A Scandalous Midnight In Madrid

‘Chef Sadie sent it,’ Annalisa fired back. ‘It was a very kind thought. You should be ashamed of yourself,’ his sister finished with an angry gesture worthy of any great actress.

Sadie had sent this? He scanned the delicacies in the bin, regretting now that he’d been so hasty. His customary good manners had utterly deserted him, thanks to this enforced stay in hospital. It didn’t help his temper one bit—having imagined himself invincible—that Annalisa had been discharged from hospital before him.

‘If you weren’t my brother and you hadn’t saved my life, I’d be ashamed of you,’ Annalisa now assured him. ‘I am ashamed of you. How dare you throw this kindness back in Sadie’s face? Who else would send you food?’ Shoving a stiff white card under his nose, she commanded, ‘Read this. She’s signed it and so has every member of staff at El Gato Feroz. I hope it makes you feel as bad as you should, you monster.’

‘Back in bed!’ The sharp voice from the doorway startled them both. It was the ward sister making her rounds. ‘You breathed in a lot of smoke, Don Alegon,’ she told him, ‘and what you need now is rest.’

‘What I need now is to get out of here,’ he argued tensely. ‘And what about my sister? She was in the accident too. Shouldn’t she be resting?’

‘I managed to keep my head out of the window,’ Annalisa piped up, ‘so I was breathing fresh air. Braving the smoke to save me forced you to breathe in a lot of smoke, so do as the ward sister says and get back into bed.’

‘Am I a caged beast now?’ he grumbled, only to be greeted by peals of laughter from both women.

‘You’re an ungrateful beast,’ Annalisa confirmed, and as the ward sister left them to continue her rounds she began to forage in the bin. ‘What if I had wanted to eat some of this?’

Fortunately most of it was boxed and, having salvaged a container of freshly baked macarrones, Annalisa was cramming her favourites into her mouth before offering the rest to him. He refused, of course.

‘You don’t deserve anyone to be kind to you,’ she flashed. ‘The least you can do is write a thank-you note to Sadie for preparing all this lovely food.’

He growled but found he couldn’t summon up any anger. Quite a different emotion was plaguing him at the thought of Sadie going to all this trouble, and it was one that ensured that as soon as he was discharged, he would thank Sadie in person.

‘You’re still my responsibility,’ he informed Annalisa, ‘and you’ll do as I say.’

‘Oh?’ she queried. ‘Am I not in the charge of my soon-to-be husband?’

‘That puny excuse for a man,’ he bit out, no longer able to hide his true feelings for his sister’s fiancé in his present state of mind. Annalisa wouldn’t even have been in the car accident if her fiancé had done what he was supposed to have done and taken care of her, escorting her home. ‘Tell me you sent him packing?’ Hope rose inside him when his sister hesitated before answering.

‘Take a note, Don Alejandro,’ Annalisa retorted, smashing his hopes into the ground. ‘I’m all grown up, and I’ll make my own decisions without consulting you first.’

‘Is it over?’ he pressed.

‘None of your business. And you can stay in bed,’ she added sharply. ‘I won’t have you towering over me and attempting to bend me to your will.’

As if, he thought, trying not to smile. ‘Where are you going now?’ he demanded as Annalisa made for the door.

‘To El Gato Feroz,’ she fired back. ‘One of us has to thank Chef Sadie, if only to prove that not all the Alegons are arrogant, ungrateful brutes.’

‘Come back here!’

‘No,’ she flashed. ‘If you can’t do anything to help yourself, then it’s up to me to do something to help you.’ Leaving him with that disturbing thought, his sister stormed out.

The spartan hospital room was unbearably quiet when Annalisa left. Was she right? Was Annalisa ready to take charge of her life, and was he guilty of interfering? Caring for his sister had been such an overwhelming force inside him for so long, he didn’t know how to let it go. The thought that Annalisa might need space from him had never occurred to him before, and would take some getting used to.

Where better to do that than in the mountains he loved, where his lungs would soon heal? He would discharge himself. The accident had put life in perspective, proving how fragile it was, and allowing him to see that he had never examined his grief of losing his parents. There hadn’t been chance with the weight of responsibility eating up every minute of every day. Annalisa and the business had always taken priority over personal concerns, but he couldn’t carry out his duties effectively with such an unreasonably short fuse. The time had come to heal his soul as well as his body.

CHAPTER THREE (#ua235d89c-8fd2-5a26-9306-264494a6a5d4)

SADIE EXCLAIMED WITH happy surprise when Annalisa Alegon turned up at the restaurant. ‘Señorita de Alegon! How lovely to see you again, and what a relief to see you looking so well!’

Annalisa looked gorgeous in a simple, flower-patterned summer dress that showed off her bronzed limbs to best advantage. She had teamed the sky-blue confection with delicate strappy sandals, huge sunglasses, and a beribboned straw hat with a wide brim on top of her flowing black hair.

‘And your brother?’ Sadie held her breath as she waited for the answer.

‘First off, I am, and always will be, Annalisa to you,’ Annalisa insisted as she enveloped Sadie in a hug. ‘As for my brother? Predictably, he’s grouchy. Confinement doesn’t suit him.’ She shrugged. ‘Our heritage, I suppose. But let’s not talk about him. I’m here to thank you for last night. It was such a wonderful occasion. And, of course, for the delicious treats you sent to the hospital.’

At the mention of the word hospital, Sadie paled. ‘Was your brother able to enjoy the food I sent over?’

Annalisa slanted an amused look at Sadie. ‘He was most appreciative.’

Her face remained carefully expressionless, leaving Sadie free to guess the rest. ‘All I care about is that you’re both safe. It was such a shock to hear about the accident.’

‘I’d have been burnt to a crisp without Alejandro,’ Annalisa stated bluntly. ‘He’s the best of men, you know.’

‘I’m sure he is,’ Sadie agreed politely.

‘Are you all right?’ she asked suddenly, with concern, keen to divert attention away from how she felt about Alejandro.

‘A little delayed shock, I think,’ Annalisa admitted with a dismissive shrug. ‘Inevitable, I suppose. An accident like that really shakes you up and proves how vulnerable we all are. I keep thinking, what would I do without Alejandro?’

Sadie smiled. ‘I saw how close you are.’ It was on the tip of her tongue to ask if Annalisa’s fiancé had taken care of her too, but instinct kept her quiet. She hadn’t liked the Prince, or his friends. ‘So, your brother’s to remain in hospital?’ she asked instead.

‘And as stubborn as ever,’ Annalisa confirmed. ‘Though knowing Alejandro, I doubt they’ll be able to keep him there for long.’

‘Shouldn’t he give himself chance to recover? I heard he inhaled a lot of smoke.’

‘True, but Alejandro taking things slowly is never going to happen. And he has his own ideas when it comes to convalescing. Chopping logs, swimming in freezing cold lakes and riding flat out on the plateau above the mountains suits him better than a hospital bed. Quite literally anything that takes him away from the city for a while. You wouldn’t know him when he visits our mother’s people. He’s a different man. They regard him as a king, but Alejandro assures me that it’s only when he’s in the mountains that he’s pared down to the better man beneath all the hype and celebrity that status brings him in Madrid.’

Fascinated, Sadie was desperate to learn more. ‘Can I offer you a coffee, or perhaps a cold drink?’

‘I’d love a coffee, if you’ve got time,’ Annalisa agreed.

Sadie would make time, not just to learn more about a man who had affected her so profoundly, but because Annalisa looked a little lost, as if she needed a friend to confide in as much as Sadie. ‘Of course I’ve got time,’ she confirmed warmly as she indicated an empty table where they could sit.

Annalisa’s opening gambit couldn’t have surprised Sadie more. ‘I don’t want to cause any trouble,’ she said as they sat down.

‘Drinking coffee?’ Sadie remarked lightly, wondering what was coming next. ‘I don’t think there’s too much risk in that. If there’s anything at all I can help you with...’ she added as Annalisa played with her coffee spoon.

‘There is something you could help me with,’ Annalisa blurted. ‘I’m worried about my brother. He’s far more important to me than anyone else.’

‘You’re worried about Don Alegon?’

‘Alejandro,’ Annalisa prompted.

‘Well, Alejandro seems tough enough to withstand whatever life throws at him.’ Unless his injuries were worse than the press had reported, Sadie thought with a stab of alarm. ‘His condition hasn’t deteriorated, has it?’

‘No,’ Annalisa exclaimed quickly, to reassure them both, Sadie thought.

‘His voice is still scratchy, and, of course, he could do with some fuss, as well as someone he’ll actually listen to when they tell him to slow down. It’s just a pity I can’t get up to the mountains at the moment, because I have other things to sort out.’