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Tears begin to stream down my cheeks.
He attempts to take a step into my house, but that snaps me back to reality. How dare he. I hold up my hand. “Stop. You’re not welcome here.”
I grab my wine glass from him and down the whole thing. I place it on the table next to my front door while wiping my tears and steeling my voice. “What do you want?”
“Can we talk?”
“I have absolutely nothing to say to you.”
He attempts to grab my hand, but I pull it away. He looks at me in genuine shock. “You’re acting very cold, princesa. This isn’t like you.”
“I’m cold?Coldis callously and abruptly cutting someone from your life who loves you. I’m not the one who did that and I’m not the same woman you once knew. Like I said, what do you want?”
“To talk to you. Can I come in?”
“No. Of course not. You didn’t just leave me, Dominic. You left Luke too. He was devastated. I can’t risk him seeing you. I don’t ever want you around my son again.”
His face drops as he nods. “I understand. Can we talk outside?”
I step onto my front porch and close the door behind me. “I’ve had a long day. Just spit it out and leave.”
He moves to rub my arm, but I pull away again. He was always touchy-feely. It’s second nature to him. I loved it so much, but I certainly don’t want it now. I can’t handle it now.
He runs his fingers through his beard. “Beth, this has been the worst year of my life. Things I couldn’t share with you on the phone. It was dangerous. I needed to spare you what I knew was coming.”
“Don’t be so dramatic, Dominic. You dropped me like I was one of your hookers. That’s probably all you ever saw me as.”
“You know that’s not true. I only did what I did for my children. You don’t understand, Beth. I barely saw my kids this past year. There were legal battles and backroom deals being made. I had to do what was necessary to get my kids back. Cutting ties with you was part of that. It’s not what I wanted.”
“Did you get them back?”
He nods. “Yes, but it was a long, windy road.”
“Are they okay?”
He shakes his head. “Not really. They’re confused. Gabriela’s father was feeding them lies about me. Valentina was too smart for them, but Matteo has returned to his quiet demeanor.”
My heart breaks for those kids, especially Matteo. “I’m sorry for what they’ve been through.”
“They’d like to see you and Luke. Dora too. We just got back today. It’s the first thing they asked about.”
I shake my head. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think that’s a good idea. I don’t want them getting any false hope that we’ll all be spending time together again. You know I adore them, but I can’t do it to them or Luke and, honestly, I’m not sure my heart can take it. Dora lives with my sister. I couldn’t handle the reminder of you.”
His eyes fill with tears. “I’ve missed you. So much.”
I momentarily close my eyes. “Don’t.”
“Please. I’ve missed talking to you. I’ve missed spending time with you. Touching you. I’ve thought of you every single day and night for the past year.”
What an asshole. “Did you think of me when you fucked your way around Cuba for a year?”
“I…”
“Did you expect me to just fall straight into your bed after a year? We could have spoken. I would have visited. I would have waited for you. All you had to do was ask. You chose to completely cut me out of your life with only the courtesy of a few short lines. You changed your damn phone number.”
“It wasn’t my choice. You can’t think that’s what I wanted.”
“Itwasyour choice. It’s clearly what you wanted.”
