His jaw clenched and it looked as though he were grinding his teeth into powder. “You’re the one who lied to me, remember?”
“So you were honest with me, but not with other women.” She laughed shortly. “Well, hell, Rico. You’re wasting your time being a hotelier when you should be a saint.”
Furious now, she let her temper reign because that was so much easier than dealing with the disappointment and regret threatening to choke her. Teresa spun around and took two steps away from him before he caught her with one strong hand and whipped her back around to face him.
“I never claimed to be a saint,” he muttered, his accent suddenly flaring into life and coloring his words with a seductive tang he probably didn’t intend at the moment. “But I never lied to you.”
“What about the phony divorce papers?”
He frowned, gritted his teeth and kept quiet, silently admitting he had no answer for that.
Taking a deep breath, she looked up into his eyes and searched for the man she loved behind that wall of ice he’d built between them. “I didn’t want to lie to you, Rico. I didn’t want to leave you, either. But there was nothing else I could do. Can’t you understand lying to protect someone?”
“I can’t understand a family who demands that kind of loyalty.”
“Really?” She tipped her head to one side and met him, glare for glare. “Because the King family isn’t loyal?”
“We don’t cheat for each other,” he snapped. “We don’t lie to protect each other.”
“But you would if you had to.”
His mouth flattened into a grim slash and his eyes narrowed. She could see that he was thinking about it, considering…and not really enjoying the answer he was coming up with.
She took a long breath. “Rico, I’m not asking you to forget what happened five years ago. But maybe you could try to see it from my side.”
“Your side? All I know of your side is one thing.” He released his hold on her, shoved his hands into his pockets and stared over her head at the surrounding trees. “You chose them over me.”
“They’re my family.”
His gaze shot to hers. “And I’m your husband.”
“Do you really think it was easy for me?”
“All I know is that you did it,” he ground out. “Easy or difficult, you made your choice and we were both forced to live with it.”
Pain squeezed her heart and radiated out to every square inch of her body. There was nothing she could say to that. No excuse. No plea for understanding. Rico would never see what she had done as anything less than betrayal.
Their gazes locked, unspoken tension practically humming between them in the soft island air. The ocean was a murmur of sound and somewhere in the distance an animal’s screech sounded out.
There was so much to say and so little all at the same time. Teresa had hoped that they might find a way to reach each other again, but for every step forward she took, Rico moved that much farther away. He was slipping away from her even as she stood beside him. Missing the feel of his touch, Teresa scrubbed her palms up and down her arms in a futile attempt to ease the chill of the cold that was deep inside her.
“Teresa,” he asked quietly a moment later, “what happened?”
“What?” She shook her head and looked at him in confusion.
“With your aunt,” he said, reminding her of the story she had been telling. “What happened?”
It took her a second, but a smile curved her mouth as she looked at him. Nothing had been solved. They were still on opposite sides of the same battle. But his question told Teresa that Rico, too, missed their all-too-brief truce. So she willingly played along and dipped back into her memories.
“After what seemed like forever, she had a baby boy. I saw him when he was just a few minutes old.” Her smile brightened. “Luca was so tiny. And he looked just furious at the indignity of being born.”
Rico smiled with her and for one long moment, it was almost as if they were…united. And it was so good Teresa didn’t want that moment to end, though she knew it would. For whatever reason, Rico had decided to put their argument aside and go back to their earlier, almost friendly position. She was more than willing.
“Then I will try to be patient as we wait for the newest King to make his arrival.”
“They know it’s a boy?”
“They do,” he said, nodding. “Just last month I helped Sean paint the baby’s room.”
“Melinda showed me the nursery. You guys did a nice job. I love the blue and chocolate-brown.” She stopped and laughed a little. “Wow. I just realized it was only a few hours ago that we were at Melinda’s house and it feels like days.”
He nodded, looked past her at the hospital entrance and said, “The waiting takes a toll.”
“It does.” She followed his gaze and said, “We should really get back.”
“Yes. We should.” He looked as reluctant to end this alone time as she felt and Teresa told herself not to make more of it than there was. Still, a tiny nugget of hope settled into a corner of her heart and wouldn’t be budged.
He took her hand in his and the warmth of his skin washed through her. She held that feeling to her and told herself to remember. To etch that sensation into her heart and mind so that one day soon, when he was far out of reach, she’d be able to take out this memory and relive the feel of her hand in his.
When he led her back to the hospital, they were silent, even their footsteps muffled on the grass.
By dawn, their wait was over.
Sean strutted down the long hallway to the waiting room and greeted them both with a wide grin stretched across his face.
“Melinda’s great and so is our son.” He slapped his hands together and scrubbed his palms before shoving both hands through his hair. “It was—Melinda was—amazing.”
Rico bolted out of his chair, crossed the room and gave his cousin a brief, hard hug before stepping back and slapping Sean on the shoulder. “Congratulations! You’re a father!”
“Terrifying, man,” Sean told him with a shudder. “I won’t lie.”
Teresa winced a little at that word, half expecting a knowing glare from Rico. She was surprised, and pleased, when it didn’t come. She walked to Sean and gave him a hug. “Do we get to see him?”
“Absolutely.” Sean grinned at both of them again. “I came to get you so you can admire and stare with awe at the newest King.”