Filthy Rich Revenge: A Filthy Rich Billionaires Book - Lynn Raye Harris Page 0,50

that.

“What are you thinking about so intently, amor?”

Rebecca looked up to find him watching her. He stood beside the bed, the towel slung low on his hips, every delicious inch of his rock-hard chest displayed for her delight. Her heart jumped the way it always did when he was near. She hadn’t heard him come back.

“Will you tell me what happened to Anya?” She wasn’t sure where the question came from, but she realized she’d been thinking about his little girl a lot lately. About how such a tragic loss had changed him from the man she’d once known. There were still glimpses of that man, but he was buried under the weight of tragedy, under the hardened husk of what he’d become. She wanted to understand.

His eyes closed, snapped open again. She thought he would walk away. His jaw hardened.

“She was born with a congenital heart defect. It should not have been fatal, had it been diagnosed when she was an infant. But she was one of the rare ones.”

Rebecca sat up and reached for him. He’d been in a good mood and she’d managed to destroy it. He moved away before she could touch him. She clasped her arms around her knees. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

“I’m so very sorry. For both you and your wife.”

The pain in his features was evident—the drawn mouth, the tight jaw, the flared nostrils. “Three-year olds should not have heart attacks.”

“No.” Her throat ached. She wanted to get up and wrap her arms around him, press his head to her breast and hold him.

Alejandro’s skin had paled beneath his tan. She’d have never believed it had she not been staring right at him.

“I shouldn’t have asked. I’m sorry.”

“No, she is gone now, and people always ask. I must become accustomed to it.”

How did you ever get accustomed to such a thing? A vile, sorrowful, evil thing that was the death of a child? She’d just begun to come to grips with her father’s death, and that was ten months ago.

She didn’t know what else to say. She simply wanted to hold him.

But he started to shrug into his clothes, his back to her. “I have work to do. If you wish to go shopping or sightseeing, please inform Ali. He will arrange for anything you need.”

Without a backward glance, he was gone. Rebecca put her head on her knees and stared at the door he’d disappeared through. She had a feeling he’d been planning to stay with her until she’d asked about Anya. She berated herself for it, but there was nothing she could do to change it now.

He would return when he was ready. And she would be waiting.

Alejandro was restless, keyed up, jumpy as a caged bull before a fight. He drummed his fingers against the center armrest in the limo, thought about the woman he’d left in his bed. Why had he told Rebecca about his baby girl? She’d surprised him with the question, but he’d surprised himself even more by answering it.

He did not want to share such things with her. Anya was none of her business. He should have choked on the words before spilling his guts to a woman like her.

A woman like what?

A woman who melted beneath him, who made him crazy with her little sighs and moans, who fought him when he pushed and who insisted on being treated with respect and dignity in spite of his plans for her?

Dios, he was going soft. He could not afford softness, especially where she was concerned. He couldn’t forget what she’d done to him. How her betrayal had led to this pain that would never go away.

She wasn’t responsible for Anya’s heart defect or her death. But she was responsible for his decision to marry Caridad in the first place. If that had not happened. If he’d had another choice.

Alejandro closed his eyes and shook his head to ward off the pain. It didn’t help. Nothing helped.

He had to stop being soft. Just because his body craved Rebecca’s, just because he showed no signs of tiring of her—indeed, each time he fucked her he seemed to only want her more—was no reason to lose sight of what he meant to do.

He had to ruin her. He’d planned it for so long, lived for it through the darkest days. He couldn’t cease now. Not when he had revenge in his grasp. Not when he could make her pay for nearly ruining his business and forcing him into a marriage