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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
SONIA
Ten Years Ago…
“Mmm.” I sigh sleepily and snuggle tighter against Santos, loving the feel of our naked bodies pressed this way after an hour of lovemaking in his bed. “I never want to leave.”
He trails his fingertips over my shoulder and down to my elbow. “I don’t want you to leave.”
Rolling me onto my back, he dips his head and takes my nipple into his mouth. I giggle and squirm beneath him. “You’re ready for more so soon?”
“Aren’t you?” he asks, moving to my other breast.
Heat pools between my legs as he reignites the flame. But as turned on as I am, I can’t hold back the yawn that escapes me. “I’m sorry,” I say with a dazed smile, my eyes glazed. “It’s been weeks since I’ve had a full night’s sleep. If only we could be like a normal couple and go to bed together, I’d be more rested.”
He bites my nipple, then releases it slowly. “That will never happen, Sonia. The most we can ever have is this. And when it’s over, we’ll have the memories of something beautiful.”
It’s not the first time he’s told me this, but that doesn’t make the words any less painful, and I wince. He’s right, of course. My father would never allow us to be together. I’ve known that from the moment I first slept with Santos. Any relationship with him was never meant to go past passionate sex.
“I should go.” I sit up, not wanting to show him my disappointment. Only, he does see it.
Grabbing hold of my arm, he brings me to him. With his hand on the back of my neck, he keeps me still, dropping his forehead to mine. “Don’t be angry with me.”
“I’m not angry. I just… I want to be with you. I love you, Santos.”
He remains quiet for a moment, though I can sense the tension within him as he searches for a way to reply. “I’m not the type of man who can afford to love someone like you,princesa.”
With a huff, I ask, “You can’t afford to love me? There’s no price on love.”
“There is for both of us. If your father ever learns of what we’re doing, he’ll punish you. He might even disown you. Is that something you’re ready for?”
“Yes,” I say without hesitation. I’d give it all up for love, even more so for what I have with him. It’s all I’ve ever wanted, this all-consuming, die-for-you sort of love. Pulling away slightly, I peer into the dark depths of his eyes, wishing to hell I could read the million thoughts that seem to go through his mind. “I think the better question is, would you give up whatever it is you’re hanging on to? Could you let it go?”
“I’m under contract, Sonia.”
“So you don’t work and don’t get paid. You’re not a slave, Santos. You can go wherever you want.”
“But Iama slave. Fernando took my family’s land, and if I want it back, I have to work for it. I won’t stop at getting my land back,” he says.
“He took it? What does that even mean?”
He looks away, running his hand over his face. “Your father holds a lien against my family’s land. If I don’t finish the contract, he’ll take ownership. I wouldn’t give two fucks if it was just about me. I’d say to hell with it all and take you somewhere Fernando will never find us. I’d marry you. But I swore to my father I’d get it back.”
My smile fades as my hopes are dashed. “Oh,” I whisper.
I try to move away, but he catches my arm and tugs me to him. “Sonia.” He swallows hard as he searches my gaze. “Would you truly give it all up for someone like me? I have nothing to offer you but a life of hard work.”
“Would you love me?” I ask.
“Every damned day of my life,” he replies with absolute conviction.
“For that, I’d leave everything.”
He considers me for a long while before he says, “I couldn’t let you do that. Not yet. Not until I can give you the life you deserve.” He cups my cheek and traces my lower lip with his thumb. “One day, I’ll have it all, Sonia,” he vows. “No matter what it costs. And then nothing will keep us apart.”
Accepting what he says because I desperately want to believe him, I let him kiss away the foreboding cloud looming over us.
* * *
