Because he didn’t love her. For the first time in days, hot tears pressed behind her eyes, but they stemmed from legitimate hurt, not depression.
“How are you sure? Two weeks ago, you were accusing me of plotting my takeover of your empire.”
A steward tried to approach with fresh coffee. He shooed the man away with a flick of his hand, a signal that would keep all staff at bay until they were finished this discussion.
“I wouldn’t want you to judge me by Val’s actions. I shouldn’t have let your sister’s words color my view of you.”
“Ellie is the tip of the Titanic-sinking iceberg, Javiero. My mother is asking me to pay for a lawyer to secure my father’s early release.” She had to laugh at that outrageous request or she’d cry.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I don’t want to think about it, let alone fight with you about the actions I decide to take. Not when I don’t even know what they will be.” The desolation that threatened to cloak her was an old one. Heavy and suffocating.
“We’re not going to fight about it,” he said firmly. “I’m asking you why you haven’t brought this up sooner so I can help you find solutions.”
“There are none! Every single option is lousy. What am I supposed to do? Refuse to hire someone so she uses her living allowance and goes hungry? Because she will. Do I kick her out of the house I own if she brings him into it? Do I pay for a lawyer who will help him leave prison so he can move in with her, take advantage of her again and probably start throwing his fists? He’ll try to blackmail me, you know. Not in so many words, but he’ll work on my fears for her to bleed me dry. You don’t want to be married to this, Javiero.”
She dropped her head into her hands, exhausted just imagining it.
“Scarlett, I have very good lawyers who can attach conditions to any assistance we offer.”
“I’ve tried that,” she said miserably. “I get called selfish or heartless or something else that implies I’m a terrible daughter. Protecting my mother means I’m hurting her at the same time. It’s impossible.”
“Well, you’re not the one insisting on his good behavior, are you?” he said in the ruthless tone she hadn’t heard from him since they’d reunited. “Your tyrant of a husband is. And I will press charges if he so much as glances out of line. There will be risks, I understand that, but we’ll make sure they’re as minimal as possible, and there will be very firm and dire consequences for him if things go wrong.”
“Good cop, bad cop?” She blinked in astonishment at the idea this might not all be on her for a change. It would be such a relief to let someone else be the villain. “Would you really do that for me?”
He shook his head, snorting with bafflement.
“Of course I would do that for you.” He leaned forward, a frown of impatience on his face as he cupped the side of her neck. “All you have to do is ask me for what you need. I will give it to you every time. I don’t know how to make that more clear to you.”
It was the most beautifully tragic thing he had ever said to her, because the one thing she needed above all else, he would never give her.
Give me your heart. Love me.
The words were right there, trembling on her lips, and she didn’t say them. Helplessness overwhelmed her.
His hand dropped away and fell on the table hard enough to rattle the dishes.
“Why don’t you trust me? Because your mother can’t trust your father? We are entirely different people, Scarlett.”
“Do you trust me? Do you trust this?” She pointed between them, where a very fragile thread, delicate as spider silk, had formed between them.
“I trust that we have what it takes to make a future together.” His cheek ticked, though. That tell of doubt broke her heart.
“How can you when...?” Her entire being ached with yearning. With a longing she had suppressed successfully for most of her life. “I don’t know how to be with you and keep myself from being destroyed,” she admitted.
He inhaled as though she’d sunk a knife into his belly.
“I love you, Javiero. That is the problem. Because love is never a solution.” Her lashes dampened. “I love you and I want to give you everything. My heart, my independence, my son. I want to live in your house and wear your ring, and I’ll even be nice to your mother. But what do I get in return?” she asked with anguish. “Are you going to give me every last ounce of pride you possess? Do you even know how to love when all you’ve ever been taught is hate?”
“This is how you tell me you love me?” The pupil in his eye obliterated all the color in his iris. “You say it in the same breath as you accuse me of lacking the capacity to love you as completely as you love me?”
“Do you?”
“Yes, damn you, not that you’ll believe it. Do you?”
She clasped her arms across her middle, trying to make sense of words he’d thrown at her like the scattered shards of something broken.
“Do you?” he demanded.
She searched his expression, wanting to believe him—
At her hesitation, he shot to his feet, overturning his chair with a clatter. His face was transformed with fury. He looked around. For one stark moment, she expected him to sweep the deck clean of furniture, throwing everything into the sea with a roar.
She pressed into her chair, frozen with apprehension and holding her breath.
“Every last ounce of pride? That’s the price? Damn you, Scarlett. Damn you.” He walked away.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
SCARLETT DIDN’T KNOW what to say. She sat there for the longest time, clenched fists against her cheeks, heart pounding at the worst confrontation ever
