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She flings a book from the counter across the room, knocking a glass pitcher onto the floor, where it shatters spectacularly. “That bastard.”
I’ve known her more than a decade, and I’ve never seen her like this. She’s not going to forgive him, or maybe she will, but she won’t forget. Their relationship will be forever changed—because of me.
“I know you’re angry. But we don’t have any idea what, if anything, happened between Rafael and Marco. There could have been any number of things that upset Rafael. I’m sure the same is true for Marco.”
“You’re right. But this isn’t my first go-round with Rafael. His dirty fingerprints are all over it. I knew it from the start. I just didn’t want to believe it.”
I need to be the one who tells Rafael. It’s the only hope I have for our relationship. It has to come from me. “I need a favor.”
“Anything,” she says. “Just don’t ask me to go easy on him. I won’t do that.”
“Don’t tell him I told you. Let me tell him. It’ll seem like less of a betrayal.”
“Of course. But, Lexie, you can’t say anything until after I talk to him. First, I want to talk to Marco. He’s meeting with a client at eleven. I’m going to try to catch him before then. Once he knows I’m onto Rafael, maybe he’ll be more forthcoming.”
I’m not sure how it’s going to work. My brain is like mush.
“Listen,” she says, gently taking my hand. “I asked a lot of you. I know how you feel about Rafael, and I’m sorry if this causes a rift between you. I really am.”
I know she’s sorry about all of it, and I’m sorry too. Rafael was right—our family ties are intertwined in a way that makes this sort of thing inevitable. I just thought we’d have a stronger foundation before we were tested.
“I’ll keep your confidence,” she continues. “I won’t tell Rafael, or anyone.”
“Valentina, please think about this long and hard before you go for the jugular. You don’t actually know anything. You’re grasping at straws because you need to have something to hold on to. I understand that. But don’t blow up your relationship with Rafael over a few sketchy details. He loves you so much. You’re the one link he has to his mother, and he’s the one link you have to that part of your family.”
She draws a breath.
“That kind of love is toxic,” she says finally. “You know this. The reason men behave like your father, and mine, and Rafael, is because they’re allowed to.”
I don’t say anything as we embrace, because she’s right. There’s no denying it.
Rafael did this to her. I’m sure it was under some guise of protection. I’m also sure that one day he’ll do the same thing to me under that same guise of protection.
It almost doesn’t matter if he hates me for telling Valentina. I can’t live like that.
48
RAFAEL
Five heads pop up, at once, as Valentina storms into the villa. We gave her access because she’s a partner, and it was a show of trust, but she never comes down here.
Her hair is uncombed, and her eyes are rimmed in red like she’s been crying. My gut starts to burn the moment I lay eyes on her.
“Get out!” she shouts at Zé, Cristiano, and Lucas, who aren’t quite sure what to do. “No. Stay. I want you fuckers to hear this, too, because I’m sure you were in on it.”
Neither Antonio nor I ask what’s wrong, because we both know. I’m sure the other three know too. She’s a woman now, but all I see is the twelve-year-old girl who wormed her way into my heart before I even met her.
“How dare you?” she shrieks at me. “You don’t think you’ve already caused enough trouble in my marriage?”
She marches closer, and as pissed as she is, I prefer it to seeing hurt in her face.
“You dragged my husband into the caves and accused him of stealing money?”
“He was not dragged anywhere, and he wasn’t treated like a prisoner. No one, not me or anyone else, accused him of a fucking thing. I asked him some questions. That’s all.”
“That’s all? I would have expected this from him”—she points to Antonio, who doesn’t flinch—“but not from you. Why didn’t you come to me first? How am I ever supposed to trust you as my big brother, or a business partner? How?”
The pain is all over her face now, and in her voice. I feel it in my bones.
