Alejandro’s nostrils flared, his chest rising and falling hard. As if he’d run all the way from his office in downtown. As if he’d scaled a mountain to get to her.
No doubt he had. An evil, ugly mountain of his own design.
“Don’t get worked up,” he ordered. “Think of the baby.”
Rebecca dashed angry tears from her cheeks. “Or kittens and puppies. Anything but the nastiness in your mind.”
“You went to the press,” he grated, stalking closer again. Whirling away. “You told them your father committed suicide and that it was my fault! You want to ruin me, Rebecca. You want Layton International back by any means necessary, sí? You will not get it. I will destroy it first.”
Her fingers itched to wrap themselves around his throat. Her heart ached. “There was a pilot on the plane, or didn’t your people tell you that? Yes, my father had his license—but that doesn’t mean he crashed the plane, especially not with someone else on board. If he’d wanted to do that, why the hell would he go to Thailand? He could have taken his Cessna up and crashed it into the ocean if that’s what he’d wanted to do.”
For a moment, Alejandro looked uncertain. But then his expression hardened. “The truth isn’t necessary for what you want. You wanted to make it look like I did something illegal, like I’m a criminal. Just a lowly bullfighter who dared to aim too high, right?” He stopped his pacing and glared at her. “This lie, combined with the Dubai accusations, will make my shareholders think twice, yes? Ramirez Enterprises is in for a rocky quarter. But it won’t work, Rebecca. You won’t win. I’ll never sell Layton International to you.”
Rebecca sucked in a breath, surprised it wasn’t shaky or short. Strong emotion buffeted her, threatened her, but she held steady. She would not panic over this. Or over him. Not ever again.
“You’re more worried about a dip in stock prices than you are about me or our baby. You need someone to blame, and I’m convenient. The truth doesn’t matter to you at all.”
And neither did she. It hurt, but hadn’t she always known it deep down?
“No, you are more concerned with getting your precious company back. You are selfish, Rebecca. Selfish and manipulative. You planned this all along. You didn’t take your pills, you got pregnant on purpose, and you faked a panic attack to get me to marry you!”
Icy calm wafted over her, chilled her down to the bone. Inside, her heart bled. Outside, she was detached. So cold it frightened her. She could see with such clarity now. She’d been right about him. The man she’d loved was controlled by the angry, grief-stricken, suspicious man before her now. She’d tried to reach him, but she’d failed. Alejandro didn’t want to be reached. He wanted to lash out and blame others rather than confront the truth of his own shortcomings. He wasn’t willing or able to trust, and it was going to ruin him. Unfortunately, it was going to ruin her too.
“Then why did you marry me if you didn’t want to?” she demanded. “No one held a gun to your head. We could have worked out visitation.”
His eyes widened. “Visitation? This is my child.”
“Are you sure?” As soon as she said the words, she regretted them. The raw pain on his face told her she’d stabbed deep. But she was furious, hurt, and she wanted to hurt him back. She knew that no good could come of wounding each other this way, yet she’d stooped to his level. It didn’t make her feel any better.
His face clouded. “If not for the timing, I might doubt it.”
Rebecca swallowed a bubble of hysteria. “Of course you would. My God you make me sick.”
After everything she’d told him about her life, everything she’d felt and believed. It was too much to process. She didn’t bother gathering the sample book. She was done. So very done.
“Where are you going, Rebecca?”
“Away from you.”
“You cannot hide from the truth, mi esposa. I know what you are.”
She turned back to him. Her body shook with emotion as she stared him down.
“And I know what you are, Alejandro. You’re a coward. You’ve perfected the art of hiding from the truth.”
29
Confronting Rebecca did not make Alejandro feel any better. In fact, he felt worse.
He thought he would feel exhilaration, triumph, all the things he usually felt when he’d won the fight. When he vanquished his foes, he felt like he could conquer anything. It had been so since his days in the ring, and it had carried over into his life as a business tycoon. Winning was everything. It had brought him farther in life than anyone could have expected.
But he did not feel much like a winner this time.
Why not? He should be triumphant. He’d figured out what Rebecca was up to and he’d thwarted her. He’d expected strident denials, but instead he’d gotten anger and insults. Rebecca had been furious with him.
And hurt. He’d seen the hurt in her eyes, and it had made him want to beg her forgiveness—which of course meant he’d shoved those feelings down deep and pushed back when she’d tried to reason with him. He didn’t believe her father had committed suicide any more than she did. But he’d had the means to do it, and it was a hell of a story for the press to dig into. Who knew how long it would take them to lose interest?
Meanwhile, Ramirez Enterprises would have to weather the storm. They were far from broken by it, but it was inconvenient and would cost a lot of money. Alejandro growled as he stared in the direction Rebecca had gone. She’d turned his life upside down in the space of weeks and he was at a loss
