Page 32 of No Merciful Corruption

“Do you love him?” I can practically hear his heart racing inside his chest. His eyes widen and his hands drop from my shoulders. “Do you?”

“It’s not the same⁠—”

He stands quickly, rising to his full height. “It’s a simple question, do you love him or not?”

“Would you just let me finish!”

Footsteps draw near and Doña Ana hesitantly enters the room. “Dahlia, they need you to sign.”

I spin around. “They what?”

“The man at the door,” she says. “He needs you to sign. Said only you.”

“I didn’t order anything.”

Doña Ana remains silent but her eyes are fixated on Alejandro’s arms around me and I shake him off. My blood is on fire—maybe we need a break from this argument because Alejandro is right. We’re going in circles without reaching any sort of resolution and we won’t be able to with emotions running so high.

I make my way to the front door and I can feel Alejandro behind me. He stays a few steps behind but never far.

As soon as I see the courier at the front door, my stomach drops. I recognize the uniform and the high security box he’s carrying with him.

“Dahlia Rosario?”

Doña Ana hands my wallet to me before disappearing inside the house. Alejandro lingers in the vestibule but his curiosity is peaked when he watches me hand over my ID.

“What is that?” he asks.

“Nothing.” I scribble my name on the release form, snatch the box from the courier, and rush upstairs.

Alejandro follows me all the way to the study.

“What kind of delivery requires a courier to drive around in a bulletproof car?” he demands.

“I had a bracelet resized, that’s it. The local jeweler does home deliveries and I forgot I had it scheduled for today.”

Lyss has been in here a few times in the past couple weeks but the study is still in a state of disarray. There are boxes everywhere, a lamp still wrapped in bubble wrap, and the wood-burning fireplace has yet to be used after its repair during the holidays. Some shelves are stocked with books and all the curtain rods have been installed and deep velvet fabric covers the windows. There’s a sofa and a rug but no coffee table or love seats across from the fireplace and the mantle is empty. Above it hangs a large portrait in a thick, gilded frame.

Like the safe in the Barcelona house, mine is hidden behind a painting. Before I can open it, Alejandro grabs the box from my hands.

“Give it back!”

He pulls out the diamond bracelet inside. “I didn’t buy you this.”

I snatch the bracelet out of his hand. “Does it matter who did?”

His face flushes with anger. “You know what, I’m beginning to think it does.”

“Jealousy doesn’t suit you. Besides, you seem to forget that we were very much broken up for a year.” He doesn’t put a fight when I take the box back and put the bracelet inside. “So why don’t we just drop it? I haven’t asked you about your affairs this past year and I’m sure their numbers are dizzying.”

I use the step stool to reach the picture frame and pull it back like a door to reveal the safe behind it. I throw the box inside with little care for the precious diamonds and slam the safe door shut.

It’s the first time I’ve thought about Alejandro being with another woman. The knowledge was always there, floating around the back of my mind, but I never let it fully take form. Every time I came close a blinding rage came over me and the urge to hop on a flight back to Barcelona was too great. I refused to let him have that much power over me and I was determined not to go back. The truth is, the jealous one in our relationship has always been me. Alejandro can be protective but not possessive—that vice is mine and mine alone and voicing it aloud after all this time makes me absolutely murderous. Sick and nauseas and so livid it feels like I can split the world in half with my bare hands.

No…no, I don’t want to know. I don’t ever want to know and he should never tell me. I don’t care how horrible the double standard is but I really think I’d be capable of murder if I found out he…if in the last year there was someone…

“Dahlia—”

“No. Forget it. Forget I said anything.” I cross my arms over my chest, feeling the need to protect myself. “I don’t want to know.”