AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It was all an act. Suki Langston was nothing but a stone-hearted liar. One he’d had the misfortune of tangling with for one single night. Long before that night, he’d wondered what Luis saw in her, why their so-called friendship had stretched into years.
He’d concluded that his brother had been fooled as concisely as he had. Not only that, Suki had lured Luis into keeping a secret that shouldn’t have been his to keep.
In his darker moments, Ramon wasn’t sure he would ever be thankful that his brother had finally gone against his vow and told him the truth. Because what use was it to be told that something you hadn’t even known you possessed had already been ripped from your life? What good did it do when it left you with a gaping wound further compounded by deeper losses?
At first he’d been stunned at the news, even doubting Luis. He’d used condoms the three times he’d taken her. Granted that last time in her bed had been a very close call but he hadn’t taken complete leave of his senses to forget protection. But he was aware that prophylactics weren’t one hundred per cent foolproof. And very quickly he’d accepted the consequences of that mishap.
What he hadn’t accepted then and couldn’t accept now were the decisions Suki had taken with regard to what belonged to him.
His fist balled, the rage and grief in his chest multiplying a thousandfold.
It was unfortunate that she chose that moment to flick those wide
, duplicitous blue eyes at him.
‘How...how long have you known?’ Her voice was little above a murmur. As if the strength had been bled from her vocal cords. He believed no such thing. Unfortunately, he was well versed in such female tactics, was accustomed to women who often pretended emotional weakness to gain advantage. In his younger days it’d been a mere irritant if it meant the woman in question ended up in his bed. With the passage of time, he’d grown to abhor it. Svetlana had been a master at it. Little had she known that he’d been onto her games very early on in their relationship.
‘That’s what you’re concerned about? How long I was in the dark before I found out the truth?’ he demanded. ‘Not how I feel about you getting rid of my child?’
She paled even further, but he was in no mood to show mercy. She’d showed him none and dragged his brother into colluding with her lies. ‘I—’
‘Are you aware of what you robbed me of? Do you know that tying Luis into your web of lies put a strain between us and deprived me of time with my brother in the months before he died?’ The words ripped fresh wounds on top of barely healed ones.
A broken sob tore from her. ‘Oh, no! Please, please don’t say that.’
White-hot rage and shredding grief scorched him from the inside. ‘Why not? Because it’s too difficult to hear?’
She bunched a fist against her mouth, her eyes shining as she stared at him. ‘Yes! It is,’ she admitted brokenly.
The car drew to a stop at the private heliport. On the tarmac his aircraft waited to transport them to the easternmost point of the island that was his true home. The rotor blades were already turning, but he wasn’t quite done with her. Wouldn’t be for a very long time.
‘What right had you to ask that of Luis, hmm? What happened that night was between you and I and no one else. The consequences should have been borne by both of us.’
She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. ‘I know, and I didn’t want to...to tell Luis.’
‘Why not? Because it was a dirty little secret you wished to dispose of but couldn’t quite accomplish on your own?’
‘No! My God, no. Stop twisting my words. Ramon, please listen...’ Her mouth trembled as she opened her eyes and sucked in a deep breath.
He inhaled a breath that didn’t quite replenish his lungs. Right in that moment he felt as if nothing would ever be right again. He’d lost too much, too soon.
‘I have the medical bills from the private clinic, the ones you let my brother pay for. I know exactly how much it cost to get rid of my child.’
‘Oh, my God,’ she whispered.
‘No. You’re out of luck, cara. Not even a higher power is going to save you now.’
She stared at him with wide eyes before her gaze flicked past him, and out of the window at their surroundings. Seeing the readying aircraft, she turned back to him.
‘Where are we going?’
‘To my villa in Cienfuegos. My lawyers are waiting for us there.’
A wave of apprehension washed over her face. ‘I thought we were going back to the hotel. Do...do I need to come with you?’
Another emotion sliced through him. ‘You don’t wish to know what your so-called best friend bequeathed you?’
She hesitated. ‘I do, but...’
