“The interview? No. But Marco asked me,” I say, hitting it back with my shin.
“So, are they serious?”
“They’ve been together a week.”
“Ah,” he says, bouncing the ball off the top of his head.
I do the same. “He says he’s in love with her.”
“What?!” Alejo exclaims, and he misses the ball. It bounces away. He goes to pick it up, throwing it at me. “Is she in love with him?”
I shake my head. “No. She hasn’t even slept with him yet. I mean, this time around.”
“How do you know that?”
“They both told me.”
“What a fucked up complicated web you Ribeiros weave.”
“Understatement of the year, Alejo.”
“So, you met her and she told you this. Obviously you guys are speaking, well, intimately.”
I swallow hard, catching the ball with my hands and holding it to my chest, my fingers pressing into it. “She told me why she left me.”
He tilts his head. “And?”
Anger starts swirling through my veins, clouding my thoughts, and I start to spin the ball in my hands, over and over, trying to dissipate it. I stare down at the whirl of black and white, and suddenly it’s like I’m back in that plaza with Ruby, when she told me the truth.
The motherfucking truth.
That she loved me.
Maybe not now but she did.
She did.
She loved me and she never would have left me if it wasn’t for my stepfather.
I’ never wanted to kill someone with my bare hands until that moment.
He ruined both of our lives, kept us apart for no reason other than hate.
“My stepfather found out about us,” I tell him. “Well, first she threw some beer in his face and told him she loved me. Then he found out about us.”
“Holy fuck. She’s got some pretty big balls.”
“Yeah. She does. It doesn’t surprise me, though. She’s always been a bit reckless.” My thoughts go back to her standing on that cliff, her black hair whipping around her. “But I never thought she’d do that.”
“So then what happened?”
“Then he threatened to get her deported. She’s here illegally. Still fucking is. It was either she get kicked out of Europe and sent back to America, or she leave Lisbon and never talk to me again.”
“Are you serious?”
I nod grimly. “I’ve told you about my stepfather before.”
“I know you have, but you said your relationship was getting better.”
“It was.” I flex my fingers on the ball and throw it at him. “I don’t know what the fuck to do.”
He catches it. “You have to talk to him about it.”
“Do I? I think I’ll fucking kill him.”
“This is in the past, Luciano. People change.”
“No, he doesn’t change. The only reason why he’s started being nicer to me over the years is…fuck, I don’t know.”
“Because of the scare with your mother. Because that can change people. Why don’t you call him and tell him what you know?”
“I don’t even have to call him,” I say with a sigh. “He’s coming to Madrid tomorrow.”
“What, why?”
“He wanted to talk to Marco about something in person. Some sort of business venture, I don’t know. They’ve got their own shit to work on.”
“So tell him in person.”
I give Alejo a hard look. “I wasn’t kidding when I said I wanted to kill him. Alejo, he fucked up my life.”
Alejo gestures to the training complex. “Did he? After Ruby left, you got transferred here. You’re the captain of a team that’s consistently winning. You just won the goddamn cup a week ago. Your life isn’t fucked up. Your life is exactly where it’s supposed to be.”
“I lost the woman I loved.”
“But you didn’t. She’s here right now, Luciano. Don’t you believe in fate?”
I think back to seeing her that first day back in Lisbon for the interview, that immediate connection we had. I think back to when I saw her again two years later, dancing alone on the dance floor, eyes closed. I think back to when she showed up last week on Marco’s arm.
Do I believe in fate?
I don’t know.
But I know fate believes in me.
“I don’t know what to do,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper. “She’s here and it’s the same old complicated song and dance, except the difference this time is,” I pause, “Marco thinks he’s in love with her.”
“Who cares about Marco. Are you in love with her?” he asks. “Still?”
I give him a sad smile. “Am I still in love with her? Alejo, I want to marry her. I want to have children with her. I know I’ve said before that I wasn’t interested in those things, but I’ve spent seven years trying to figure out what I wanted in life, and I’ve only figured it out in the last few days.”
He grins at me, spinning the ball around on his fingertip. “Then you know what you’ve got to do. You need to tell her, you need to tell your brother, your stepfather.”
I close my eyes, my stomach sinking with dread.
“What if she doesn’t feel the same way?” I ask quietly.
“Then at least you know,” he says. “At least this time you will know.”
I nod, open my eyes, watching the ball as he bounces it from hand to hand.
“Do you mind if we cut the practice short?” I ask him.
“I’ll let it slide this time,” Alejo says with a wink.
I pat him on the back affectionately and then I’m off.
* * *
I feel like I’m running out of time, like if I don’t act fast, she’ll slip through my fingers again. I change out of my practice gear into jeans and a t-shirt in record time, and then I hurry to my Audi in the parking lot. The first thing I need to do is talk to Ruby. I need to sort this shit out with her and find out where she stands. If she still wants me, let alone still loves me. Then, and only then, do I need to talk to Marco.
The only problem is, I don’t have Ruby’s number now. I would have to
