Hidden Agenda Read Free Page A

hand over his heart in a gesture of remorse. “So you wound me, lovely lady, with your paltry offering.”
    Her knife clattered noisily to the delicate china plate. Eve stood up, not knowing whether her quaking knees would support her body. It was over before it began. This man was her only hope; her last hope. Her anger did not begin with Matthew Sterling, but with her uncle. He had lied to her.
    “Sit down,” Matt ordered.
    “No!” she shouted.
    Her rage shocked him. He hadn’t expected the outburst. In the two days he’d sat watching, Eve Blackwell revealed an elegant, composed woman. But then, he had to remind himself that she was related to Harry, and he had witnessed the man’s violent temper on several occasions.
    “Please sit down, Eve.” His tone was soft, conciliatory. “There’s no need to get hysterical.”
    “I’m not hysterical, Mr. Sterling. I’m just mad as hell at myself. I’ve been had. By you and my uncle.”
    Matt rose to his feet. “I’ll look for your son, Eve.”
    “How much?” she demanded.
    He frowned in confusion. “What?”
    “I said, how much do you want?”
    “I don’t want your money.”
    A frown creased her smooth forehead. “What do you want?”
    “I want you to marry me,” he stated in a calm voice, surprising himself after he said it.
    Eve blinked several times, shaking her head. Her mouth dropped open, but no sound came out. Her heart pounded uncontrollably, and she prayed she wouldn’t faint. A jumble of confused thoughts and feelings assailed her as she played his offer over and over in her head. He didn’t want her money, but he did want her to marry him.
    Sinking down to the chair, she gripped the edge of the table to steady herself.
I want you to marry me
. There was no mistaking his proposal.
    “I need my son, not another husband,” she insisted quietly, forcing the words from the back of her throat.
    Matt pressed his attack. “Marry me or there’s no deal.”
    She ran a trembling hand over her high, rounded forehead. “Why—why can’t you look for my son without me becoming your wife?”
    Matt reclaimed his own chair. He hated to deceive her, but he wasn’t given a choice. He’d promised Harry that he’d rescue his grandnephew and deliver Alejandro Delgado, and that could only become a reality with Eve Blackwell as the lure.
    “You and probably three other people in Mexico arethe only ones who know what I do when I’m not executing my duties as owner of El Moro,” he began solemnly. “I’m known in Mexico as Mateo Arroyo, not Matthew Sterling.”
    Her confusion intensified. “Which are you? Sterling or Arroyo?”
    He smiled. “Both. My father is an African-American from Texas. My dad’s family trace their roots back to Texas when it was still a republic, and also to southern Louisiana. I claim my Mexican heritage from my mother. She came to Texas to attend college, met my father, married him, and stayed in the States. And because my mother is an Arroyo, I’m Mateo Sterling de Arroyo in Mexico.”
    Pulling her lower lip between her teeth, Eve closed her eyes, trying to comprehend what she was hearing. Matt did not want her money, yet he was willing to look for her son, but only if she married him.
    Opening her eyes, she stared across the table at him. He returned her steady gaze, a slight smile playing around his mustached mouth. He seemed very pleased with himself. He knew she needed him, and he was content to play a cat and mouse game with her.
    “So, if I marry you, I’ll be known as Eve Arroyo?” Matt nodded. “And after my son is returned to me, what happens to us?”
    He stared over her head before replying. “After I return to Mexico City I’ll file for an annulment.”
    Eve wavered again, trying to comprehend what Matt told her. “Why marry at all?”
    “I’m a respectable Mexican businessman with a number of respectable Mexican relatives. If you travel with me, how do I introduce you? Do I say, ‘Pleasemeet Eve