That blood was real. Luke would have killed her cousin if he’d made a move toward her. She’d thought it was all bluff until then, but he really had been prepared to fight for her. She should be deeply flattered. And part of her was.
But mostly she just wanted to throttle him. She’d never been so frightened in her life.
“Do you want to wash before we eat?” Perlita asked. She meant relieve her bladder. She’d been frightened, too.
“Why not?” Bella said. She was full of pent-up energy.
Perlita hesitated, her gaze drawn to the two men. Ramón stood, arms folded, feet planted wide apart, his back to the room, staring out of the window at his estate. Luke had replaced the sword and resumed his seat, one leg crossed casually over the other, and was inspecting his nails.
The sight made Bella want to hit him even more.
“Do you think they should be left alone?” Perlita asked in a low voice.
“Yes!” Bella snapped. “With any luck they will murder each other and save us the trouble.”
Perlita gasped in horror. “But—”
“Oh, don’t worry,” Bella told her. “They won’t fight. They have no reason to now. Ramón only wanted me for the money.”
Perlita considered that and nodded. “Yes, of course.”
Of course, Bella thought as she followed her out. With a beautiful mistress like Perlita, who would even see Bella? Not that she wanted Ramón.
Besides, furious as she was with Luke for risking himself, a tiny sliver of foolish feminine flattery kept edging in. He’d offered to fight for her. It made her melt inside, and that was confusing, too.
Never had she dreamed… Never would the other girls in the convent believe it: two men, fighting over Bella Ripton.
Over her fortune, she reminded herself as she washed her face. Her nonexistent fortune.
Luke was simply saving himself from being murdered for it. And if he’d explained that in the beginning, it would have saved them all a lot of trouble. And worry.
She scrubbed crossly at her already clean hands. Men! They just lived to fight.
His carelessly uttered words kept humming in her breast.Isabella is a treasure in herself.Even if he did not mean it, even if it was just to tease Ramón…
She tidied her hair and adjusted the neckline of her dress. She glanced at her sister in the looking glass. Perlita’s figure was superb, her breasts lush and abundant.
Bella was very glad she’d bought the corset, even if it was a little tight. At least she didn’t look like a boy.
She didn’t feel like a sister, either. She supposed that would come in time, though she wasn’t very hopeful. All those years in the convent when she’d thought about Perlita and worried about her, she hadn’t imagined anyone like this cool, young beauty who treated her with suspicion and thinly veiled hostility.
All Perlita’s earlier fright had apparently vanished. Her face, as she examined herself in the looking glass, was perfect and serene.
“You’re amazingly calm,” Bella commented. “Does Ramón do this often? Challenge people to fight, I mean?” Threaten to make them widows. Oh, he was despicable, her cousin.
Perlita flickered a sidelong glance. “I will not discuss Ramón with you.”
“But—”
“He is good to me.”
“If he was good to you, he would marry you.” Not try to steal other people’s wives.
Perlita gave her a hard look. “You forget who you are speaking to.”
Bella touched her sister on the arm. “Just because my father—ourfather—kept your mother as a mistress does not mean it was right.”
“My mother had no complaints.” Perlita shook off her hand. “In any case, that was then, this is now, and Ramón and I, we are not your business.” She dampened her fingertip and smoothed the perfect arch of one eyebrow.
