Untamed Fire (35 page)

Rafael closed his eyes against the pain. She
had waited for just the right time to tell him of the child,
fearing the consequences, as he had waited for just the right time
to tell her of his love. What a fool he had been. There was no
right time. There was only that moment when one must listen to
their heart.

Rafael looked into her eyes and said what he
should have said when he had first realized it. “I love you, Gaby
Alvardo. I have loved you since the first day you dared to defy
me.”

“You’re not just saying—”

Rafael pressed a gentle finger to her lips.
“No, I’m not just saying it now because you carry my child. I say
it because I mean it. I love you, Gaby Alvardo.”

Rafael wiped away the last of her tears and
brought his lips to hers slowly, as if he was about to kiss her for
the first time. His arms slipped around her and she melted against
him and melted with the kiss.

“I love you,” he whispered between kisses as
he carefully laid her back upon the bed. He stretched out beside
her and continued kissing her and continued saying, “I love
you.”

“And I love you,” she finally managed to
say.

“That I never doubted.

Gaby smiled. “Tell me again.”

Rafael laughed and teasingly said. Haven’t I
told you enough?”

Gaby shook her head. “No, I think I should
hear it again... and often.”

“Will once a day be enough?”

“No, I think more.”

“Two?”

“No.”

“Three?”

“No.”

“Will you marry me?”

“No— what did you say?”

Rafael grinned. “I said, ‘Will you marry
me?’ And you said, ‘No.’”

Gaby was shocked. “You want to marry
me?”

“Yes, I want to marry you, and it looks as
though I’m going to have to order you to marry me.”

“You can’t order me,” Gaby said, poking him
in the chest.

“Then you don’t want to marry me?” he
teased.

“Yes. I mean, no. I mean, yes, I do want to
marry you, but—”

“How did I know there would be a ‘but,” he
said with a laugh.

“It’s an important ‘but,’” Gaby assured him
seriously.

“Oh, important, I didn’t know there were
varying degrees of
buts
.”

“There are and—”

“Before you continue, let me say something.
I love you and that is why I wish to marry you. And I would still
ask you to marry me even if you were not carrying my child. If you
are a Galvez or not makes no difference, I’d still ask you to marry
me. I love you. That is the reason, and the only reason, I wish to
marry you. Now for your ‘but?’”

Gaby rested her hand against his cheek. “You
chased all my ‘buts’ away.”

He turned his face into the palm of her hand
and kissed it. “Then you will marry me?”

“I will marry you and for the same reason...
I love you.”

They kissed, long, slowly and with love.

Rafael reluctantly ended their kiss to
prevent their passion from escalating any farther. She was not in
any condition to be making love. “We will marry immediately.”

“What will the Galvezes say?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Gaby smiled and snuggled against his chest.
“I don’t think anyone should be told of the baby.”

“I agree,” Rafael conceded. “It will be our
secret. No one else knows but Lupe?”

“I spoke of it to no one.”

“I will make arrangements for Padre Pablo to
marry us before he leaves.”

“I would like that very much.”

“You have no pain?” he asked.

“A bit of soreness that’s all.”

Rafael hugged her more tightly to him. “What
happened?”

Gaby recounted her experience to him. “It’s
strange that the saddle should just slip like that.”

“Too strange.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I don’t think it was an
accident.”

Gaby looked up at him. “Someone wished me
harm?”

“Yes.”

“Who? Why?”

“I don’t know, though I’m beginning to piece
together the why. I am sure it is connected with the kidnapping of
the twins years ago.”

“You think someone meant to kill my sister
and me?”

Rafael didn’t feel it wise to tell her of
her true identity just yet. “Someone meant you both harm, but
someone else loved you both enough to save you. That is why you
were left at the mission with orders to be looked after.”

“Padre Pablo told you this?”

“Yes, and I need to look further into it to
try and determine who is behind all this.”

“I can help,” Gaby said excitedly.

“No, you will not become involved. You will
do as I say and nothing else,” Rafael ordered adamantly.

Gaby wouldn’t argue, but then she wouldn’t
obey him either.

“You will listen to me on this, Gaby.”

“As you wish.”

“Gaby, I mean it,” Rafael said, knowing full
well she had no intentions of following his orders. “I don’t want
anything happening to you.”

“Nothing will happen to me.”

“You are so sure?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I’m too stubborn.”

Rafael laughed and patted her rear. “That
you are, but stubbornness can’t guard you against harm, and you not
only have yourself to consider, you have our child. You will
listen.”

“I will listen,” she amended, not wanting to
cause him any further worry.

“Promise me. I love you too much to lose
you. I want us to marry, raise many children, and grow old
together.”

“Will you still love me when I grow old,
Rafael?” she whispered.

He kissed the top of her head. “I will love
you always, and you will always be beautiful to me, no matter what
age.”

“You are a wonderfully honorable man,” she
said with a satisfied smile.

“And you have a wonderfully deceitful way of
not answering my questions. Now I’ll have that promise.”

She wrinkled her nose as though disliking
the words she was about to speak. “I promise.”

“Good,” he said and slipped off the bed.

“Where are you going?” she asked anxiously,
not wanting him to leave.

“You need rest. I need to take care of some
things.”

“Can’t it wait until later?” she questioned
sweetly.

“No, it can’t, and if I stay here, you know
what will happen.”

“Of course I do. Why do you think I want you
to stay? Ow!” she yelped, a pain jabbing at her as she attempted to
sit up.

Raphael leaned down, his arm wrapping around
her just beneath her breasts and hauling her up gently to rest
comfortably against two pillows. “That is precisely why I can’t
stay.”

“I understand your point,” she conceded.
“And you are right, I think I will rest.”

He sat beside her. His hand covered her
belly, his fingers splaying across it. “I am happy you carry our
child. I look forward to watching you grow round and full with the
babe we made together.”

Gaby covered his hand with hers. “I am happy
too.”

“You will take care,
querida
?” His
look was intense, his concern evident.

“I will,” she said not wanting to cause him
more worry.

He gave her a quick kiss and reluctantly
left the room.

~~~

Rafael had been talking with Felipe for the
last hour. It was late in the afternoon, the hacienda quiet and at
rest. Felipe found himself too excited to relax and had asked
Rafael if they could speak.

Instinct, sharpened by years of experience,
told Rafael the man was prepared to talk marriage. Now was his
chance to learn answers to questions that had haunted him for many
years.

“This is a good time to talk,” Felipe said,
leaning back in the thick wooden chair, a glass of red wine in one
hand, a cigar in the other.

Rafael rested casually against the edge of
his desk, his arms crossed over his chest and his feet crossed at
the ankles. He appeared totally relaxed and approachable; beneath
he was wired like a stalking animal on the heavily scented trail of
its prey.

“Yes, I’ve been looking forward to this
conversation,” Rafael said with a feigned air of patience.

“This talk is needed. I must secure my
daughter’s future as was planned.”

Rafael gave a short agreeable nod.

“Did you by any chance discover if Gaby is
Annabelle?”

“No, I haven’t been able to broach the
delicate subject and felt it was better to wait a bit longer.”

“Yes, so much for the girl to handle all at
once. Don’t want to confuse her even more. But you, of course,
realize you are obligated to marry Annabelle, whoever she may
be?’

“I realize my duties, Felipe, and have all
intention of carrying out my responsibility,” he said, which was no
lie. He was obligated to marry Gaby, not because she carried his
child, but because he loved her.

“Good, good. I knew you would take the
proper action.” Felipe puffed contentedly on the cigar, feeling all
was well with the world. Then Rafael started with his
questions.

“Tell me, Felipe, is Annabelle’s dowry still
the same?”

Felipe choked on the mouthful of wine he had
just swallowed. “Why, of course. I have no intentions of cheating
you.”

“I never thought you would. I was just
wondering if the years had... well, diminished your wealth or if
you had prospered?”

“No need to worry, my son, my wealth has
grown substantially. Actually, I was just remarking to Isabel about
how the dowry should be fattened. After all, whichever girl you
married will need to be trained to be a dutiful wife, since she has
been raised in such an uncivilized land.”

Rafael felt the first sting of annoyance.
“I’m not interested in
fattening
my future wife’s dowry. I
am interested in some information concerning her past.”

“And what is that?”

Rafael stood away from the desk, straight
and tall. His large size overpowered and intimidated, and Felipe
shrunk back in the chair away from him.

“At the time of the twins’ kidnapping, had
both their futures been decided and money set aside for each?”

“Of course, I took care of that immediately.
Both girls would marry into well-established families and a
substantial dowry would be fixed on each.”

“And if something happened to the girls, the
money set aside would revert back to your funds?”

“Of course, who else would it possibly go
to?”

“Isabel?”

Felipe laughed. “Don’t be foolish. She’s a
woman and women don’t know how to handle such things.”

“What if something happens to you?”

“I’ve arranged for a business associate to
look after my estate and take care of Isabel.”

“Can she remarry?”

“Yes, but she’d relinquish part of my estate
since it must stay in the family. Actually, I’ve just had papers
drawn up to have Ignacio made the controlling heir to my wealth.
She, eventually, in the case of my death, will be answerable to
him, unless of course she remarries.”

“Then Isabel would be looked after no matter
what?”

“Yes,” Felipe laughed once again. “She’d
have to do something horrible for me to cut her off entirely.”

“Something you would find unacceptable?”

“Extremely unacceptable, of which Isabel
isn’t capable. She’s too much the lady. What are you implying?”

“Nothing, Felipe, I was just trying to piece
the puzzle together, learn more facts, perhaps discover something I
had overlooked.”

“And did you find it?”

“No, not yet, but I will,” Rafael assured
him and wondered if Isabel was really the lady her husband thought
her to be.

A knock on the study door interrupted
them.

Carlos stood with his hat in his hand as he
delivered a message to Raphael. “The wagons have been sighted. They
should be here in about twenty minutes.”

Rafael nodded. “Good, send extra men out to
meet them and prepare for their arrival.”

“
Si
, Don Rafael,” he said with a
respectable nod of his head before leaving.

“Your other daughter is about to arrive,”
Rafael announced to Felipe.

He jumped out of the chair. “I must inform
Isabel. She will want to prepare herself properly. And, of course,
Gaby must be told.”

“I will see to that.”

“Good, I will return shortly,” Felipe said
and hurried from the room.

Rafael didn’t like being dishonest with
Gaby. She wouldn’t expect that from him and he didn’t want to
disappoint her. But at the moment he had no choice. He didn’t
honestly think anyone would believe she wasn’t one of the twins and
therein laid the danger.

Gaby was rushing around the room while Lupe
cautioned her to take her time and calm down.

“You’re still recovering from that fall. You
should be careful,” Lupe scolded.

“I feel fine,” Gaby insisted. “See, my arm
doesn’t even hurt anymore.” She swung it back and forth to prove
her point, but her grimace of pain, though slight, was not lost on
Lupe.

“I should tell Don Rafael. He would make you
slow down.”

Gaby stopped in mid-flight as she raced to
the chest that held her best clothes. “You wouldn’t.”

“If you don’t slow down, I will.”

“How can I slow down when I’m about to meet
my other half?”

“You have another half inside you,” Lupe
warned. “Remember what I told you. You rest, he rests; you rush, he
rushes.”

Gaby patted her stomach. “I guess he’s
pretty upset with me about now.”

“I’d say so. Your sister will wait. She’s
not going anywhere, and I imagine she’s just as anxious to meet
you.”

Gaby walked slowly over to Lupe and hugged
her. “What would I do without you?”

“Get into too much trouble.”

Gaby laughed. “You’re right. Now, if you
will please help me change into my best clothes, at a nice, normal,
unrushed pace, I’m sure my baby would be grateful.”

“Grateful? Why, I bet that child sparkles
with as much life and energy as his mother.”