Loved?
I took a shaky breath but didn’t answer him as I let my hands roam all over his body.
My hand went to his scar once more.
Gabriel watched me carefully.
I was sure he could see the expression that changed on my face.
How could a man do this to his own brother?
And what could such a man do to a woman he had no relationship with? A woman like Lucinda?
I blinked as my eyes burned and my bottom lip trembled.
Gabriel frowned. “Bianca?”
I didn’t know how to answer him.
Poor Lucinda.
What had she gone through after that night?
Gabriel’s eyes widened, and he appeared panicked. “Baby, what’s wrong?”
I shook my head, my hands exploring more of the scar.
“Luis is a monster, isn’t he?”
He frowned. “What?”
“If he could do this to his one brother, what could he do to other people weaker than him? Someone whom he deemed had no value?”
“What do you mean?”
I tried to push him away. Gabriel didn’t budge.
I could feel the tears coming.
I tried to sweep them away, but more kept coming.
I had cried so many nights since Lucinda went missing, but never like this. Never had I felt so hopeless.
Even in the darkest night, there was always that small sliver of hope that she could be alive. Perhaps what I had been able to find out about Luis Mendez was only a rumor.
Perhaps life had gotten too hard on Lucinda, and she just…
Ran away.
But now?
There was no hope. Not even a small sliver.
I wrapped my arms around Gabriel’s neck, burying my face in his neck and crying harder.
He let out a soft curse before he carried me out of the water.
He grabbed the towel from the lounge chair and made his way back to the house with me in his arms.