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She really couldn’t see any of that, to be honest. Will was still under his father’s thumb, whether he admitted it or not. He’d been at the house most mornings going over Rowling Energy stuff, which Catalina assumed was really just Will checking in.
“Why did you give up on us before?” she asked before she could think better of it.
Will stopped, causing Catalina to stop as well. She dropped his hand and turned to fully face him.
“Never mind,” she said, shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter now.”
The muscle in Will’s jaw ticked as he stared back at her. “It does matter. Our breakup damaged both of us.”
Catalina pushed her hair behind her ears, which was useless as the wind kept whipping it out. “I’m pretty sure you weren’t damaged, seeing as how ending our relationship was your decision.”
When she started to walk on, Will gripped her elbow. “You think seeing you move on and dating another man wasn’t crushing to me? You think knowing you were in another man’s arms, maybe even in his bed, didn’t tear me up?”
She’d tried not to think about Will when she threw herself into another relationship to mask the hurt. From the angst in his tone and the fire in his eyes, though...had Will been hurt over the breakup? How could that be when he was the one who had ultimately ended things? Did he not want the split? Was he doing it to appease his father? If that was the case then she was doubly angry that he hadn’t fought for them.
“You thought I’d sit around and cry myself to sleep over you?” she retorted, refusing to feel guilt over a decision he’d made for both of them.
And so what if she’d shed tears over him? Many tears, in fact, but there was no way she’d admit such a thing. As far as he knew she was made of steel and stronger than her emotions.
“Besides, you had moved on quite nicely. You ended up in a relationship with a Montoro princess.”
Dammit. She hadn’t meant for that little green monster to slip out. Catalina knew just how much Bella and James loved each other, yet there was that sliver of jealousy at the fact that Will had been all ready to put a ring on Bella’s finger first.
Will laughed. “That fake engagement was a mistake from all angles. James and Bella have found something she never would’ve had with me.”
“But you would’ve married her.”
And that fact still bothered Catalina. She hated the jealousy she’d experienced when she’d discovered Will was engaged. Not that she ever thought she stood a chance, but how could anyone compete with someone as beautiful and sexy as Bella Montoro? She was not only royalty, she was a humanitarian with a good heart.
On a sigh, Catalina started walking again, concentrating on the shells lining the shore. “It doesn’t matter, honestly. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
She reached down to pick up an iridescent shell, smoothing her finger over the surface to swipe away the wet sand. Catalina slid the shell into the small hidden pocket on the side of her dress and kept walking, very much aware of Will at her side. He was a smart man not to deny her last statement. They both knew he would’ve married Bella because that’s what his father had wanted. Joining the fortunes of the two dynamic families was Patrick’s dream...the wrong son had fallen for the beauty, though.
They walked a good bit down the deserted beach. Catalina had no idea how Will had managed to find such a perfect place with total privacy, but he had no doubt planned this for a while. On occasion he would stop and find a shell for her, wordlessly handing it to her as they walked on. The tension was heavier now that she’d opened up the can of worms. She wished she’d kept her feelings to herself.
What did it matter if he was going to marry Bella? What man wouldn’t want to spend his life with her? Not only that, had Catalina truly thought Will would remain single? Had she believed he was so exclusively focused on work that he wouldn’t want to settle down and start the next generation of Rowling heirs?
The warm sun disappeared behind a dark cloud as the wind kicked into high gear. Catalina looked up and suppressed a groan. Of course a dark cloud would hover over her. The ominous sky was starting to match her mood.
“Should we head back to the yacht?” she asked, trying to tuck her wayward strands of hair behind her ears as she fought against the wind.
“I don’t think it’s going to do anything major. The forecast didn’t show rain.”
That nasty cloud seemed to indicate otherwise, but she wasn’t going to argue. They already had enough on their plate.
