"I'll keep you informed," Calderon promised. He handed her his card. "Please call me should you have any questions. If you need money for an advanced degree, the fund is available to you too. Miguel frequently told me the year he spent at the University of Arizona was one of the happiest of his life. He was very pleased you chose it."
"Really? We talked about other things." She rose with the men, and while she still didn't believe she knew enough about the investments that fed the family trust, she was confident the attorney and Santos could handle it without her.
Santos had left his crutches in the car, and he walked from the attorney's office building with an obvious limp. "What do you want to do on Sunday?" he asked Maggie. "If you won't go to the arena, you ought to come to my place so you won't be alone and worry yourself into an emergency room visit. Maybe I'll rent a boat and take you and Fox sailing."
She'd thought she'd be gone by Sunday, but it was already Friday, and she hadn't even looked up flights yet, alone made a reservation. "Sailing would be fun, and you're right, I'd rather not be alone."
Rafael had been leaning against the entrance to the building and overheard Santos's question. He approached them, barely able to hide his disappointment. "You may go wherever you please. Sailing, to the movies, or the zoo. The Parc Zoologic has moats to separate the animals, not cages, so it's a beautiful place to visit."
"Thank you. I haven't been to a zoo in ages." She took his hand as they walked to Santos's SUV. If she spent every Sunday he had a fight at the zoo, she might be considered for volunteer of the year. It was a silly thought she kept to herself, but it was better than swimming in anguish all alone.
When they returned to Barcelona that afternoon, there was a limousine parked in front of Rafael's apartment building. He pulled his Mercedes up behind it and asked Maggie to stay put. "It could be Santos's agent, but whoever it is, you don't need to see them."
She caught his arm. "Be careful."
He covered her hand with his. "It has to be someone wanting to make money off me, so I'm in no danger."
When he left the car, a sharply uniformed chauffeur circled the limo to open the rear passenger door. Rafael kept his hand on the door and leaned in, but the conversation was over in seconds, and he backed away.
An attractive women dressed in bright red took the chauffeur's hand to exit the limo and followed Rafael with tiny steps on stiletto heels. Her henna-tinted hair caught the sun's glow, and she reached out to catch his arm with beautifully manicured nails. Maggie recognized her without hearing her name and left the car to meet her.
Rafael took Maggie's hand to draw her close. "My mother, Carlotta Mondragon, or whatever she's calling herself now."
Carlotta dismissed Maggie with a hasty glance and turned the full force of her charm on her son. "One name is as good as another, but my husband is Orlando Ortiz. I only wanted to see you, Rafe, to make certain you're well. Surely I deserve a few minutes of your time."
"When you had no time for me and MaLou? No, go home and continue pretending you have no son, or do you have others with Ortiz?"
Carlotta looked down and glanced up at him through her thick false lashes. "You do have two younger brothers. Wouldn't you like to meet them?"
"No, why would I?"
She wrung her hands. "I sent money to your grandmother for you and your sister whenever I could."
His voice sank to a threatening whisper. "My grandmother and sister are dead."
Her eyes filled with huge tears. "I know. I'm so sorry."
"Too sorry to visit me while I was in prison?"
She took an unsteady step back, and the chauffeur moved forward to catch her elbow. "You expected me to share in your disgrace?" she asked.
He shook his head. "You're the only disgrace in our family. Luckily, I thought you were dead and forgot you."
"Well, I missed you. When I saw you in the bullring last Sunday, I couldn't believe my eyes. You'd wanted so badly to become a matador, and you've succeeded."
"So now you're proud of me and want to be my mother? You're too late. Go back to Ortiz's penthouse and stay there."