Dark Paradise (18 page)

Leanne's dark eyes travelled down Kate's slender figure with open mockery. 'It will be my pleasure,' she said. 'My maid will bring a suitable selection of clothes to your room during the afternoon.'

'Thank you,' Kate managed. She was shaking inside, not so much with fright as with temper.

'Well?' said Matt when they were alone. 'Shall we do as the man says and look round, or do you want to rest, too?'

She faced him stormily, breasts heaving. 'I just want to get out of here!'

'I imagine Jethro's private army might have something to say about that,' he said, shrugging. 'He'll let us go when he's good and ready and not before. His motives for keeping us here interest me,' he added thoughtfully.

'Well, allow me to explain them to you,' Kate said tautly. 'We're to remain here while he takes off for an unknown destination, and next time he does not mean to be found.'

Matt smiled slightly. 'Perhaps.'

'He told me so himself,' she said, stung.

'I'm sure he did, but that doesn't mean he intends to do it. It's just one of several possibilities, as he and I are both aware.'

'Well, I wish you'd left me out of your little games,' Kate muttered crossly.

'So do I,' he snapped. 'Why the hell did you have to go dashing off like that, anyway? And what were you doing clambering all over those rocks? Didn't you realise you could have fallen and damaged yourself, you little fool?'

'Compared with what's happened, that's the option I'd have gone for,' she said moodily. 'You never had the slightest intention of abandoning this story, did you?'

His hands descended on her shoulders. 'I meant everything I said. As you must have guessed by now, Winston didn't bring us to the cove by chance this morning, but I swear I never intended for you to be involved. I'd arranged that while I was trying to get in here, he would take you back to the Anchorage and on to the hotel. And I'd left instructions at the desk. You could stay, or you could fly out, whether or not I was free to join you. That's what I'd planned.'

Then it's a pity it didn't work out like that.' She wriggled free, glaring at him. 'I could have been safely on my way home now, instead of cooped up here in this—prison!'

'Kate, calm down!' He sounded almost pleading. 'It won't be as bad as you think—and I promise it will only be for a couple of days.'

'A couple of days?' she threw back at him recklessly. '
Only
a couple of days? A couple of hours would be too much! Can't you see that it's you that I want to be free of? You!'

'Is that a fact?' The blue eyes were chips of ice. 'Well, that's just tough, my little shrew, because we're stuck with each other as never before. And believe me, you can be no sorrier about it than I am!'

He turned and walked away. Kate watched him go, tears blurring her eyes, her mouth silently framing his name, and all the secret, yearning words of love that she dared not utter.

The afternoon dragged wretchedly past. Kate made another abortive attempt to read her book, but she found it impossible to concentrate. The image of Matt's face, harsh and bleak, kept intruding between herself and the printed page, and those last dismissive words echoed tormentingly in her ears.

At last she put it aside and went for a walk, but she found the awareness that she was always under scrutiny, the figures moving unobtrusively never too far away, distinctly unnerving, and she gave up and went back to the poolside.

Presently Jakey appeared, bringing a tray of iced tea, and towels in case she wanted to bathe. The water looked inviting, it was true, but Kate found it easy to resist. Her present state of unhappiness would probably make her sink like a stone, she thought.

There was no sign of Matt, but then what else could she have expected after what had passed between them? And she could never explain that her almost hysterical Outburst had been triggered off because she had sensed something approaching tenderness in him which was more than she could bear.

To protect herself, she had to convince him that her unguarded response to him that morning on the beach had been prompted by the senses only, and not the emotions.

Things were foul enough without Matt realising that she had fallen in love with him, and perhaps pitying her, she told herself. And if her bitter words resulted in him holding her at arm's length for the remainder of their stay on St Antoine, then she might be able to keep her secret, and return to London relatively unscathed. 'Might' being the operative word, she thought ruefully.

She had nearly betrayed herself earlier when she had run to him, but hopefully he would interpret that as sheer relief.

With a sigh, she took out her sketchpad and made a quick drawing of the area round the pool, but the sketch seemed flat and lifeless. She was about to rip it up in disgust when she heard the sound of a masculine tread approaching, and instantly directed all her attention to her drawing, forcing her fingers to move steadily, even though she could not control the wild beating of her heart.

She was startled, and a little relieved, when the dog Caesar ambled up and put his nose in her hand. Carlos was not far behind him.

'Heel, Caesar,' he ordered sharply. 'I am sorry—we are interrupting you.'

'No.' Kate put down her pad, but he was turning away. She raised her voice slightly. 'Please come back.' And when he showed no sign of doing so, she added, 'After all, you forced me to come here. The least you can do is talk to me!'

He swung round, almost gaping at her for a moment, then his face dissolved into amusement, and he was the cheerful boy she had seen romping with Caesar on the beach again.

He came back and pulled up a chair, the dog flopping easily into the nearest patch of shade.

He said, 'And for that I am really sorry, but you must understand I did not know what to do.' He flushed slightly. 'When I saw you at the Paradis, I did not know that you were the companion of Señor Lincoln.'

'Well, how could you? We'd only just arrived,' she said. 'Come to that, I didn't know who you were either.' She hesitated. 'You just looked as if you needed company. I thought perhaps you'd come on holiday on your own and found out it was a mistake.'

'No,' Carlos said quietly. 'I am not supposed to visit the hotel, in case I am recognised, but sometimes when this house becomes more than I can bear, I escape for a while.'

Kate gave him a sympathetic look. 'Are you supposed to be dead too?'

Carlos shook his head. 'I was at school in the United States when the news came of the revolution, and the crash. My father had taught me a code whereby I could recognise valid messages from him. I was just beginning to realise what had happened, to grieve for him and all I had lost, when such a message came.' He spread his hand expressively. 'You cannot imagine, how I felt. One moment I was in despair—then, suddenly, there was hope.' He gave a twisted smile. That was before I knew what our life would be.'

There was a pause, then Kate said awkwardly, 'On the surface, it seems very comfortable here.'

'For the tourists no doubt it is a paradise,' Carlos said abruptly. 'But it is not Santo Cristo where I was born. I no longer have the life I was used to there—and,' his face became bitter—'other things have changed also.'

Kate knew intuitively that he was talking about Leanne, and she said nothing. After a pause he went on, 'I suppose I should have expected—but I did not. After my mother died, there were always women, but I could understand that. I never thought that he would marry again—or marry such a woman.'

There was another pause, then Kate said awkwardly, 'Because your stepmother is so much younger than your father, perhaps?'

He shook his head. 'That would not have concerned me.' He took a breath. 'But to put a woman like that— a woman who had been a singer in a cheap bar—in my mother's place, that is what matters.'

Kate said half to herself, 'If she was an entertainer, that's probably how Matt came to know her.'

Carlos said bitterly, 'Without doubt. The club where she worked was much frequented by the foreign press. She was probably his mistress before she became my father's.' He looked up at Kate's sharp intake of breath. 'But you must have realised that?'

She said, 'Yes—I suppose so.' She rallied herself. 'But it was over a long time ago, Carlos, and whatever she did before she became married to your father shouldn't really matter. He's a shrewd man—he must have known about her past, and if it's made no difference to him, then perhaps you should try to accept it too.'

He said, 'If it was only the past, perhaps I could, but she has never been faithful to him.' He flung up his head and looked at her. 'That is why I am sorry that I made you come here, because if she wants Matthew Lincoln, then she will take him and you will be hurt.'

Kate stared at him. She said quietly, 'Don't you think you're letting your dislike for her—twist your viewpoint? Even if she and Matt were once intimate, they wouldn't—they couldn't…' Her voice trailed away helplessly.

Carlos said, 'You do not know her. I tell you, you do not know her—what she is capable of.' His voice sounded intensely weary. There was silence for a moment, then he said, 'But I am being dismal. When you said you wished to talk, it was not of such matters as these, I think. Would you like to swim? It will soon be time to change for dinner.'

Kate didn't want to swim, but she realised Carlos was making a real effort to overcome his mood of bitter introspection, so she agreed, and discovered that the exercise and relaxation provided by the water were just what she needed.

Carlos found a large coloured ball, and they played noisy and idiotic games, while Caesar padded gravely up and down the side of the pool as if he was considering joining them.

Kate felt almost regretful when Carlos announced that it was time they were going in. He swung himself athletically on to the side of the pool and reached down to help her out, pulling her up beside him.

She said, laughing, 'You know, you're stronger than you look.'

He said softly, 'And you, Kate, are very beautiful.' He bent his head and kissed her, his mouth tentative. She didn't want the embrace, but avoiding it would have meant stepping backwards into the pool, which was ridiculous. She didn't return the kiss, and after a moment he let her go, and handed her a towel.

They had been in the pool longer than she'd thought. Deep shadows were beginning to spill across the flags as the sun went down.

Carlos said, 'You love him very much, this Matthew Lincoln. And I wish you did not, because I am afraid— very much afraid—that you will be unhappy.'

Kate looked at the encroaching shadows, and shivered, pulling the enveloping towel closer round her body. She picked up her bag and discarded shirt.

She said, 'I think I'd better go and find my room.' She sent Carlos a quick meaningless smile, then walked ahead of him up to the house.

The room Jakey showed her to was dim, the shutters drawn to close out the sunlight. Kate heard the splash of water, and guessed that Matt was using the shower in the adjoining bathroom. She went slowly across the room and opened the shutters wide, letting the remaining sunlight illumine the room.