“By who?”
“Daniel Baker. The man who owns this yacht.”
“In other words, you used your connection to crash my friend’s engagement party.”
He ignored the jab. “You look well. Being apart from me has been good for you, it seems.”
The back of his fingers brushed Sonia’s neck, wreaking havoc with her nerve endings before she edged away from his touch.
“I miss you,” he said grimly.
“Don’t.” It was hard enough seeing him. Hearing those words was an unbearable torture.
He walked closer, and his big body cast a shadow across her and blocked the light. “Don’t tell you the truth?”
“You’re not being fair.”
“You turned Delores against me and moved out of our home like a thief in the night. Do you think that was fair? Especially coming from a woman who spoke to me about trust and blatantly lied to me after she promised she’d be here when I returned.”
She wasn’t proud of what she’d done, but she’d been right to sneak away. Seeing him and hearing the determination in his voice confirmed he would have definitely tried to hold on to her, and she wouldn’t have been strong enough to leave if he tried to stop her.
“I had to leave that way, or I might…might not have gone through with it.”
“Then you didn’t really want to leave,” he said smoothly.
“You’re wrong.”
“I’m never wrong.”
“Maybe you are this time,” she said fiercely.
He laughed softly. “What was I wrong about? That you enjoyed my gifts and enjoyed my touch. Don’t tell me you faked everything. Those cries of Esteban, Esteban, please…oh god…were fake?”
Her cheeks burned.
He came even closer, and only a finger’s width of air remained between them. “Or when you said, right there, yes—my goodness, right there. That was fake, too?”
“Mocking me is not the way to establish any type of cordial relationship between us.”
“Cordial relationship?” He snorted. “I want my lover back.”
“That won’t happen.”
“So what will it take?”
“I don’t want to fight with you.”
“What will it take, Sonia?” he demanded in a harsher voice. “As my mistress, I gave you everything you could possibly need.”
“You had everything you needed.” She glared at him.
“And now you’re gone, and I need you to come back to me.”
“Because you say so?”
“Yes, because I say so,” he said, shaking with some type of emotion. She thought she recognized anger, but it seemed like something else.
His jaw hardened. “What do you want? Tell me. More money?”
“I don’t need or want your money.”
“You expect me to believe that?” Esteban asked.
She remained silent and stared at the mansion on the shore. Every window was lit up with lights, and guests traveled the stone path that led from the dock to the back door.
“All right, I see you’re playing hardball.” He chuckled, but tension radiated from him. His hand fisted at his side. “I’ll double your allowance if you come back to me.”
Her eyes flew to his face. “I’m not trying to negotiate with you. I don’t want anything.”
“Sonia—”
“God, Esteban, don’t you understand? It’s not about the money.”
“Then what is it?” Resting one hand on the railing, he bent his head to her ear.
Night after night she’d slept in his bed. He’d given her his body, but she wanted his heart. Placing a hand on his chest, she felt the blood-pumping organ thump beneath her fingertips.
She could walk away now because she didn’t need him or his money, yet…she’d missed him, and here he was, having come for her in his own way. Not the way she wanted, but all she could expect.
She inhaled silently. The scent of his skin and cologne were achingly familiar. Staying away from him had been so hard. An hour felt like a day, and a day like a week. She loved him. Wholeheartedly. Recklessly. And wanted him to love her, too.
“Sonia?” His voice was low, with an odd catch to it.
He’d raised the bar, and not because of the expensive gifts and trips. Those were wonderful, she couldn’t deny. But it was because of how considerate he was. His thoughtfulness. He seldom paid attention to details, except when it came to her, and did so in a way other men didn’t.
And she missed the intimacy between them. She longed for the weight of him between her legs, the way he worshiped her body with his mouth, sucking on her nipples, kissing every inch of skin while he whispered in husky tones about how much he desired her and how beautiful she was. He was full of compliments, yet they never sounded clichéd or fake the way they did from other men. They sounded real and sexy, and made her ache for closer contact. From the first night at Patagonia, he’d seduced her with his words, and she’d slowly started falling in love with him. If she’d bothered to pay attention, she would have seen it.
“Anything you want, you know I’ll give it to you. Tell me what you want, querida.”
Sonia swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I want a Rolls-Royce Phantom,” she whispered. This was what he understood. This was what he expected.
A few seconds elapsed, and she could hear him breathing over the sound of the lapping water and the cheerful, laughing guests.
“Color?” he asked in a dull voice.
“Metallic blue,” Sonia whispered, dying inside.
He kept his head bent to hers, and his breath brushed the side of her neck. “Done. What else?”
“That’s it.”
“You want something else. I can hear it in your voice. Tell me.”
I want you to love me.
Tears crept to the corners of her eyes. “The new Hermès bag. Jackie has one, and I want it.”
“Done. What else?”
She shook her head because it was too difficult to speak.
“I want you to move back in right away.”
“Of course,” she said in a thick voice.
He tilted up her chin with his fist. His dark eyes gazed into hers, as if they were the only two people on the yacht. No one else existed as she got lost in his eyes.
“Is it so terrible for you to be with me?”
Her breath caught. “No.”
He let out a breath and kissed her temple.
“Esteban?”
“Yes?”
“I have something to tell you.”
His eyes found hers. “What is it?”
She took a deep breath. “I’m pregnant.”
Chapter 37
Esteban sat on the patio outside his bedroom smoking a cigar and kept an eye on Sonia fast asleep on the bed, back where she belonged. He watched as she tossed under the dark sheets and then resettled, curling onto her side.
Had it only been two weeks since she left him? Add in the weeks before when he’d been traveling on business, and they’d been apart much too long.
His investigator had found her within days of leaving him, but he’d wanted to give her space and had curbed his inclination to go get her, drag her back to the mansion, and lock her away so she could never leave him again. Now that she was here, he no longer felt incomplete, splintered. He felt whole, and for the first time in weeks, his mind was at rest.
Except for one new detail. They were having a baby.
Her declaration shocked him at first. Then he’d been worried as he let her words digest. Except in very rare circumstances, abortion was illegal in his country. In the U.S., it was a different story. He’d have no rights. He’d have no say. But then Sonia said three words that put his mind at ease.
I’m keeping it.
After that, he’d whisked her away from the yacht and brought her back to the house. She slept in one of his white T-shirts, but tomorrow he’d send someone to get her clothes. For now, he wanted her—them—near.
He’d be a better father than his ever was. His child would never go hungry. His child would want for nothing, and he’d shower him or her with all the love and attention he never received. And Sonia would want for nothing, too. He’d get a ring and ask her to marry him. Any woman would be happy for marriage, wouldn’t she? Even a woman he had to bribe to come back to him.
His jaw tightened. He never wanted to experience that type of desperation again, unable to imagine one more day without her but not knowing what it would take to win her back. He’d never wanted a woman—anything, really—so much. His love for her was all-consuming.
Esteban took a drag on the cigar and let the smoke ooze from the corner of his mouth. Marriage was the best way to make sure he could hold on to her, and they could raise their child together.
He extinguished the cigar and went back into the house through the glass door. Climbing into bed, he pulled Sonia into his arms. She murmured and her eyes opened into slits.
“Esteban?”
“Go back to sleep,” he said softly.
He brushed strands of hair from her forehead and watched as she settled back into slumber. Tenderly, he kissed her brow and the bridge of her nose.
A baby. Sonia was having his baby.
He’d talk to his jeweler and start working on an engagement ring. Then he’d ask her to marry him.
“I knew there was something different about you at the engagement party,” Jackie said. She sat across from Sonia as they ate beneath the umbrellas at their favorite brunch spot on South Beach.
“You didn’t know squat,” Sonia said.
“Remember, I said you looked better.”
Sonia grinned. She’d been doing that a lot lately—grinning. Ever since she and Esteban reconciled.
Their relationship wasn’t ideal, but he was different in subtle ways because of the baby. He was more attentive and extremely gentle.
“So when is your doctor’s appointment?”
“Not until next week.”
“Why so far away?”
“He’s one of the best obstetricians in the city and is booked solid for weeks. The reason I got an appointment is because of a cancellation. I’ve been reading up online, and during the first ultrasound, we’ll be able to hear the baby’s heartbeat.” She couldn’t wait for that moment.
“So Esteban is going with you?” Jackie asked.
“I don’t think I could keep him away with a bomb threat.”
Jackie snorted and covered her mouth as she laughed. When she caught her breath, she studied Sonia’s face. “You love him, don’t you?” she asked quietly.
The question took Sonia by surprise, and she felt tears prick her eyes. She blinked rapidly to dispel them. “Is it that obvious?”
“It wasn’t at first. I guessed you had feelings for Esteban, but seeing you pregnant and back together with him, I know it’s more than…having feelings. You’re in love him.”
No point in lying to her best friend. She let out a heavy breath of resignation. “Yeah.”
“Does he know?” Jackie asked gently.
Sonia shook her head and dabbed at the corner of her eye with a napkin. “How am I supposed to tell him? Hey, I’m in love with you.”
“Sonia.”
“No, really. What should I say? ‘Yes, I know that you don’t love me and feelings weren’t part of our agreement, but I love you. What do you say we try to make a go of this for real? For the baby’s sake.’” She let out a laugh and dabbed the corner of her eye again when another tear escaped.
Jackie reached across the table and took her hand. “Maybe you won’t use those exact words, but you could certainly talk to him about your feelings.”
“No, I can’t.”
“Yes, you can. You’re having his baby, for heaven’s sake. He must care about you a little bit. He tracked you down at my engagement party, and before that, when he showed up at my house, he looked like he wanted to kill someone. Namely me, because I wouldn’t tell him where you were.”
Sonia smiled despite herself. “He wouldn’t have killed you.”
“I’m not so sure,” Jackie muttered. She squeezed Sonia’s hand and then withdrew. “Maybe if the two of you could talk, you’ll see he might have feelings for you, too.”
“Honestly, I don’t want to risk it. I’ve been disappointed enough times to know that I should accept this is the best things will get for me.”
“So you’re settling?”
“Yes and no. I’m back with Esteban, and he wants me, in his own way. And we’re having a baby, which he obviously wants. That he can’t hide.”
She shouldn’t have doubted he’d want this baby. Having been orphaned, he was determined to have an active role in their child’s life and provide any and everything their little one could want or need.
He’d already started making plans, discussing how they could move their bedroom upstairs to be near the baby. He’d suggested knocking out a wall between two of the bedrooms and creating a baby suite, which Sonia thought was a bit much. But in true Esteban fashion, he’d already scheduled contractors and interior designers to come out and propose possibilities.
“The other day, a giant stuffed giraffe he’d bought online was delivered to the house. When I asked him about it, he said he thought our child would enjoy it when he or she arrived.”
“Wait a minute, he bought it? Not Abena?” Jackie asked.
“He did. Can you believe it?” Sonia sipped her orange juice.
“He’s really excited, isn’t he? But why a giant giraffe?”
“He saw a commercial or something and thought it would be perfect.”
“Oh dear, you’ll have to keep an eye on him or your child will end up very spoiled, with all sorts of toys, and who knows what else. Perhaps a diamond studded stroller and Chanel diapers?”
They giggled. If those items existed, she wouldn’t be a bit surprised if Esteban purchased them.
“Do you forgive him for the Pedro nonsense?”
Sonia nodded. “I do. I was disappointed by what he’d done, but he was right. If Pedro had cared about me, he wouldn’t have been tempted away by that woman. Maybe that’s what hurt, too, you know? I already knew Pedro was no good for me, but I didn’t want to have to face that, and Esteban proved it without question.”
“We have to face our mistakes head-on. We get hit hardest when we try to avoid them.”
Sonia nodded. “You’re right.”
“So, where to?” Jackie picked up the bill.
“I should get that. It’s my turn, isn’t it?”
Jackie waved her off. “Next time. Besides, you’re coming all the way to London for my party, and you get to meet my very traditional Chinese parents.” She wrinkled her nose.
“They’re not that bad.”
“They’re terrible.” Jackie took out her wallet and dropped a credit card on the bill.
“Well, tell me all about your traditions so I get it right. I want to be the perfect maid of honor.”
A slice of pain cut across Sonia’s lower abdomen, and she grunted, clutching her midsection.
Jackie’s brow furrowed. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know.” Sonia rubbed the area where the pain stemmed from. “I’ve experienced cramping before, but this is worse.”
“Cramping?”
Sonia nodded. “From everything I’ve read, it’s normal when you’re pregnant. Mild cramping, backaches. It’s all part of my body getting ready for the pregnancy.”
“When did you first experience the pain?”
“It wasn’t pain. Just a little discomfort.” Sonia tried to remember. “A couple of weeks ago, I think.”
“Should we take you to the doctor?”
“No, I—oh!” Sonia doubled over and clutched her stomach. That pain was sharper. The severity cut through to her spine like period cramps on steroids.
“Sonia, what’s wrong?” Jackie shot from her chair and rushed to her side.
Sonia gripped the tab
le and breathed through her mouth. “Okay, this is more than mild cramping.”
“We’re taking you to the doctor right now. Come along.”
Jackie helped her from the chair, and when she stood, Sonia felt moisture between her legs.
“Sonia,” Jackie said from behind her.
The sound of her friend’s voice worried her. “What is it?”
“There’s a bit of blood on your trousers.”
“What?”
“It’s all right, sweetheart. It’s all right. Come along.” Holding on to Sonia’s elbow, Jackie guided her down the side street to the Aston Martin. She helped her into the passenger seat and strapped her in.
“You forgot your credit card.” Sonia focused on everything else around her to keep from panicking. The man walking his dog. The mother and daughter strolling arm in arm.
“I’ll come back for it later.” Jackie ran around the front of the car and hopped into the driver’s seat.
Leaning against the door, Sonia clutched her stomach—not because she was in so much pain, but because she needed to protect the life inside her. “Please, no,” she whispered.
Jackie reached over and took her hand. “It’s okay, love. We’re on the way to the hospital. Everything will be fine.”
She pulled out of the parking space and sped off down the street.
Chapter 38
Esteban launched from the chair when Dr. Morgan entered the private room. Lines of fatigue draped across the doctor’s face, and his tall, reedlike frame seemed too narrow for the white lab coat that hung loosely on his body.
The hospital had conducted an ultrasound and run a battery of tests, and by the doctor’s grave expression, Esteban knew the results were not good.
The doctor shook his head, confirming the worst. “I wish I had better news.” His gaze shifted to Sonia lying on the bed. Her skin looked pale, and Esteban hadn’t seen her cry since he arrived, but her red-rimmed eyes indicated she had.
“I’m sorry, but you lost the baby.”
The words rocked Esteban on his feet, but he managed to remain upright despite the ferocious blow.
Sonia didn’t say a word. She turned onto her side and faced away from them both.
More Than a Mistress (Latin Men Book 5) Page 23