Chapter 81 Christabel Drew

• CHRISTABEL DREW IN a deep breath as the minibus from the King’s Eden wilderness resort came to a halt. Jared’s arm was around her waist and he gave her a quick hug, reminding her she was not alone. They were lined up along the veranda at the front entrance to the homestead, he and Nathan standing together, she and Miranda on either side of them, waiting to greet the visitors.
It was forty minutes since they’d seen Tommy’s plane come in—forty very long minutes, knowing they were here. It was almost a relief to see the Kruger triumvirate alighting from the minibus, and something of an anticlimax that they weren’t wearing suits. Their open-necked shirts and light cotton trousers made them look less intimidating but Christabel knew that was an illusion, and the black leather briefcases they carried gave the lie to any casual air they might adopt.
Rafael Santiso and Elizabeth King led the little procession through the front gate, Vogel and Wissmann following, Tommy behind them, shutting the gate with the air of a shepherd who had successfully herded his flock to the designated pen.
But he’d brought the wolf into the fold, Christabel thought, and with each step Rafael Santiso took towards her, she felt her nerves tightening and her hope for an agreeable outcome dwindling.
His black-eyed gaze skimmed the four of them waiting on the veranda, pausing fractionally on Christabel before turning back to Elizabeth who was talking to him. A smile lurked on his mouth as he projected interest in what she said. A smile…was the King family a joke to him? Would he learn differently?
Her heart started fluttering as he stepped up onto the veranda. Elizabeth introduced him to Nathan and Miranda first. The Argentinian was not as tall or as big as Nathan—more a match to Jared in build—but he exhibited no sign of being the least bit intimidated by Elizabeth’s oldest son, and Miranda was definitely greeted with a flash of male admiration, as though this was a social occasion.
Jared he measured with sharper eyes, and his nod as he moved on to Christabel seemed to express a satisfaction that put her more on edge. How could he be pleased about the aggression she could feel pumping through Jared? Stupid thought, Christabel railed at herself. Rafael Santiso thrived on fights. The tougher the opponent, the more pleasure in the win.
“Christabel…I’m glad to see you looking well.”
His cultured, urbane voice sent a shiver down her spine. She couldn’t bring herself to make a reply, glaring her contempt for his supposed caring about her well-being. She felt like spitting at him.
One devilish eyebrow arched inquiringly. “Alicia is not here with you?”
“No, she’s not,” Christabel snapped defiantly, and the urge to puncture this charade of normal civility bolted out of her control. “She’s out of your reach, Rafael.”
Her fierce claim evoked only an ironic little smile. “I see it is well past time to address the matter of trust.”
“Well past time,” Jared asserted, the subtle challenge in his voice drawing Santiso’s attention back to him.
The brief interchange was broken by the introduction of Hans Vogel and Pieter Wissmann. Then Nathan was ushering them all inside.
Jared held her back, turning her into his embrace, his eyes boring into hers with urgent intensity. “I know you feel cornered. I also know you have the heart of a tiger. Together we can fight our way through anything,” he declared with conviction.
The heart of a tiger? Was that what was pounding inside her? Through the whirl of apprehension in her mind came the thought—if ever there was a time to claw her way to freedom, this was it!
“I will fight, Jared,” she promised him, and saw the leap of satisfaction in his eyes.
The big, formal dining room had virtually been turned into a boardroom for this critical meeting. When she and Jared entered, Rafael Santiso, flanked by Hans Vogel and Pieter Wissmann, occupied the far side of the huge mahogany table, the contents of their briefcases formidably stacked in front of them.
Nathan sat at the head of the table with Miranda on his left. Elizabeth sat at the foot of it with Tommy on her right. Two vacant chairs between Tommy and Miranda stood waiting for Christabel and Jared, directly across the table from Rafael Santiso.
Jared seated her between Tommy and himself. Miranda had set out jugs of iced water, and Christabel gratefully noted that the glasses around the table had been filled. Her throat was very dry. She didn’t want to look at Rafael Santiso but pride made her face him, and as Jared settled beside her and took her hand, interlacing his fingers with hers, a strong surge of rebellion poured through her tiger heart. She would not let the Kruger trustee take over her life. She belonged with Jared.
“What business brings you to us, Rafael?” Jared opened up, letting it be known that Christabel was not to be singled out as a separate entity.
“Many serious considerations,” he answered. “First, may I say how pleased I am to have the opportunity of meeting the King family en masse like this.” He swept a look of pleasure around the table, stopping at Tommy. “I presume your fiancée, Samantha Connelly, has Alicia in her safekeeping.”
“Yes, she does. Sam will keep her happy,” Tommy rolled back at him, not the least bit ruffled by the sharp intelligence behind the assumption.
“Alicia is unaware of her inheritance and Christabel wants it kept that way,” Jared stated, purposefully drawing Rafael’s attention back to him and throwing out a probing challenge.
“Impossible in the long term,” Rafael countered.
“We aim to keep her free of it for as many years as we can,” Jared pressed.
Christabel felt the formidable power of the mind that had manipulated the trusteeship being brought to bear on the issue raised. Whatever he said would sound reasonable. In all her dealings with him he had never sounded unreasonable, which had made him so impossible to fight. He spun a web that covered everything. Her skin crawled as she anticipated the first set of strands, intended to wind around her in an inescapable net.
“An interesting proposition,” he said reasonably, even with a hint of sympathy for the task. “Part of why I’m here is to assure myself of your capability of delivering what is needed…to ensure a relatively safe and happy life for both Christabel and Alicia.”
It was the last thing any of them expected to hear and the arrogance of the claim was breathtaking. A sense of disbelief hung in the stunned silence around the table.
Christabel’s mind spun at the boldness of such a strategy—evading any accountability on his part by putting the King family on the line. She leaned forward, a welling outrage demanding to be voiced, but Jared spoke first, squeezing her hand as he did so.
“That is not your business, Rafael,” he stated curtly. “It’s mine and Christabel’s and Alicia’s. You’re not their guardian.”
“I promised the child’s grandfather I would keep her safe,” came the equable reply.
“Thereby ensuring the Kruger inheritance is kept safely in your hands,” Jared fired at him point-blank.
It stung, jerking Rafael’s chin into a tilt of pride. “It is safe in my hands. Safer than in anyone else.