The Tiger Lily (22 page)

Carlos
looked annoyed. "No, that is not what I wanted to tell you!" he
snapped irritably. "When I was in New Orleans two years ago, I met him
there, and"—his voice lowered portentously— "/le was aligned with,
actually working for, the notorious smuggler Frenchie!"

"Oh,
that!
" Alejandro said lightly. "I know all about it."

Her
mouth open, Sabrina stared at her father. "You know about it?" she
almost squeaked.

Alejandro
nodded his head. "Of course. I was in New Orleans that summer, too, and I
saw Brett then." Carelessly he added, "He told me all about it one
evening when we had dinner together." There was a tap on the door just
then, and after a nod from Alejandro, Sabrina went to open it. Her eyes went
cold with dislike when she discovered Brett standing there. "What do you
want?" she demanded ungraciously.

Brett
quirked an eyebrow at her. "Bad mood, sweetheart?" he teased gently.

Hearing
Brett's voice, Alejandro said, "Come in, Brett, come in. You should find
this interesting."

Suddenly
wary, remembering what had happened, or nearly happened, in this room, Brett
entered. Seeing Carlos standing by the green velvet couch, he instantly guessed
what was going on.

A
smile on his face, Alejandro said with amusement, "We were just discussing
your smuggling days."

"Oh,
were you now?" Brett murmured easily, his eyes on Carlos's rigid face.

Sabrina
came to stand next to Carlos, her face outraged and perplexed, and she asked
her father, "Doesn't it bother you? I mean he was
smuggling
! And
working with one of the most notorious smugglers in New Orleans!"

In
a very good humor now that an announcement of their marriage wasn't
forthcoming, Alejandro eyed Sabrina and Carlos fondly. "Oh, I don't let
things like that bother me, my child. Besides, Brett has explained it all, and
there was nothing shameful about it. Quite the contrary—it was very brave and
noble of him."

"
Noble!
"
Sabrina choked, staring at her father as if she had never seen him before. The
fury she felt glittering in the amber-gold eyes, she shot Brett a look that
should have felled him where he stood. "That is noble?" she spat
scathingly. Turning back to her father, she demanded, "What about—"

Carlos
gripped her hand painfully and spoke smoothly to his uncle. "Well, I see
that our fears were totally unfounded. I am sorry that we took up your time,
Tic. Will you excuse us? I will say good night to Sabrina and be on my way
home."

Alejandro
waved them affably from the room, and in an instant Carlos had whisked Sabrina
away.

CHAPTER
TWELVE

The
door had barely shut behind them when Sabrina turned wrathfully on Carlos.
"What did you do that for?" she snapped angrily. "Why didn't you
let me tell him about the poor girl in New Orleans?"

Glancing
over his shoulder at the closed door and then putting a finger to his mouth, he
motioned for her to follow him.

Indecisively
Sabrina glared at the door and then at Carlos's retreating figure. Her features
set in stubborn lines, she turned reluctantly and walked in the direction
Carlos had taken.

When
they reached the front courtyard, Carlos stopped and looked at her. Heavily he
said, "It is obvious that your father is completely within Dangermond's
control." When Sabrina appeared unmoved by that statement, he added
urgently, "Don't you see, I couldn't let you say anything about that
girl—he wouldn't believe us. He might even think that we had made up the entire
tale, that we were maliciously trying to discredit Dangermond in his
eyes."

A
mutinous expression on her face, Sabrina retorted hotly, "My father would
never believe such a thing of me! But it's a risk I'm willing to take. He
should know immediately just what sort of monster he has embraced!"

"I,
too, want your father to know the truth!" Carlos said quickly. "But
Sabrina, I don't think we can convince him right now of anything
detrimental." His expression earnest, he complained bitterly, "You
saw how lightly he took the news of Dangermond's involvement with the
smugglers! Don't you see—Dangermond has won him over entirely! He will believe
no wrong about him, no matter what we say!"

Some
of the fury dying out of her face, an unhappy curve to her mouth, Sabrina muttered
bleakly, "What are we going to do? Let him increase his power over my
father? Let him continue to deceive him?"

"No,
no, of course not!" Carlos replied adamantly. "But we must bide our
time,
querida
. And while doing that, we must do our best to protect your
father from himself." Looking at her keenly, gauging the effect of his
words, he said quietly, "You must watch this Dangermond and make certain
he does nothing to cheat or trick your father. You must tell me everything that
you learn, and together we will defeat this devil and save your father from his
evil influence." Comfortingly he pressed her hand with his, his dark eyes
full of compassion. "I will not let you fight this battle alone. Do not
worry, my dear, now that we know Dangermond for the scoundrel he is, we will be
able to circumvent whatever dastardly schemes he may plan. As for the incident
with the unfortunate creature in New Orleans ..." He hesitated and then
said slowly, "I think we should say nothing more about it. It will be our
secret, and when the time is right, we will face Dangermond with it in front of
your father."

Miserably
Sabrina agreed, seeing the wisdom of Carlos's words and yet uncomfortable with
the situation. The thought of conniving against Alejandro with Carlos made her
even more uncomfortable. Gloomily she said, "I never dreamed the day would
come when I would find myself on opposite sides from my father."
Uncertainly she bit her lip and then asked almost hopefully, "Don't you
think we should try once more to convince my father of the truth?" Earnestly
she added, "We don't know what that devil has told him—perhaps he lied
about things, told my father only part of the truth. It may be my father
doesn't really understand the full extent of Dangermond's actions. If we told
him about the girl—"

"No!"
Carlos retorted
so sharply that Sabrina looked at him in surprise. He sent her a slight smile.
"Not yet,
querida
. I know you are impatient, but you must trust me.
When the time is right, I shall know it, and we will strike." His voice
harsh, he went on, "Dangermond is clever—for all we know, he has already
told your father some lying tale about the girl. He might even have claimed
that /was the one who disfigured her and that he was the one who saved
her!"

Her
face filled with revulsion, Sabrina clenched her hand into a fist. "That
contemptible swine!" she said heatedly. But then a puzzled expression
flitted over her features. "He can't have done that, Carlos," she
said slowly, thoughtfully. "If he had, my father would have said something
to you about it . . . don't you agree?"

Carlos
shrugged. "It's possible, but who knows what your father is thinking these
days." Throwing her a grim look, he continued, "But I must warn you
to be prepared for Dangermond to pull some sort of trick like that."

Her
mouth tight, she replied gruffly, "I will be on my guard! Dangermond will
not blind me as he has my father!"

Rather
satisfied with the night's events, Carlos was able to take his leave of her a
few minutes later with an almost light heart. There was even the faintest
suggestion of a smile on his lips when he rode away from the del Torres
hacienda.

Sabrina
certainly wasn't smiling, nor was she satisfied with the evening's revelations.
She was acutely miserable. The man she loved was a blackguard, and her father
trusted him.

Alone
in her bedroom, still wearing the lovely azure silk gown, she lay on her bed
staring blankly at the ceiling overhead. If only Brett had never come to visit
them. If only she had never seen him again, never fallen in love with him. She
gave a bitter laugh. If only I loved Carlos, she thought suddenly, then none of
this would matter so very much. It wouldn't hurt so deeply to hear that Brett
Dangermond is a monster.

No,
that wasn't true, she admitted honestly. Alejandro's unwavering admiration and
affection for a man she knew to be an unscrupulous villain troubled her
greatly. How could her father dismiss Brett's smuggling activities?

She
knew that smuggling was a common practice in New Orleans; she was aware also
that many people in that area considered it almost a respectable pastime. It
was also true that many law-abiding citizens had regular business dealings with
certain smugglers, but from what Carlos had said, it was apparent that this
Frenchie was definitely not one of those. From Carlos's tale it was obvious
that Frenchie was a true criminal, one of the lowest kind, a man capable of all
sorts of wickedness—and Brett Dangermond, "Devil" Dangermond, had
been his confidant.

It
didn't seem possible that her father, so honest and fair, so very honorable,
could easily forgive a man for doing the ugly things Brett must have done as
Frenchie's trusted lieutenant—and yet it appeared he had. Heartsick and
disillusioned, as much because of Alejandro's apparent culpability as the
knowledge that the man she loved was nothing but a rogue, Sabrina felt her eyes
fill with tears. Angrily she blinked them back. I will not cry, she vowed
through gritted teeth.

She
took a deep, shuddering breath, forcing herself not to dwell on her own
unhappiness. At least, she thought bleakly, she was on her guard now. She would
have to be the wise one in this situation. As Carlos had said, Alejandro was
completely in Brett's power, and it was up to her to save him—somehow she must
find a way to protect her father from Dangermond's wicked influence.

For
a moment, thinking of Carlos and what he had said that evening, her unhappiness
abated and she was suffused with a rush of warmth and affection. How eager
Carlos had been to help, she reflected fondly. He had said that together they
would defeat Dangermond, and together they would! she thought with growing
confidence, her heartache easing just a little. She wasn't alone anymore—Carlos
would help her!

She
was too young and inexperienced to realize that she might be the one who needed
protection. She and Carlos saw each other nearly every day, Carlos made sure of
that; and any wavering or uncertainty on Sabrina's part was quickly and
ruthlessly squashed. Repeatedly he counseled her to beware—Dangermond was an
obvious fortune hunter. Her mind listened intently and absorbed his warnings
and hints of even darker deeds, but her heart . . . her heart resisted, and she
was torn by the fierce battle that raged within her.

At
first it was simple to let anger rule her head, and during the weeks that
followed the fiesta, she treated Brett with ill-concealed contempt. Protective
of her father, suspicious of every move Brett made, she guarded Alejandro like
a tigress with cubs. Every suggestion Brett made was met with a barrage of
questions and mule-headed resistance on Sabrina's part. Particularly anything
to do with the sugar cane project. Carlos had warned her repeatedly when they
met at the gazebo that Brett was probably using the sugar cane scheme as a way
to swindle a fortune out of Alejandro, and consequently she fought bitterly
against it.

Her
attitude toward Brett did not go unnoticed by the men in the household, that
and the jealous way she dogged Alejandro's footsteps. Brett chose to be amused
by her antics, finding it far safer to have her greeting him with hostility
than with her nearly irresistible charm. He was annoyed, though, having guessed
correctly that Carlos had a hand in her actions, but then he dismissed even
that emotion—he was not going to let himself get involved with Sabrina del
Torres!

For
the most part Alejandro, too, was amused by Sabrina's attitude, and like Brett
he was also annoyed and just a little worried. It wasn't like Sabrina to take
someone in such sudden, inexplicable dislike, and it was hardly the frame of
mind needed for her to fall in love with Brett. The meetings with Carlos at the
gazebo had not been missed by Alejandro either, nor the fact that Carlos seemed
to spend an inordinate amount of time at the del Torres hacienda these days.
Too many afternoons he and Brett returned home to find Sabrina and Carlos
laughing and talking on the patio as they drank tall glasses of sangria. The
fear that Sabrina was falling in love with her cousin could not be dismissed,
and coupled with her dislike of Brett, it dismayed Alejandro.

He
was dismayed on several counts, not least of which was the fact that the de la
Vega finances had not improved in the months since Sabrina's birthday. The full
extent of their money problems had been made apparent to him when recently he
had lent his brother-in-law a sizable sum to help the family during their time
of trouble. The loan didn't worry him, but Carlos's attitude did.

Alejandro
had always known that Carlos was spoiled —as the youngest child, he was his
mother's pet and his father's pride. Often Alejandro had chided both Luis and
Francisca for the way they pandered to and coddled Carlos, but it had never
really bothered him. Of course, he had never seriously thought that Carlos
would one day be his son-in-law either! It was not a pleasant reflection on
Alejandro's part. One evening when Carlos joined them for dinner, he
surreptitiously compared the two young men sharing his table. Seeing the lively
humor that danced in Brett's jade-green eyes, as opposed to the hint of malice
that occasionally flickered through the black eyes of Carlos, Alejandro shook
his head disgustedly. How could Sabrina possibly choose Carlos over Brett? It
was totally incomprehensible!

The
weeks and months that followed the fiesta which introduced Brett to the
neighbors and friends of the del Torreses were curious times. No one at the
hacienda v/as deeply unhappy, and yet no one was particularly pleased with the
atmosphere either. There was nothing that could be pinpointed as a problem, but
there was a feeling of tenseness, of unease and concern, that seemed to
permeate the air they breathed. Life was serene and untroubled on the surface,
but underneath it was rife with a wide variety of violent and often conflicting
emotions.

Brett
began to spend more time working with the men who were busily clearing the
forest, and Alejandro viewed his accomplishments and dedication with a mixture
of admiration and frustration. The scheme of growing sugar had been only an
excuse to invite Brett to visit, and to see that young man throw himself into
the project so wholeheartedly made him feel just a trifle guilty. He was pleased
with the work being done, but he would have preferred that Brett spend some of
his time wooing Sabrina. The important thing was that Sabrina and Brett fall in
love. With Brett slaving all the daylight hours in the widening areas of
cleared land and Sabrina spending languid hours with Carlos, how could that
come about? As the days passed, Alejandro's hopes for a marriage between his
daughter and the man of his choice grew dimmer.

Had
he been privy to Brett's dreams and Sabrina's thoughts, Alejandro wouldn't have
been so downcast. Sabrina might have had frequent dealings with Carlos, but she
was in no danger of losing her heart to him. He was her cousin and her friend,
nothing more. And as far as she was concerned, he never would be anything else
to her despite his efforts to change the relationship between them.