She pressed a hand to her abdomen protectively. She could not soften. Not now.
“I blamed you,” he finally said. “That’s why I did it. Why I took your company.”
Rebecca blinked. “Blamed me for what?”
He looked up. “For Anya. I blamed you for everything that happened to her.”
“That makes no sense, Alejandro. How could it be my fault?”
He got to his feet, but he didn’t try to get close to her. “I know this, but I needed a place to focus my grief.” He sucked in a breath and the story tumbled out. “My father arranged for my brother to marry the daughter of one of his friends, a man he owed money to. But when my brother died, my father wished me to honor the agreement. I have told you this, sí?”
She nodded.
“But I did not want to marry her. I wanted to choose my own wife in my own time. I refused. And then you ran away when you thought I was engaged. I tried to explain the mistake to you, but you didn’t believe me. Nor did I believe that you ever really loved me once Cahill pulled the deal to finance my fledgling business. So, I agreed to marry Caridad. She had all the right qualifications. Bloodline, wealth, beauty. It was a marriage of convenience and I was satisfied she would be the perfect wife for my ambitions.”
He raked his hand through his hair. “I was wrong. When Anya was born, Caridad didn’t seem to care. She was always distant and cold. It didn’t bother me until she was the same way with our child. I knew then I had made a grave mistake.”
He closed his eyes and drew in a breath. “The night Anya died, Caridad was in Milan. She was unreachable for many hours. When I finally tracked her down, she refused to come home until the next afternoon because there was nothing she could do for Anya.”
Rebecca’s heart squeezed. She wanted to wrap her arms around him, but she was frozen in place. “And you blamed me for her actions? Why?”
He shook his head, a quick sharp shake. “It makes no sense. I know that. And it wasn’t her actions I blamed you for. It was her. I chose to marry her because you left me, Rebecca. Everything that happened to me and my daughter happened because you left.”
“No, that’s not right.” Her throat hurt as she forced the words to come. “You had a choice, Alejandro. There is always a choice. Just like my father had when he chose to pursue the Thailand acquisition. It’s not your fault he was there, or that he got on that plane. He made his own choice. Just as you did. And had you not married Caridad, you would have never had the joy of Anya either. You wouldn’t have suffered the pain, but you wouldn’t have had the beauty.”
“I know this now. You have made me see it. You have made me see many things about myself I do not like,” he finished quietly.
She ached for him, but she still didn’t fully trust him. He’d hurt her too many times before. “Why are you saying this to me now? How do I know you won’t blame me for something else, or accuse me of betraying you again?” She shook her head. “I don’t want to take a chance and have it blow up in my face.”
He drew in a sharp breath, let it out in a rush. “Dios, I must learn to let go, yes? You said the world will still move without me forcing it, so I have to take this leap. With you, Rebecca. I cannot do it alone.”
Her lungs felt tight, but it wasn’t panic closing in on her. Did she dare to hope? Or was he simply saying he would try better at their marriage? She had to know.
“Tell me what you mean, Alejandro. You have to say the words so I can be sure I understand you clearly. I don’t want to have to fill in any blanks. I don’t want to get it wrong.”
“I’m saying I wanted to marry you five years ago, Rebecca. I cared for you. It has taken me much thinking to realize the truth. And the truth is that I would not have been so angry you left had I not been in love with you.”
Tears pricked her eyes. Still, she wouldn’t crumble just because he’d said those words. They meant nothing to her when they were five years in the past. It was what she’d wanted back then, more than anything. To be loved in return by the only man she had ever lost her heart to. But now? He was five years too late with those words.
“How does this affect us now, Alejandro? Because I’m still not hearing anything that makes me think there’s any hope for a future together. I have to think about my health, and about this baby. I can’t deal with your moods, your suspicions, or your unwillingness to trust me. It’s not how I want to live my life. We can work something out. I won’t keep you from your child.” Hot emotion clogged her throat. She forced the words out anyway. “I couldn’t do that.”
His eyes glittered. “Then we are lost, sí? There is nothing I can do to change your mind?”
Rebecca huffed a breath. “You haven’t attempted to change my mind at all, Alejandro. You told me you loved me five years ago. You didn’t say anything about how you feel now.”
He blinked. “You don’t know?”
“How could I?”
“I love you, though I have tried not to. I am terrified of this love.”
Her heart went out to him. So many emotions spun inside her. “Why are you terrified? Wait, don’t answer that. I know why.”
He tilted his head. “You do?”
She nodded. “I do. You’re terrified because you don’t have control over it.”
For him, the loss of control would be devastating.
“Sí,” he replied simply. He was looking at her with such tenderness she thought her knees would buckle if she weren’t already sitting down.
“I’m not sure what to say.” But her pulse raced, and her body hummed with renewed energy. Was it possible? Could they be happy? All she had to do was leap….
“Say you love me too.”
She couldn’t deny it. She had no wish to. Leap.
“I never stopped.”
“Madre de Dios, gracias,” Alejandro offered skyward. “Does this mean you will forgive me, Rebecca?”
It was all happening so fast. She’d been pushed to the brink and now she didn’t know if she could trust her emotions. She’d leapt, but she was still terrified. “I’m working on it. I need time.”
He looked disappointed but resigned. “You will tell me when?”
She nodded. Neither of them said anything for a long moment. He simply watched her. Waiting.
His shoulders slumped. “I should leave you to think. I’ll be at home, waiting for you to return.”
Her throat was tight. Was he really giving her space? “And if I don’t come back tonight?”
“I’ll still be waiting. As long as it takes. Buenas noches, mi amor.” He tipped his head and walked out without looking back.
Alejandro hoped she would stop him from leaving, but he really didn’t expect her to. He took the elevator down to the ground level, then walked outside. He waited while the valet got his car, all the while hoping she would come.
She did not.
Had he really expected her forgiveness so quickly?
Of course he had not. He’d wanted it. Craved it. But if he were to truly earn it, he had to walk away and let her think. She’d said she loved him, and that was something. He would hold onto that hope tightly.
Rebecca would return to him. He had to believe it, or he would go mad.
What a thing it was to love someone so much that your happiness depended upon them. And what a thing it was not to recognize that about yourself until it was almost too late.
He’d said abominable things. Done abominable things. If she returned to New York, it would be nothing less than he deserved.
“No,” he muttered to himself as he settled behind the wheel of his sports car.
It was not too late. There was hope. Rebecca would come home.
He zipped through the streets, his heart aching harder the farther he drove from the Villa de Música. When he reached his estate, he drove through the gates and around to the garage where he left the car. Then he went inside, hands in pockets and head down, heart throbbing with the kind of pain he hadn’t felt in years.
<
br /> Señora Flores was waiting when he walked in. Her gaze strayed past him hopefully, and then snapped back to his face. He had no strength to endure her censure right now.
But what he saw there was not censure. It was sympathy. What must be written on his face to elicit that response from his housekeeper?
“I will fix you a new tray, Señor Ramirez. The one you left in your study is cold by now.”
He waved a hand. “I’m not hungry, señora.”
“Then I will fix some cold tapas and bring them. Eat when you feel like it.”
He nodded, unable to refuse her. Señora Flores was more motherly to him than his own mother had ever been. It’d been odd at first to accept her fussing over him, but he appreciated it now. She’d been with him since he’d married Caridad, and she’d weathered those storms to remain with him even after Caridad and Anya were gone.
“I’ll be in my study then.”
He had things to do and no time to waste. Whether or not Rebecca returned to him, he wanted her to know that his desire for revenge was gone. Layton International was part of Ramirez Enterprises but that didn’t mean he couldn’t sell it back to her like she’d asked him time and again. He would help her finance it, if she needed it, and he would help her build the company to the levels she wanted. If she wanted his help. She might not.
Alejandro didn’t know how long he worked at his desk when he heard the study door open. He assumed it was Señora Flores come to tell him she was headed for bed, so he didn’t look up when she entered.
“Good night, señora. Thank you for the tray. It was delicious.”
“Alejandro.”
His head snapped up. He shot to his feet at the sight of his wife standing there, looking at him with her pretty blue eyes. She was wearing a long black maxi skirt and a white blouse, and he’d never seen anyone so lovely in his life. His heart beat hard. He didn’t say anything, though. He couldn’t find the words.
“I forgive you,” she said, and his knees nearly buckled. He crossed the distance between them and swept her into his arms as hot emotion swirled inside him.
“Mi amor,” he whispered, his mouth against her hair, his fingers tunneling into the thick dark mass.
Her arms wrapped around his neck and she squeezed him tight. “I love you, Alejandro. I always have.”
“I did not deserve your love,” he said. “But I intend to do everything I can to prove to you that I deserve it now. I fought you so hard, but you have enslaved me body and soul.”
She caressed his cheek, and he thought how amazing it was to hold her like this. Just hold her. “Are you okay with being enslaved, Alejandro?”
He kissed her, his heart singing with joy. “I am your willing slave, mi corazón. Always.”
Epilogue
Rebecca emerged from the limo after her doctor’s appointment and headed into Ramirez Enterprises. The appointment was simply routine as she got closer to her due date. Genetic testing had revealed months ago that their baby would not be at any higher risk for heart defects than was usual.
The receptionist greeted her with a smile as she strode into the lobby. She stepped into the private elevator and let the operator send her to Alejandro’s office. She thought of all that had happened over the past few months. Ramirez Enterprises was as strong as ever. Once she had united with Alejandro for a joint statement to the press about her father, the speculation died down and the rumor disappeared. And it was only a rumor. Her father would have never crashed a plane with another soul onboard. A complete review of the evidence from the crash had only backed up the original conclusion that it was an accident.
Further, when Alejandro announced she was joining Ramirez Enterprises as the lead consultant to the hotel division, share prices took off. And she had no qualms about charging him an exorbitant fee for her expertise, husband or not. He’d laughed and said she was worth every penny.
When he’d initially told her of his intention to let her buy back Layton International and run it herself, she’d realized that it wasn’t what she truly wanted anymore. She didn’t want to be responsible for the day to day running of the business. She didn’t want the long hours and lonely nights in hotels as she traveled the world on behalf of her company. She especially didn’t want it with a baby on the way and a new husband.
She’d told him no and that Ramirez Enterprises was a good fit for the Layton brand. Together, they could build something bigger and better than either of them could achieve alone. He’d attacked that idea like the tycoon he was, and then he’d hired her as a consultant. He’d even torn up the pre-nuptial agreement, though she’d told him it wasn’t necessary. He’d insisted it was.
Alejandro looked up from his desk as the elevator opened. The smile on his face always made her heart thump. It was a smile just for her. “I thought you were working from home today, mi amor.”
She stepped out of the elevator and it closed behind her. “I have already completed the projections for your next big project. Besides, I wanted to see you.”
One eyebrow lifted. “Dare I hope why?”
“You may hope.”
He came around the desk and pulled her gently into his embrace. “I can hardly get my arms around you.”
Rebecca made a sound of mock outrage. “Alejandro, no woman likes to be called fat. Shame on you.”
He laughed. “You aren’t fat, mi amor. You are radiant.”
She lost herself in his kiss. A second later, he seated her in a cushy chair. He put his hands on either side of her chair, tilting her back. “So tell me,” he said, his lips ghosting over hers, down her neck, back up again. “What did the doctor say?”
“Veronica is perfectly healthy. I too am healthy as a horse. And just about as big.” Rebecca frowned. How the man still found her attractive, she would never know.
“Yes, but can we still make love so close to the due date?”
“You really want to?”
He took her hand, pressed it to his groin. “What do you think?”
Rebecca sucked in a breath. Oh my… “I think you need glasses.”
“I think I adore you. I need you, mi amor.”
“It would be cruel of me to deny you.”
“Oh, indeed.”
“Lock the door.”
“Consider it done.”
When he returned, he pulled her with him to the leather sofa and took her in his arms again. He gazed into her face with a look so serious it took her breath away. “You have made my life more wonderful than I ever thought possible. I am truly blessed.”
“We are truly blessed,” she said. “You, me, and Veronica. I can’t wait to meet her.”
“Neither can I.”
She put her hand on his heart. “Are you afraid, Alejandro?”
He picked her hand up and kissed it. “A little bit. But I understand this is normal. I’ve been talking to Phillipe. He tells me he’s terrified every time Valencia delivers. And he says he never stops worrying about his children, but it’s the usual kind of worry a father has. The terror doesn’t last.”
Rebecca smiled softly. She loved Valencia and Phillipe. They were such good friends, and they saw each other often though these days it was Valencia and Phillipe who traveled to Spain rather than Rebecca and Alejandro traveling to France. Once Veronica was born, they would travel again.
“I think we’ve gotten side-tracked,” she said, wriggling her hips. “I seem to remember a different goal when you locked the door.”
He sucked in a breath. “I am not side-tracked.”
“Then kiss me, Alejandro.”
He grinned. “Do you need me, Rebecca?”
“Very much.” It was crazy but she craved sex with him right now. Had done for weeks. Valencia had told her that her hormones would make her horny, but she hadn’t believed it at first.
He dropped his mouth to hers and she sighed with pleasure. He made love to her sweetly, tenderly, until she shattered in his arms. When it was over and they lay together on the flu
ffy couch, tangled in each other, Rebecca fell asleep. She didn’t remember doing it, but when she woke there was a blanket on top of her and Alejandro’s voice came from his desk, soft and low.
She lay and listened to the cadences of his Spanish, picking up so much more than she had months ago. She wasn’t fluent, but she was working on it. He set the phone down and looked over at her.
“Ah, you are awake.”
“Yes. How long did I sleep?”
“An hour or so.”
“You should have wakened me.”
“You need your rest, mi amor.”
“Was that the prince you were talking to?”
Alejandro came around the desk to lean on it and watch her pull her clothes back into place. “Sí, it was Nico.”
“How is he coping with the death of his brother?”
“As well as he can, I believe. Nico doesn’t say much about it.”
It was a deep sadness for the nation of Montebianco that their crown prince, Gaetano Cavelli, had recently died. Nico was now the crown prince and the sole heir to the throne. She’d met Nico several times in the past few months and she liked him. She couldn’t imagine the emotional turmoil he was in these days.
“Will he be okay?”
Alejandro reached out to help her straighten her dress. Her skin tingled with awareness at the light brush of his fingers. “I think he will. He’s a bit lost right now. He needs time.”
“I’m glad he has you as a friend.”
“I am too, though I think there is much he doesn’t say.”
“Sometimes all a person needs is to know they have a friend who is there for them.”
Like with her and Charlotte. Charlotte was busy these days with the events business, but they spoke a couple of times a month and texted almost daily. Rebecca wished Charlotte would find someone to love, but she was afraid her friend was still hung up on Prince Luca. If the reports about him that came out of Iria were true, then Charlotte needed to move on. Luca wasn’t the settling down type.
Filthy Rich Revenge: A Filthy Rich Billionaires Book Page 20