Page 45 of Her Spanish Scandal

“Yes it has.”

“What can I do to help you out?” she asked. She was going to ignore the fact that Elvira was in the home that he shared with her. Try to ignore the fact that the woman who’d made her courtship with him so difficult was now sleeping in one of the guest bedrooms.

“Just give me some time to sort everything out.”

She drew back from him. “What do you need to sort out?”

“The stuff with my family and Elvira.”

“Gui? What are you saying?”

“That she’s going to need me.”

“Okay. What will she need from you that she can’t get from her other friends?”

“We were close, mi dulce.”

“I understand that. And you know what? You may have been right when you said I was jealous,” she said, realizing that she was going to have to be totally honest with him. Because if he was going to spend time with Elvira, she was going to have a hard time dealing with it. She understood grief, but right now she needed Gui to reassure her. She was almost certain their wedding would have to be postponed, and she really wanted to hear him say he still wanted her.

“I know.”

“Gui, I’m trying to have a conversation here.”

“I’m trying, too. You mentioned your jealousy of Elvira before, when she sent you that gift.”

“That wasn’t jealousy. She was trying to undermine our relationship.”

He shook his head. “You need to stop thinking everything is about you.”

“I’m not making everything about me. But tonight, parts of this are. I think we have to talk about our wedding, because I can’t imagine celebrating our lives together a day or two after your family attends a funeral. And that seems like a pretty important thing to discuss, Gui.”

“I agree. It is important. I hadn’t even thought about our wedding. We should definitely postpone it.”

His words cut pretty deep, but then she remembered that he didn’t believe in love. God, why couldn’t she have remembered that earlier? Before she’d let herself fall in love with him?

“You forgot about it? I think that says everything I needed to hear.”

He rubbed the back of his neck and she knew he had to be exhausted from the day. But she wasn’t sure where they stood, and she didn’t want to go to bed with doubt in her mind.

“I was worried about Alonzo.”

She nodded. “I understand. Perhaps we should save this conversation for the morning. I’m tired and upset about everything as well.”

“Good idea.”

“Can I get you anything tonight?”

“No, thank you. I’ll see you for breakfast.”

She nodded and left him there. Nothing had been settled between them, and she was afraid to walk away. But it seemed that, no matter what Gui might need from her, what he wanted right now was to be left alone.

By the time Gui showered and changed, he realized he couldn’t leave things as they were with Kara. He decided to order a light supper and invite her to share it with him. He headed downstairs to set things up. Vincent was waiting for him at the foot of the stairs.

“Vincent.”

“The Countess has asked that you go see her.”

“I will. After I have supper with Kara.”