Secrets of Castillo del Arco by Trish Morey Read Free Book Online

Until the mist turned dark and putrid and a mockingsmile became a call for help, became a scream, and he tried to make his feet move, tried to run …
    He woke to a pounding heart, covered in sweat and tangled in sheets. It took seconds to realise the pounding was coming from the door and not only from his chest. Thank God! He swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up, snatching up his watch and throwing it back when he saw the time and realised it had taken him so long to get to sleep last night that he’d slept later than he’d intended. It was room service, no doubt, with his breakfast order, although why they had to make such a God-awful noise …
    He called out that he was coming and lashed a towel around his hips, pulling open the door in the same movement. But it was Gabriella who fell into his arms, tear-streaked and brandishing a newspaper in one hand, and it took him a moment to remember, to work out how she’d found him. ‘Raoul, I’m sorry,’ she sobbed, clinging to him. ‘I’m so sorry. I know you’ll be angry with me, but I didn’t know who else to turn to.’
    He put a tentative hand to her head, trying not to think too much about the push of her breasts again his chest or the fact his early-morning body had reversed its decision to relax. Hating himself that it had. ‘What is it, Gabriella?’ he asked gruffly, shifting slightly and still feeling a building sizzle of satisfaction in his veins, already half-knowing what the news must be.
    ‘It’s all over the papers,’ she sniffed, thrusting it into his hand. ‘It’s Consuelo. He’s been accused of using the foundation as a front for money laundering. He’s been arrested for fraud.’
    Already?
he thought as his eyes flicked over the article, taking in the pertinent details. So it was done and she was safe. Surely Umberto would not quibble about the exact letter of his promise not being carried out? He’d done her a favour, after all, and if all went to plan Garbas would be locked up for a very long time and Gabriella could find and marry someone decent. ‘But what brings you here? What do you think I can do?’
    ‘We have to help him. It can’t be true. We have to—’
    ‘We?’
    ‘Surely you would help me?’
    ‘But if it is true, what they accuse him of?’
    She blinked watery eyes up at him and exhilaration almost gave way to regret for causing her more tears after she had shed what seemed like an ocean of them. ‘What?’
    ‘If the police are right? That he has been using the foundation as a front?’
    She buried her head against his chest again, as if to block out the truth. ‘But that would make him some kind of criminal.’
    ‘Then maybe, just maybe, you should brace yourself for that eventuality.’
    She stilled in his arms. ‘You think there is a possibility?’
    He shrugged, unable to prevent himself from stroking her back through her coat, trying to show indifference when all he wanted to do was tell her that he knew it to be true and that she had had a lucky escape. Could she not tell from the gravity of the reports that this was no frame-up? Then battling to care about Garbas andwhether he was guilty or innocent when she was in his arms this way, and so very beautiful, so very desirable …
    With a groan, he hauled his libido and his thoughts back to where they should be.
    ‘The police must have evidence. They do not go around arresting people on such charges lightly, Bella.’
    The use of her pet name sliced through her tears and through the dense fog that had occupied her mind ever since he had abandoned her last night, leaving her sleepless and unable to cope with this morning’s revelations.
    And suddenly she was aware of so many other things—of the spring of chest hair under her fingers; of the broad width of naked chest that lay heated under her cheek and pressed against her breasts; of the rough towel that was the only barrier separating them.
    ‘You called me Bella,’ she said, lifting her head