AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She went hot, then cold, an endless well of disappointment and pain opening up inside her.
You always knew he didn’t want you. Come on—why would he?
She ignored the thought, staring at him. ‘Why?’ she demanded.
His eyes got even colder. ‘Because I don’t love you and I never will. And I have nothing else but money to give you.’
The lump in her throat felt like a boulder, the ache in her heart never-ending. She should have known. When he’d told her that any children they had wouldn’t be for him, it had been a warning sign. If he had no room in his heart for children, why would he have room for her?
‘So everything you said about me deserving better?’ she said huskily. ‘That was a lie?’
An expression she couldn’t interpret flickered over his face.
‘You do deserve better. You deserve better than me, Leonie.’
‘But I don’t want better.’ Her voice was cracking and she couldn’t stop it. ‘And what makes you think you’re not better anyway?’
‘What do you think?’ His face was set and hard. ‘I hurt the people I care about. I destroyed my parents, I nearly destroyed Anna, and I almost destroyed my son.’ There was nothing but determination in his gaze. ‘I won’t destroy you.’
Her heart shredded itself inside her chest, raw pain filling her along with a fury that burned hot. She took a couple of steps towards him, one hand crushing the stems of her bouquet, the other curled in a fist.
‘Oh, don’t make this about protecting me,’ she said, her voice vibrating with anger. ‘Or your son. Or Anna. Or even your parents.’ She took another step, holding his gaze. ‘This is about you, Cristiano. You’re not protecting us. You’re protecting yourself.’
Something flickered in the depths of his eyes. A sudden spark of his own answering anger. ‘And shouldn’t I protect myself?’ he demanded suddenly, tension in every line of him. ‘Shouldn’t I decide that love is no longer something I want anything to do with? Losing my son just about destroyed me. I won’t put myself through that hell ever again.’
Her throat closed up, her heart aching. She had no answer to that, no logical or reasonable argument to make. Because she could understand it. He had been hurt, and hurt deeply, and that kind of wound didn’t heal. Certainly she couldn’t heal it.
You will never be enough for him.
Her anger had vanished now, as quickly as it had come, leaving her with nothing but a heavy ache in her chest and tears in her eyes. But still she tried, reaching out to him, trying to reach him in some way.
He caught her by the wrist, holding it gently. ‘No,gatita.’
His touch and that name. It hurt. It hurt so much.
Her heart filled slowly with agony as tears slid down her cheeks, but she refused to wipe them away. Instead she tugged her hand from his grip and stepped away.
She wouldn’t beg. She had her pride. He might not want her, but that didn’t change what she felt for him, and she wouldn’t pretend, either.
Leonie drew herself up, because to the core of her aching heart she was a fighter and she never gave up. ‘I love you, Cristiano Velazquez, Duke of San Lorenzo. I know I can’t change the past for you. I can’t ever replace what you lost. And I can’t heal those wounds in your soul. And I know you don’t love me back. But...’ She lifted her chin, looked him in the eye. ‘None of that matters. You made me see that I was worth something. You made me want something more and you made me think that I deserved to have it. I think we both do.’
A raw expression crossed his face and she couldn’t help it. She reached up and touched one cheek lightly, and this time he didn’t stop her.
‘I just wish... I just wish you believed that, too.’
But it was clear that he didn’t.
She dropped her hand and stepped away.
Her poor heart had burned to ash in her chest and there were tears on her cheeks, but her spine was straight as she turned away.
And when she walked out she didn’t falter.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CRISTIANODIDN’TARRIVEback at the castle till late that night. Stopping a wedding certainly took less time than planning one, but still it had taken hours of explaining and arranging things until everyone’s curiosity had been satisfied.
It would be a scandal, but he didn’t care.
