BOUND BY DUTY CLAIMED BY DESIRE

CHAPTER ONE “ OH My darling, oh my darling, Benjy is mine, you're mucky, oh, so it's Benjy's bathe -time. Elena chirrruped away, pushing the laden buggy along the narrow country lane as dusk gathered. Crows were crowing overhead in the trees near the top of the heel, and the last light of day dwindled in the west, towards the sea. It was only late spring and the primoses gleamed palely on the veggies and clustered on the green grass. The upper part was made of stunted beech, its branches moved by the prevailing west wind which was combing along the lane and whipping her hair into a frizz, though she fastened it back as tightly as she could. But what did she care about her awful hair, charity clothes and her total pale looks? Ben didn't, and he was all she cared about in this world. “Not mucky , mummy. Sandy’, Ben corrected her. Keep singing’, Ben instructed. She obeyed. At least Ben was an uncritical audience, she had no singing voice at all. She knew, but for her five- year-old son, that was not a problem. Neither was it a problem that everything he wore, and all his toys came from charity stores. Nor was it a problem that he had no father, like other children seemed to have. He's got me, and that's all that matters, Elena thought fiercely, her hands gripping the handles as she pushed it along the road, hastening her pace slightly. It was getting late, but Ben had been enjoying himself so much in the playground, even though it was snowing outside, she had stayed more than she intended to. But its proximity to the playground had been the reason that Elena had bought the tiny cottage, despite its rundown condition. Her face softened. Ben, Benedict. Blessed That was his name. He had been blessed with life against all the odds, and she had been blessed with him. Grief stabbed her heart with a familiar pain. Lizzy had been so young, far too young to leave home to be a model, far too young to get pregnant and far too young to die. Elena's eyes were pierced with sorrow. Lizzy was so pretty, her long autumn hair, her wide set eyes and angelic voice.her beauty had been the kind of beauty that turned heads. Their parents had been horrified when Lizzy had left school and told them that she'd been chosen for a modeling agency. Elena had been asked to chaperon the nineteen -year-old Lizzy when she went for her try-out shoot. Her sole function had been to look out for Victoria, and that was what she'd done: stayed late at clubs Victoria had belonged to and helped her with her homework. Elena had not gone to college, their money had been put to see Lizzy through university. But all their hopes had been ruined. Lizzy had been offered a modeling contract. She'd been overwhelmed, telling her parents that she could always go to the university later and pay for it herself out of her earnings. Her parents had not been pleased, they had looked forward to spending their money on Lizzy. “Well, you can pay for Elena to go to college instead’, Lizzy had said. But she should have gone, she knew, as soon as that terrible call had come, summoning her to the hospital in Europe where Lizzy had been taken. She paused in her unless singing. She could hear the sound of a car's engine, headlights cut through the gathering gloom and swept up the lane, followed by a mighty vehicle. It slowed as the lights picked her out, and for a moment Lizzy thought it was going to stop. Then it sped past them and accelerated forward. As they did so, she frowned.well, maybe the occupants were staying at a farm or a holiday cottage, or maybe they were lost. As she came in front of her gate, to her surprise, the big four-by-four had parked outside her cottage. A shiver of apprehension flickered through her, she slid her hand inside her jacket and flickered her mobile phone on, ready to dial 911 if she had to. As she approached further, she saw two tall figures get out of the car and come towards her. “ Are you lost?she asked politely. They didn't answer, then abruptly, one of them spoke. “ Miss Laurent ? His voice was deep and accented, she didn't know what accent, but she knew he was a foreigner. She looked at him. His face was shadowed in the deepening dusk. “ Yes, why are you asking? “ Who are these men ?" Ben asked. She heard the man give a rasp in his throat. Then he was speaking again.“We need to speak to you, Miss Laurent, about the boy."" There was a frown across his face, a deep one. “ Who are you?’" Elena muttered with fear. Then the oldest man, slightly built, spoke. “ There is no cause for alarm, Miss Laurent, you're perfectly safe. The other man reached forward, pushing the gate open and ushering her along the path that leads to her front door. As she gained the tiny entrance to her passage, she stopped to unfasten Ben from his safety harness. He struggled out immediately and turned to survey the two tall men waiting in the doorway to gain entrance. Elena straightened and flicked on the light,as her gaze rested on the youngest, she saw he was staring at Ben. She also noticed that the man staring down at Ben was the most devastatingly good-looking male she had ever seen. The second was that she looked exactly like her sister's son. “ This is the way to the kitchen, " Ben announced, and led the way , looking with great interest at the unexpected visitors. “ Look, what is it?’ she demanded fiercely. Her arm around Ben's shoulder in a protective way. The man who looked like Ben, turned briefly and said something in a foreign language. “ Priego ‘ he muttered, Sergeant Octavia will look after the boy in another room while we….’ he sighed heavily, ‘talk’. “No,she responded “ The boy will be safe, said the man. He looked at Ben. “ Have you got any toys? Sergeant Octavia would love to see them. Can you do that? “ Yes, Ben answered. He looked at Elena . May I, please? She nodded, her heart was beating heavily as she watched the older man accompany Ben out of the kitchen. She dragged her eyes towards him. He was looking at her from across the table. “ Why are you here? The words came out of her. ‘Because of the boy obviously, he cannot remain here’. She felt blood drain from her face. ‘ You can't take him, you can't come in here after conceiving him five years ago and want to….. “ What ? The single outburst stopped Elena from concluding her statement. For some minutes, he just stared at her with a look of total shock on his face. Elena stared at him back. Why was he staring at her as if she was insane? ‘ I’m not Ben's father ’. Relief washed through her. I'm Ben's uncle. It was my brother Rico, who was Ben's father. And as you must know, Rico, like your sister Lizzy. Ben's mother is dead ". The man who had gotten her sister pregnant is dead. He can never threaten her and Ben. ‘ I'm sorry, she heard herself saying. How did you know about Ben? His brows snapped together. We may have located you ahead of the press, but if we can find you, so can they. Which means both you and the boy must leave with us for a safe house which has been organized. “ I don't understand any of these. Why would the press come here? To find my nephew, he muttered. ‘ But why? What interest can the press have in Ben? He was staring at her, as if she were insane. ‘My brother, he spoke, each word as heavy as lead was Rico Valderra ’. I'm sorry, the name does not sound familiar to me. Perhaps in Italy, it does. Then the deep chilling voice came again. Rico's father is the ruling king, he is your nephew's grandfather.