beneath the crisp white cuffs of Tiago’s immaculate dress shirt, and a gold earring glinted in what light there was. This was not some safe, mild-mannered man—a white knight racing to rescue the damsel in distress—but Tiago Santos: the most infamous barbarian of them all.

CHAPTER TWO

ANNIE, THE HOUSEKEEPER at Rottingdean, was waiting for them at the front door.

‘Chico told me what happened,’ Danny heard Annie inform Tiago discreetly as the housekeeper ushered her away. She saw him nod briefly.

‘Before you go,’ he called after her. ‘Here’s my card. If you need anything...’

‘Your card ?’ She smiled at the incongruity of a barbarian carrying a card, but took it and studied it before looking up. ‘I won’t need anything, but thank you again for tonight.’

Tiago ground his jaw. He wasn’t used to being on the receiving end of a rain check, she guessed as he turned to rejoin the party.

She scrubbed down in the shower, turning her face up with relief to the cleansing stream. So what excuse did she have for being in the stables on her own at night, in the middle of Lizzie’s wedding party?

She’d been having a moment, Danny concluded. She had needed some quiet time to contemplate her life going forward now her best friend was married. The stables was where she had always sought sanctuary, even as a child. The horses were so quiet and mild they had always been a relief—a release from her troubled home life—and tonight had seemed a good time for her to re-evaluate in that quiet place.

The last thing she had expected was for a nightmare like Carlos Pintos to reappear. Thankfully, he would be locked away for a very long time now. The police had told her this. It turned out he was a wanted man, who had stalked and attacked several women.

So all she had to worry about now was Tiago Santos.

Oh, good, Danny reflected wryly, wondering if she would ever get Tiago out of her head. While he was close by she could think of nothing else.

But where was she going with this? Shouldn’t she toughen up and forget about men? Wasn’t that safer? She would have to if she was ever going to give herself the chance of a career. And what was she waiting for as far as that was concerned? She had a prestigious diploma from Chico’s training school in Brazil, as well as a lifetime of experience with horses. It was time to make that count. It was time to start planning for the day when she had her own equine establishment.

With an impatient laugh she turned the shower to ice. Maybe that would wash some sense into her. She was a few hundred thousand pounds short of the start-up cash for her own place, with very little prospect of getting hold of such huge amounts of money.

‘Danny?’ Annie was calling from behind the door.

‘Yes?’

‘There’s someone here to see you, hen.’

The familiar Scottish endearment made Danny smile. ‘Just give me a minute and I’ll grab a towel—’

It would be Lizzie. She would play down what had happened. She would change the subject and make Lizzie laugh. It was her best friend’s wedding day, when everything had to be perfect. And it would be if Danny had anything to do with it.

‘I can tell him you’d rather not see anyone if you’d prefer that, hen?’

Him?

‘He’s very concerned about you...’ Annie waited, and then, receiving no reply, added, ‘I think you should at least see him to reassure him that you’re okay...’

Danny’s heart went crazy. She was actually trembling. There was only one man who knew what had happened in the stable. And she had just vowed to cut him out of her life.

‘I’ve brought you a clean dress. I’ll just leave it on the bed, shall I?’ Annie suggested. A few more seconds passed and then the housekeeper called out with concern, ‘Are you okay in there, Danny?’

‘Yes. I’m fine.’ She put her resolute face on. ‘I’m just coming... Could you ask him to give me a few minutes?’

‘Will do, hen.’

And now there was silence. Was Tiago standing outside the door, or had he gone downstairs to wait for her? She stood listening, naked and dripping water everywhere, with the towel hanging limply from her hand. Wasn’t it better to face him, talk to him, reassure him as Annie had suggested? Then she could finally put an end to this horrible episode. Tiago must understand that she was very grateful to him but that she didn’t need his help going forward.