her. Her eyes narrowed as she took him in. Really took him in. He looked a little haggard, as if he’d been working hard and hadn’t had enough rest. He wore black trousers and a dark button-down shirt, and he looked so delicious she wanted to press her mouth to the hollow of his throat and taste the saltiness of his skin.
Never again.
Folding her arms beneath her breasts, she stared at him. “So now you agree to a divorce?”
“That is not what I said.” He came into the room, his hands shoved in his pockets, and went to the window. Close to her, but not too close. She would have to take at least three steps to be beside him.
“Then what are you saying, Alejandro? Because I’m too drained to figure it out.”
“The truth, Rebecca. It has been staring me in the face.”
She frowned. She didn’t know what to say anymore.
“Will you sit?” he asked. “I want to say things.”
“Fine.” She went over and perched on the edge of the bed, away from him. He leaned against the windowsill as if he realized she would not welcome him moving close again.
“I found Parker Gaines,” he said softly. “I did it the night after you told me about him.”
Her heart suddenly felt like it was beating in a sea of molasses. “Okay,” she said stupidly.
“He’s in a California prison for embezzlement.”
“Good.” Was it wrong to feel satisfaction at the knowledge?
“Yes, I thought so as well. It saves me the trouble of killing him for you.”
“Alejandro—”
“No,” he said, holding up a hand to silence her. “I would do this gladly. You need only ask. When he gets out in twenty years, I will challenge him to a duel.”
Rebecca dropped her gaze in confusion. She didn’t know whether to laugh or ask him if he’d lost his mind. What was he playing at?
“Are you laughing at me, Rebecca?”
“No.”
He sighed. “Ah, well, I am not so amusing then. Will you look at me?”
She lifted her head slowly. He was staring at her.
“I know you did not give the story to the press.”
If he hoped that news would make her leap up and throw herself in his arms, he was mistaken. She was too pissed to do so. “And? Did you hire someone to tell you this? Find the real culprit so you could no longer blame me?”
He looked very solemn. “No, I did none of these things. I just know.”
She did laugh this time, and it was as bitter as acid. “How can you suddenly know? It’s not like you, Alejandro! You’ve done something and you’re lying to me about it.”
He moved with a speed that startled her. When she would have scrambled away, he dropped to his knees in front of her, gripping her hands. “I know because of many things, amor. I know you are not capable of this kind of deception. It’s too calculated, too cold—”
She tried to wrench her hands away, but he wouldn’t let go. “But this is exactly what you’ve been accusing me of all along! I’m cold, calculating. I make bargains on my back and—”
“Stop,” he ordered. “I was wrong.”
She searched his eyes, looking for deceit. “I don’t understand you,” she whispered.
“Can you forgive me for the things I’ve said? The things I’ve done? I’ve been an ass, and I’m sorry. The truth has been staring me in the face, but I’ve been too blind to see it.”
She bit the inside of her lip to keep it from trembling. She’d told him as much before, but to hear it said back to her now? Yes, she wanted to forgive him. But was it real, or would he do the same thing again?
“I don’t know if I can,” she said honestly. She stared at their clenched hands. His dark ones gripping her paler ones. “You hurt me too many times. Every time I trust you, believe in you, something happens, and you believe the worst. I’m not sure I can take that risk again. Or that I want to.”
He let her go and she pulled away, stood up and moved out of his reach while he remained kneeling by the bed. He dropped his forehead on the edge of the mattress and stayed that way for several moments.
Her heart slammed her ribs seeing him like that. It was alarming. She didn’t understand him, and she wasn’t sure she trusted him. Had she missed some sort of Spanish law about mothers getting full custody of children in divorces? About