What The Greek Wants Most(34)

Perhaps unwisely, he'd thought the meeting with Benedicto would be swift   and cathartic. Instead, he'd brought Inez even more anguish.

He slashed his fingers through his hair as he vaulted up the stairs that   led to his third floor suite. Perhaps she'd been right. He'd ambushed   her in his rush to get this situation sorted between them.

But he would make it right for her. They would get through this. They   had to. The feelings he'd tried hard to smother had blown up in his face   when he'd woken on the plane this afternoon. With the absence of   anxiety and fear, the purest reason why he wanted to wake up each   morning with Inez had shone through.

The feelings had been so intense he'd almost blurted it out. But he'd decided to wait until she'd confronted her father.

Now he wished he hadn't. He was wishing he'd provided her with that   additional support of knowing how much she meant to him before he'd let   her father loose on her.

Pursing his mouth in determination, he pushed the bedroom door open. 'Inez, I'm sorry for-'

The sight that confronted him silenced his words and turned his feet to   clay. She stared at him, eyes red-rimmed with freshly shed tears.

Because of him. But even that pulse of deep regret couldn't erase the sight before him.

'What are you doing?' he asked, although the part of his brain that hadn't frozen along with his feet could work it out.

Two suitcases were open on the bed, one filled with her clothes. She was packing …

The silk top in her hand trembled before she turned and threw it in her   case. Then her fingers curled around the edge of the lid.

When she looked at him again, more tears filled her eyes.

'Thank you for opening my eyes to what he truly is,' she murmured huskily.

'Shelve the thanks and tell me what you're doing,' he replied tersely.

One hand swiped at her cheek. 'I'm leaving, Theo.'

'You're what?' His voice rang with disbelief. 'You're going back to your father's house?'

She shuddered from head to toe. 'No. I could never live there again.'

He frowned. 'Then where are you going?'

She gave a tiny shrug. 'I'll stay with Camila.'

He finally got his feet to work and paced to where she stood. When she   grabbed her shorts, he ripped them from her hand and threw them on the   bed. 'I seem to be missing a link somewhere, sweetheart. Why don't you   take a beat and fill me in?'

'I can't stay here.'

A merciless vice squeezed his chest. 'Why not?'

Her face creased in fresh anguish. 'Because he is right. The food he put   on our table; the clothes on my back; our fancy education. They all   came from your suffering.'

'For God's sake-'

She carried on raggedly. 'I never stopped to think about it but I   remember the day he came home twelve years ago and told my mother our   troubles were over. We weren't exactly poor before then, but after he   pressured my mother into selling the ranch he made some bad investments   and the company suffered for it. They argued a lot and I used to go to   bed every night praying for a miracle just so they'd stop arguing. Can   you imagine how I felt when my prayers were answered? And now, all  these  years later, I find out that what I'd prayed for came at the cost  of  your-' She choked to a stop, then frantically threw more clothes  into  the case.

Theo couldn't find an answer as desperately as he tried. He was watching   her torture herself and he could do nothing to stop it. 'Anjo-'

'No. I'm not an angel, Theo. I'm a child of the monster, a heartless   devil who tortures children and doesn't feel an ounce of regret for it.   How can you even bear to look at me?'

'Because you're not him!' he interjected fiercely. He took her hands and   forced her to face him. 'You're not responsible for his actions. Stay,   Inez. We said we would talk about us once we were done with him.'                       
       
           



       

'But there is no us, is there? We … we just fell into bed because of the   circumstances that brought us together. If it hadn't been for my father   you'd never have set foot in Brazil.'

'So you're walking away because you think we were never meant to be?' He   watched her, forced himself to think how he would feel if she walked   away from him. The realisation of what was happening washed over him and   ashen despair filled his chest.

'I'm walking away because you need to put everything and everyone   associated with your ordeal behind you. Otherwise you will never heal   properly.'

He dropped her hand and stared down at her. The ice that had started to   build inside him since he'd walked into the room hardened. It crept   around his heart and Theo swore he heard it crack. His eyes scoured her   beautiful tearstained face, looking for a tiny chink. A tiny ray of  hope  that would offer deliverance from the quicksand of devastation he  could  feel himself sinking into.

'So that's it? That's your final decision. You're doing this for my sake   but I have no say in the matter?' He couldn't stop the bitterness from   lacing his voice.

Her answer was to step back and gather up the last of her clothes. With   trembling fingers, she zipped up the cases and lifted them off the bed.

'Inez, answer me!'

She stilled at the door. 'Adeus, Theo.'

'Go to hell!' he snarled back.