this chaotic emotion clouding his judgement. He needed to look her in the eye and ask her how she felt about being here with him, how she felt not working at Layton International anymore. And he needed to acknowledge that she had useful information to impart about her company and the hotel business in general.
Mostly, he needed her to know he was wrong.
But the master bedroom was empty. Every room he went into was silent and empty. She had to be somewhere in the house. He hadn’t heard her leave. No one had informed him she was leaving. Someone would have said so.
His heart began to pound a drumbeat in his chest as he flew from room to room. He searched everywhere, but she was not there. He started to run outside, to see if she was sitting by the pool like she had been when he’d arrived.
Señora Flores met him in the foyer, arms crossed as she stared down her nose at him. No small trick considering she was a good foot shorter. She sniffed at him disdainfully.
“Señora Ramirez has gone away.”
The best thing about being Señora Ramirez was that Rebecca could walk into the Villa de Música, demand a room for the night, and no one would blink. Alejandro would track her down eventually, but at least she’d have a few hours peace.
Not surprisingly, the room the staff put her in was the suite with all the memories of her and Alejandro. Just her luck. She’d managed to avoid the reporters when she’d left Alejandro’s house earlier, but she couldn’t avoid this room.
She’d cried earlier when she’d been angry and hurt, but she was startlingly out of tears now. She couldn’t even muster a whimper. She went into the bedroom and sank into a chair by the window. Below, traffic was moving steadily. Across the street, a man and woman argued. She could tell because she could see their arms waving back and forth. And then they were kissing.
If only her problems were solved so easily.
Rebecca drew in a breath. She would ask for a divorce. There was no other way. She would not live with him, not as cold and unforgiving and suspicious as he was. Just when she thought they were making progress, that Alejandro was moving forward, he proved he wasn’t. That he would always leap to conclusions and blame her for whatever negative thing happened when it involved Layton International.
Well, she was done. It hurt too much to keep trying, especially when she had a baby on the way. She would need all her energy to devote to her child, and she wouldn’t raise him or her in the kind of environment where suspicion and accusations were a normal part of life.
If Alejandro wouldn’t divorce her, she’d insist on her own place. A house nearby or an apartment. They would live separately, but they would parent their child together.
And how is that going to work, Rebecca?
She pushed a hand through her hair. She didn’t know and she didn’t have the energy to think about it right now. She just sat and stared and planned random scenarios, none of them truly viable. But it was what she needed right now. Making plans for the future, even a future where Alejandro was only a small part of it, helped her feel as if she had some control over the situation.
Her respite didn’t last very long. An hour, maybe two, and then she heard the chime announcing someone had entered the suite. There was only one person it could be.
“Rebecca.”
She didn’t glance at the entry. She’d felt his presence before he’d spoken. The soft, sexy timbre of his voice stroked her abused senses. She was far too weak with this man.
But she’d reached her limit. She was done being weak. What good was it to love a man who refused to trust you?
It wasn’t.
“I want a divorce, Alejandro.”
“No.”
One word, cool and unemotional, and it set off a storm inside her.
She bolted up from the chair, faced him across the room, her arms rigid at her sides. She’d never felt more like doing battle in her life.
“I will not stay married to you, living in that house and putting up with your abuse. You wouldn’t know the truth if it fell on top of you, so don’t you dare come in here with the idea you’re going to force me to go back with you. Not tonight, Alejandro. Maybe not ever.”
He looked resigned. “Sí, I agree.”
Shock vibrated through