English, ma douce,’ Benjamin said. He’d inherited Pierre when he bought the chateau and hadn’t had the heart to pension him off just because he spoke no other language as all other butlers seemed to do in this day and age.
She glared at him with baleful eyes. ‘I’ll find someone who does.’
‘Good luck with that.’ Only one member of his household staff spoke more than passable English and Freya had just proven she couldn’t speak a word of his own language. ‘Come, let us go in and get settled before we talk. You must be hungry.’
‘I don’t want your food.’
Turning his back to her, he walked up the terracotta steps and into the main entrance of his chateau.
‘Christabel,’ he called, knowing his head housekeeper wouldn’t be far.
No sooner had he finished saying her name than she appeared.
‘Good evening, sir,’ she said in their native tongue with a smile. ‘Did you have a good trip?’
‘I did, thank you. Is everything well here?’
‘Everything is fine and we have prepared the quarters for your guest as instructed.’ Christabel’s eyes flickered over his shoulder as she said this, which he guessed meant Freya had followed him inside, her bare feet muffling the usual clacking sound that could be heard when people entered the great room.
He had a sudden vision of her black high heels discarded on the runway of his airfield, a sharp pang in his chest accompanying it, which he shrugged off.
He would replace them for her.
‘Thank you, Christabel. You can finish for the evening now.’ Turning to Pierre, who had also followed him in, he said, ‘We require a light supper, anything Chef chooses. Bring me a White Russian and Miss Clements a gin and Slimline tonic.’
When his two members of staff had bustled off, he finally looked at his new houseguest and switched back to English. ‘Do you want to talk now or would you like to freshen up first?’
She glared at him. ‘I don’t want to talk but, if you insist, let’s get it over with because I want to go home.’
He held the mutinous black orbs in his. ‘Is it not already obvious to you that you will not be going home tonight, ma douce?’
FREYA STARED INTO the green eyes that only a few hours before she had been afraid to stare too deeply at because of the strange heat gazing into them produced. Now, her only desire was to swing her small bag into his face. She’d put the pepper spray back into it and her fingers itched to take it back out and spray the entire contents at him.
‘When will I be going home?’ she demanded to know.
A single brow rose on his immobile face. ‘That will be determined shortly. Come with me.’
‘Come where?’
‘Somewhere we can talk in comfort.’
He walked off before she could argue. She scowled at his retreating figure but when he went through the huge double doors and disappeared, she quickly got her own legs moving. This chateau...
She had never seen the likes of it before other than on a television screen.
Walking past sculptures and exquisite paintings, she entered another room where the ceiling was at least three times the height of a normal room, with a frescoed ceiling and opulent furniture and more exquisite works of art. She caught sight of Benjamin going through a door to the left and hurried after him. It would be too easy to get lost in this chateau, a thought amplified when she followed him through a third enormous living area, catching sight of a library—a proper, humongous, filled with probably tens of thousands of books library—on the way.
Eventually she caught up with him in yet another living area. It was hard to determine if this living area was indoors or outdoors. What should have been an external wall was missing, the ceiling held up by ornate marble pillars, opening the space to the spectacular view outside.
Her throat caught as she looked out, half in delight at the beauty of it all and half in anguish.
The chateau was high in the hills, surrounded by forests and fields that swept down before them. Far in the distance were the twinkling lights she had seen on the plane. Civilisation. Miles and miles away.
‘Are you going to sit?’
She took a long breath before looking at Benjamin.
He’d sat himself on a huge L-shaped soft white sofa with a square glass coffee table in front of him.
Staring at her unsmilingly, he removed his silver tie then undid the top two buttons of his shirt.
The wrinkled old man who’d greeted them on arrival appeared as if from nowhere with two tall drinks. He placed them on the coffee table and indicated one of them to her. Then he left as unobtrusively as he had come.
Benjamin mussed his hair with a grimace then took his glass and had a long drink from it. ‘What do you know about my history with the Casillas brothers?’
Surprised at his question, she eyed him warily before answering. ‘I know you’re old family friends.’
His jaw clenched as he nodded slowly. ‘Our mothers were extremely close. They had us only three months apart. We were playmates from the cradle and it’s a bond we have shared for thirty-five years. I was raised to think of Javier and Luis as cousins and I did. We have been there for each other our entire lives. You understand?’
‘I guess.’ She shrugged. ‘Is there a point to this story?’
His eyes narrowed. ‘The point to this story is the key to it.’
‘You’re talking in riddles again.’
‘Not riddles if you would bother to listen to what I am saying to you.’
She caught the faint scent of juniper. Although only a moderate drinker—very moderate—Freya loved the refreshing coolness of a gin and tonic. Usually she limited herself to only the one. But usually she hadn’t been practically abducted. And she’d fallen asleep before she could finish the one on his jet.
And she really needed something to calm the ripples crashing in her stomach.
Giving in, she picked it up then sat on the opposite side of the sofa to him, at the furthest point she could find, using all the training that had been drilled into her from the age of three to hold her core and enable herself to be still.
Never would she betray how greatly this man unnerved her but beneath her outward stillness her pulses soared, her heart completely unable to find its usual rhythm. She wished she could put it down to fear and it unnerved her more than anything to know the only fear she was currently experiencing was of her own terrifying erratic feelings for this man rather than the situation he’d thrown her into.
She took a small sip then forced herself to look at him. ‘Okay, so you grew up like cousins.’
Before he could answer the butler reappeared with a tray of food.
The tray was placed on the table and she saw a wooden board with more varieties of cheese than she’d known existed, fresh baguettes, a bowl of fruit and a smaller bowl of nuts.
‘Merci, Pierre,’ Benjamin said with a quick smile.
Pierre nodded and, just as before, disappeared.
Benjamin held a plate out to her.
‘No, thank you,’ she said stiffly. She would choke if she had to eat her captor’s food.
He shrugged and cut himself a wedge of camembert.
‘It’s not good to eat cheese so late,’ she