Alejandro's Revenge by Anne Mather Page B

over. She knew that. Even though he’d let her go without another word, she knew it as surely as if he’d voiced his desire for retribution. Something was going on here, something she knew nothing about, and she couldn’t wait to speak to Edward and find out what the hell it was.
    In that, however, she had not been successful. Whether her brother knew of her encounter with Alejandro that morning or not, she didn’t know, but he had proved suspiciously elusive since then.
    Abby, herself, would have preferred to spend the rest of the morning in her room. But, after sluicing her hot face in the basin in her bathroom, she’d known that would achieve nothing. Even if Alejandro joined the family for breakfast she had to show her face. Besides, how else was she going tocorner her brother when she had no idea where his suite of rooms was?
    In any case, she could hardly confront her brother in front of his wife. According to Edward, it was because of Lauren that he’d brought her here. And, although she suspected there was more to it than that, she couldn’t dismiss his fears out of hand. Alejandro had virtually admitted that something was going on. But she had no idea what it was.
    She had breakfast alone.
    When she eventually summoned up the courage to go downstairs again, it was to find that no one else was about. The maid directed her to a rattan table and chairs set in the shade of the colonnade and explained that Mr Esquival had already left for his office. Apparently Mrs Esquival didn’t eat breakfast, and Abby, who had steeled herself to face a family breakfast similar to the dinner she’d faced the night before, didn’t know whether to be glad or sorry.
    There was no sign of Alejandro either, which was a relief. When she asked about her brother and his wife she was told that he and Mees Lauren usually had breakfast in their rooms. Abby thought that Edward at least might have made an exception in these circumstances. But he was obviously in no hurry to explain himself.
    Instead, she had to make the best of it, accepting a serving of scrambled eggs and bacon when the maid offered them against her better judgment. Despite her fears—or perhaps because of them—she was starving, and she consoled herself with the thought that it was after midday back home.
    But, with the meal over, the rest of the morning stretched emptily ahead of her. On edge, as she was, she had no interest in the pool. Even the idea of sunbathing on the pool deck reminded her too strongly of what had happened there just a couple of hours earlier. Until Edward decided to show his face she could only wait impatiently for him to appear.
    Going up to her room again, she decided to unpack her suitcase, realising that, however much she might want to leave, it wasn’t going to happen today. Leaving her clothes in thecase would only add to the creases they’d gained on the journey across the Atlantic. And in her present position she didn’t want to add to her feelings of inadequacy by looking unkempt.
    An hour later she was downstairs again, pacing up and down the terrace, wondering when Edward was going to grace her with his presence, when Dolores Esquival joined her. She paused in the doorway to the salon, looking at Abby a little uncertainly, as if she didn’t quite know what she was going to do with her. Abby noticed she was quite clearly dressed to go out.
    â€˜Good morning,’ Abby greeted her politely, once again cursing her brother for putting her in this position. ‘It’s a beautiful day.’
    â€˜Yes, isn’t it?’ Dolores hardly glanced up at the cloudless blue sky overhead. Then, linking her hands together at her waist, she added pleasantly, ‘Is everything all right?’
    As all right as anything could be in the circumstances, thought Abby drily, but she managed a matching response. ‘It’s fine—everything’s fine,’ she assured the older