Just Another Tease

Summary: Diego's very beautiful cousin Ana Teresa comes for a visit to California and her father hopes to marry her off to Diego. Though Diego and his cousin disliked each other since they were children, Diego feigns interest despite the fact the Ana hates provincial California, preferring the life in Madrid. Alejandro dislikes her because of her arrogance and doesn't want his son to marry her.

Chapter 1

No need for Zorro. Diego rose sleepily, a smile on his face as he thought about the uneventful past few days which had allowed him to go to bed early and catch up on missing sleep from the previous week running around on Toronado and catching bandits. Unfortunately, it also meant there had been no opportunity to visit Victoria as Zorro. He already started to miss their stolen kisses in the kitchen even if they were always too short for his liking. If only Victoria would see him less like a brother and more like a man - a man who was deeply in love with her and who'd do anything for her sweet kisses. He sighed as he nursed a cup of coffee over breakfast.

"Diego, Diego are you daydreaming again?" His father interrupted him, coming into the parlor. "This letter has just arrived with the mail. Guess who will be visiting us?"

Diego looked up from the book he had been pretending to read, "Who's coming?"

"Your cousin Ana Teresa! She will be arriving in two weeks with the ship from Spain."

Diego looked alarmed. "Are you talking about Uncle Esteban's daughter?"

"Yes, that's her. I see that you remember her," his father confirmed Diego's misgiving.

"What does she want here?" Diego asked suspiciously.

"Esteban says she wants to visit us, after she hasn't seen us for such a long time."

"A visit? To California? You don't believe that, do you? " Diego asked incredulously. "We were never her favorite relatives, and the reverse is true also!"

"From what I read in the letter she is still unmarried, because her fiancé left her to join the army. So, you're both still unmarried! It would be a perfect match. She will inherit her father's lands that I have been managing over the years here in California and it will stay in the family."

"Are you suggesting a marriage of convenience between me and Ana Teresa? You can't be serious, Father! She's my cousin too."

"You're not that closely related, Diego. Esteban is my cousin and not my brother. You and Ana Teresa only share your great-grandfather. I heard that she is very beautiful and only two years younger than you. It's about time you're getting married. Maybe a young woman from Spain is more to your liking after you rejected all the eligible women here in California. I expect you to be nice to her!" Alejandro said pointedly.

"I won't forget my manners around her. That's all I can promise. I'd rather join the army than marry her! I don't blame her former fiancé," Diego said sarcastically. "He made the better choice! I heard from friends in Madrid that she was involved in some kind of scandal, a duel that resulted in the death of a young man. Probably that's the reason uncle Esteban is sending her here."

"She can't be that bad, Diego," his father shook his head. "When did you see her the last time? When you were children, before my cousin Esteban decided to go back to Spain? I have heard she has grown into a real beauty."

"No, I met her during my stay in Spain," Diego corrected him. "I can confirm that she is a very beautiful woman, but only on the outside. The only good thing about meeting her in Madrid was that she introduced me to Zafira."

"Zafira? Who's that, Diego?" Alejandro asked curiously.

"The woman I intended to marry, before I returned here," Diego replied shortly, already regretting he had mentioned her at all.

"You were engaged, Diego?" his father asked surprised. "What happened? Why did you never mention her? Is she the reason you never married? Carrying a broken heart all these years?"

"She left me at the altar, because her brother was dying. I found out much later when she came here to California. And no, she's not the reason that I didn't get married," Diego replied brusquely.

"Then what is it?" For Alejandro the topic wasn't closed. "Why aren't you married yet?"

"I don't want to discuss it. Can you please stop bothering me about it? And, don't try to marry me off to my cousin. Or, do you want me to join the army too? You'll get your grandchildren in time, but not with her!" Evading any further questions, Diego left the parlor to make his escape into the library and the cave behind.

Alejandro shook his head in surprise at his son. "You never cease to amaze me, Diego!" he said to himself, after Diego had left. Diego had been engaged and never said a word!

Felipe had listened to the conversation from around the corner in the nearby hall and followed Diego into the cave. Diego had told him about Zafira when she had come to the pueblo, so it hadn't been a surprise for him. Instead, he wanted to know about Diego's cousin.

"Uncle Esteban and my father came to California at the same time, and we regularly met as children when our families visited each other. After some years, uncle Esteban decided to return to Madrid with his wife and daughter, and my father is managing his lands for him."

'What lands?' Felipe signed.

"All the land in the northern valley where we have some of the cattle herds officially belongs to Uncle Esteban. My uncle wasn't sure if he returned to Los Angeles or not, so he was reluctant to sell the land to my father. Instead, they agreed that my father would take over the land for an annual fee, but the ownership would stay with my uncle. If I married my cousin, the lands would belong to my family for real without having to pay my uncle. It would please my father, of course," Diego explained.

'And your cousin? What about her?' Felipe asked.

"During my time in Madrid I was invited to some parties at my uncles house. Ana Teresa showed her cruel and unpleasant character while she was still a child, torturing small animals just for fun, and she didn't improve as an adult. She is a very beautiful woman, but it's only skin deep. One of my friends in Madrid fell in love with her, but she only played with his feelings." Diego got lost in thoughts, remembering his friend and the happy times they spent together, and how Ana Teresa had led Miguel on and ultimately broken his heart. "She broke the hearts of many men who were blinded by her beauty."

Felipe signed and asked Diego about his feelings. "No, Felipe, I never fell for her. Not only because I had a crush on Zafira at that time, but I was never her target either. She knew very well that I would return to California, once I had finished my studies, and she was only interested in a life in Madrid and not in some backwater pueblo in California." Diego began to smile as a thought crossed his mind. "It must be hard for someone like her to be sent here, so far away from her friends and the amenities of Madrid she is used to. Don't you think so too, Felipe?"

Confused, Felipe stared at him. "Don't worry. I have a plan." Diego grinned mischievously.

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