Filthy Rich Revenge: A Filthy Rich Billionaires Book - Lynn Raye Harris Page 0,79
foreigners married to Spaniards for less than a month? Did he need her to come back so he could take their baby away?
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