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Manuela was done with duty. She would not sacrifice herself for it, and she would not accept it in place of love. “You don’t deserve me either, Duchess.” She made sure she held Cora’s gaze as she spoke, and she held back nothing. No more hiding her pain behind sultry smiles. Cora had broken her heart, and she would damn well have to see it.
A hand clamped her arm, wrenching her backward.
“I paid for you,” Felix seethed. “You will not make a fool out of me.”
Cora took a menacing step forward, but Manuela was done being talked about like she was an object, of being treated like one.
“Get your hands off me, Felix,” she protested, digging her nails into her would-be groom’s wrists, then stomping on his foot hard enough to make the man wail in pain. He lunged at her, his face twisted with fury, but before he could touch her Cora leaped onto his back, screaming like a banshee, all semblance of respectability lost as she tried her best to rip every strand of hair from Felix’s scalp.
“Don’t you lay your hands on her, cabrón,” the duchess yelled, her face screwed with rage as she tugged on the man’s head hard enough to tear it clear off his shoulders while Manuela stared slack-jawed.
“Easy there, Your Grace,” Apollo bellowed as he struggled to unlatch Cora from Felix. Once he managed that, he made quick work of placing Felix in a headlock. Manuela’s mother was still prostrate, and her father was slumped on the pew next to her. The few guests were craning their necks to witness the spectacle.
She might not be able to return to South America at all after this.
“If you don’t stop thrashing I’ll knock your head against the flagstone,” Apollo threatened a whimpering Felix before turning to Manuela. “You need me to do something about her?” He arched an eyebrow toward Cora who looked a proper mess, with her face full of scratches and her chest heaving from leaping onto a man’s back like damned spider.
“No,” Manu said, with a shake of her head. “I’ll talk to her.
“You ruined my wedding,” Manuela rebuked Cora, hardening herself at the raw pain etched all over the duchess’s face.
“Go in there,” Aurora whispered behind her. Her finger pointed toward a door behind the altar. “I will deal with things here.”
“Why are you here, Cora?” Manuela demanded the moment she closed the door behind them.
“I couldn’t let you go through with it without telling you how I feel.” Cora’s voice cracked, and Manuela willed herself to not let a few pained words to weaken her resolve.
“Your feelings were stated quite illustriously when you attempted to buy off my parents.”
Cora flinched, but to her credit she didn’t look away. “I just wanted to get you away from him.”
“You wanted your land and a clean exit from our arrangement.” This time Cora did turn away, but not before Manuela saw the tears in her eyes.
“I love you.” Her voice was so clogged, Manuela barely understood her, but then she said it again, stronger, louder. “I love you. And it terrifies me.” The words came out in a rush, but again Cora turned something that should’ve been glorious into a disappointment. It broke her heart all over again that this woman who did so many kindnesses for others, could not do the same for herself.
“I don’t want you to love me in spite of your common sense, Cora. I want you to love me because nothing else in the world could stop you.” Each word out of her mouth seeped into Manuela’s bones. “I want to be loved because the idea of a life with me is enough to change everything, not something you do against your better judgment.” Her voice broke then, and she wished she could conjure the old Manuela, the one who could pretend nothing ever affected her. The one Luz and Aurora thought of as fearless.
“Manuela.” Cora’s voice was choked with tears, but Manuela moved away. If they touched, she’d falter, and she wasn’t done yet.
Manuela could feel the tears streaming down her face, but she was tired of pretending that her parents’ neglect and manipulation hadn’t wounded her. That no one seeing how alone she felt didn’t devastate her. Mostly she was done putting on a brave face for Cora. This woman had wounded her to the heart, and Manuela didn’t feel like sparing her that truth.
“You hurt me, Cora.” She laughed, a broken, hollow sound, while she looked around the airless dark room they were in. Her dress that had cost a fortune was now streaked with dust. “In a way I should thank you, because loving you has finally taught me there are worse things in life than not having money for pretty dresses. You taught me there is always more to lose.”
“Manuela. I will do anything.”
It was not easy to resist the yearning in those violet eyes, but she knew if she gave in now, Cora would go back to that life of machinations, secrets, power and greed. Manuela wanted no part of that. If she was to burn down her life to be free, it wouldn’t be to allow Cora to drag her back into that mire.
“You don’t want me, Cora,” Manuela retorted, tiredly. “You just can’t stand the idea of Felix having me.”
“No,” Cora denied the words, head shaking stubbornly. “I love you. Look at me. I made a spectacle of myself.” The unsaidfor youhung in the air between then like venom.
It was right there: the resentment. Cora still holding herself to the rules of a society that barely tolerated her. Of people who saw their love as despicable.
“You know the irony of all this?” Manuela spoke into the miserable silence between them. “It was you who opened my eyes to this. It was knowing you, your world,” Manuela continued, even when her voice was barely audible through her tears. “Lovingyoumade me see I deserved more than the crumbs I was allowed to have. It’s not enough that you don’t deny who you are, Cora. I want you to love yourself, and me, enough to be different. To value your own happiness above the validation from people that hate what we are.”
“It’s not that simple, Manuela,” Cora protested, shaking her head again.
“Why can’t you walk away?”
