Page 44 of Never Again
His heart stopped. Carlos wanted to sink into the earth. His time was up. A glimmer of tears sat in Carmen’s eyes, while the twist of remorse bored a hole in his conscience.
“I can explain,” he said.
Her mouth fell open, as if she’d expected him to deny the accusation. He wished he could. Three years ago, he and Alfred had agreed to keep their transaction a secret, but Alfred had warned at the charity event that he’d tell her now that Carlos was back in her life. Carlos had intended to come clean about the money himself, but he’d thought he had more time.
“It’s true?” she whispered. “You took money from my father?”
He walked toward her. “It’s not what you think.”
Carmen jerked away and held up both hands. “Don’t touch me,” she said in a thick voice, shaking her head in disbelief. “You walked away...for money? That’s how you have all this?” She spun in a circle and then faced him again, eyes wide, mouth still agape.
Carlos licked his lips. “I didn’t want to leave,” he said, in the calmest, quietest voice he could.
She laughed and stared up at the ceiling, blinking rapidly. When her gaze landed on him again, the tears of disbelief were gone and a wounded expression filled her eyes. “The money was too tempting, is that it? He made you an offer you couldn’t refuse? I was going to walk away fromeverythingfor you. Millions. My inheritance.”
Like lashes, her words burned through his skin.
“How much did my father pay you?” she asked.
Carlos hung his head. They couldn’t be having this conversation. Not after he’d won her back and come to a decision on how to fix his huge mistake. He wanted her permanently back in his life. This couldn’t be happening right now.
“Carmen…”
“How much was breaking my heart worth to you, Carlos?” she asked.
“It wasn’t like that. It wasn’t about the money.”
“Answer me. Or I can always ask my father. That was the one bit of information he refused to divulge, but he promised to tell me if you wouldn’t.”
Quiet filled the loft, and he turned the answer over and over in his mind, wishing for a way to avoid giving her an answer.
“Two hundred thousand,” Carlos replied, almost choking on the words.
She shook her head in a pitying way. “You went too cheap. You could have negotiated more. Or maybe it didn’t matter. You got what you wanted, right?”
The money had been unexpected good fortune for his family—a raft in the middle of the sinking ship of their lives. That amount wasn’t much to her, but it had done a lot of good. Paid off bills, helped his mother open a business, and provided financial assistance to family back in Peru.
He shuffled closer but didn’t dare touch her. “I wanted you. I just…” He didn’t know what to say. Nothing excused what he did.
He had assumed Carmen would forget about him and find the right kind of man eventually. One who didn’t see the money, no matter how meagre in her eyes, as an opportunity to help his family. One who wouldn’t take money from a man who despised him. He swallowed the nasty taste of regret.
“My dad was right about you.”
“No, he wasn’t. I love you. Please, you have to believe me. I’m sorry for what I did. It was a mistake, but I loved you, Carmen. I still do.”
“Then why’d you take the money?” she asked in a voice thick with tears. Her eyes became wet again.
“I don’t know. Desperation. Do you think I wanted to take his money? I felt I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t give you the life you deserved, so I thought…maybe I could do something else. I helped my mother get her business started, and…and…”
“And you helped yourself. Good for you. You did what was best for you and your family, and that’s what’s most important. Self. Family.”
He shook his head. “I barely kept any of it. Only enough to get me here to get started, that’s it. Every other dime went to family in Canada and in Peru.” He knew where the conversation was headed, and he didn’t want to hear her say they were finished.
“Thank you for your honesty, Carlos. Goodbye. For good this time.” She gave him wide berth as she rushed to the door.
“Carmen!”
They reached the door at the same time. As she yanked it open, he slammed his palm beside her head, shutting it again.
