On the drive back home, Jacqueline gave Steve a brief update on events and then fell silent. She was too upset to make conversation. Devastated by the contents of her sister’s will, Jacqueline was simply terrified that she was in serious danger of losing little Azura and shell-shocked by meeting up with Diego Martinez again.
How could Alyssa have chosen Diego to be her child’s guardian? After all, her sister had had virtually no contact with her Mexican in-laws after her wedding. She had once admitted to Jacqueline that Jaime had never got on with his relatives and that that was why he preferred to live in San Francisco.
When Diego had contacted Alyssa after Jaime’s death, Alyssa had been almost hysterical in her determination to have nothing further to do with her late husband’s family. Even when Alyss
“I guess…” Jacqueline muttered, biting her lower lip while all the while studying him from below her lashes and feeling horribly shy. She had an inborn disbelief of handsome men and the man in front of her was absolutely dazzling. She was also noticing the subtle signs of expensive designer elegance in his clothing and started looking for a way out of the room. After all, she promised her sister she wouldn’t talk to anyone.“Excuse me… I must go… I shouldn’t be in here.”“Why not? Are you not a friend of the bride?” Alyssa’s warning came to her mind once again, so all she did was nodding in a reluctant agreement.“And your name?” Diego prompted, strolling silently closer.“Jackie… Uh… Jacq
Diego stayed behind at the lawyer’s office to clarify certain matters for his own benefit. He already knew that Alyssa used to work as a waitress and was pretty penniless at the time of her death. Yet when she had married Jaime, the beautiful English blonde had a fair amount of money and a nice property she had inherited from her parents. How was it possible that in such a short period of time, she and Jaime took all their fortune and spend it all in a blink of an eye? After Jaime died, his late sister-in-law had met another man and they moved in together. That was a strong signal that Alyssa was pretty determined not to ask her late husband’s family for help. And he didn’t insist anymore. It took a lot to shock Diego but he was stunned when, having asked for Jacqueline’s address, he learned where exact
As Diego spoke in that patronizing tone, every atom of color slowly drained from Jacqueline’s shattered face.“We don’t live in appalling poverty…”“Well, after giving a look around, I’m afraid that you do. I don’t want to offend you but I must speak the truth.”“Yet, you did offend me. And you can’t take her away from me… You can't take her to Mexico,” Jacqueline breathed shakily, feeling so sick at that threat she could hardly squeeze out a sound. The very idea of losing Azura hit her as hard as a punch in the stomach, winding her, driving her mind blank with gut-wrenching fear.“Why not, Jacqueline?” Diego quirked an ebony eyebrow. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t take this baby away and give her a life free of poverty, worries
After his departure, Jacqueline stood in her trailer, reflecting in agonizing panic. Diego Francisco Martinez del Río was planning to take her beloved Azura away from her straight to Monterrey, Mexico. He was pretty determined to separate the little girl from the only person she knew and relocate her to a strange house with people speaking a different language. And to pour salt on the fresh wound, the… Duke dared to tell her how the baby that she loved, should be brought up… Like until now, she only attended his help or his advice to raise her little niece well. Desperately fixed to keep herself busy so that she didn’t have time to worry at that thought, Jacqueline calmed Azura down, then fed the little girl and put her to sleep in her little cradle.&nbs
Like Cinderella but without the fairy godmother to help, the next day, Jacqueline prepared from dawn to dusk, struggling to make herself pretty for her big date with Diego. But, early that evening, the fate stroke again. Nina, her mother, and Daniel, her boyfriend, split up after a very ugly fight caused by her mother… again. What happened was that Daniel found Nina with another man drinking and having a good time, and a huge argument took place. The fight between them went for a while. After listening wretchedly from the balcony to the fight that concluded in their separate departures, Jacqueline crept back indoors. But she already knew the date would never happen. Ten minutes later, Daniel’s teenaged son, Terry, appeared in her doorway. The boy was des
Later that morning, Jacqueline saw the limousine pulling in front of her trailer. Diego swung out and unfolded to his full intimidating height and she had eyes only for him. Yes, he was the enemy, but he was undeniably breathtaking. Immaculate in appearance and stunningly handsome, Diego was wearing a formal charcoal-grey suit teamed with a white shirt and a blue silk tie. Dragging her beguiled attention from him, Jacqueline smoothed damp palms down over her most presentable T-shirt. She was so nervous she started talking before she even had the door properly open.“Azura is not here… A friend is looking after her for me… So, I thought we could talk on the beach… It’s a lovely day.” Lovely? Diego thought the sky was cloudy, the wind rather strong and the temperature distinc
After finding out that little truth, she was tempted to dance around the beach and sing. In one fell swoop, in the space of one revealing kiss, almost three years of believing that she had made an outsize fool of herself in Monterrey had been wiped out. Diego was more into tattoos than he was ever likely to admit. The silence stretched like an endless cave where light never shone. Feeling indecently smug and ashamed of herself, Jacqueline veiled her sparkling eyes and reflected dizzily that she had never imagined a kiss could be that explosive.“We were talking about you coming to stay in Monterrey,” Diego reminded her drily. He sounded so cool and calm that her floating mood deflated as if he had stuck a pin in her. Alright, maybe he was only a teensy-weensy bit attracted to her. It took
She watched him smile, get into his limo, and disappear. Her heart was kinda jumping all over in her chest. She knew it was the sort of throwaway smile he might have given anybody. She was well conscious also of a deep-seated need to see him smile and know it was just for her. That evening, and only ten minutes late, Jacqueline traveled up in the elevator to Diego’s private suite. She had Azura cradled in her arms.“Now remember, sweet girl… Lots of smiles. You’ve got to fight against the most fearless businessman ever and you have to sell yourself,” she instructed the baby gazing up at her with trusting brown eyes. “As you could see, Diego’s sensitive to screams, so you have to do your absolute best to stop him from wanting to take you from me. You need to scare this idea of fatherhood away from his mind. If you cry a