Page 46 of The Forbidden Cabrera Brother
She did. She handed it over. There were a lot of questions, most of which Dante answered as honestly as he could and to the best of his ability, given that he was inept when it came to disclosing how he felt about anything with a complete stranger.
But he realised that he would, frankly, have done whatever it took to know how he could find the woman he had fallen hopelessly in love with.
He would climb a thousand mountains and walk a thousand miles, but on a more pressing level there was, he now realised, just one more thing he had to do first...
Caitlin heard the buzz of the doorbell. It was irritating, really, because this was the sixth night at her parents’ house and the first evening she had had in on her own. The previous nights had been spent doing the rounds, as she had had to do the minute she’d appeared, unannounced, on her parents’ doorstep.
It was a small village and people would have been offended if she hadn’t immediately dropped by. Where her parents lived, being a recluse was practically a punishable offence, and it had been pretty reassuring visiting a couple of her parents’ friends, knowing that they knew about the dire situation and were supportive.
The local vicar, another on the list of people she had seen and the first person who had shown up within hours of her arrival, was also fully in the know and very sympathetic.
They were all trying to keep spirits upbeat.
Everyone was rallying around.
Notwithstanding, that still left the matter of the finances that needed sorting out and this was her first evening in when she could really get down to seeing what was going on.
Her parents were out for the evening, dinner at friends’.
So the buzz of the doorbell, which she knew heralded another well-intentioned visitor, was...irritating.
She took her time getting to the door. She hoped that whoever was there might slink off, thinking that the house was empty.
But there was another buzz and so she pulled open the door and...
Déjà vu.
Hadn’t she been here before? Staring at muscular legs encased in faded black jeans? At a body she had touched a million times? A face whose lines she knew from memory?
Hadn’t this guy shown up, unannounced, on her doorstep once upon a time?
All those thoughts flashed through Caitlin’s head in the seconds it took for her to register Dante’s shocking appearance at the door.
‘I know.’ He tried a smile on for size. ‘You’re going to tell me that we’ve been down this road before.’
His voice was lazy and controlled but his heart wasn’t. He was standing on the edge of a precipice, gazing down at a sheer drop and he wasn’t sure whether there would be a safety net for when he took the plunge.
Rendered speechless, Caitlin could only gape.
‘I went to your apartment.’ Dante filled in the silence. He had to because he didn’t want her to slam the door in his face. He could have inserted himself into the house, but that he didn’t want to do because he was here with a begging bowl and he wasn’t about to forget that. ‘I met your neighbour. She told me where you were. She gave me your parents’ address...so here I am.’ He shuffled uncomfortably and flushed. Desperation bloomed. She wasn’t saying a word and her expression told him nothing.
‘Caitlin...’
‘Stop right there!’
Why was he here? He had kicked her out of his life without giving her a chance to say her piece. He hadn’t been interested then so...had he come bearing more tasty damning morsels? She didn’t know and she didn’t want to find out.
‘You haveno rightto just show up at my parents’ house! You shouldneverhave been given the address.’
‘I’ve made mistakes...’ He looked down, then raised his eyes to meet hers.
‘Is that what you’ve come to tell me?’
‘Please let me in.’
‘I already did,’ Caitlin said bitterly. ‘I let you in and it was the biggest mistake I ever made.’
‘Don’t say that. I don’t want to have this conversation out here, on the doorstep. I know your parents are probably in and... I am happy to talk to you with them present.’
