‘Whatever I unearthed hasn’t been disclosed to the public, so yes, chiquita, I believe I’m above reproach in this instance.’ He rose, the illusionary sense of tranquillity gone.
He curbed the bite of regret, more than a little annoyed with himself for the unsettling sensations ricocheting through him.
This day off had been an idiotic idea. Leaving her in his mother’s garden, he strode up the steps and entered the empty house.
Javier wasn’t sure what he hoped to find inside, but no answers came to him as he walked through rooms with sheet-draped furniture. Everything in here had been new once upon a time, a naïve conviction that granting his mother a fresh start would be what she needed to make a clean break from an unhealthy past.
Nothing he’d done had worked. Bitterness twisted his mouth. Clearly he was extremely ill-equipped to handle or even understand the female psyche.
He would be better off sticking to what he knew best—cut-throat deals and emotionless liaisons.
Except he didn’t feel emotionless about one liaison in particular.
Turning away from an expensive entertainment centre his mother had never used to his knowledge, he retraced his steps to the garden.
The sound of her voice stopped him before he rounded a tall rose bush.
‘No, I don’t want you to come to New York, not if you’re going to keep badgering me about this. My mind is made up.’ She paused, and Javier heard a muffled voice. Then her breath caught. ‘That’s all you care about, isn’t it? Would it kill you to ask how I am?’
Javier’s fists curled, the primeval protective instincts that had floored him in the condo returning, stronger than before. About to stride into her presence, he froze as she continued, ‘No, Papà, nothing has changed. I’m still taking a break from figure skating. Yes...indefinitely.’
The deadly ice in his veins threatened to turn him into a statue. He still managed to move. He must have because she came into view, her eyes growing wide as she tucked her phone into her pocket and drew her arms around her midriff in self-protection. She took a few guarded steps away from him.
Javier was obliquely amused by the useless action. As if anything could save her now. He’d been ready to believe there was some sort of subliminal reason for bringing her to the place he’d built for his mother. Probably because she’d also lost her mother and he’d been seeking some non-existent connection?
Dios mío. Even the suggestion was unacceptable. He sliced his fingers through his hair. Clearly, he’d been out of his mind.
‘Javier?’ Her voice held the tiniest wobble.
‘Answer me yes or no, Carla. Did you sign our contract knowing you planned to take an indefinite break from ice skating?’
All colour drained from her face, leaving pools of shocked, bottomless moss green. In the deadly stillness, even the insects didn’t dare to move. Her lips slowly parted.
Javier braced himself. For what, he wasn’t completely sure.
She swallowed hard, the movement echoing through her whole body. Or perhaps she trembled? He didn’t care. All he wanted was deliverance from the vacuum of confusion taking hold of him.
‘Answer me!’
A short, jerked nod, followed by a simple, ‘Yes.’
Absurdly, as he turned away and left his mother’s garden, Javier wished she’d lied and answered no.
CHAPTER SEVEN
‘SAY SOMETHING. PER FAVORE,’ Carla whispered. ‘Anything. I can’t stand the silence.’
They’d left the charming, tranquil garden, and any notion that she was getting to know a much less steel-hearted Javier, far behind. She would never dream of calling him gentle, but the glimpses of the man she’d seen in his mother’s garden had touched her heart in a way that had nothing to do with the sexual tension that resided beneath the surface of all their interactions.
That man, if he had existed beyond her imagination, was nowhere to be seen now. The man who grabbed the steering wheel with barely restrained force, whose face was set in a granite mask as he wove through traffic, struck naked apprehension in her heart.
‘Javier, please...’
‘You weren’t planning on telling me until you had your hands on the first quarter’s payment.’ His voice was conversational, save for the toxic ice that dripped from it. ‘I’m guessing the signing bonus wasn’t quite enough for you to disappear into the sunset with?’
‘No... I mean yes—’ She stopped and massaged her temples. ‘No, I wasn’t planning on disappearing, not without speaking to you first. Not that I was planning to disappear... Dio, questo è folle.’
His grating laugh sliced across her every nerve. ‘You think this is insane? Why did you bother even signing a contract with me? With a face and body like yours, you could’ve landed a number of gullible rich men who would’ve been only too happy to tolerate a little absence of integrity for a chance to taste what you have to offer.’