Page 15 of Spanish Marriage Solution

‘If this is a two-hour trip then we might as well discuss it now.’

Sebastián gritted his teeth. ‘Diego has Sofia. Until I—’

‘Sofia, I’m sure, is a faultless nanny, but she’s not his mother.’

‘No, his mother is dead,’ he bit out. ‘And if you’d let me finish, I would have told you that he will have a mother eventually. When I remarry.’

There was a shocked silence that satisfied him far too much and yet made him feel guilty at the same time. It was too soon after Emily’s death to even contemplate, but he had to. With his wife gone, he needed to remarry, because Alice was right, Diego did need a mother. Sebastián’s own mother had died when he was born so he’d grown up without one, his cold, distant father his only parent. He didn’t want that for his son. Not that he had any intention of being like Mateo, but a child should have at least some maternal influence in their life.

Also, he wanted more children. Diego was his heir, despite not being of Sebastián’s own blood, which was fine. Sebastián was not Mateo’s biological son after all. But he had been an only child and it had been lonely. Diego should have siblings.

‘Remarry?’ Alice echoed. ‘But Emily is only two—’

‘Months gone?’ he interrupted. ‘Yes, I’m well aware. Still, I need more than one heir and you’re right, Diego does need a mother. In which case I’m going to need another wife.’

‘Emily said you were cold. I had no idea just how much.’

He glanced at her and her dark eyes met his, the expression in them furious. He couldn’t blame her. He was cold. His heart had always led him astray and so he had to be careful. Mateo had been very clear what was expected of a duke and that was not to allow his emotions to get the better of him.

Yet it was difficult to hear what his own wife had accused him of on more than one occasion coming out of Alice’s mouth.

‘You’re so cold,’ Emily had said a couple of times. ‘Don’t you care about anything?’

But he had cared, that was the problem. He’d cared too much and, unfortunately for Emily, it wasn’t her that he’d cared about, not as intensely as he’d cared about Alice.

‘I prefer practical,’ he said, wrestling with his own temper. ‘I have responsibilities now and I need to keep Diego’s future in mind.’

Anger flickered in her eyes. ‘Oh? Until you have a child of your own blood, you mean?’

Sebastián stared at her a long moment. Did she really think that was what his issue was? Apparently so. Well, he needed to disabuse her of that notion. ‘No,’ he said. ‘Diego is my heir and will remain so, no matter how many other children I have. But I don’t want him to grow up an only child. He should have siblings.’

Alice didn’t reply immediately, but her gaze was searching. Did she not believe him? Did she really think he would lie about this?

Are you surprised? She doesn’t know you, remember? You can’t blame her for having a low opinion of you when you cultivated that yourself.

A shiver of electricity moved through him, though why he had no idea. Because it was true. He’d deliberately made himself unpleasant when it came to her. He was never openly rude but was always subtly cold. Distant. Making sure she never got too close.

No wonder she thinks Diego would be better off with her. And no wonder she believed what Emily told her about you.

‘Siblings?’ she asked. ‘That’s really the only reason? Come on, Sebastián. You can’t tell me you wouldn’t disinherit him in a second if you had a child of your own blood.’

A flicker of pain went through him, though he could think of no earthly reason why, when what she thought of him didn’t matter in the slightest. He’d never given her reason to think differently and what was the point now?

However, she still seemed to believe that Diego was unimportant to him and he really couldn’t let that stand.

‘I see you believe every word Emily told you about me,’ he said. ‘And that she didn’t tell you anything about my history.’

A small crease appeared between Alice’s eyebrows. ‘What history?’

He didn’t tell people about his true origins. His father had guarded the secret jealously and, after Mateo had passed away, so had he. Even now, even after the rumours about him had largely disappeared, only Emily had known the truth. He’d sworn her to secrecy and it was clear she hadn’t told her sister a thing. Perhaps he shouldn’t let Alice know now. Then again, if he did, she’d understand how he felt about Diego. Perhaps she’d then go home and leave him in peace.

‘I am not actually my father’s son by blood,’ he said. ‘A childhood illness left him sterile, but he needed an heir and so when he found out about my mother’s affair with a stable hand, and that she was pregnant because of it, he raised the child as his own.’

Alice’s eyes widened. ‘You?’

‘Yes. No one ever knew I wasn’t Mateo’s son. He made sure of it.’

She looked shocked. ‘Did Emily know?’

---