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It stunned her to hear that voice again, though it had gained an edge of coathered He must expect it He was so successful For Lizzie it was a nostalgic reht herself back at Rottingdean in the shade and the quietness of the stables, a fifteen-year-old girl, hanging on every word he said—

‘Lizzie!’

Danny was shaking her ar about Chico, she had become the one fixed point in as now a hive of activity ‘What did he say?’

Danny had a better co for her ‘“Who’s that at the back of the plane, frozen into stone? We have work to do!”’ ‘Lizzie!’ Danny ently ‘That’s you!’

‘Oh—’ Red-cheeked, Lizzie stared around, but there was no sign of Chico

He never had been the type to hang around, she reure, dressed in dark, forh-powered Jeep He was so e had changed Instead of the easy stride she re and certain

Well, he would be changed Twelve long years had passed since the last tih even as he drove away at speed now that brief glih to make her heart race Which was not the best of starts, if she was going to co home without a result She would not be taken in a second time by Chico’s seductive char business plan before returning to Scotland to make a name for herself

Staring up into the sole for, she was relieved to see his ears pricked with interest, rather than laid back with fright If only she could soothe herself the same way

‘Come on, handsome,’ she coaxed ‘It’s time for you and me to test the air of Brazil’

He was content He was back on his vast fazenda in Brazil, which was the most cherished part of his ide equine ehout His control His rule Horses loved order and certainty, and he loved horses, so the sotiable

‘New recruits, Maria,’ he snapped out crisply

Crossing the wooden floor of his pristine office, his elderly secretary handed hi the new students

He exchanged warlances with Maria, as the only woman in the world he trusted Maria had been with him from the start They adored each other It was more a mother and son relationship than that of e shed in the barrio, the violent slum where they had both started out, where soe every twenty usto, had bee

n in the sa, and had been shot dead in front of Chico in the same brutal incident Chico had been ten years old at the tia justice and education to the barrio He’d done both

‘So,’ hethe list ‘These brave few have come to study at Fazenda Fernandez so they can leave with a diplo boot of the acknowledged lance with Maria ‘And still they come, Maria’

‘Thanks to you, Chico,’ Maria insisted ‘Because you are the best’ Maria’s characterful ed expansively ‘The best want to study with the best’

He laughed ‘So, who have we got here?’ His gaze stalled on one name Thank God Maria hadn’t noticed his reaction Explanations would have spoiled her day Seeing the name Fane and that distinctive address had spoiled his day He had thought he was done with that family

‘There were more applicants than ever this year, Chico’

He didn’t want to upset Maria when she was in full flow Maria was proud of him She treated him like the son she had lost, and in return he loved Maria and protected her in every way he could He would not upset her now, so a short hum was his only response to her rapid-fire résumé of each of the new students

‘And this one’s from the barrio, Chico—’

‘Good,’ hewhat to do with one particular student on the list As for the barrio, that was an ongoing project and very close to his heart It was a battle he’d never win, some said, but he refused to accept that To be the best he could be was his personal goal; to help young people frorounds was his mission in life

‘And we have a member of the British aristocracy with us this year—’

This he already knew And he was a whole lot less impressed about that fact than Maria

‘No wonder,’ Maria enthused She was brandishing an official-looking document at him ‘Fazenda Fernandez is up for yet another award this year We are even fa lady comes from’