He grabbed the box with Gabrielle’s mail he’d already gone through during the drive, hoping to find a clue to where she’d gone.
No chance. The only significant piece he did find was a manila envelope from the life insurance group that had carried the policy on her for the slimeball ex-husband. A document enclosed stated that the policy had been canceled and they had received a letter from Roberto claiming any future policy on her listing him as the beneficiary would be a false document he would willingly testify against.
That letter would be the fax Roberto had sent the night Carlos visited him. The guy lost his chance at a fortune, but he still had both nuts and his face.
And Carlos had a signed confession from Roberto.
Carlos climbed out of the car and went in search of his things.
One suitcase stored a week of clothes, and a two-foot-square cardboard box locked in the downstairs storage room held all the other possessions he owned.
He had enough money put away to find a place for his aunt and cousin once they finished with the treatments. With Durand dead and Salvatore appeased, no one should bother them.
What would he do then? Carlos didn’t know, didn’t care. What was life without Gabrielle?
He punched in the security code, then waited for a second beep before he punched in another set of numbers. Inside the house, he tossed his jacket aside and headed for the bedroom to retrieve the suitcase first.
When he stepped into the bedroom, he heard a movement in the bathroom and drew his weapon.
The door opened slowly and a body wrapped in a towel stepped out. Gabrielle.
Not possible.
“Don’t shoot,” she ordered. “I saw you coming up the drive on the monitor in the bathroom, but you got here before I could dress.”
“What are you doing here?” He hadn’t intended for that to sound so harsh, but pissed off had been his natural state for the last twenty-four hours.
“Obviously showering. Will you put that bloody gun down?” She wrenched the towel, covering half her body, tighter. The matching beige towel wrapped around her head flopped to one side when she angled her head.
He laid the gun on the nightstand. “How did you get in here?”
“Oh, that?” She shrugged and had to tuck the towel again. “I linked into the central house computer and ran the security codes when Gotthard let me check my e-mail on my computer. I fixed it so I could get in undetected, just like I did in our room at the school. I figured if your people brought me here again, I’d have a way to escape. When we left for the airport, I kept track of the route.”
The little sneak. No one, not even Gotthard, had considered that she’d screw with BAD’s security system in the house when she and Gotthard had been working to access the school computers from here.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Getting my things.” He was answering out of reflex, not really processing what was going on. Gabrielle was here. “I thought you’d disappeared.”
“I did, but I needed somewhere to stay for a few days until I had clothes and a car again. I left South America with nothing-well, except for some money your aunt gave me I used to get here. It was the only place I felt for sure was safe.”
It was now or never. He had one chance before he lost her again. “If you’ll get dressed, I want to tell you something.”
“Tell me now.” She straightened her posture as if preparing to hear a lecture.
Carlos blew out a gush of air and jumped in with both feet. “I didn’t tell anyone you were Mirage, and I didn’t know about your mother when I made love to you. I wasn’t using you.”
Her face softened, giving him hope until she shook her head and said, “Now, tell me the rest of the truth.”
Damn. She didn’t believe him. “I just did.”
“No, you didn’t.” Gabrielle took one step toward him, then another, slowly moving around the bed. “Tell me the truth about the day my mother died.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt anyone when I triggered the bomb,” he said in a monotone, repeating the story he’d told a few times. “I didn’t know the bomb would do so much damage.”
Gabrielle kept coming closer. “That’s not the truth either.” She stopped a foot away from him, so close the next breath hurt when he smelled the familiar scent of her.
“That’s the only one I know.” He loved her beyond belief, but would not betray Eduardo so she’d have somewhere else to turn her wrath.
“Tell me how you pretended all these years that you were the one behind the bombing even though Eduardo was the one who really triggered the charge,” she said gently. “Tell me how you carried the burden of those deaths and almost died yourself to keep the truth hidden. Tell me how you walked back into that snake pit to protect those you love…and lied to Durand to protect me.”
His heart raced. “How could you-”
“Your aunt told me everything once we finally found common ground. I thought she was going to hand me over to Durand’s men at the end of the flight, but she’s like you. She’ll fight to protect her own. She asked a lot of questions, then told me the tale of a young man she’d raised as her own son.”
Gabrielle lifted a hand to his cheek. “Did you think I’d harm Eduardo in any way? She said she’d made an oath not to tell Durand the truth, but she figured I needed to know. Eduardo was with us when his mother shared the story. He cried and told me he was sorry about my mother. He’s had to live with that and the guilt of knowing you shouldered his burden for the deaths all these years and how you’ve lived on the run to protect him and Maria. He lost his future that day, too. My mother would forgive him, so I can’t do any less.”
“I’m so sorry for your mother.” Carlos couldn’t believe the huge relief that washed over him now that Gabrielle knew.
“I’m sorry for Helena, too.” Her eyes misted. “We all lost that day, including Maria. How about if we all build a new life together? Now, tell me you love me.”
“I love you more than life,” he whispered, pulling her into his arms and kissing her. In his next breath he sent thanks for this miracle.
Gabrielle hugged him to her. “I was so scared you wouldn’t get away from Durand, but when I talked to Joe, he told me Retter had gone undercover to get inside and find you. Or I’d have gone back on the next flight.”
Carlos owed Joe big-time for that lie or she’d have been killed if she’d returned to South America.
Her hands crawled along his back and up into his hair. He kissed her with all the love in his heart.
“You know what kind of blood I come from,” he warned her.
“Yes, I do.” She pulled away, her shimmering eyes filled with admiration he’d never have expected. “Not all the men in your family were like Durand. I know, because I traced the Anguis lineage at one time. You have the blood of warriors in your veins. The kind of men who protect what is theirs and love without restraint. I want that love and I want you.”
“It’s all yours.” He kissed her, amazed to be holding her again. When he broke the kiss, he gave her one last warning. “You’re not getting much out of this deal since all I own is what I can carry in two hands.”
Her hands slid around front, between them. She moved her lips to his ear. “Great. That means I get to decorate the house the way I want.” She giggled until her towel broke free and slid to the floor.
“Decorate away, princess, starting with the bedroom.” Carlos lifted her in his arms, intending to show her just how much she meant to him. He draped her across the bed and stood up, slowly peeling out of his shirt.
He stared at his future, something he’d never expected to have.
