Stand-In Bride's Seduction

He’d meant to make love to her all along. A bubble of anger started to bloom in the pit of her stomach. What kind of man made love to one sister while still engaged to the other? Was he so calculated and so removed from genuine emotion? And Sara still expected to marry him.

She sank to her knees on the cold tile floor. Oh God, Sara. She was returning today. How on earth was she going to tell her what she’d done?

Reynard paced back and forth in his office, his mind tumbling with anger and confusion. His behavior toward Sarina was justified. More than justified, he told himself for the hundredth time since he’d gotten into his Ferrari and raced back to the city. But try as he might, he couldn’t ignore the sharp tearing pain in the region of his heart as he considered the woman he’d made love with last night.

He’d been harsh in the face of her confession. Cruel, also, as he’d left. Neither state came naturally to him but, considering what had happened with Estella and then the discovery of the twins’ deception, what else was he to do?

He dropped into his leather executive chair behind his desk, put his head against the high back and closed his eyes. Sarina’s image was branded across his mind. The look on her face last night when she’d decided not to send him on his way. The passion when he’d entered her body for the first time. The hurt, the shock as he’d let loose his venom this morning—each word an individual blow calculated to hurt her.

He’d known all along about the lies, and yet, when she’d admitted it to him, it had roused in him a new fury. Why? He’d known, even when he’d asked to stay the night with her, that this choice was bound to be exactly what she needed for her plan. He should have expected her to tell him the truth when morning rolled around. Why had he been surprised? Had he fooled himself into believing that their lovemaking meant something to her? That she had not embarked upon a course of treachery and deceit for mercenary gain, but had, instead, shared her bed with him for no reason other than her own desire?

His head began to throb.

He forced his eyes open and reached for his telephone. Whatever his reasons, whatever hers, he needed to follow through and see her leave Isla Sagrado. There was no room in his life for her kind, nor his own brand of foolishness in wishing their time together to be any different.

Before he could lift the receiver, however, his intercom buzzed.

“Señor del Castillo, Miss Woodville is here to see you.”

Words momentarily failed him. She had the unmitigated gall to come to him at his office, even after he’d told her that he never wanted to see her again?

“Señor? Should I tell her you are otherwise engaged?”

His lips quirked at Vivienne’s unintentional pun. “No, it’s okay. Send her in.”

The instant the door opened, he knew it was Sara Woodville who crossed the threshold. The two women might be identical, he acknowledged as he rose and walked around his desk to receive her—but to him, Sara was a pale facsimile of the woman he’d come to love. He misstepped on the carpet. Love? No. It couldn’t be. The very thought was ridiculous.

“Rey, I have to tell you something.” Sara cut through any preliminary greetings and got straight to the point.

“This should be interesting,” he answered under his breath.

“I beg your pardon?”

“I’m aware of the deception you and your sister have pulled. You can consider our engagement officially ended.”

“Oh, thank goodness!”

Her answer was anything but what he’d expected. She was relieved? What manner of con artist was relieved to have the game ended before payout had been achieved?

“I didn’t want Rina to tell you the truth, but obviously she has. Rey, what we did was wrong. What I did was wrong. I should never have accepted your proposal. Not when I loved another man.”

Rey’s head reeled. “You love another man?”

“I do. I met him during the endurance trials near Maureillas. We fell in love so fast that I didn’t want to believe it was real. Couldn’t believe it was real, to be honest. It was all too much for me. I wasn’t looking for anything serious, you know that. But he swept me off my feet. It scared me enough to push him away. I said some terrible things to him and hurt him badly before the tournament here. He was supposed to come and compete for France but he withdrew from the team and remained in Perpignan.”