With only a slight bow from the waist, he gave his wife a parting smile, pivoted on his heel and left the palace. Bishop could explain it all to her. It was his game. Let him field her questions for a change.
I need a bath and a drink, not necessarily in that order, Steve thought grimly, and was quickly lost in the crowd filling the plaza.
32
Lanterns bobbed erratic light over the streets of Mexico City. Ginny stared blindly out the carriage windows, not seeing them as she was escorted home.
Steve…oh, God! Had that been contempt in his eyes? His deliberate dismissal of her was as scorching as the flush that heated her face when he’d raked his gaze over her with studied precision. He could at least have stayed long enough to hear her explanation! Damn him…and damn Rafael Luna!
By the time the carriage rolled to a halt before the shallow steps of the rented house, she had made up her mind what she would do next. Her escort, Butch Casey, was as taciturn as he had been the first time she’d met him, and coolly polite as he handed her from the carriage.
“You will remain as a guard, as Mr. Bishop asked?” She was loath to go inside, the memories of the past brutal hours still sharp and painful. She caught and held Casey’s gaze. “If—I want to be certain that I am not bothered by anyone.”
“I have my orders, ma’am, and you won’t be bothered by anyone you don’t want to bother you.”
Was that a trace of contempt in his voice? But of course, it was ridiculous to expect respect when she was wearing a gown that left her almost naked. Casey’s cool blue eyes reminded her somehow of Steve, perhaps because there had been the same icy regard in his gaze.
Oh God, he hates me. It’s all for nothing now, the closeness we shared…but at least I’m free of Rafael Luna! Steve will listen. I’ll explain it all to him tomorrow.
Carmen met her on the landing, fussing over her with soothing hands, her chatter a steady stream that required no thought and no reply.
“Ah, señora! I have been so worried…. That horrid man, he sent Artur away and I was so worried about you. I do not like that arrogant Spaniard. But you are well, and I am so relieved. Here, I will untie your laces for you, though they are already loose enough. And this gown—it is lovely, but so thin, so daring…”
Ginny sank down into the high-backed copper tub, the water fragrant with oil of roses and a hint of musk, the scent filling her nose, the steamy waves of heat curling around her in a comforting shroud. A fat sponge floated in the water, and she scrubbed herself with it, raking it over her arms, legs, breasts and belly as if trying to scrape away the residue of the past hours, rubbing until her skin was bright pink and almost raw.
“More hot water, Carmen,” she demanded when it grew cool, suddenly seized with the urgent need to wash away all traces of Rafael Luna, of her humiliation and anguish. She washed until Carmen protested that she could not bring any more hot water up the narrow stairs for her bath.
“There is no more water in the cistern, señora, and no doubt in the entire city after tonight!”
Worry creased the maid’s face, and she stood wringing her hands, anxious that her señora was so perturbed.
“It’s hot enough, Carmen, gracias. Lay out my dressing gown, and I will get out of the tub in a moment.”
Ginny closed her eyes and lay her head back against the edge of the tub, her skin tingling all over from the harsh abrasion of the sponge. Why did things always go awry? Was she ever to know peace? Ever to feel safe?
And Steve—Oh, I wish he had killed Rafael Luna! A feeling of nausea washed over her, tinged with regret, with a suddenly fierce yearning to find Steve and tell him that she loved him, that it had not been what he might think.
Why did I just stand there and let him walk away? Why didn’t I follow him, make him listen to me? Just once I would like for him to believe in me without having to defend myself!
Damn him. It wasn’t as if he were so very innocent, after all, was it? No, there was Francesca, the woman whom Luna loved so much he was willing to destroy the wife of the man who had taken her from him—and there was Elizabeth Cady.
Elizabeth Cady…
What did she look like? Did she still love Steve? Had he left her behind as he had so many others, without a promise, only a careless farewell, or perhaps the gift of a dress or some trinket…?
Anger began to replace the heartache, a slow fire igniting, the embers fanned to a steady flame.
I might as well know everything about him.
Why should she not? He knew everything about her—and what he didn’t know, he could certainly guess. God, the look in his eyes when he saw me standing there, that horrible Luna with his hands on me like that. What does he think of me now!
Ginny allowed Carmen to towel dry her hair, then brush it until it glowed with burnished light in the soft gloom of the wall lamps. Seated at the small marble-and-ivory inlaid dressing table, Ginny sipped from the cup of cocoa the maid had brewed for her, finally relaxing under Carmen’s anxious ministrations.
“You must sleep well tonight, señora, for if you do not, you may become ill again. I will keep watch over you, and that so fierce hombre at the door, he will guard your rest. I have changed the sheets on your bed. No one will disturb you.”
“I will not sleep in that bed,” she said abruptly. The thought of it made her ill, reminded her too vividly of Rafael Luna. She met Carmen’s
