Filthy Rich Revenge: A Filthy Rich Billionaires Book - Lynn Raye Harris Page 0,70

she’d been in New York, she’d thought it was over. That she would never hear from him again until the moment she found out she was pregnant and knew she’d have to tell him. Even then, she hadn’t known how he would react. She had pictured many things. Being married to Alejandro, lying beneath him while they joined their bodies again, had been the least likely outcome in her mind.

“It was always good between us, querida.”

“It was. It still is.”

“Sí.”

He pulled back and then thrust deep as her body rose to meet his again and again. It was sometime later when he carried her to the bed where he proceeded to repeat every delicious thing he’d already done to her. When Rebecca fell asleep later, she was boneless with the aftereffects of so much erotic stimulation.

And hopeful for the future for the first time in a very long time…

28

Alejandro threw his pen down and swore violently.

Something was wrong with him. He didn’t feel right. He’d been on the edge of something for days now. Since he’d married Rebecca, in fact. All he wanted to do was return home and lose himself in Rebecca’s body. He should be over this compulsion by now, but it showed no signs of evaporating. Worse, he was growing soft.

Last night, after he’d stripped her naked and made her sob his name, after he’d exploded inside her, eyes squeezed tight because it felt so damned good, he’d fallen into a deep sleep with his body curled around hers. When he’d awakened with a start sometime later, it was nearly two in the morning. He’d gotten up, carefully so as not to wake Rebecca, and gone down to his office.

It was there that she’d found him sometime later, sitting on the sofa with a book of photos on his lap, a glass of whisky beside him. He’d felt hollow inside, and terrified too.

“She trusted me,” he’d said. “I failed.”

Rebecca had put her knees on the sofa, wrapped her arms around him and leaned her head against his. “It’s not your fault. It’s no one’s fault.”

“I went to tuck her in,” he’d said a long while later, spilling the truth he hadn’t spoken to anyone other than the medical personnel. “She was blue. Her body was swollen with the fluids her heart couldn’t pump. The doctors couldn’t save her.”

She’d stroked his hair. “I’m sorry.”

And then he’d said what had been on his mind. The thing that had awakened him and sent him to his office, unable to sleep. “I cannot do it again.”

“You won’t have to.” She’d said it fiercely, determinedly. He’d almost believed her.

“You cannot know that.”

She’d taken his hand, placed it over her abdomen. “I do. I won’t let it happen.”

“I have said the same thing,” he’d replied. “But there are some things even I cannot control.”

They’d returned to bed and he’d held her close, as if he could protect all three of them from harm. He’d blamed Rebecca for his pain because without her betrayal he’d have never married Caridad. Never had Anya and known what it was to lose her. But did that make any sense anymore? Was it really Rebecca’s fault? Or had he needed the numbness and single-minded focus that blaming her had given him for so many years?

He’d awakened early and had to force himself to come to the office today. He could’ve worked at home, but his feelings were too chaotic so he’d gotten dressed and taken his Aston Martin Vanquish from the garage. Zipping through the streets of Madrid, he’d tried to concentrate on all he needed to accomplish.

Focusing on work had gotten him through so much over the years. It would do so now.

He’d arrived at Ramirez Enterprises’ headquarters, given orders to his team, and gone to his big corner office to look over a proposal. The distraction had worked for a little while, but now that he was at his desk, his mind was wandering again.

Focus. The hotel in Dubai was finally about to begin construction. Though it’d been weeks since he’d uncovered his spy—a man in the Dubai office who’d been taking bribes from a local competitor—it’d still taken time to disentangle the web and get everything straightened away with the authorities.

The reorganization of Layton International was proceeding. Alejandro always felt a little pang of guilt when he reviewed the progress. Absorbing the company was a good move, but the difficulties he was experiencing with management made him long for the days when Rebecca was in