‘But you sent her packing?’ she asked, with a lot more hope than she knew was wise.
Ramon’s expression didn’t alter, but his silence told her he was weighing his words. ‘She continued to plead her innocence. When she proved an allegation false, I decided to hear her out.’
Because he’d been in love with her.
‘Because you...cared about her?’
A frown twitched between his brows. ‘We were engaged to be married. Of course I cared.’
The hollow sensation in her gut shortened her breath. ‘Then why aren’t you with her now?’
His face twisted in a grimace of deep bitterness and unforgiving reprehension. ‘Because only one of the allegations was untrue,’ he answered in an icy voice.
When the penny dropped, her mouth gaped. ‘She cheated on you with different men?’
His jaw worked for several seconds. ‘Apparently, she was lonely and I wasn’t there for her enough so, yes, she turned to other men while convincing herself that I would be okay with it.’ Impatient fingers charged through his hair, ruffling the jet waves. ‘Are we done with the questioning, Suki? Are you satisfied that I didn’t make a cheater out of you the night we slept together?’ he asked.
Although she managed to convince herself that the part of her that had felt battered and wronged was appeased, the sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach presented an even greater problem.
‘Yes, I’m satisfied,’ she murmured.
He exhaled, his stride steady and assured as he retraced his steps back to her. ‘I came up here to tell you lunch is ready. Teresa has made boliche.’
For the first time since she’d started sampling his housekeeper’s incredible dishes, Suki couldn’t summon the appetite for the delicious Cuban pot roast. She pushed her food around her plate, forcing down bites for the sake of eating rather than enjoyment.
Also for the first time, Ramon didn’t complain, his own thoughts seemingly turned inwards as the meal progressed. When another furtive g
lance showed his gaze in the middle distance, Suki had to bite her tongue to stop herself from asking what he was thinking of. Who he was thinking of.
The idea that she’d opened a vault of memories for him sat like a heavy weight on her chest. One she could no longer bear by the time their plates were cleared away.
‘Do you mind if I skip dessert? I want to go for a swim in a little while and I’d rather not fall asleep in the pool.’
‘If you wish,’ he said, his usual droll response patently absent.
When he failed to deliver the narrow-eyed warning for her to be careful at the pool, Suki walked away from the table, the weight sitting heavier on her chest.
It stayed with her as she traversed the hallways to the room where the decorators were beginning to re-plaster the walls in readiness to replace the centuries-old carved stone that had been removed. After a short discussion with the foreman, she made her way to her suite.
The light tan she’d acquired gave her the confidence to don the canary-yellow bikini she would normally have avoided as being too eye-catching for her pasty skin. But the way she looked was the last thing on her mind as she stepped out onto the terrace and headed for the pool.
Submerging herself beneath the cool water did nothing to erase the image of Ramon’s face as he spoke of Svetlana. The bitterness. The pain.
Acrid jealousy rose to choke her as his words joined in her torment.
We were engaged to be married. Of course I cared.
Did he still care? Was he still so in love with her it’d stunted his artistic passion?
She burst from beneath the water, her breath coming in pants as she clung to the edge of the pool. What was wrong with her that she couldn’t get off the subject? Who Ramon cared about shouldn’t feature anywhere on her emotional landscape. What she should be giving thanks for was that her integrity hadn’t been compromised.
She hadn’t inadvertently stolen another woman’s man, even if it’d been for a single unforgettable night.
And yet, she continued to cling to the tiles, her mind tripping forward to the nights she would soon not have. To the time when she would be relegated to sleeping alone, should her job of conceiving succeed sooner rather than later.
Deep in her heart, she knew it would be sooner. But the joy of that knowledge was crushed beneath the boulder sitting on her chest.
Ramon emerged from the salon and for a moment the weight lightened. Her gaze met his as he joined her at the poolside, her senses barely registering the kitchen staff who followed a moment later with a tray holding fruit punch.