Nick stiffened, clearly insulted. “I would not slink away like a coward, leaving my daughter behind.”
Rico wasn’t so sure, but since he was anxious to get the man out of the room, he didn’t say so aloud. Instead, he waited until Nick had left the suite before saying to Teresa, “The harbor’s closed. He won’t get out.”
“He wouldn’t leave me,” she said stiffly.
“Honor among thieves, you mean?” Rico snorted a laugh. “Hard to believe coming from the woman who used me just long enough for her family to steal what was mine.”
“I didn’t—” She stopped, shook her head and muttered something he couldn’t catch before she looked up at him. “What did you mean when you said we’re not divorced?”
“Just that. The decree your lawyer sent you was a forgery.”
She huffed out a breath and folded her arms across her chest. “A forgery.” Swinging her long fall of hair back behind her shoulder, she fired a glare at him. “And I’m guessing that was your idea.”
“It was.”
She sucked in a gulp of air. “You’ve got a lot of nerve calling my family cheats and liars. You’re no better.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” he told her, moving in closer, pleased when she scurried back a step or two. “I never stole from you. I never lied to you. I didn’t use you.”
“Maybe not,” she countered, “but you tricked me. You let me believe we were finished. And why? So you could find me and what, keep me locked in a dungeon here on the island?”
He gave her a small smile. “Sadly, I have no dungeon here at the hotel. But I’m sure I can come up with something appropriate.”
“You can’t be serious.” Teresa gave a quick look to either side of her, as if expecting help to come riding to her rescue. But there was nothing. They were still alone in the luxury suite and the tension simmering between them grew thicker by the moment.
“I’ve never been more serious.” He leaned in close to her ear and whispered, “You’re still my wife.”
He’d waited for this moment. To have her in front of him, telling him to his face that their marriage had been nothing but a lie. That it had been a ruse to allow her family access so they could steal from him.
And now that the moment was here? It was every bit as sweet as he’d dreamed it would be.
She turned her head slightly and glared at him. “You know as well as I that you can’t keep me prisoner, Rico.”
He shrugged and tucked his hands into the pockets of his black jeans. As his gaze locked with hers, he said, “I won’t have to. You’ll stay with me of your own accord.”
“Why would I do that?”
“I’ve already told you and your father that I have enough evidence to put the Coretti family in jail for centuries.”
“You would do that just to get even with me?”
“Don’t doubt it for a moment,” he said tightly. “You would be surprised what I might do to someone who deliberately used me. Cheated me.”