His family owned the estate. Hers worked on it. Unfortunately sheโs had a crush on him all her lifeโฆ
โIโm sure I can count on your discretion, Anna.โ
Reynaldo narrowed his eyes and added, โNeither of us wants our parents to be the subject of prurient gossip.โ
โOh, really?โ she said. โPerhaps your father gave my mom those jewels to buy her silence. Paid her to be invisible, a nobody. A secret mistress.โ She rose to her feet, heart pounding, and threw her napkin on the table next to her untouched dessert. โWell, Iโm ashamed to know you. Any of you DeLeons.โ
โYou donโt understand the situation.โ His icy voice chilled her.
โI understand all I need to,โ she said. Fists clenched against the onslaught of all sheโd learned and couldnโt even begin to process, she rushed from the dining room, tugged open the heavy front door and flew down the stone steps.
He didnโt come after her. She hadnโt expected him to. He knew sheโd be back for her money.
She knew it, too. And that made the long, dusty moonlit walk back to the cottage more grueling than ever.
Jennifer Lewis is the USA Today bestselling author of more than thirty books which have been translated into more than twenty languages. She lives in Florida and when she's not writing she can often be found at the beach.