AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Matt told me you did.”
Bull walked off a few steps. “Oh, come on now, you know better.” He’d known Carol long enough to know that even she didn’t believe what she was saying was true. “Is that what you had to tell yourself to try and justify your own behavior in your head, Carol? I gave you everything. There was nothing I didn’t do to try and make you happy. You never wanted for anything. I indulged your every whim and want. Oh, Jesus.” Luke was standing at the top of the steps looking down on the scene. “It’s okay, buddy. Go back to your room. We’re just talking.”
Isabella walked up the steps and took the little boy by the hand. “Do you want to show me your room, Luke?”
The boy’s mother watched the young woman take her son by the hand and once he was out of sight, she launched in on Bull. Accusing him of everything from secret affairs, to hiding money from her and having a drug problem.
“Wow, that is so cool,” Isabella said when the shy boy handed over his favorite stuffed toy.
She did her best to keep Luke preoccupied. Not quite four years old, he probably wasn’t even sure why Mommy and Daddy were yelling at each other, but that didn’t mean he needed to hear it. Isabella knelt on the floor, playing with the child and listening to the fight downstairs. Carol had said more than once that she was leaving and Luke was coming with her, but each time Bull stood his ground, threatening legal action if she did.
“And now you have some teenager here with you?” Venom dripped from his ex-wife’s teeth.
“She’s not a teenager, she’s twenty-one. She may be young, but she’s wiser and more mature than you will ever be, Carol.”
“Even if that were true, I won’t allow my son to be around random girls you bring home from the bar each night.”
Isabella came down the steps. She’d had enough. It was time to put the woman in her place. “I’m not some random girl he brought home from the bar. Benedict and I have been together for some time now. I asked him not to mention me to you.” He and Carol both looked at her with shock. “My name is Carmen Isabella Mercedes Cortez. My family owns one of the largest ranches in Mexico. My grandfather was a nephew to the King of Spain. I have a royal title, but I don’t use it. I do have a college education and I speak six languages. I am also a matador. I face down angry bulls for fun.” She stared daggers at Carol, draping an arm over Bull’s shoulder. “I know it’s sudden, but Benedict and I are engaged. He is the most wonderful man on the face of the earth and I am lucky that he has asked me to be his wife.”
“Engaged?” Carol asked with her mouth open.
“Yes. He has asked me to marry him and I have said yes.”
Bull bit his cheek. He didn’t know what had floored Carol more, the fact that he was engaged, or the fact that she was rich and royal. Hell, he was pretty flabbergasted himself. Either way, Carol seemed to have lost her ability to speak. At least, she wouldn’t be able to use the argument of an unsafe environment against Bull.
“Well, I should have been informed,” she finally said.
Bull spoke up quickly, “You’re right, I should have told you.”
Then Carol did something Bull had never seen her do before, she stopped fighting. “I guess I’ll be going then. I’ll be back to get him on Sunday around noon.”
With that she was gone, racing down the driveway in a car Bull had paid for, leaving an angry cloud of dust behind her.
Bull dry-scrubbed his face and laughed, dumbstruck that Carol had just walked away in a daze. “You’re something else, did you know that?” He picked Isabella up by the waist and spun her around. “You shocked the shit out of her.”
Isabella didn’t know what to say. “I had to do something, I didn’t like the way she was treating you. She needed to be put in her place.”
Bull kissed her. “Was all of that true?”
“All of it, except the proposal part.”
“What’s your title, Miss Royalty?”
“Duchess.”
He kissed her hard. “Guess what? I’m going to be sharing a bed with a Duchess tonight.”
“Oh, really?” Isabella laughed. “We’ll see.
Bull headed for the stairs. “If I know my ex, she won’t stay shell-shocked for long. I’d better go enjoy the time I have with Luke while I can.”
When he was halfway up the steps, she called, “Have fun.”
“Aren’t you coming?”
“I’m sure you want some alone time with the little angel.”
He came back down the steps to her. “Let’s play a bit, then we’ll have breakfast. I want you to share everything with us. You are a part of my world now.” He tugged on her hand. “After all, we’re engaged.”
