A Love that Endures 2

by Forrest, Bella

  Her head spinning from the argument and her cousin’s accusations, she walked, moving her feet without thinking until she found herself in between rows of planted vines. She slowed her pace and tried to appreciate the sights, smells, and sensations surrounding her. Waxy purple grapes spilled lusciously from every vine, perfuming the salty air with a dash of tart sweetness. The red-beige earth beneath her feet grounded her.

  She hadn’t realized how sorely she’d needed someone like David in her life until he had arrived so fatefully. Katy wasn’t ungrateful for the great privilege and wealth she grew up with. But she was lonely. And all of the people surrounding her night and day in Lorria—the various employees, the king and queen, even Cassie—seemed to love Katy at a bit of a distance.

  But David . . . he loved Katy for herself. He wanted to share the little moments with her, no matter how mundane, to hear her opinions about literature and to comfort her when even the smallest thing went wrong. He loved her recklessly and passionately, with his whole being. Katy knew that. She trusted it, because she felt the exact same way about him. In fact, she felt like a different person when she was around him. Stronger. Bolder. More assured of herself, and everything about her life…

  Things aren’t all bad. You still have him. And you know who he is. Who cares what anyone else thinks?

  Deep in her thoughts, Katy was surprised to hear a young, mirthful laugh rising up a few rows over. Over the short trellises the vines grew on, she saw that a little girl had been hiding in the vineyard. Another little girl, who must’ve been her playmate, had sneaked up and found her.

  Popping up together, they both looked in Katy’s direction. Katy waved.

  “Hi, Princess!” one of the little girls cried out, waving her hand back excitedly. Her smaller friend covered her smile and leaned on the other girl’s shoulder before shyly waving as well.

  Katy smiled as the children laughed and then ran away again, toward one of the gardeners’ houses. But, biting her lip as the smile melted away, Katy wondered if those girls would be affected by her own impulsive choices. Lorrellian princesses were supposed to be models of chaste and selfless behavior. And then there was Princess Katerina, acting with abandon and lust under the stars.

  What would that gardener say to his daughters about her? That she was no longer to be looked up to? That she had lost her way? That this was what premarital relations led to: humiliation and a broken heart?

  Katy turned and walked away in the direction of her estate. It had never been the modesty and chastity that she’d rebelled against, despite what her parents undoubtedly thought. The feeling that she hated was the feeling that her value as a person was entirely wrapped up in her purity. It was the way that the queen pushed marriage and motherhood onto Katy without ever asking about her feelings on the matter. As though “intimate relations,” as her mother often referred to them as, were more acceptable in a diplomatic relationship that contained no love at all than with a person who respected your choices and adored you, inside and out.

  If Katy hadn’t found David, if she hadn’t completely trusted him, she would’ve been happy to remain a virgin until the right time, even until marriage. Honestly, it was being told that her choices in love, intimacy, and marriage had already been made for her that bothered Katy. It had always been that way. And maybe it always would.

  Nearing the marvelous stone fortress on the sea that she had spent half her life in, Katy made a commitment to herself. With the sea and the vines as her witnesses.

  I don’t want to hurt Mama or Papa or Cassie. I don’t want to let my people down. I will live through this scandal with dignity and strive to be the role model that I know I can be to my people. If I have to, I will keep my own desires private.

  But I also have to be true to myself and the things that I know are best for me.

  And what’s best for me is being with David.

  32

  David

  “Scotch?” Adriano asked.

  David watched uneasily as Adriano found himself a glass, stepped to a liquor cabinet, and unstopped a crystal decanter, pouring himself a slug of amber liquid. His pulse had quickened considerably since Adriano’s confession. What did this “uncle” have in store for him?

  “No, thank you,” David said. Blame the Brit in him, but he just couldn’t stop his good manners from escaping his mouth. Even in a situation that was beginning to feel more and more . . . sketchy.

  “That’s surprising,” Adriano replied, replacing the crystal stopper. “I can't imagine it’d be too rich for you. I hear you’ve acquired quite a taste for that, with that girlfriend of yours.”

  David bristled at the comment. In just a few short seconds, he had come to the conclusion that he didn’t like Adriano. Not one bit. But he had been flown all the way down here for something. And he wanted answers. He just hoped that things weren’t as bad as his intuition was slowly realizing.

  Adriano turned and looked at David with dark eyes. His jaw was stubbled with a short beard, and his black hair was slicked back. A thin gold chain hung around his neck. He swirled the scotch in his hands.

  “So you’re my brother’s bastard,” he said. David’s body tensed at his uncle’s cold tone. Smirking, Adriano added, “Oh, that’s right. I believe your mother had you legitimized before she left. So I suppose that’d make you his rightful son. Which means you’re the heir to a considerable business effort, carefully tended over decades. With toil and blood.”

  “Why am I here?” he asked firmly, willing his voice not to quiver—not to show Adriano how confused and nervous he was. What possible reason could they have to bring you down here if not to meet your father? To hire you? Or . . . something much worse?

  Adriano chuckled softly as he poured himself some ice and took a sip of his drink. Then he looked back up at David, his eyes intense. “As an orphan, perhaps this is strange for you. But the Morenos, we’re a loyal and close-knit family. And now we hear about you for the first time. Why wouldn’t we want to meet you?”

  David might have been naïve enough to come all this way expecting to receive a warm welcome from his father, but he certainly wasn’t stupid. And after everything else that had happened, he wasn’t buying that.

  “Why isn’t my father here?”

  “You’re damn lucky he isn’t, boy. Otherwise I’d be the least of your concerns,” Adriano shot back, and this time he made no effort to conceal the venom in his voice.

  David stared wide-eyed, trying to ignore the portion of his mind that found it surreal and frightening that Adriano looked so similar to him and yet so different. His unease steadily grew. Why wasn’t he getting any straight answers?

  Adriano took a breath and then a big swig of his drink. Ice cubes tinkled indifferently.

  “Forgive me. I keep forgetting that you’re family. You look so much like . . .”

  “Like Jeanine,” a thickly accented voice interrupted.

  Another man had entered the room. This one was much older. He was tall and lean, and the combination of that and his leathery skin texture reminded David of a frayed rope. His brow was sweaty, as if he’d just come in from outside. He walked between Adriano and David to take his place at the head of the desk. And he did it so casually and confidently that David knew that it was his desk. This was a man who commanded respect. A man not to be trifled with.

  Even Adriano looked cowed.

  “So much like Jeanine,” the older man went on. “But I see Marcos in you, as well. You have the Moreno chin. Strong. You’re built like my father was.”

  David took deep, quick breaths, trying to muster a smile. Under any other circumstances, he would’ve been thrilled to hear that these men knew his mother. But he wasn’t about to start asking them for details.

  “If you’re going to be coy about this whole ordeal, then I want to leave now,” David managed, mustering some primal survival instinct from deep inside. Manners be damned. Whatever he had been brought down to Brazil for, he wanted no part of it. He
’d been deceived and manipulated. These men weren’t his family.

  They seemed like criminals. At the very least, they were liars.

  Adriano opened his mouth to reply, but the older man’s hand went up, demanding silence. The younger man complied. Then the older man spoke again.

  “You will, David. I can see that you’re afraid. And that’s good. If you weren’t afraid, that’d mean that you are very stupid. But let me assure you now: if you cooperate with us and hear us out, you’ll leave safely. Back to your American education and your European princess.”

  David didn’t like that this stranger knew so much about him. And he didn’t like the implication of what he was saying, either.

  “And if I don’t comply?” David countered. But he already knew the answer.

  “Then you won’t leave Brazil. But I know that you won’t make a dumb decision like that, my boy.”

  My boy. The nerve of this man.

  “Who are you and what do you want?” David asked, his tone cool and steady. The men before him must know that it was a bluff, but he had to do it anyway.

  “I empathize with the king and queen of Lorria, David. You’ll have to forgive an old man for telling the blunt truth.” The man stood and made his way to the front of the desk. “But I can understand their plight because I was once in a similar position. You build up an empire, a dynasty even, and prepare to bequeath it to your children. But then some foreigner comes and threatens to ruin all those years of work and care. Simply by stealing away the heart of your beloved child.”

  David inhaled as he suddenly understood. This powerful man was talking about Jeanine like this because he was Marcos’s father.

  The man before him was his grandfather.

  “What did you do to my mother?” David asked as soon as the realization hit him, his voice on edge, as every muscle in his body tensed. The odd, disjointed things he knew about Jeanine came roaring back to him: the way Mary had felt like she was running from something, the decision to put David up for adoption and then go into hiding. Had his mother been trying to protect herself against this man?

  And had she been trying to protect David?

  “Nothing,” the man replied softly. “She was smart enough to realize when she’d overstayed her welcome. So she left, before things had to come to . . . that.”

  “So you ran her out? She loved your son and you couldn’t handle that. But why?”

  The man had talked about an empire and a dynasty that Jeanine was going to ruin. But that didn’t make any sense.

  The old man scoffed gently, a smile gracing his thin lips. “Well, you see, Marcos never wanted all of this.” He gestured around the study, but David knew that his scope was much larger. “He didn’t want our business, or the . . . unique problems that come with it. The violence and guilt. And, in our business, the one thing you learn early on is that you can’t succumb to the guilt. You’re merely providing a service. A product. People can choose for themselves. You see what I mean? Marcos . . . your father . . . he felt the guilt.”

  “What does that have to do with my mother?” David asked. He was sweating now, sure that he had to escape somehow. But if he was stuck here for the moment, at least he was finally getting some of the picture.

  “Truthfully, nothing. She just happened to be a beautiful tourist visiting while Marcos was at university in São Paulo. She just happened to give him a reason to believe that he could finally remove himself from this life I so generously built for him. I’m sure she filled his head with doubts and a false morality, but it was Marcos who made those choices. He’d always been trying to get away from us. Jeanine was just an avenue for that escape.”

  “Then why not just let him leave?” David pressed angrily. He didn’t like the idea of his mother being bullied and intimidated by this man or his cronies for any reason. And he didn’t like the idea that his father had bowed to the pressure himself.

  “Family means everything to us, David. You’d know that if you had been born to a proper daughter-in-law who would’ve raised you up to join our business. You’d see the lengths we go to providing for our own. Marcos is my eldest son. The heir to this business. He had to see that eventually.”

  “But why does that mean I can’t know my father? I wasn’t going to ask for money or try to move down here. I just wanted to meet him,” David said, feeling deceived and embarrassed.

  “Do you know how many years it took for Marcos to forgive us after we ran off his bride? He’d never forgive us if he knew that Jeanine had been pregnant at the time. Wouldn’t want to reopen old wounds after all that time.”

  “Then why bring me down here at all? If you’re trying to keep Marcos from ever finding out about me, why call me and invite me down?” David asked.

  If not to kill me?

  He was feeling drained and exhausted now. He just wanted to leave this place, even if he didn’t know any other place in the world that would provide solace. What he wanted was to go straight back to Harvard and Katy’s arms, but Katy wasn’t at Harvard, and he didn’t know when he would be able to see her again.

  In the meantime, anywhere would be better than here.

  “I’m glad you asked, my boy,” the older man said. He picked up a wooden box from the desk and opened it. David held his breath, expecting the man to pull out a pistol. Instead, he removed a cigar from the box and bit it.

  Adriano moved forward to light his father’s cigar. The older man nodded curtly by way of thanks and then tilted his head toward the back of the room, cueing Adriano to retrieve something. The younger man walked back to a large briefcase behind the desk and picked it up. He set it on the desk in front of his father.

  David watched anxiously, unsure of what he was about to see. These men didn’t seem like they wanted to kill him, not as long as he complied with whatever their end goal was. But then, what was in the briefcase that David needed to see?

  The older man took a long pull on his cigar and exhaled a toxic cloud. Then he unlatched the briefcase and opened it. David leaned forward and gasped.

  “Five hundred thousand in small, non-sequential bills. Adriano here can show you how to smuggle it onto a flight, but we have some airport staff on our payroll, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Don’t deposit it, of course, unless you want people to start asking questions. And don’t spend too much at once. But do something nice for your princess, after that headache you put her through stateside.”

  David barely registered what his grandfather was saying. He had never seen so much money in his life. And they were just giving it to him? But . . .

  “Why?” David asked, turning to the older man. He knew that it wasn’t simply a gift. “What are you buying with this money?”

  His grandfather puffed on his cigar. “Take this, David. Consider it your share of the company. And in return, never speak of your visit here, and never try to contact a Moreno again as long as you live. Not your father or anyone else. It risks our business. I’m sorry, boy. I know it’s a hard life. But this money can make it easier. As long as you’re willing to adhere to our stipulations.”

  David looked at the money for a long moment before turning back to his grandfather and asking the question that he really didn’t want to hear the answer to. “And if I don’t?”

  “You know,” Adriano interjected, his face keeping the same businesslike, almost smug quality it had held for the entire meeting, “your mother’s family once tried to meddle in our affairs. Sent a private investigator, just like you did. He was good too. Made it all the way here to ask questions. . . We’re not sure what happened to him after that. Unfortunate.”

  David’s eyes bulged. Aunt Mary’s PI . . . He hadn’t been a fraud after all. He’d found the trail and come all the way here just to be. . . killed? David’s body began to tremble with some combination of fear and burning rage.

  He stood. “I want to go home now,” he said flatly, staring back at Adriano.

  “We’ll get this packed up, then, and—” the ol
d man started, but David cut him off.

  “No.” He took deep, shaky breaths, his hands balling into fists at his sides. “I’ll play by your rules. I’ll never try to contact my father or any other Moreno again. But I won’t take your money.”

  The old man looked briefly surprised before a small smile spread over his face. “Good man. Honest. Moral to a fault, like your father. Very well. Adriano will have a driver escort you back.”

  David didn’t nod or reply in any way. He simply grabbed his backpack and made for the door. But the older man spoke one last time before he could get away completely.

  “David,” he said slowly, his voice thick and rich, “despite what you may think, it truly was a pleasure meeting you. But I hope for your sake that I never see you again.”

  33

  Katy

  Katy had never been so happy to hear her phone ringing.

  “David.” She breathed out in relief when she saw the screen. She answered quickly. “David! I’m so glad that you called. How did it go with Marcos?”

  Katy gripped her phone tightly to her ear, waiting for the news . . . but there was a pause on the other end that filled her with trepidation.

  David spoke after a few more long seconds.

  “Hi, Katy. It, uh . . . it’d be easier to explain in person,” he said.

  “Are you okay?” The words jumped out of Katy’s mouth before anything else. If anything happened to him . . .

  “I’m fine, I’m fine,” David assured her, but his voice sounded a few shades to the left of “fine.” “I’m at the airport, waiting for my flight back home. But I wish I were coming home to you. I wish I could be with you now.”

  Katy closed her eyes. She knew that feeling all too well. Now, hearing his voice, the feeling of missing David was a physical hollowness in her chest. “I wish I could be with you, too. It’s rotten being here without you.”