Page 21 of Forbidden Flames

Schooling her features to a polite, if aloof, expression, she turned to face whoever was calling to her.

“Agnes!” the man called again, walking over to her, his hand extended. “I guess you don’t remember me.” The fellow was handsome, in a swarthy sort of way.

“Hello,” she replied, noting his expensive suit and leather loafers. She knew that those shoes were pretty pricey, having paid for Gerald’s shoes over the years. Gerald neverlooked this debonair, though. No matter how much she paid for his clothes, her Gerald could never look this classy.

Sighing, she forced a polite smile. “I’m so sorry,” she said, allowing the man to take her hand. He shook it, the idiot. Didn’t the man understand that, to be a truegallant, he should lift her hand to his lips and kiss her fingers? Oh, for the old days! “I don’t mean to be rude, but I can’t quite place your name.”

“I’m Antonio del Campo,” the man replied. “You were at my father’s funeral last year.”

Marquesso del Campo! Nowthiswas a young man worthy of her attention. She brightened her smile. “Yes! Of course! How are you, my lord?” she asked, using the title even though she was American. She liked to think she was connected to the aristocratic world. “How is your wife? A lovely lady. Astoria, is it?”

“Astra,” he corrected. “And she’s doing very well.” He looked back at the clubhouse, then at her. “I heard a rumor that there were some…uh…irregularities with your son’s membership. Are you here to fix them?”

Agnes was stunned for a moment, then she stiffened with outrage. “Irregularities?” She huffed a bit. “I’ll have you know that my Gerald has been a member of this prestigious club since before his father passed over a decade ago! I pay the membership dues every year and cover all of his monthly expenses!” She ran a hand over her pearl necklace, feeling comfort in the gesture. “I guarantee that his membership is perfectly fine!” Agnes lifted her head in affront.

The marquesso’s eyes narrowed down at her and Agnes had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“I must have been misinformed,” he said with a slight bow. “Please, let me know if there’s anything I can do to helpclear up this confusion.” He gestured to the club. “I’ll speak with my brother.”

Agnes was horrified at the possibility. “Why…?” She cleared her throat. “Why would you speak to your brother?”

The man gestured again to the club entrance. “My brother, Matteo del Campo, is part owner of the club. If there are false rumors going about, Matteo is the one who can stop them immediately.”

No! Oh, goodness, if this man asked the owner of the club about the rumors, what if his brother said the rumors were true? They weren’t, of course. Her son was a good boy! But what if the rumors spread?

“Antonio!” another voice called out. Agnes turned to find a man surrounded by bodyguards. He looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t place him immediately. Still, the bodyguards indicated that the man was important. Or dangerous. She didn’t know which, but he was handsome enough to give her pause.

“Zahir, you old goat! What the hell are you doing out of Sidrina? Shouldn’t you be back there starting another war or something?”

Agnes was horrified by the conversation, but as soon as the swarthy man said the name of the country, she recognized the other man. The ruler of Sidrina was taller than he appeared on television, but now that she thought about it, pictures of his pretty wife came to her. She was a tiny little thing. What was her name? It wasn’t coming to her, probably because the woman was…had been…a nobody before marrying this handsome fellow.

“This is Agnes Albright,” Antonio was saying. “She’s Albright’s mother.” Agnes stiffened, wanting to be somethingmore than just “mother”. She was important in her own right, wasn’t she?

“Good afternoon, ma’am,” the handsome stranger greeted her. “How are you on this lovely afternoon?”

“I’m quite well, thank you, Your Highness.” Agnes was proud of the fact that she knew the right way to address royalty. Commoners were so ignorant of titles. She definitely wouldn’t refer to someone in this man’s position as “old goat”. How rude!

“Albright,” the man said thoughtfully, snapping his fingers. Agnes held her breath, praying that the ruler of Sidrina didn’t know about the ridiculous rumors surrounding her son! “I think I played poker with him last month.” He grinned. “I won a good sum of money off of him.” He leaned forward. “Tell him to keep his mind on the game. He was too busy watching Emily, the club manager.” He pulled back, then slapped Antonio on the shoulder. “I’ll meet you inside. My wife won a small fortune from you the last time she joined us for poker. I have to beat her total.”

The man snorted. “Not a chance, old man!”

The leader walked away, casually waving to her as he made his way into the club.

Agnes huffed a bit. “As I was saying, there’s no need for you to worry about my son’s reputation. He’s perfectly fine.”

“Good. Good,” Antonio replied, nodding. “Glad that the rumors were false.” He mock-shuddered. “They were very weird!”

And then he turned, walking away.

Agnes couldn’t believe what she was hearing! “Weird?” And then those pictures came back to mind.

“Someone is lying about my son!” she hissed and turned to slide into her Jaguar. “I’m going to speak with Gerald about this little…problem.”

Thirty minutes later, she was standing in her son’s living room, looking around with approval. “I see that the maid is keeping your home adequately clean, Gerald.”

Her son looked nervous. “You hired her, so of course, she’d do a good job.” He glanced over his shoulder towards the hallway. “What are you doing here, mother? You didn’t call ahead and let me know that you were arriving for a visit.”

Setting down her handbag, she stepped deeper into the condo. “I was called into the club that you frequent.” Surreptitiously, she watched her son’s reaction and caught the way his shoulders tightened.

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