by Jennie Lucas
His weakness.
Louisa knew him too well. She’d lived with him, day in and day out, for five years. No other woman had had such an opportunity to see beneath the facade. Or so thoroughly get under his skin. She knew him.
Rafael didn’t like it. It made him feel weak, like she claimed him to be. And so he’d checked into the Four Seasons hotel to teach her a lesson; to prove to them both who was in control, and how easily he could hurt her. Let her suffer the same suspicions he himself had suffered in Key West with her. Let Louisa wonder what other lovers might be taking her place!
He had her ring on his finger. And as long as he did, he would never cheat on her. His honor would not allow it. As long as he was with her, he would be faithful.
But she didn’t have to know that. She already had too much power over him.
A strong man allows himself to be vulnerable. He shows his love at any cost. A truly strong man gives everything he has—everything he is—to his family. He loves with all his heart and holds nothing back…! Have you ever considered that you are an impossible man to please? Have you ever considered that the problem might be you?
He was the problem? Him?
Rafael growled to himself in the elevator. She was the one who’d stolen his son!
Ignoring his bodyguard’s cheerful greeting, Rafael pushed open his front door. And froze in the doorway.
For a moment, he thought he’d wandered into the wrong house. This surely could not be his apartment. It did not look remotely like the same place!
The old apartment had been thoroughly scrubbed, and all the old dusty knickknacks had been swept away along with the ghostly white covers. Fresh flowers were on the kitchen table. He could smell something delicious baking in the oven.
And how the hell had she managed to replace the old, heavy-set wooden furniture with new modern sofas, sleek chairs and a huge big-screen TV—all in the space of just a few hours?
“Welcome home, Rafael,” he heard Louisa say behind him warmly, and he whirled to face her.
His wife looked incredibly pretty, smiling up at him, wearing a sweet, demure dress. He was immediately attracted in spite of himself. Taking a deep breath, he looked away—only to have his eyes fall upon the platter of caramel macadamia brownies cooling on the counter.
Louisa Grey—Louisa Cruz—was indeed everything any man would want. Sexy, strong, smart as hell. A good mother and a good cook. She was everything he’d ever wanted.
Except he hated her. Didn’t he?
“How did you do all this?”
“I have my ways.” She smiled mischievously, and love shone in her eyes. “I made the house a home. For us. For our family.”
“I see,” he said faintly.
He’d come home expecting a scene. He’d expected Louisa to scream and yell at him and wail, as other women had done when he’d pushed them away. Staying out all night was the swiftest, most convenient way he’d found to end a relationship.
But Louisa didn’t even ask him where he’d been all night. It was as if she weren’t even worried, as if she had complete confidence that she was the only woman he wanted.
And it was true, damn her.
She had too much control over him by half. She knew him too well. And he couldn’t simply end their relationship and walk away, no matter how much easier that seemed. They were married. They had a child.
But Rafael knew what she wanted. She wanted his soul. No matter how beautiful she was. No matter how tempting. He wouldn’t give it to her. He would never let himself be vulnerable again.
He took a deep breath, keeping his expression cold.
“I did not give you permission to do this,” he said. “I liked the house left how it was. I told you.”
“Well, I didn’t like it.”
“It’s not for you to choose—”
“It wasn’t a healthy environment for the baby.” She held out the platter. “Brownie?”
Caramel macadamia nut with white chocolate chips. His favorite. He narrowed his eyes. Did she truly think him so weak that he could be bought so simply?
“I’m not hungry.”
She shrugged, then cut herself a big piece. Her smile spread into a joyful grin. He watched her bite into the gooey caramel brownie, with its layers of butterscotch and macadamia nut. Melted white chocolate smudged her lip. He watched her lick it off. His mouth watered.
But it wasn’t the brownie he wanted anymore. He hungered for Louisa.
Her body.
Her laugh.
All of her.
Making love to her last night had been incredible. He’d seduced her to punish her but in the end, he was the one who’d been caught. He’d woken up, bereft of her in his arms. He hadn’t liked the feeling. He’d jumped in the shower. He’d tried to pretend to them both that finally having her in his arms again, finally making love to her after sixteen months of yearning, had meant nothing.
But he could not lie to himself. Not anymore.
Rafael watched her pick up the baby from his bouncy seat and lift him on her hip. As she sang songs to Noah, swinging him in her arms as they twirled around the kitchen, her eyes danced with laughter.
He watched Louisa laughing with the baby in her arms. He looked at them, his heart in his throat.
He’d married her yesterday intending to discard her in Paris. Now, he realized his plans had changed. Louisa brought so much to his life. Why should he ever let her go?
He could still get the revenge he’d planned. Then he could take Louisa to Paris and they could start a new life…
“By the way,” he said abruptly, “my mother is coming for dinner tonight.”
Louisa stopped, clearly startled. Then her eyes lit up. “Your mother? How lovely!” she exclaimed. She tickled the baby, making him squeal with laughter as she cooed, “And she’ll get to meet her sweet new grandbaby, won’t she?”
Yes, she would. For the first and last time.
Grabbing the knife, Rafael cut himself an enormous piece of brownie. He took a huge bite. It was delicious. Like the taste of vengeance.
Louisa beamed up at him as he ate. He could see that she thought he was starting to bend, to break, beneath her influence. Well, let her continue to think so.
He smiled at her.
She would soon learn the truth. Rafael would neither bend, nor break, for any woman. He would be the last one standing.
He’d once begged Louisa to remain his housekeeper. He’d once pleaded with her to become his mistress.
Marrying her had changed everything.
The marriage license would hold her as no employment contract ever could. Louisa would warm his bed, take care of his child and prepare his meals. The fact that she was now his wife meant he would never have to pay her. He’d never have to give her a vacation. And he’d never have to fear losing her again.
She was his wife. He owned her now. Forever.
“Welcome, Mamá.”
Louisa watched Rafael kiss the stooped woman on both cheeks as he welcomed his mother to their home. Agustina Cruz was nothing like Louisa had expected. She’d thought Rafael’s mother would be a slender, severely elegant socialite. Instead she was plump, gray- haired and had a timid, hopeful smile on her bright coral lips as she looked at her tall, handsome son.
“Buenas noches, mi hijo,” she said to Rafael. “I am so happy to see you,” she said in Spanish, standing on her tiptoes to embrace him. Louisa’s high school Spanish was rusty after so many years in France, but she could still understand as Agustina continued tearfully, “It has been too long. I haven’t heard from you since I sent you the letter after your father died.”
“I remember,” Rafael said coolly in English. “Come in.”
Why was he being so strangely cold? Louisa thought. This woman was his mother! Whoever his father had been—she was the one who’d given birth to him, loved him, raised him!
She’d hoped that Rafael was starting to forgive her, that he was starting to allow the goodness of his heart to shine thro
ugh. But now…she didn’t know what to think.
Holding her own baby against her hip, Louisa smiled at the older woman.
“Welcome to our home, Señora Cruz,” she added warmly in English. “I am so happy to meet you at last.”
The other woman blinked at Louisa in her white cotton tea-length dress, peering at baby Noah in a white shirt and black pants with a little tie. Louisa had chosen their clothes with care. Meeting Rafael’s mother was important to her. And yet—she glanced over at Rafael. He was casually dressed in a black shirt and dark jeans. Why had he, alone in the group, made no effort?
Agustina blinked at Louisa and the baby. “Thank you, my dear. But who are you?”
“I am Rafael’s new wife.”
Agustina turned reproachful eyes upon her son, still standing grim and silent behind them. “Rafael, you are married?” she chided gently.
He shrugged.
“And this,” Louisa added quickly, to cover up for her husband’s coldness, “is our baby. Noah.”
Agustina stared at the baby. “Your…your baby?” she gasped. Tears filled her eyes. “My grandson?”
Louisa nodded. Smiling, she placed the baby in his grandmother’s arms.
“Oh mi nieto, mi pequeño angelito,” the woman whispered. Tears fell unheeded down her face as she held the baby in her arms.
Watching her joy, tears filled Louisa’s eyes as well. She looked back at her husband with a smile, expecting to see the same emotion in his face. Instead his dark eyes were blank. Expressionless. Dead.
“Come,” he said in a low voice. “Let’s sit down for dinner.”
The meal was a joyful one—at least for the baby, mother and grandmother. Agustina Cruz was a lovely, warm, charming woman. She reminded Louisa of her own mother, whom she missed very much.
“That was delicious,” Agustina said at the end of the meal, when she’d finished the last bite of Louisa’s brownies covered with vanilla ice cream and butterscotch crumble.
“Thank you.” Louisa had insisted on preparing the meal herself, as an expression of respect and care. Rafael had scoffed at that idea, then shrugged and let her do it.
Louisa had thought, when he’d come home at noon after being out all night, that she’d done everything she could to make him happy here. She’d worked on the house most of the night and all of the morning between caring for the baby. She’d dressed with care. She’d baked his favorite foods. She’d really thought she was starting to get through to him…especially after she’d been able to learn from the bodyguard, to her intense relief, that Rafael had spent the previous night alone at a hotel.
It had killed her to pretend she didn’t care. But she knew Rafael too well. She couldn’t play by the same rules as his other women had done. She had to keep him guessing. Keep him off balance. It was her only hope of gaining what she truly wanted.
His happiness—and her own.
Agustina set down her fork. “What an amazing meal.”
“Louisa made it. To honor you,” Rafael said coldly.
Gratitude and joy washed over his mother’s face.
“Thank you. Both of you,” Agustina said tearfully. “I was so afraid you’d never forgive me, Rafael. You must believe that I never meant to hurt you when I wouldn’t share your father’s name…”
“Hate you? Why would I hate you?” He took another drink of brandy then set the empty glass hard against the table. “Just because you waited until he was dead—just because you made sure I never had a real father and left me begging you for answers for twenty years—why would I hate you?”
Her plump cheeks had gone pale. “Rafael,” she whispered, “I thought you understood.”
“I do understand. And now—” he rose to his feet “—you will finally understand as well. You will know how it feels.” He stared down at her. “You’ve met my family. For the first and only time. Now, you will never see them again.”
“What?” Louisa gasped.
He picked up Noah. “We are never coming back to Buenos Aires. My son—” he looked down at the happy, smiling baby “—will never remember he has a grandmother. He will never even know you exist. You will die as my father died,” he said harshly. “Alone.”
His mother looked as if she might faint.
“Rafael—you cannot do this,” Louisa gasped, pushing herself to her feet. “I won’t let you do this!”
“It’s your choice,” he said evenly. He gave her a hard look. “Choose my mother, a stranger to you—or choose your husband and child.”
Still holding the baby in his arms, he left the room.
Louisa started to run after them, then abruptly stopped. She looked down at Agustina, who was still sitting at the table, alone and forlorn.
“I’m sorry,” Louisa choked out. “I will try to talk to him!”
The older woman looked at her, then sadly and steadily shook her head. “It will do no good, my dear,” she said softly. She gave a trembling smile. “It was lovely to meet you. Take good care of my boys—both of them. Adios. Go with God…”
Tearfully Louisa rushed out the door. The elevator was gone so she ran down six flights of stairs. She barely made it outside the building, pushing open the door with a bang, before she saw the limousine pulling away from the curb with her husband and child inside it.
“Wait!” she screamed. The car stopped.
“Cutting it close,” Rafael observed coolly, as she wrenched open the door.
Panting, she scrambled into the back beside the baby seat. She kissed Noah tearfully on his downy head then, as the car pulled away from the curb, she turned on Rafael.
“How could you do that to your own mother? She loves you! How could you be so cruel?”
“Now you know what I do to people who betray me,” he said evenly. “It’s taken almost twenty years, but I finally got justice for what she did to me. And to the father I never knew,” he said coldly. He leaned forward. “To the airport.”
“You are more heartless than I ever imagined,” she whispered, suddenly frightened.
“I am not heartless.” Abruptly Rafael leaned toward her in the backseat. He cupped her face with one hand. “For I am willing to forgive you, mi vida, for one mistake. One.” He caressed her cheek. “But never cross me again.”
“What do you mean?” she whispered, trembling beneath his touch.
“Never lie to me again. And I will allow you to remain my wife and raise our son. You will be honored and respected forever as my wife. But if you ever betray me again…”
Their eyes locked.
“If I do?” she whispered.
He abruptly pulled his hand away. He picked up the newspaper in his lap and unfolded it, creating a wall of newsprint between them. “Then you will lose everything.”
Chapter Ten
YOU will lose everything.
A few weeks later in Paris, Louisa couldn’t stop shivering in the cool spring morning as she sat outside at a riverside café overlooking Notre Dame across the Seine. Baby Noah was sleeping, tucked snugly into blankets in the baby stroller beside her. Louisa took another sip of coffee so hot and strong it scalded her tongue, but still she continued to shiver. Even in a black cashmere sweater, dark skinny jeans and knee-high boots, she felt cold down to her toes.
Closing her eyes, she turned her face toward the sun.
If Rafael ever learned what she’d just done…
I had no choice, she told herself fiercely. She couldn’t allow him to so callously, cruelly hurt his mother, not when his desire for revenge would hurt everyone—grandmother, grandson, and most of all: Rafael himself!
Just a few moments ago, Agustina had been here at this café, sitting beside her. She’d been so happy to see her grandson again. A lump filled her throat. And Louisa had finally learned the truth about Rafael’s past. She understood at last why his mother had protected him all these years.
Rafael thought his mother was cold-blooded and controlling. He was wrong. But Louisa could not tell Rafael abo
ut his father, any more than Agustina could. It would hurt him too much. Louisa couldn’t rip his heart out with the truth. No matter how badly he lashed out.
“Merci, madame.”
Louisa looked up, blinking fast and trying to smile at a waiter who left the bill. She put down her euros, then drank the rest of her tasse of hot black coffee. She glanced down at her sleeping baby in the stroller, feeling warmth and adoration swelling her heart.
“I’ll find a way to break through to him,” she whispered to her sleeping child. She’d find a way to make him forgive his mother…but how?
“Mi vida.”
Louisa nearly jumped in her chair when she heard Rafael’s voice behind her. With a gasp, she turned and saw him climbing out of the limousine that had pulled to the curb. “What are you doing here?”
He slammed the door closed then walked toward her.
“Are you and Noah having a nice morning?” he said, smiling.
She rose to her feet so quickly all the blood rushed from her head. “We were just leaving.”
She’d chosen this café in the Quartier Latin because of its distance from their penthouse, which was in the more exclusive eighth arrondissement across the river. She’d known he had a full schedule today, meeting a new stockholder who owned a château to the south of the city. She’d never imagined he might drive right by the café. Of all the quirks of fate…
She was suddenly sweating in the cool spring air. If Rafael’s car had driven past this café just ten minutes ago, he would have actually seen his mother sitting beside her!
Their marriage, their building trust, could have been destroyed forever. She glanced down at her sleeping baby. Noah was so precious to her. Was she being a fool to risk a decent life, in hopes of having a happy family?
Rafael smiled at her. He looked so handsome in his dark suit and blue tie. His jawline was sharp and shaved, his eyes bright in the sunshine.
“Before I met with my stockholder, I went up to La Défense,” he said. “Our new building is perfect.”
“Is it done? Ahead of schedule?”
“Next week we’ll start moving our people in. Then I’ll take you to see it.”
