Paulo pushed one hand through his hair. “I still don’t like it.”
“I don’t either,” she admitted, “but we don’t have a choice.”
“I won’t leave you here with him,” her father said softly. “I won’t use my child to bargain for my own safety.”
“What Papa said,” Paulo muttered. “If your ex wants to throw us in jail, let him.”
She loved them both for wanting to make the sacrifice, but she couldn’t allow it. “You’d all go to prison for years.”
“But you didn’t do anything wrong,” Paulo argued. “Not right that you should be the one to pay this price.”
Teresa fought down a tide of guilt that seemed to swell up from the bottom of her heart. If that were true, she thought, she wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place. She had been wrong. She’d lied to Rico from the beginning and then she’d run away rather than tell him the truth.
“Gianni stole the dagger, that’s true,” she said, with a glance over her shoulder at the Tesoro Castle up on the hill behind her. “But I’m not entirely innocent in this either.”
“This doesn’t feel right, Teresa,” Paulo told her, “leaving you here. With him.”
Shaking her head, she looked back at her brother. “He’s still my husband, remember?”
Her father gave her a long look. “Not for much longer.”
“One month, Papa. I’ll tell you everything at the end of the month.”
One of the island’s launch boats fired up its engine, shattering the quiet and bringing home the fact that soon Teresa would be alone with a man who’d waited five years for revenge. Sadly, she was both concerned about that…and aroused.
Talking to her family again, she said, “Don’t worry. I’m not in any danger. Rico’s angry, but he would never hurt me.”
“He’s keeping you here against your will,” her father reminded her.
“I’m staying because I choose to stay, Papa,” she said.
He frowned, glanced at the launch boat that would take them to St. Thomas, then turned back to her. “We’ve already tried to call Gianni. He’s not answering his phone. We’ll find him, though, and get the dagger your husband requires.”
Briefly, she wondered where her oldest brother had vanished to this time. Gianni hadn’t been around much in the last couple of years and when he did spend time with the family, he was even more secretive than usual.
“Wait a month before returning, Papa. Rico means what he says.”
“I will wait,” Nick answered with a hard look at Paulo, who was grumbling under his breath. “If you’re sure you want to do this.”
Want was a strong word, she thought. Oh, she wanted Rico, there was no denying that. But if she had any real choice, would she choose to stay with a man who could barely stand to look at her? Probably not. But the truth was, they were all out of options.
“I’m sure,” she said and hoped her voice sounded stronger than she felt at the moment.
“I still don’t like it,” Paulo muttered.