Page 85 of Midnight Surrender to the Spaniard

He didn’t trust her...

Probably he never would.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

ANNAWOKEBEFOREhim and realised it was to the sound of his phone.

The buzzing faded and she found she did not know what to do. Should she simply get dressed and leave quietly, without saying goodbye?

Perhaps ending things nicely wasn’t the best way after all...

Anger had felt easier to navigate than being sent off nicely with presents and best wishes...

Don’t end it on a row, Anna warned herself.Or with tears!

Then his phone buzzed again, and his first word on waking was a swear word.

‘Sebastián!’ she exclaimed, and actually laughed at how incompatible they were. And then she met his lovely black eyes. ‘It really is time for me to go. I’m starting to nag!’

‘You can nag for a couple more hours,’ he said, pulling her towards him and obliterating thought with his scratchy morning jaw—until his blessed phone buzzed again.

It was Anna who almost swore this time.

‘I’d better get this.’

He rolled away from her and reached for his phone as Anna lay there, her eyes determinedly closed.

It wasn’t a shout that had her opening her eyes. Instead it was a low, husky whisper that was pure anguish.

‘Dios, no!’Sebastián said.

She shot to attention.

She could hear screams coming down the phone, and Sebastián saying‘Cálmate...’clearly telling the caller to calm down.

Anna sat up, her first thought that something must have happened to the baby. She tried to stand, to reach for her clothes, to go to her friend, but then his hand came to her arm and he stroked it lightly, giving a slight shake of his head which somehow reassured her.

He’d done the same at the airport, Anna recalled. Even though they’d been barely talking, he’d seen her anguish and reassured her with his touch, with his eyes, before he’d even spoken.

And he did the same now, stroking her arm as he spoke in rapid Spanish for a couple of moments before ending the call.

What’s wrong?It was the obvious question to ask.What’s happened?

Yet they would be such pointless questions when clearly he was too stunned to answer. So instead of asking she watched as he stood there, naked, as if still taking it in. He proceeded to sit on the bed, and she watched the phone slip from his hand and fall to the floor as he put his head in his hands.

‘My father...’ he said.

She swallowed.

‘That was Maria. They were—’ He shook his head. ‘I think they were making love.’

‘Oh, Sebastián...’

‘An ambulance and a doctor came, but no...’ He shook his head. ‘He’s gone.’

Sometimes there were no words, so Anna knelt and put her hand on his shoulder, felt his rapid, shallow breaths.

‘Carmen’s hysterical,’ he said, more to himself than to Anna. ‘I knew he was sick, and we all knew this day was coming, but not yet...’

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