Mistress of His Revenge (Bought by the Brazilian #1) by Chantelle Shaw Read Free Book Online Page B

muttered as he viewed the ball of orange fur that had attached its teeth to his hand with considerable dislike.
    ‘Oh, my poor darling.’ Sabrina’s soft-as-butter voice went some way to soothing Cruz’s damaged pride, until he realised that she was speaking to the cat. The animal responded to the sound of his mistress and released its grip on Cruz’s flesh before leaping into Sabrina’s arms.
    ‘I don’t think he’s injured,’ she said as she carried George outside and inspected him anxiously.
    ‘Lucky cat,’ Cruz muttered, wrapping a handkerchief around his hand to try and staunch the blood pouring from the teeth marks left by the creature from hell.
    ‘Thank you for rescuing him. Oh...’ Sabrina was shocked to see blood pouring from Cruz’s hand. ‘George only bites when he’s upset. It just goes to show how traumatised he must have been, poor angel.’ Seeing Cruz’s glowering expression, she added hurriedly, ‘You had better come into the house and let me clean the wound.’
    The main part of the house, including the kitchen, had not suffered any fire damage. Sabrina set George down on the floor and fed him a handful of cat treats before she took the first-aid box from a cupboard. ‘Wash the bite area thoroughly,’ she instructed. ‘Cats have a high level of bacteria in their mouths and bites can easily become infected.’
    ‘Wonderful,’ Cruz said drily. As he held his hand under the tap he gave George a dark look and was fairly certain than the deep sound coming from the cat’s throat was not a friendly purr. He turned his attention to the breakfast trays set out on the counter. ‘Had you planned to serve your guests breakfast in their rooms?’ He counted the trays. ‘It must take you all morning.’
    ‘I have John, the butler, to help me, although the arthritis in his knees means he can’t manage the rooms on the top floors. A girl from the village comes to help on party weekends. Breakfast in bed is part of the party package offered at Eversleigh.’
    Sabrina saw the puzzled look Cruz gave her and bit her lip. The shock of the fire was sinking in and she was struggling to contain her emotions. ‘You may as well know the truth as it will be public knowledge soon,’ she said heavily. ‘I can’t afford to pay for the upkeep of the house and estate and I might have to sell up. It’s been on the cards for a while, but tonight’s fire means that selling Eversleigh Hall looks unavoidable.’ The words sounded like a death knell, and misery settled heavily in the pit of Sabrina’s stomach.
    Cruz dried his hand on the paper towel that Sabrina gave him and allowed her to apply antiseptic solution to the bite wound. ‘I assume the maintenance costs of a huge mansion are expensive.’ He recalled his conversation with the farmhand in the pub. ‘Has your father run out of money?’
    ‘There is money in his account but I can no longer access it to pay the hall’s bills since—’ Sabrina hesitated ‘—since Dad disappeared. He’s been missing for over a year and his bank accounts and assets have been frozen. I’ve employed a missing persons’ agency to search for him but so far they’ve found no trace of him. If he isn’t found after a number of years, he will be presumed dead, but in the meantime I’ve used all my savings and spent everything I earn on the house and, to put it bluntly, I’m broke.’
    ‘I imagine a house this size must be worth a lot of money,’ Cruz said casually.
    ‘The house and estate, which consists of three hundred acres of prime Surrey land, have been valued at ten million pounds.’
    Cruz’s brows rose. That much! Eversleigh Hall was worth more than he had expected. It had occurred to him that he could buy the house so that he would have the opportunity to look for the map of the diamond mine. But a house as old as Eversleigh was bound to be a money pit, and there was a chance that the map did not exist. He was a gambler but he wasn’t a fool.
    ‘It