Billionaire's Island Bride (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Series) (11 page)

Was this Dare’s
home? Erin stole a quick glance at him and saw that he was watching her with
hooded eyes.  She turned away again.  If he’d hoped to impress her he’d
certainly done that, and more.  She couldn’t imagine living in a place like
this.  The resort had been luxury enough. 

The chauffeur
slowed the car to a halt then came around to hold the door open for them.  As
he helped her out of the car Erin continued to stare, admittedly overwhelmed by
the grandeur before her.

Then Dare was by
her side.  He took her hand in his and led her up the steps and into his lavish
home.  As they passed the threshold they heard the sound of hurried footsteps
then a tiny woman with her hair pulled into a bun entered the foyer.

“Welcome, welcome
Mrs. DeSouza.  We’ve been expecting you.”  Her eyes crinkled in a smile so
bright Erin had to respond with a smile of her own.  The woman had called her
Mrs. DeSouza.  It had sounded strange to her ears but that was who she was now -
the mistress of the house.  Sort of.  She had to remind herself not to get
carried away.  Dare had brought her here under duress.  This was anything but a
fairy-tale marriage.

“Erin, this is
Francine Lopez,” Dare said with a warm smile that was both surprising and
refreshing.  It was obvious that he had genuine regard for the woman.  “She’s
my right hand.”

“Oh, Senor Dare,
you are too kind.”  The woman smiled back at him then she turned her full
attention to Erin.  “I am the housekeeper.  I have run this house for Senor
Dare for the past four years but now that you are here, senora, you will give
the orders.”

That brought a
smile to Erin’s face.  “I don’t think so,” she said with a little laugh.

“Oh, yes.”  The
housekeeper nodded emphatically.  “The woman, she is in charge of the house. 
The man, he knows nothing about the house, only about making money.”

“Hey,” Dare
objected with an exaggerated frown.  “Are you saying all these years I thought
I was in charge I really wasn’t?”

“That is so, Senor
Dare.  That is why you have me.”

 There was a
twinkle in Francine’s eyes that bore testament to the comfort she felt with her
employer.  Apparently Dare had a pleasant side, one that he reserved for a
select few.

“Now come, let me
take you upstairs to your suite.  You must be tired after your journey." 
The housekeeper waved her hand and ushered her toward a wide, winding
staircase.

Her suite?  From
the look of the house Erin could just imagine what that looked like.  Could she
survive more luxury in one day?  But she had to admit, she’d loved the sound of
the word, not because of the affluence it denoted but because it sounded like
she’d be far removed from Dare DeSouza.  Of course, he would have a suite of
his own.

She glanced back
at him and saw that he was still standing there, his gray eyes unreadable as he
watched her climb the staircase.  She hastened to turn her attention back to
Francine and her friendly chatter.

She was now in the
lion’s den.  And she would best be prepared to face what was to come.  She
would seek refuge in this suite of hers and there she would rest up and then
plot her next course of action.  At the top of the list would be strategies to
stay out of Dare’s way.  Little did he know it but the man, dastardly though he
was, still held a place in her heart.  And that, more than anything, made him
the most dangerous of foes.

***

Erin was grateful
to find that the trials of her pregnancy seemed to be behind her.  There were
no more bouts of morning sickness, no dizzy spells, and her appetite had
returned with a vengeance.  She’d been on the island five days now and she and
Francine had developed an automatic friendship that surprised her.

She learned that
Francine Lopez was in her fifties, the mother of three grown sons who had all
left the island for jobs in North America.  One was an engineer working in
Alaska for a major oil company, another was a professor at a community college
in New Jersey, and the third had opened a business in Florida, a chain of
dollar-concept stores.  They all had families of their own and were doing well
and Francine could not have been more proud.

Francine did
admit, though, that at times she got lonely and wished that even one of them
had remained on the island so that she could have her grandchildren around
her.  Visits to the United States a few times per year were just not enough. 
She was glad to have gotten this job with Senor DeSouza because she now came to
see him almost as her own son.  But she had been hinting - subtly, of course,
because he was still her employer and it was not her place - that he might want
to consider settling down and starting a family.  Secretly she'd harbored the
dream of seeing the house full of little ones.  What a joy that would be.  And
now, as she’d told Erin, he had finally made the big step and brought home a
wife.  Now the house would be filled with the laughter of children.

Erin only smiled
at Francine words.  If only she knew how close she was to her dream.  Well, she
would know soon enough.  A pregnancy was not something you could hide for
long. 

Today again, Erin
was enjoying Francine’s company as she sat at the wrought iron table on the
cobbled patio that looked out onto a kidney-shaped pool.

“You used
sunscreen today, yes?”  The older woman’s face showed a hint of concern.  “The
sun, it is very strong today and your skin looks delicate.  You must protect
yourself.”

Erin chuckled.  “Si,
mama,” she teased and rolled her eyes cheekily.  She was having fun with
Francine’s over protectiveness.  The housekeeper was like a fussy mother hen,
always making sure she was comfortable and always admonishing her to take
care.  Erin could only imagine how this mothering would escalate once she
learned her condition.

Francine looked as
pleased as a kitty with a saucer of milk when she heard Erin’s reply.  Maybe it
was some consolation to her that she now had someone to fuss over.

And Erin did not
mind one bit.  In fact, Francine was now like the mother she no longer had. 
She remembered when the older lady asked about her family back in Canada.

“I don’t have
any,” she replied and her breath caught in her throat.  It had been nine years
but the memory of the tragedy was still raw and painful.

“No family?" 
Francine asked, her tone incredulous.  “How is that?”

“I am…was an only
child.  My parents were both killed in a car accident when I was twelve.”

Francine gasped then
her face softened in sympathy.  “Oh, nina, how terrible.”

“Yes,” Erin said
with a sigh.  “It was hard.  It still is.  But you deal with what life gives
you.  What else can you do?”

“And how did you
survive without your parents?”

“Foster care.” 
She kept her voice neutral, trying to keep the bitterness from her tone.  For
her, the experiences had not been pleasant.

“I ended up moving
from family to family, each one worse than the one before.”  She smiled at
Francine through misty eyes.  “I was relieved when I turned eighteen and could
move out and live on my own terms.”

“Ah, nina,”
Francine crooned, “life can be very cruel. 
Gracias a dios
, you are here
now and you are safe with Senor Dare.”

Erin almost
laughed at that.  Safe with Dare?  She doubted it.

So far he had left
her to her own devices which was exactly what she wanted.  Apparently there’d
been some developments with his business which were keeping him busy.  Whatever
it was, she hoped it would continue for a long time.  She could do without his
attention.  She’d told him she’d wanted the marriage to be in name only and she
meant it.

Her ringing cell
phone broke into her thoughts.  “Excuse me.”  She hopped up and dashed into the
sunroom where she’d left the phone.  It was unusual for her cell phone to ring. 
Since leaving college she hadn’t maintained contact with any of her former
college mates.  She was wondering who it could be when she picked it up and
peered at the screen.  Robyn O’Riley.  Erin’s heart sank.  If Robyn was calling
it could not be good.

She clicked on the
answer button and put the phone to her ear.  “Hello.”

“Erin, you naughty
girl, how could you do this to me?”  Robyn’s words were teasing but her tone
gave her away.  She was annoyed.

“Do what?”  Erin
rolled her eyes.  Robyn was famous for putting on an act.  She was always the
wounded woman.

“Don’t play with
me,” Robyn said, the pretense falling and her voice harsh.  “You went and got
married and didn’t even tell me.”

Erin stiffened. 
How in the world had Robyn found out?  She had told absolutely no-one.

“You made me have
to read about it in the tabloids.  How could you?”

The tabloids?  Erin’s
heart sank.  So much for keeping all of this a secret.  And why hadn’t she
thought about the possibility of something like that happening?

Dare was a rich
man and an eligible bachelor.  The paparazzi must have jumped at the chance to
break the news of his change in status.  Somehow, though, because his business
was all the way in Santa Marta she hadn’t expected the publicity.

“I almost missed it,”
Robyn was saying, her tone growing increasingly irritated.  “It was a small
feature tucked in the corner of the second page.  If I hadn’t caught sight of
it I would never have known.  You weren’t going to tell me, were you?”

“I…” Erin bit her
lip.  She hated to lie.  It was the truth.  She’d had absolutely no intention
of telling Robyn anything.

“Still keeping
secrets, Erin?"  Robyn’s voice was low and threatening.  Her true nature
was showing through.  “You know I’m the last person you should keep a secret
from.”

Erin remained
silent.  The last thing she wanted was get on Robyn’s wrong side.  She  knew
too much and was more than ready to use her knowledge to her own advantage.

“Why didn’t you
tell me the guy you’d been seeing over spring break was the owner of the
resort?” she demanded.

“I had no idea-”

“Do you expect me
to believe that?  You knew who he was and that was why you spent the night.” Robyn’s
voice was hard with accusation.

Erin knew exactly
what her problem was.  Robyn should have been the one to snap up the most
eligible bachelor on the island, not some poor church mouse of a girl like her. 
Robyn’s parents had money.  Not within Dare’s range by any means, but she was
used to enjoying the trappings of wealth and would have loved the chance to
secure an even more prosperous future through marriage with a man like Dare.

It was no use
arguing with her, not when her mind was all made up.  The best thing would be
for this conversation to end without Robyn’s feathers being ruffled even more
than they already were.  Erin decided to change the subject.  “How are your
parents?”

“Dad's fine.” 
Robyn's response was curt.  For some reason, Robyn didn't mention her mother. 
She was probably on one of her long trips to South America.

“I'm glad to hear
your dad's well.”  Erin didn’t have a whole lot more to say to Robyn after
that.  After all, what would she have to say to the girl who had tormented her for
the five months she’d spent in her home under foster care?  “I’m glad to hear
it.”

Mr. and Mrs. O’Riley
had been distant but kind, providing more than adequately for her needs while
she was under their roof.  The first time she met them, when she’d been the
insecure age of seventeen, she’d immediately recognized them as people of high
social standing.  For the life of her she could not figure out why they’d
chosen to get involved with foster care.  It was not until she’d been there a
month that Erin found out that the year before they’d done a tour with a
missionary group and had felt obligated to do their part in the community.  And
so they’d taken her in.

Little did they
know that they had a devil among them.  Of their three children Robyn was the
oldest and bossiest.  What made it worse, she was deceitful.  Things had
started out manageable even though Robyn seemed to think that with the new
arrival she’d suddenly acquired a personal servant.  Not wanting to put her
position in jeopardy, Erin acquiesced most of the time and with each ‘favor’
she did for Robyn the girl mellowed to her.

Then came the
night when, overcome with loneliness and depression, Erin crept into the bathroom
to weep in private. That was where Robyn found her, curled up on the bathroom
floor, her face buried in a thick bathrobe in an attempt to stifle her sobs.

In that moment of
weakness she had shared  a secret with Robyn.  That was a big mistake. 
Thereafter the girl used that knowledge to her advantage.

And now she was
doing it again.  Erin had no idea what Robyn was up to but it could not be
good.  It never was.

“I’m coming back
to Santa Marta.  To visit you.”

“Excuse me?”

“I want to come
for a visit,” Robyn said, even more emphatically this time.  “We haven’t spoken
in a while.  We need to do some catching up.”