Jennifer Taylor – His Brother's Son (страница 1)
“I don’t regret meeting you, Rebecca. If there is anything I regret then it’s that we didn’t meet before.”
Before Antonio.
The words hung between them, unspoken yet clear all the same. Becky felt her heart pound when she looked into his eyes and saw the expression they held. There was regret in them, but it was mingled with another emotion that made her body burn with a sudden intense heat. To know that Felipe still wanted her that morning, as he had wanted her the night before, made her feel as though the bottom had just dropped out of her world.
It was a relief when he abruptly left the room, because she had no idea what she might have said. Her head seemed to be whirling. Felipe had admitted that his opinion of her had undergone a complete reversal, but so, too, had her opinion of him. The idea terrified her.
If he was no longer her enemy, then how much more difficult was it going to be to keep her secret from him?
Love is the most complex of all human emotions because it takes so many different forms. In His Brother’s Son I had the opportunity to explore some of its many facets.
Felipe Valdez had loved his younger brother, Antonio, very much so it is understandable that he should harbor bitter feelings toward Rebecca Williams, the woman whom he believes hastened Antonio’s death. The trouble is that Rebecca isn’t anything like what he had imagined her to be. She is warm and caring and obviously adores little Josh, his brother’s son. No wonder Felipe is confused about his feelings for her.
Rebecca had loved Antonio as a dear friend and has never regretted her promise to take care of his son. She adores Josh and will do anything in the world to make sure that the child is safe and happy, even if it means denying her growing attraction to Felipe Valdez.
With such massive obstacles in their way, it seems that Felipe and Rebecca will never be able to admit how they really feel about each other, but true love between a man and a woman is the most powerful force of all.
I hope you enjoy reading how Felipe and Rebecca find lasting happiness as much as I enjoyed telling their story.
Best wishes,
Jennifer
His Brother’s Son
Jennifer Taylor
CONTENTS
IT STILL wasn’t too late to change her mind. All she had to do was ask the taxi-driver to take her back to the airport. She might be able to catch an earlier flight back to London and…
And what? The situation hadn’t changed. She was in exactly the same position as she had been in that morning when she’d set out to Mallorca. No matter how much the idea terrified her she had to accept that she needed Felipe Valdez’s help.
‘Senñorita?’
Rebecca Williams started when the taxi-driver turned to her. She looked up in surprise, feeling her stomach churn with nerves when she realised they had stopped. Her grey eyes widened as she looked out of the window and got her first glimpse of the Clinica Valdez.
It was so much bigger than she’d expected. Maybe it was the word ‘clinic’ that had misled her because she’d never imagined it would be so imposing. As her gaze swept over the elegant, whitewashed building set in the midst of several acres of manicured lawns she could feel her heart racing.
Antonio had told her that his brother had founded the clinic two years previously, but she hadn’t realised before exactly what an achievement that had been. Just raising the finance for such a venture must have needed a great deal of determination, plus a ruthless will to succeed. Added to what she already knew about Felipe Valdez, it wasn’t encouraging.
Was he really the kind of man who would be prepared to help her financially without expecting something in return?
Becky bit her lip as a wave of panic threatened to engulf her. She could be making a big mistake…a huge mistake…if she went in there and asked to see Valdez when she had no idea how he would react to what she had to tell him. Announcing that his brother had had a son would be bound to come as a shock to him. Then there were the circumstances surrounding Josh’s birth.
Whilst Felipe Valdez might accept that his brother had been right to protect his unborn child, would he approve of her role in the baby’s life? What if he decided to use his money and influence to take Josh away from her?
It might not be enough that she was Josh’s legal guardian. The courts would need to take account of all sorts of issues if there was a battle for custody. She barely earned enough to meet their bills, and the fact that she had needed to return to full-time work at St Leonard’s Hospital might also go against her. What chance would she really have of keeping the little boy when she wasn’t his natural mother…?
‘Senñorita! Por favor!’
Becky jumped when the taxi driver spoke sharply to her. It was obvious that he was impatient for her to get out so that he could find another fare. She quickly pulled some money out of her bag and paid him, thinking that she may as well get out now that she was here.
She just needed a little more time to think everything through properly. She couldn’t afford to make a mistake. She had to be sure that she was making the right decision—for Josh’s sake.
Felipe Valdez sighed as he got up from his desk. He’d spent the best part of the morning dealing with paperwork. It was an aspect of his job which he particularly loathed but there was no way to avoid it.
As director of the Clinica Valdez, his say-so was needed before any decisions could be taken. Oh, he had some excellent people working for him, but he preferred to keep his finger very firmly on the pulse. He knew that his staff considered him to be something of a control freak, but they didn’t understand. The Clinica Valdez was not only his greatest achievement—it was the main focus of his life. He had worked too hard and made too many sacrifices to take a chance on anything going wrong.
A frown drew his thick, black brows together because that thought had caused him more than a little pain. He tried not to think about the mistakes he had made in his life, but sometimes it wasn’t easy to block them out. Now, as he looked out of the window at the sunlit grounds of the private hospital, he felt a familiar ache settle in his heart as he thought about his brother Antonio.
If he hadn’t been so busy opening the clinic, he might have realised that something was wrong with Antonio. Maybe he would have been able to make his brother understand that he had to continue to receive proper medical care. Antonio should never have been allowed to leave hospital when he’d been so ill. With the right kind of treatment he could have lived for another six months at least.
Not that he blamed Antonio, of course. He had been too ill to realise what he’d been doing, too ill and too much under the influence of that woman. No, if anyone was to blame for Antonio’s premature death, it was Rebecca Williams!
Felipe’s mouth thinned. With his austerely handsome features he looked even more forbidding as he stared out of the window. He tried not to think about Rebecca Williams very often because it was pointless getting upset. However, sometimes he found himself wishing that he’d gone to see her in London after Antonio’s funeral and told her exactly what he thought about her.
Only close family and friends had attended the service in Mallorca. Rebecca Williams certainly hadn’t been invited so they’d never met. He had seen a photograph of her, however, and even though he’d torn it up he could still recall every detail, from the long blonde hair falling softly around her oval face to those huge grey eyes. She had looked like every man’s vision of a ministering angel, but he knew how misleading appearances could be. Was it any wonder that poor Antonio had been deceived?
A woman suddenly walked along the path beneath his window and Felipe blinked. Just for a moment he felt his mind spin as he stared at her. Her blonde hair was caught up into a knot on the top of her head and her face was in profile, but there was something strangely familiar about her…
His heart began to pound as he turned and strode to the door. He wrenched it open, startling his secretary who had been about to knock. Felipe shook his head when she opened her mouth to speak.
‘Later!’ he ordered in a tone that brooked no argument.
He hurried into the corridor, taking the stairs two at a time as he raced down to the ground floor. There was a queue of people in Reception but he didn’t pause as he made his way to the entrance. His heart was pounding, the blood drumming painfully in his ears, the need to check if he’d been right urging him on. If it had been Rebecca Williams walking past his window just now then, by God, he didn’t intend to let her escape!