Claimed for the De Carrillo Twins

Trust. Trinity went even colder as the magnitude of that sank in. She’d let Cruz into a space inside her that had been locked up for as long as she could remember.

Trust was not her friend. Trust had got her where she was today. First of all she’d trusted herself to follow her instincts and allow Cruz to kiss her that night. Then she’d trusted Rio, believing his motives for hiring her and marrying her were transparent and benign. Instead he’d manipulated her into becoming a tool of destruction against Cruz.

And now that urge was whispering to her again...to trust Cruz just because he’d made her body weep with more pleasure than she’d ever known could be possible. And because he’d admitted that he hadn’t been with another woman since that night in his study. Since he’d kissed her.

Just remembering that now made her chest grow tight all over again. She’d never expected him to say that. What if it had just been a line, though? To get her back into bed? And she, like the fool, had believed him...

Feeling panicky now, at the thought of Cruz suddenly appearing and finding her when she felt so raw, she got out of bed and slipped on a robe. She picked up her severely crumpled dress, her face burning.

There was no sign of him as she went back to her room, and after a quick shower and changing into clean clothes she went into the main part of the apartment. She was very conscious of her body—still tender in private places—and it only made her feel more vulnerable. As if Cruz had branded her.

She knew he wasn’t there even before she saw that it was empty and an acute sense of disappointment vied with relief. What had she wanted? To wake up with his arms around her? Yes, whispered a voice, and Trinity castigated herself. Men like Cruz didn’t indulge in such displays of affection.

Her phone pinged from her bag nearby just then, and Trinity took it out to see a text from Cruz. Instantly her heart skipped a beat. Scowling at herself she read it.

I had an early-morning meeting and some things have come up so I’m going to stay in Madrid for another day/night. My driver is downstairs and he will take you to the airport where the plane is waiting whenever you are ready. Cruz.

Trinity dithered for a few minutes before writing back.

Okay.

She almost put an automatic x in the text, but stopped herself just in time.

A couple of minutes later there was another ping from her phone. She put down the coffee she’d just poured to read the text.

Just okay?

Feeling irritated at the mocking tone she could almost hear, she wrote back.

Okay. Fine.

Ping.

How are you feeling this morning?

Trinity’s face was burning now. Sh

e would bet that Cruz didn’t text his other lovers like this. They’d know how to play the game and be cool.

She wrote back.

Totally fine. Same as yesterday.

Ping.

Liar.

She responded.

I thought you had meetings to go to?

Ping.

I’m in one. It’s boring.

Trinity was smiling before she stopped herself and wrote back.

Okay, if you must know I’m a little tender, but it feels nice.