She hoped so.
Oh, how she hoped.
The taxi finally drew up outside his building and she shoved the fare towards the driver, telling him to keep the change in her haste to get to Caleb, and dashed across the pavement and up to the entry door to his block. Pulling out the spare key card that Caleb had lent her that morning, so she could get in and out while he was out at work, she pressed it against the pad and sighed with relief when the door lock clicked open. She wouldn’t have put it past him to have the code reconfigured to keep her out.
The lift was already at ground level and it took her straight up to his apartment. Walking into the hallway, she came to a surprised stop when she saw a suitcase lying haphazardly in the middle of the floor. She frowned at the incongruity of it, wondering absent-mindedly what it was doing there. And then it hit her like a fist to the gut.
It was hers.
Caleb must have packed her things and thrown them out here in case she had the gall to return for them. Well, she wasn’t going to let that deter her. Marching up to his door, she hammered loudly on it, her heart thumping in her throat as she stood there listening for his heavy footsteps coming towards her. It occurred to her wildly that she wasn’t exactly looking her best at the moment—a lot like a drowned rat, in fact—but she shoved the thought away, knowing this was no time for vanity.
The door swung open and she looked up into Caleb’s handsome face, forcing herself not to take a step backwards as she registered the anger in his expression.
‘Your things are behind you in the hall,’ he said curtly, the bitterness in his voice making her stomach roll.
‘I’m not here for my things; I’m here for you,’ she stated baldly, keeping her gaze locked with his and her chin determinedly up.
A range of expressions passed over his face: from bemusement to resentment and finally, and most worryingly, to incredulity.
‘Let me in, Caleb,’ she said calmly, but with a determination that rose from her very soul.
‘You can say what you need to right here,’ he said, folding his arms in front of him, effectively blocking her way past him with his enormous bulk.
The coldness in his eyes shook her, but there was no way she was going to let him scare her off now. She knew that the kind, compassionate man she’d got to know again over the last few days was still in there somewhere; she just needed to get him to hear what she had to say then maybe she’d be able to draw him back out again.
‘Okay, fine, if it has to be said here in your hallway then it will be.’ She took a breath and set back her shoulders.
‘You were right; I wasn’t honest with you and I should have been from the very start, but I was afraid you’d push me away and I desperately wanted to make up for the way I treated you in the past. I was selfish and cruel then but, please believe me, I’m not that same self-absorbed girl I used to be. I’m a different person now. A better one, I hope. Surely you’ve seen proof of that over the last few days.’
He didn’t give any indication that she was getting through to him, his posture remaining stiff and his expression impassive, so she decided just to get it all out in the hope that something she said would strike a chord with him.
‘I know I told you that I decided I couldn’t marry Jimmy because our relationship was staid and—boring.’ She winced at how awful that sounded. What a terrible person she’d been, to them both.
Caleb still didn’t say anything, his expression remaining indifferent.
She took another steadying breath, then let the words rush out. ‘But the truth is, I broke up with him because I realised I’d never feel about him the way I felt about you.’
There was a flicker of something in his eyes and she held her breath for a moment, praying for a reaction, but he steadfastly refused to give her one.
Swallowing hard, she bunched her fists for courage.
‘Back then I was afraid of how unpredictable you were, how you didn’t fit into the way I’d envisioned my life turning out, but mostly how I still wanted you—desperately—despite all of that. After years of keeping a tight control over my life, that completely rattled me. So I stuck with Jimmy, the safe bet, the man I could control. Because I was a coward.’
He wasn’t looking at her now, but staring off into the distance. Folding her arms, she steeled herself to hold it together.
‘I realised later on, of course, once I’d grown up a little, that a certain amount of conflict can be good for a relationship. I guess it gives it the edge it needs to keep things exciting and fresh. As long as there’s enough love between a couple...I think I mistook passion for dysfunction in my parents’ marriage but they’re still together today, so it shows what I know.’
She was aware that she was dripping water onto the floor now and that she’d begun to shiver with cold, but she pushed aside her discomfort, feeling it was probably a fitting state for her confession.
‘I think I’ve really been single for so long because I stopped trusting my judgement when it comes to relationships. I was ashamed of the way I’d acted in the past and avoided getting close to anyone again in case I made the same mistakes. But after spending this incredible time with you here I realised that if I want to be happy it’s time to stop being afraid of what might go wrong.’
She took a step closer to him. ‘And embrace what could go right. Because I’m so happy when I’m with you.’ Her voice broke as she took another step forwards and saw him tense, then tighten and raise his arms like a barrier.
‘You really think I’m going to be able to trust you again?’ he muttered.
‘I do. Because I think you want to; it’s just your pride getting in the way.’
‘My pride? You broke your word to me and you lied; why should I believe you won’t do that again?’
‘Because I’m not the girl you remember, Caleb. I’m older and wiser now.’ She took a deep, shaky breath. ‘I was so ridiculously naïve back then, I had no idea what I really needed.’ She gave him a beseeching smile, holding her breath as she waited to see whether she’d finally got through to him.
‘You have to understand that you scared me at the time. You were so full of anger and bitterness I didn’t know whether I could handle you. I wasn’t a very strong person then.’
‘I didn’t need your strength, Elena. I needed your loyalty and respect.’
It felt as though his words had slapped her in the face. She knew he was right; she’d disrespected him in the worst possible way. He trusted her with the whole of his already damaged heart and she’d toyed with it for a while, then thrown it back at him, broken and beyond repair. It had been the worst thing she could have done to him; no wonder he’d turned into the hardened character she’d first met here last week.
‘I don’t blame you for being reluctant to trust my word after I made such a mess of things last time, but please, Caleb, please give me another chance.’
Her heart started to race and her body flushed hot with trepidation as she looked up into his hooded eyes and said, ‘I love you.’
He stared at her, a deep frown marring his face.
‘You love me?’ His tone was so troubled her heart went right out to him.
‘Yes, and I want us to make this relationship work.’
He shook his head, the expression in his eyes a little wild as if he was fighting with himself about how to respond.
Her chest gave a little jolt of hope at the thought that perhaps she might finally be getting through to him.
Turning away from her, he began to pace up and down the hall, raking his hands through his hair and making it stand on end. He looked troubled, anxious—but encouraged maybe?
‘I don’t know, Elena. It’s a lot to process. I thought I knew you—’
‘You do know me. Everything I’ve told you about myself is true. Everything we’ve done
together has been genuine and came from a place of love and respect for you.’
Still he shook his head, as if not daring to believe it.
‘I understand why you’re feeling this way. It has to be so confusing losing your memory like that,’ she said in desperation. ‘Then finding out you were missing a big chunk of important information.’ She walked to him now and put her hands on his arms, gripping them hard and using the whole of her strength to stop him from pacing.
‘Listen to me, Caleb Araya. I am not letting you push me away again. I know I was in the wrong fifteen years ago, but everything that’s happened between us in the last week has been real. And I think you feel the same, though you’re too stubborn to admit it.’
* * *
Caleb stared at this brave, fierce woman in front of him and felt the heavy weight of unhappiness lift a little from his chest.
He knew what she was saying made sense; she’d been nothing but kind and caring towards him since leaving the hospital and he was acutely aware that he was letting his fear and panic get in the way of common sense. His chest gave a sharp throb as he accepted that if it hadn’t been for her courage to stand up to him and assert her steadying influence at the meeting he would have lost Carter’s business. She’d done that to help him. Because she cared about him. He knew that really, deep in his heart.
In reality, it had been his fault this had all turned into such an awful mess in the blink of an eye because he’d lied about his memory coming back so they could take their relationship further; and it had definitely been him who had asked her to go with him to the meeting with Carter. He remembered the look of wary uncertainty on her face now when he’d suggested it. That, he knew without a doubt, had been absolutely genuine.
He could recognise all that now—now he’d started to see through the fog of fear and panic that had engulfed him earlier.
Looking inside himself, he knew he’d forgiven her a long time ago for what had happened between them. Really, he’d hated himself for being so weak and proud, but until now he’d been too afraid to admit it to himself because it was easier to hate someone than to admit how much you loved them. How much it tore you apart to not have that love returned.
A small defiant part of him still wanted to hang on to the animosity he’d hidden his feelings behind, to keep himself safe from any more pain and uncertainty, but he knew he couldn’t do that. Not after she’d been brave enough to turn up here, dripping wet and bedraggled, to lay her heart at his feet when she could have just got on a plane with her signed contract and never had to face him again.
He wouldn’t do that to her because what he wanted most in the world was a real and honest relationship with her, even if their journey together was likely to be littered with obstacles and challenges.
She made him happy.
He loved her and she loved him and when it came down to it that was all that really mattered.
Seeming to sense a softening in his attitude, she moved closer to him and tentatively raised a hand to his face. The warmth of her touch heated his skin, starting a fire in his chest which radiated out through his body until every centimetre of him ached to hold her against him again.
‘Please, Caleb, please forgive me. Let me back in,’ she whispered.
The crack of pain and desperation in her voice broke through the very last of his reserve and he felt the final tendrils of his anger leave him, washed away by the dizzying elation of her presence here—the place where she belonged.
Cupping her jaw in his hands, he smiled at her, drawing her closer. ‘There’s nothing to forgive. I’ve been wrong to hold what happened between us all those years ago against you, but it was easier to hate you than face what I’d become: a bitter, cold-hearted fool.’
She opened her mouth as if to disagree but he held up his hand, asking her to wait until he’d finished.
‘Being with you has brought me alive again. I love being around you; the world feels like a better place when you’re here.’
He frowned as he remembered the horrified look on her face in the restaurant just before he’d stormed away in angry confusion. ‘When my memory came back earlier this evening I think I panicked. I suddenly had all these conflicting thoughts and feelings racing through my head, and I didn’t know what was truth and what was fiction any more. My natural instinct was to push you away to protect myself. I was afraid you didn’t really care about me the way I’d hoped you did and it scared the hell out of me.’
He stroked his thumbs across her cheeks, brushing away the tears that had begun to streak down her face.
‘Because I love you, Elena,’ he murmured, holding her gaze with his for one precious moment, seeing relief and love light up in her eyes, before bringing his mouth down to hers with a kiss that took his breath away at the utter perfection of it.
He felt her finally relax against him and he pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her and pressing their bodies tightly together, feeling the strongest compulsion to never let her go again.
‘Caleb, your rib,’ she muttered against his shoulder where her face was squashed by his encircled arms.
‘It’s fine. Don’t worry.’
‘I don’t want to hurt you,’ she said, pulling away to look up into his face.
‘You won’t,’ he said with conviction.
‘You know, we’re probably going to be one of those couples that constantly strikes sparks off each other,’ she said with a hint of worry in her eyes.
‘I hope so,’ he said, dipping down to nuzzle her neck and feeling great satisfaction in the little shiver of enjoyment she gave. ‘It will keep life exciting.’
‘So we’ll have to make sure our kids know how much we love each other,’ she said with determination in her voice.
He drew back and raised both eyebrows. ‘Kids?’
She nodded firmly. ‘Yes. I want three.’
‘That’s brave,’ he said, adding a wry lilt of humour to his voice, though deep down he knew that having children with her would make him the happiest man in the world. She’d be an incredible mother: caring, brave and compassionate, and would fight tooth and nail for her children’s happiness and security, making sure they knew how loved they were, how wanted.
‘I am brave now,’ she said. ‘I refuse to be afraid of the future any more. We’ll take life as it comes, you and I, and deal with anything it throws at us together.’
‘I like your style, Elena Jones,’ he murmured, bending to kiss her hard and let her know just how much he meant that.
‘And I like yours, Caleb Araya,’ she said once she’d got her breath back.
And with that sentiment lifting his heart he took her hand in his and led her out of the cold empty hallway and into the shelter of his home.
EPILOGUE
Two years later
IT WAS UNSEASONABLY warm for London in February as Caleb strode through Green Park on his way to meet Elena by the Tube station and he loosened his tie and undid the top button of his shirt, finding relief as the gentle breeze hit his heated skin. He was taking her out for high tea at The Ritz to celebrate her recent design award for her Zipabout cars and was running a little late after a meeting in the City had gone on longer than he’d anticipated.
They’d both been astonished and delighted by the huge impact that the Zipabout cars had had on the electric car industry and Elena was already deep into the design and pre-manufacture of a new model on the back of its success. He was ridiculously proud of all she’d achieved and infinitely delighted to be able to say he’d played some small part in it.
He saw the cars everywhere he went now, both here in England, where they spent big chunks of time in order for Elena to keep in close contact with her company, and also in Spain, where they’d made a permanent home together in the Pedralbes area in the district of Les Corts, which the
y’d chosen for its wide avenues and green open spaces as well as the spectacular views towards Barcelona.
He hadn’t needed much persuasion to move from his rather sequestered, cavernous flat in L’Eixample and into a comfortable four-bed house set within a friendly community of families and professionals, and for the first time in his life he felt truly settled where he lived. Content.
As he rounded the bend near the station his gaze alighted on a figure walking towards him, her long blonde hair glowing in the soft winter sunshine and her cheeks flushed with colour.
The most beautiful woman in the world.
His wife.
She waved when she saw him, her mouth curving into a beatific smile that both melted his heart and made his pulse race. Despite all the time they spent together now, he still hated being separated from her, rushing at the end of each day to get back home. Not a day went by when he didn’t thank his lucky stars for the accident that had brought them together, even if it had been in the most dramatic and extraordinary of ways.
Blessedly, he’d been physically fine after all the bruising had finally gone down and after a few more weeks the rest of his memory had returned in full, along with a sense of regret for all the time he’d spent hanging on to the anger from his past that had kept him so isolated from the rest of the world.
But there were no regrets about his life now.
There were times, of course, when he and Elena butted heads but, instead of being afraid of the conflict they embraced it, getting any bottled-up feelings out into the open and using it as a kind of catharsis. They found as long as they kept communicating they were able to work through anything that crossed their path and Caleb made sure to tell Elena every day just how much he loved her.
Returning her smile, he glanced down in love-struck awe at her belly, which was straining against the trench coat she was wearing. In about three months’ time there would be someone else for him to love with the same kind of fierce abandon too. Their child.
The Unforgettable Spanish Tycoon Page 14
