“You’re lying.” He shook his head incredulously.
“I planned to tell you, but you rebounded so quickly after me.” Emotion lodged in my throat as I dried my face with my sweatshirt sleeve.
“I did not rebound after you.” He glared at me. “If I had, I wouldn’t be here now!”
“Oh, really?” I laughed mockingly. “Then who was the redhead in a gold bikini straddling you by the pool?”
Ciro stiffened and took a step back. “What?”
“Yeah, that’s right. I saw you.” My voice dripped with disgust. “After I took the pregnancy test, I heard you wereback in LA and went to your estate. I saw you.” I pointed at him.
“Let me explain.”
“No! You hear me out.”
“Continue.” He placed his hands on his hips and appeared docile for the first time since I met him.
“You were both by the pool. She was laughing, tossing her head back, while straddling you. She ground on you like you were fucking, but I couldn’t tell for sure. All of Southern California could hear her moaning.” A sob broke from my throat. I couldn’t stop the tears from falling as I remembered the moment that made me vow to never see him again.
To avoid bumping into Ciro when he was in LA, I’d dropped out of school and moved to the Bay Area.
“It’s not what you think,” he said, his voice low and laced with shame.
“Bullshit! It was exactly what I saw. Tell me you didn’t have sex with her right there on the patio.”
Ciro stared at me, his chest heaving. “Isla?—”
“Tell me, Ciro! Tell me I had it all wrong,” I whimpered, my heart breaking all over again. “Tell me it was a misunderstanding. That I didn’t see you about to have sex with that goddamn redhead. Tell me…”
“Isla—”
“No.” I cut him off, shaking my head. “It doesn’t matter now. Since then, there’ve been other women in your life. My social media accounts keep me updated on your latest girlfriend.”
“Jesus, you know you can’t believe what you see online. You have it all fucking wrong!”
“I don’t care. I. Don’t. Care.” I breathed deeply, trying tocalm my racing heart. I was so hurt and angry, tremors rolled through my limbs. “Nothing matters now, just Pippa.”
“Pippa?” The hard lines on his face softened and the tension radiating off him calmed, a little.
“Yes. I call her Pippa,” I snapped at him as my tension was building the more, we talked about my baby girl. “I won’t let you hurt her or break her heart.”
“I would never.” He tried to pull me into his arms, but I jerked away hard.
“Don’t touch me. Where’s your redhead? I’m sure she’ll flip when you tell her you have a kid with your ex.” I wouldn’t let him destroy my baby girl the way my dad had destroyed me.
“She’s not my woman,” he said through gritted teeth, his nostrils flaring. “If you’d just?—”
“Oh, that’s nice. She’s just good for a quick fuck by the pool, huh?” I laughed through my tears as the image of them together assaulted me all over again. “Seems she and I have a lot more in common than I realized.”
Ciro grabbed ahold of my arms. “Don’t you compare yourself to her!”
I gasped, ripping myself out of his hands. “Oh, I see. You’re in love with her. Well, I’m happy for both of you.” I went to open the door. “Please leave.”
“You have it wrong, Isla.” He rubbed his temples and ignored my request for him to leave.
“You keep saying that, but I’m sure I don’t. I’m glad you found someone. I always knew when the right woman came along, she’d be everything to you. Now, I want you to leave.” How many times did I have to ask him to leave?
“I’m not going anywhere.” The stubborn jerk wouldn’tbudge. “We’re going to fucking talk this out. Right here. Right now.”
