“And say what? We’d had an argument and he told Fernando that I ran away. What if they sent me back to him?”
“Was Fernando safe with him?”
“He was old enough that Lorenzo thought twice about raising his hand to him.”
“Is that why you were estranged from Fernando? Because he stayed with your father?”
“I don’t blame him for that.” He blamed himself for failing to spend more time with his brother when he had the chance. “I wanted him to join me on the outside, but he had put in the time and suffered in his own way. He felt he had earned his place at LVG.”
“Even though it cost himyou?” she choked.
“In his mind, he was claiming it for both of us. When Lorenzo had his heart attack, Fernando took charge and asked me to come aboard there. I was firmly estranged from Lorenzo by then. I didn’t want anything of his. I was in Barcelona, scraping up financing for that gaming headset I told you about. Fernando persuaded Zurina’s father to invest in me, giving me my start.”
“That’s another reason you left at the drop of a hat to help her,” Siobhan said in a tone of hollow discovery.
“Sí. I would have kept my father out of my life forever, but when Fernando died, I had to come back into all of this.” Hewaved abstractedly. “Fernando put up with his abuse for a legacy that means nothing, then died because he thought he could change out an electrical switch in a barn that should have been burned to the ground long ago.Estúpida!” He sliced his hand through the air. “But I won’t let his suffering be in vain. He wanted his children to inherit LVG. So be it. I’ll keep our father from destroying it with his pride and negligence. He’s angrier than ever that I’ve usurped him, though. He’ll come after me in whatever way he can. That’s what my nightmare was about. He was coming for you.”
“You think he’ll be violent toward me?” She touched her chest, then her hand drifted lower, as though she wasn’t aware of letting it settle on her abdomen. Her eyes widened in horror.
“I don’t know.” His stomach knotted. “But I can’t afford to let down my guard. Iwon’t. That’s why I’m so adamant that you live with me.”
She absorbed all of that with a frown of grave consternation.
“But I could…” Her brow flexed with anguish. “If you’re that worried about my safety, I could stay with my sister after Christmas. And not tell anyone you’re the baby’s father.”
Frost spread through his chest as he saw that, once again, his father was about to take something from him. Two people he wanted in his life very, very badly.
The harp strings of his phone’s wake alarm began to play.
He hit Stop.
“I need to shower. My driver will be here soon.”
Siobhan had wanted to know why he was so aloof. Now she did. Joaquin had been denied the security he was meant to feel within his family so he played his cards close to his chest. In fact, he’d been actively harmed by someone he ought to have been able to trust. Even his relatively good relationship withhis brother had been twisted and cut short before it had had a chance to heal.
She couldn’t be someone who hurt him, too. She couldn’t isolate him from his baby, not when she knew what wellsprings of love they were. She had to give him an opportunity to be a father. For his sake and their child’s.
Even if it tipped her equilibrium toward falling for him.
She was trying to be so careful with her feelings! But they were sliding like quicksilver, leaking and seeping out of her toward him, refusing to be caught back.
What would happen when he realized that?
That’s another reason I didn’t fight her leaving. I didn’t want to lead her on.
He came into the bedroom a few minutes later. He was in his trousers again, but his hair was damp and his chest gleaming. He picked up his shirt from the chair and shook it out.
“Iwillkeep you safe, Siobhan. I swear it,” he said in a voice so vehement, her pulse skipped hard in her veins. “I wasn’t trying to frighten you. I only want you to recognize the danger is real. But this situation won’t go on forever. I won’t allow it to.”
“I believe you.” She took another pair of slacks from the wardrobe and folded them into her suitcase. “But if I learned nothing else from the Sauveterres, it’s that you can’t live your life in fear. Take sensible precautions and go about your business, which is what I’ll do. I’ll move in with you if it makes you feel better, but I intend to keep working. At LVG.”
The tension eased from his expression as he smoothly buttoned his shirt. “Those are your terms?”
“Yes.”
“Provided your doctor agrees, I accept. But I live in Barcelona,” he reminded.
“I know. I’ll talk to Oladele about working remotely.” She took the small win and continued packing, but paused when her phone vibrated on the night table.
