Page 58 of Forbidden Dark Vows

He rubs his face with both hands as if checking the length of his stubble. “I am not making allowances for him,” he continues, regardless. “He should’ve had more respect for women. Perhaps this is something he would have learned in time. But my concern was that he was afraid she might leak her story to the press and ruin his career. Do you understand what I am saying?” His brown eyes hold mine, not letting go.

I nod. It explains everything. Alessandro’s strange mood the day he died. His drinking. The fight at the amusement park.

It dawns on me then… Ruby didn’t say a word about the date.

“So, if you and Ruby have found love, you have more than my blessing, Harry.”

Now I understand Carlos’s mixed emotions. He is embarrassed by his brother’s behavior but cannot say the words out loud because it is wrong to speak ill of the dead. Instead, he is giving us his best wishes in the hope that it will atone for Alessandro’s actions.

“Ruby never spoke about it.” One blessing deserves another, and I hope that it will help Carlos to remember the best of his brother.

“Thank you, my friend.” A gentle smile this time, no teeth. “I am glad to see that life is working out for you. And now, I hear through the grapevine that you need some assistance.”

There is no fooling Carlos. He is devoted to his family, but he is also an astute businessman with contacts around the globe.

“Talk to me, Harry.”

“I appreciate your concern, Carlos, but it is nothing I can’t resolve.”

He inclines his head, a low chuckle rumbling in his throat. “I do not doubt it for a moment. But I am here, and I want to help.”

I tell him that my largest debtor is experiencing problems with a new venture that isn’t performing as well as they’d hoped. “They’re using me to bankroll their own company.”

“How much?”

“Twenty million.”

Carlos doesn’t flinch. “Is that it?” He already knows there’s more.

“Looks like I just missed the boat on two takeover bids that should’ve been done deals.”

I haven’t looked into this yet, but I’m trying to ignore the niggling feeling that my dad allowed them to slip through his fingers. Everything was in place before the car crash. The sellers had agreed to hand over once the creditors had been informed. The problem is, I’d poured a lot of money into keeping them afloat until we’d signed on the dotted line.

Carlos stands up and offers me his hand to shake. “Leave it with me.”

“I-No, Carlos, I can’t possibly accept?—”

“Consider it an early wedding gift.” He doesn’t let go. “Deal?”

I smile as the weak winter sun casts a gentle glow across the room. “Deal.”

He leaves, and Lizzie brings in a pot of coffee and some cream. “You look like you could do with some caffeine.” She doesn’t wait around.

I sip my coffee, sit back in my seat, and try to piece together what happened between Alessandro and Ruby. Whatever it was, she doesn’t want me to know, and I wonder how much of this is out of respect for my friend.

The longer I dwell on it though, the more certain I am that Celia was lying about her own daughter. Ruby had the perfect opportunity to either take things further with Alessandro or to blackmail him with spilling the beans about his behavior. And she chose neither.

The actions of a woman who was out to make some easy cash? I don’t think so.

By the time I’m staring at the bottom of an empty cup, I’ve also realized that it was Celia who asked me to replace Ruby’s tire at the skating rink, almost as if she saw me as an obstacle to be removed.

I pick up the phone and buzz through to Lizzie. “Can you get me the number of the finest neurologist in Chicago?”

I stayin the office until late, the city streets coming alive with the nighttime ritual of people flocking to wine bars, nightclubs, and strip joints for their next fix, sexual or otherwise. With Carlos taking care of the bigger issues, I’ve managed to trawl through the rest of the paperwork that was sitting on my desk, and now, with the lonely night ahead of me, I don’t want to be here without Ruby.

I don’tneedto be here without Ruby.

I could take the next flight out of New York City and be in Chicago by midnight. I won’t disturb Ruby after the day she has had, but at least we will be in the same city, breathing the same air, and gazing up at the same stars.

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