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“Yes, you were.” She crossed her arms and looked at him. Part of her wanted to be angry with him for standing her up and making her worry. The other part of her was relieved to see that nothing was the matter. Which led her to her next question. “Why are you still in your dress clothes?”
An older couple passed them in the passageway. The woman’s eyes widened as she took in Roberto’s appearance. And then she turned her attention to Stasia and gave her an approving nod. “Good for you.”
Stasia stifled a laugh.
He cleared his throat and opened the door wider. “Come in.”
She wasn’t sure what to expect as she entered the luxury cabin. Everything about Roberto struck her as him being neat and orderly. But the room didn’t appear to be as she would have expected.
Though the bed was perfectly made, there was a black suitcase tossed on top of it. The case was open. Clothes and accessories were strewn across the bed as though he had been in a hurry to get out the door and didn’t have time to put things where they belonged.
And then there was the table. It was covered with a laptop, portable printer and tons of printouts. Some of the pages were lying flat on the tabletop and others were crumpled and tossed toward the garbage can but had missed their target.
“I don’t understand.” She turned a puzzled stare his way. “What’s going on? It looks like you worked all night.”
“As a matter of fact, I did. Not all of it. But a lot of it.” He rubbed his neck and then rolled his shoulders.
“I’m guessing you didn’t make it to bed.”
He shook his head.
“You work too hard. And too often.”
“I’m fine.”
Her gaze narrowed in on him. She saw the tired lines etched around his eyes. And the way his broad shoulders sagged ever so slightly as though he were carrying a heavy burden.
Someone had to be honest with him. Someone had to tell him to slow down—that there was more to life than work. And she knew all too well how fleeting life could be.
She lifted her chin ever so slightly. “You’re not fine.”
Roberto crossed his arms over his chest as his steady gaze met hers. A muscle in his jaw twitched. “I’m sorry my life isn’t to your liking, but it’s the way I like it. My work is important to me.”
“Even though you’re all alone?” She hadn’t meant to say that out loud. But she never understood why such a good-looking, successful man would choose to be alone.
His gaze darkened. “Did you ever consider that I like it that way?”
Her mouth opened but nothing came out. She hadn’t meant to say that. What was wrong with her?
“I’m good this way. Love and marriage, that may be the way for other people, but it doesn’t work for me.”
That was one of the saddest things she’d ever heard in her life. “I’m sorry you feel that way because you don’t know what you’re missing.”
His gaze searched hers. “How can you say that after all you’ve been through?”
“And what? By not falling in love, by not marrying, that I would be better off?”
He hesitated as though realizing he too had said more than he’d meant to. And then he gave a nod.
Was this what everyone thought? That she’d have been better off by never loving Lukos? Well, it was time to set the record straight.
“I am better off for having known and loved Lukos. He showed me how great love can be through the good times and the really rotten, horrible bad times.” Tears pricked the backs of her eyes as moments from their life together flickered through her memory. “But I wouldn’t trade one single moment I had with him. Not any of it. He helped me to become a better person—at least, I’d like to think I am.”
Remorse reflected in Roberto’s eyes. “Of course you are. I shouldn’t have said that—I shouldn’t have dredged up the past. I know how hard this is for you.”
“How hard what is?”
He shrugged. “Moving on alone. Mourning his passing.”
She wanted to argue and tell Roberto that it wasn’t hard, that she was doing just fine. But that would be a lie. It was like waking up one day and having everything you knew about your life and routine being totally altered. It had taken her a while to find her footing again, but she was now able to stand on her own two feet. Now she just had to find a new path to walk down.
