He did make his choice. He would always choose her. Just before midnight, he went to retrieve his savings from the box hidden beneath his floorboards. His heart plummeted. There was nothing inside but his mother’s ring. He raced out of his room and ran to the dove tree. But she wasn’t there. Only that letter was.
He’d been broken over it for a year and here she was, acting as if she didn’t even remember it.
She shook her head slowly. “I never wrote this.”
“You can’t lie your way out of this. And why would you even try? You don’t care.”
“I care!” she screamed. She clamped her free hand over her mouth as if her own words had startled her.
“You care about what?” he said, edging closer to her.
She stepped back, panicked.
Maybe he had been too easy on her before. Maybe he’d babied her too much. But he’d coddled her because he was so afraidshe’d close herself off to him forever. Well, they were far past that. He’d already lost her. And he’d lived what felt like a lifetime with that pain. He had learned something in their year apart; it was better to learn the truth than suffer in the unknown. Now, he’d push. He’d get the answers he needed from her. She wasn’t some broken bird anymore. If anything,she’dbrokenhim.
He crossed his arms. “Neither one of us is leaving this space until we let it all out, and I’ll be damned if I let one more distraction get between us. Tell me. Now. What do you care about?”
“You! You fool! I care about you!”
“Bullshit,” he spat. “I’m not one of your customers willing to accept your lies. Tell me the truth.”
Her eyes narrowed in annoyance. “Do you know how many nights I cried myself to sleep after you left? I thought the universe must truly hate me to give me you and then take you away.”
His arms went slack at his sides. “I never left you. And I would never have stopped searching for you if not for the letter you wrote—”
“I didn’t write this!” She waved the letter in the air. “I would never because I love you.”
Her words pummeled into his chest.
Love.She had saidI love you. NotI loved you. NotI used to love you. She saidI love you.
Something hot burned at the base of his throat. If he spoke, she’d hear the tears building there.
He didn’t care.
“Then why did you leave without me?” His voice cracked.Tears slipped down his cheeks. “I was ready to run away with you. I would have followed you straight into hell if you asked.”
Esmeralda looked startled. “But youdidleave me. Your father said…” Her eyes went wide as if realization had dawned onher.
His heart sank. “My father said what?”
Chapter 33
Esmeralda
“The moment I left you in the courtyard with that ultimatum, I ran to my room and packed my things,” she said. She remembered how pitiful she felt. That everything she owned in life could fit in a single satchel. But if she had Ignacio, it didn’t matter. And if he chose to go to the Blackbirds like his father asked? Then she’d make do. She was not going to stay under the comandante’s roof if Ignacio wasn’t there—indenture sentence be damned.
“I wanted to leave the second you told me about your enlistment,” she said. “But I knew I had to give you time to make that choice yourself. I didn’t want you to resent me for forcing you to turn your back on your duty. Your family. I knew you idolized the comandante. Even though the man treated you more like a soldier than son, you loved him.”
“I did” was all Ignacio said.
“After I finished packing my bag, I snuck into the kitchen to gather supplies. While in the pantry, I overheard the serving staff whispering about how they were going to miss you. Theysaid you had already marched through the gate carrying a duffle filled to the brim.”
Her stomach hurt even thinking of the betrayal she felt backthen.
“I must have lost my mind for a moment because I dropped everything and ran after you. I figured you’d be at the train station. Or the comandante’s headquarters in the center of the city.” Ignacio blinked with confusion, but she went on. “Just as I exited the gates to the manor, I saw that awful motorcar your father loved puffing up the main road. I froze, knowing I’d been spotted.”
The car had slowed to a rumbling halt. She remembered thinking the engine purred like a well-fed cat. The rear window had squeaked open, and the comandante eyed her from the shadows within the vehicle.
