“Yes, yes I am,” she said truthfully.
“At least you don’t lie abouteverything,” Ridge bit out.
She flinched and looked away.
“Look at me, damn it. You owe me that at least.”
Juan Miguel looked surprisingly calm, but then he likely recognized Ridge as the man she had arrived in Spain with.
“Senor,” he said to Robby who still sat astride his horse. “Come with me. I think it best if we camp on the perimeter. We can keep watch, no?”
India raised her brows in surprise. The Spaniard was leaving them alone. Why? Of course, Ridge’s scowl could have a lot to do with it.
She wrapped her arms protectively around herself as Robby and Juan Miguel disappeared into the darkness. She looked back at Ridge to see his eyes blazing at her.
“Nothing to say?” he taunted.
“I know you’re angry,” she said softly.
“You have no idea.”
“I think I do.”
“Why did you do it, India. Did I mean that little to you?”
She closed her eyes, tears seeping from beneath her lids. Nothing she could say could possibly make him understand. In his position, she wouldn’t understand or forgive either.
“Forget I said that. Let’s not make it personal. Lord knows you obviously didn’t return my sentiment. Let me ask this. Does your integrity mean so little? Does your word mean nothing? I thought you an honorable person, India, and yet you connived and lied from the very start.”
His words hit her like little poison darts. She turned her back but quickly turned back when she heard his hiss of anger.
“What was I supposed to do, Ridge? I won’t defend my actions. They are indefensible after all. But was I supposed to let my father die? Choose honor and integrity over a man’s life?”
Ridge leaned forward, his face inches from hers. He stabbed his chest with his finger for emphasis. “You could havetrustedme.”
“I know that now,” she said softly. “I didn’t know it then.”
“Is anything at all true, India? Was italla lie?”
She didn’t pretend to misunderstand him. She took a deep breath and decided to put it all on the line. Take a huge leap and pray he didn’t throw it back at her.
“I love you, Ridge.”
There. She had said it. The statement oozed fear, but then she was very afraid. She had just made herself more vulnerable, placed her heart in the hands of a man who for all practical purposes should loathe her.
He recoiled as if she had struck him.
“You have a damn funny way of showing it,” he growled.
She held her breath, but he didn’t respond further. He continued to glare at her, his anger radiating from him in waves. Her heart sank. Had she hoped he would forget his anger in the face of her declaration? Maybe she had. And maybe she was wrong.
She hugged herself a little tighter feeling the threads of desperation ever loosening. “Don’t you have anything to say?” she finally asked when the silence became too much for her to bear.
He ran a hand through his hair then yanked his hand down in disgust. Then he swore.
“You’ve got a hell of a lot of nerve. Is this your way of avoiding the issue? Of placing the focus elsewhere? You’ve toyed with me enough, India. Don’t start spouting sentiment you don’t mean.”
“I meant it,” she said quietly.
