Alejandro's Revenge by Anne Mather Page B

She could tell little from his expression, and she didn’t know whether tobe glad or sorry when Dolores chose that moment to stroll across the room to join them.
    â€˜Who wants to see you, cara ?’ she asked, touching her daughter’s shoulder with a gentle hand, and Lauren looked up at her mother with some misgivings.
    â€˜Not me, Mamá,’ she said tautly. ‘Abigail. Edward has just been telling me that Alejandro had a drink with you both at lunchtime.’
    â€˜Well, yes. He did. But I do not understand.’ Dolores frowned. ‘What are you saying?’
    Abby stifled a groan. In spite of the fact that her brother had presented her with the perfect opportunity to tell them all about Alejandro’s invitation, she couldn’t speak. Not after what Lauren had just told her. Not after she had virtually admitted that she was involved with another man.
    â€˜I was just saying that it was possible that—Alejandro—’ and, although Abby was dismayed at his audacity, she sensed the effort it took for Edward to use his name ‘—that he might like to see Abby again before she leaves,’ he continued, his words dropping into the sudden silence like pebbles into a still pool. ‘What do you think, sweetheart?’ He laid a possessive hand on his wife’s arm, as if challenging her mother’s protection. ‘Didn’t you get the feeling that he was unusually pleased to see her the other day?’
    â€˜But Abigail hardly knows Alejandro,’ protested Dolores, before her daughter could speak.
    â€˜They spent some time together when Abby came over for the wedding,’ Edward countered, despite the look his sister cast his way. ‘And now that he’s divorced the situation is different. There’s no reason why they shouldn’t be friends.’
    Dolores was not pleased. ‘Alejandro is a busy man,’ she said tightly. ‘Abigail should not be deceived by his very obvious charm.’ She turned to Abby. ‘I’m sorry if this sounds unfeeling, Abigail. But Alejandro can’t help flirting with the ladies.’ She forced a smile to soften her words. ‘He’s very naughty sometimes, but I’m afraid he treats us all the same.’
    â€˜Not all of us, Mamá,’ Lauren contradicted, glancing up ather husband, and Abby wondered if that was a tacit admission of her own guilt or something else. ‘And we don’t know what Alejandro thinks of Abigail. We are not in his confidence.’ She turned her dark eyes on her sister-in-law now. ‘Perhaps we should ask her.’
    Abby hadn’t expected this. ‘I’m not in his confidence either,’ she averred quickly. ‘Like your mother says, I hardly know him.’ And what I do know, I don’t like, she finished silently, wishing Edward would stop embarrassing her. ‘Um—would you mind if I said goodnight now? It’s been a long day and I’m afraid my body’s still working on London time.’
    Â 
    Abby spent the following morning with Lauren and her mother, visiting the Coconut Grove apartment.
    The two women seemed to think last night’s discussion about Alejandro required no further explanation, and Abby couldn’t help a certain frisson of resentment that they had dismissed any connection between her and Alejandro out of hand.
    Not that she wanted them to think that she was attracted to him, she assured herself firmly. She had quite enough to deal with as it was.
    She would have found Coconut Grove itself delightful if she’d been more in the mood to appreciate it. The district was one of Miami’s oldest, with lots of fabulous shops and boutiques and restaurants crammed into a comparatively small area. She guessed it would really come alive after nightfall, when the old-fashioned streetlamps were lit and the music swelling out of its bars and cafés took on a darker rhythm. But even in daylight it