Their gazes collided. Her fingers tightened around his. “You have to stop fighting Miguel and whoever else you are.”
Warmth filtered into his gaze. “I wasn’t fighting.”
She fought to keep the tears at bay. “Then what is this?”
He shrugged.
“It hurts when I see you hurt, Diego. I don’t ever want to see this,” she said loudly, pointing his own fingers in his face, “again.”
She couldn’t keep the demand out of her tone.
She expected him to mock her, question her, tease her at least.
He said nothing, his gaze raking her face hungrily. His silent nod was too much to bear.
He scooted closer, his body an inviting fortress of pulsing heat and so much more. He still didn’t say anything, didn’t ask her anything. Just held her, his leg thrown over hers, his open palm on her back.
She pulled his hand to her face.
He obliged her without a word, his long fingers fanning out from her temples to her mouth. She kissed every finger, every ridge and mound of his palm.
She shivered as a sob built in her chest.
She drew a painful breath and tucked her face into his chest. She kissed him, the thundering boom of his heart the only sound filling her ears. “I’ve torn up the divorce papers. I never want to see them again in this lifetime. I’m never leaving you again, Diego. Ever.”
She felt his silent nod as he pulled her against him, his arms tight bands around her. Why didn’t he say anything? His agonizing silence, compared to his usually mocking, challenging, probing self, was beginning to breathe crippling fear into her limbs.
Her throat was choked up with all the words she wanted to say, her strength once again leaving her in her moment of need. But she had to do this. She had to tell him, had to show him her heart.
She struggled against him and he loosened his hold. Using his strength, she pulled herself up. She laughed, the sound tinged with her fear. She breathed hard, her hands going to her small belly. “I’m already a little clumsy.”
He stayed on his side, propped by his elbow, his gaze on her belly. “You’ve begun to show.”
She laughed, her tears finally spilling from her eyes. He was still speaking to her. It was more than she deserved. “Every day is making a difference.”
“Can I touch you?”
“You don’t have to ask,” she whispered, wondering if she had already lost him. Because Diego never asked. He manipulated her, he tricked her, he bargained with her. It was the only way she had ever given him anything, the only way she had let him see anything. And his solemn request now pierced her.
He placed his hand on her belly, his huge palm almost spanning the small bump.
She placed her hand atop his and he glanced up toward her. “Aren’t you going to ask me why I came back?”
The warmth disappeared from his gaze. He pulled himself up with a smooth movement and joined her against the headboard. “No.”
She held his hand tightly, drawing strength from it. One question swirled on the tip of her tongue, gouging into her. Every instinct inside her told her to embrace the silence again, to let it go. If she didn’t ask, she couldn’t be hurt by his answer. If she didn’t ask, she could...
She was short-changing herself again.
“I...I would like to ask you something. And I want you to give me an honest answer, okay?”
He nodded, his gaze never leaving hers.
Her throat almost seized up. There was a hot prickle of tears at the backs of her eyes. “You... Why did you take Marissa with you? I... It was the cruelest thing you could have done to me. I knew Eduardo. I would have come with you...”
He touched his mouth to her temple. “Shh...I never meant to hurt you.”
His fingers tightened around hers. He didn’t smile, but she saw the softening in his eyes. Because he understood how big it was for her just to ask.
“I wanted to take you with me. All I wanted was to hear you say again and again that you weren’t disgusted by what I had done, that I was a better man than I already was.” His words were soft, yet loaded with emotion. “But, Eduardo, he was always a good reminder to me of what I could become if I let something matter to me too much. Leaving without you was a matter of denying myself, proving to myself that I didn’t need you. Marissa...when she requested if she could come I couldn’t say no.”
“I want to share both good and bad with you, Diego. I want to be the one you lean on when...” She took a deep breath. “I meant what I said before. I’m never leaving again.”
A fire licked into life in his gaze. “That’s good to know.”
“Why are you being like this?”
“What is it you want from me? I will do it.”