Delgano: The Intro - Page 107

He’d told her he’d only been single for a few months. In reality, he’d had zero relationships in the past six years. Until he met her, he’d felt nothing in that time, and he’d only recently accepted that he’d shut down the same way he did when he lost his mother.

“I’ll answer in a moment,” he said. “I’m in awe of how beautiful you are to me.”

“With that accent, I can almost buy that.”

He laughed. “Almost? Querida, I’m lying?”

“You are adding a little mustard.”

He rolled her onto her back. “Mustard? I can usually follow your analogies, but you’ll have to explain that one to me.”

“It’s what Josiah says. Whenever I go overboard in telling him how wonderful he is, he says, ‘Mama, you’re turning me into a sandwich with too much mustard.’”

Her eyes filled.

And he wished he could take her pain.

Losing someone, especially violently and unexpectedly, never healed. All one could expect was a patch that leaked regularly but kept everything mostly in its place. If he could help it, she would never find out the role he’d played in her husband’s death. At this point, he was too far gone, and he couldn’t endure the wrath of someone he cared this deeply for. If it came down to it, he would give her up, but he couldn’t lose her.

Not again.

“Did our being together,” he kissed her forehead, her nose, and brushed his lips over hers, “trigger anything for you? Do you feel like I pushed you?”

“I didn’t,” she reassured him. “The timing felt mutually agreed upon.”

He lost himself in her eyes again, the trance only breaking because she smiled and gently tugged on his ear.

“Mr. Queiros, sometimes, you look at me like you’re seeing someone else.”

“I am seeing someone else, Ayesha,” he insisted. “I’m seeing the woman from my dreams. Come now, we both know why I approached you on day one of being at my new office.”

She wagged her index finger. “To introduce yourself.”

“I’m okay with sticking with that story.”

“Oh? That’s not why you showed up at my door and let my baby spit up all over you?”

“The spit-up was like a medal.” He smiled, and each time he did, it felt like he hadn’t smiled in years. “But yes, I showed up because I was introducing myself. That’s not why I stayed. I stayed because I find you breathtaking. And I know this isn’t easy for you?—”

“It’s okay.” She kissed his knuckles, the base of his thumb. “It’s something I didn’t realize I needed. It feels nice to be held like this again after so long.”

“It’s the same for me, querida.”

She tapped his chest. “I don’t know if I believe no one has ever had your heart, Adrían.”

Once upon a time, that was true.

However, as he stared at her and felt himself falling as if he’d lost control the moment he first saw her, he was no longer sure. It was as if love had been waiting behind a door, ready to pounce, the moment he opened it.

Summer 2018

Saint Luke Parish, Dominica

Location Undisclosed

As it turned out, the money Adrían gave her had been more than enough to help her keep a low profile in the Caribbean; however, it apparently wasn’t enough to evade a tracker as good as Novi.

At least, not forever.