Alejandro’s skin had paled beneath his tan. She’d have never believed it had she not been staring right at him.
“I shouldn’t have asked. I’m sorry.”
“No, she is gone now, and people always ask. I must become accustomed to it.”
How did you ever get accustomed to such a thing? A vile, sorrowful, evil thing that was the death of a child? She’d just begun to come to grips with her father’s death, and that was ten months ago.
She didn’t know what else to say. She simply wanted to hold him.
But he started to shrug into his clothes, his back to her. “I have work to do. If you wish to go shopping or sightseeing, please inform Ali. He will arrange for anything you need.”
Without a backward glance, he was gone. Rebecca put her head on her knees and stared at the door he’d disappeared through. She had a feeling he’d been planning to stay with her until she’d asked about Anya. She berated herself for it, but there was nothing she could do to change it now.
He would return when he was ready. And she would be waiting.
Alejandro was restless, keyed up, jumpy as a caged bull before a fight. He drummed his fingers against the center armrest in the limo, thought about the woman he’d left in his bed. Why had he told Rebecca about his baby girl? She’d surprised him with the question, but he’d surprised himself even more by answering it.
He did not want to share such things with her. Anya was none of her business. He should have choked on the words before spilling his guts to a woman like her.
A woman like what?
A woman who melted beneath him, who made him crazy with her little sighs and moans, who fought him when he pushed and who insisted on being treated with respect and dignity in spite of his plans for her?
Dios, he was going soft. He could not afford softness, especially where she was concerned. He couldn’t forget what she’d done to him. How her betrayal had led to this pain that would never go away.
She wasn’t responsible for Anya’s heart defect or her death. But she was responsible for his decision to marry Caridad in the first place. If that had not happened. If he’d had another choice.
Alejandro closed his eyes and shook his head to ward off the pain. It didn’t help. Nothing helped.
He had to stop being soft. Just because his body craved Rebecca’s, just because he showed no signs of tiring of her—indeed, each time he fucked her he seemed to only want her more—was no reason to lose sight of what he meant to do.
He had to ruin her. He’d planned it for so long, lived for it through the darkest days. He couldn’t cease now. Not when he had revenge in his grasp. Not when he could make her pay for nearly ruining his business and forcing him into a marriage that nearly broke him.
It was time to start knocking the foundation out from under her. Time to make her feel the helpless rage he’d felt.
22
A team of waiters arrived to serve dinner in their suite. Rebecca had been surprised when Alejandro returned in time for the meal. Usually she ate alone, working on her computer since it was still only mid-afternoon in the States. She accomplished a lot in the hours Alejandro was away, even if part of her anticipated his return with growing excitement as the day waned.
She’d worked through the afternoon, but she’d been preoccupied with their conversation earlier. She couldn’t imagine losing a child so cruelly. It was senseless, surreal. No one would ever expect such a thing could happen to a toddler. The grief he must have experienced was unimaginable.
And yet he’d endured it. He’d changed because of it, but she understood why now. Looking at him across the table, her heart filled to bursting with everything she was feeling for him. She knew without doubt she was falling for him again.
Or perhaps she had already fallen, but she wasn’t quite prepared to admit it to herself just yet. No, far better to look at him in his cream silk shirt, his dark hair and skin such a startlingly beautiful contrast, and imagine that she had time to prevent the disaster she was hurtling herself into. He’d barely spoken since returning. She wondered what dinner would be like, how she could draw him out if he didn’t speak.
Maybe she should apologize for asking him about his daughter. But she wasn’t sorry he’d told her. It helped her understand. Helped her forgive him just a tiny bit for how he’d treated her since he’d ordered her to Madrid.
The sommelier uncorked a bottle of wine and poured a taste for Alejandro’s approval. After the wine was decanted and the food served, all but one of the waiters left. The man stationed himself near the buffet where they’d set the dishes and prepared to serve as needed.
“I have decided to move Layton International’s offices to Madrid,” Alejandro announced.
Rebecca nearly dropped her fork. The spicy rice and eggplant dish she’d just taken a bite of turned to paste in her mouth.
“You seem surprised,” he said, his dark gaze giving nothing away.
She reached for her wine glass, took a fortifying sip. Her heart was beginning to flutter at breakneck speed. “I am. You haven’t told me your plans for my company, and now this. What about my employees? There are over one hundred people in the office.”
He shrugged. “Upper management will be offered their jobs in Madrid. Others will be given generous severance packages and assistance in finding new employment.”
“Is this because I asked you about Anya?”
His eyes flashed. “No. It’s business.”
She set her fork down and leaned back against her chair, no longer hungry. “Oh really? Somehow I don’t think so. I know you’re angry with
