Falling with Grace - Page 150

She tipped her head to the side and raised a brow. “Fruit?”

“No, thank you.”

“This is a niceplace, isn’t it?” Rosa grabbed a piece of melon and popped it into her mouth.

“It’s beautiful.”

“Elias bought it after he and Nadia announced their engagement.”

My gaze hit the floor as the breath in my lungs froze. “He bought it for her?”

“Dios mio, no.” She leaned back in her chair. “He never bought her anything besides her apartment and private driver. Maybe a few trinkets and clothes, but never anything like this.”

I hid my hands beneath the heavy tabletop and rolled the rosary in my pocket.

“Do you think they’ll get back together?”

The question rolled off my lips before I could harness them, making me cringe inside.

Rose moved her head from side to side. “Once he makes a decision, it’s final.”

“Lo siento.”

“No need to apologize,mi hija.”She took another sip of her drink. “If he didn’t want her gone, even you couldn’t change his mind.”

I chewed my inner cheek while diverting my gaze to the small fly, taking his fill on the edge of the fruit tray.

32

Elias

“That’s him?”

I tipped my head toward the man sitting in the back seat with me in my Mercedes, his bleeding nose soaking his shirt and jeans.

He nodded. “Si. Green shirt.”

“Thank you, Gomez.” I unlocked his door, and it swung open.

Javier reached inside, grabbed Gomez’s arm, and yanked him out of the vehicle, tossing him on the side of the road before I dropped the picture to the seat he’d occupied.

Javier settled in the front seat. “Where to?”

“Let’s crash his little outing. He’ll be comfortable there.”

“Do you want to wait until dark?”

I glanced up into the sky, the sun close to setting. “What’s the fun in that?”

He laughed, and Rodrigo turned the vehicle into valet parking for the all-inclusive resort.

I snagged my suit jacket off the center console and slid it over my shoulders before stepping out of the vehicle as Javier met me on the other side, then fastened the button into place.

“I’ll get the staff out of the way.”

“No need.”

My shoes clicked on marbled floors as we moved through the hotel entrance, beyond the welcoming staff, and through to the back, where a man with salt and pepper hair sat with his wife and two young children.