Page 59 of Surrender to the Ruthless Billionaire

Looking up, her mouth twisted.

‘I know what you’re thinking. You think there must have been some signs. But there weren’t. We were just really naive, and he was a very convincing liar.’

He held her gaze. What he’d actually been thinking was that now he understood why Cristina had reacted so strongly to finding out he was heir to the Osorio fortune. Given her father’s deceit, it was hardly surprising that she had been so suspicious and distrustful of him—a man who appeared to live two very different lives.

‘How did you find out?’ he asked gently.

He felt her shoulders stiffen. ‘He went to the airport and left his suitcase in a taxi. The driver dropped it back at our house, and when my mum unpacked it she found a letter to his accountant about a trust fund for his wife and daughter.’

Her face was rigid.

‘Only it wasn’t me and my mum. It was Laura and her mother. There was a photo of them too. When he rang, my mum tried to talk to him but he just hung up.’

‘Did he never try to contact you?’

She shook her head. ‘I found out later that he’d moved to New York. I did see him once, though.’ She hesitated. ‘About a year after he left. He came to London with his

family. His real family, I mean. I’d been stalking Laura on the internet and she was all excited about the trip. I spoke to his secretary. Pretended I was Laura. She gave me the address of the hotel where he was staying and I went there.’

Her mouth dipped at the corners.

‘He didn’t even want to acknowledge me at first. And then, when I wouldn’t leave, he pulled out his wallet and gave me a bunch of money. I threw it in his face.’

Luis squeezed her shoulders. Her voice was so steady, so matter-of-fact, but somehow that made everything worse. ‘He got off easy.’ It was a poor joke, but he had to say something to ease the pain in her eyes.

Cristina looked up at him, and tried, and failed to smile. ‘He’s my dad.’

He pulled her into his arms and suddenly it felt like the easiest, most natural thing in the world to bury her face against his chest.

‘I’m sorry,’ she mumbled. ‘For lying to you about the phone calls. Especially after what you told me about that reporter.’

He closed his eyes ‘I’m sorry too—for accusing you of all those terrible things.’

She felt his arms tighten around her.

‘So what happens next? Are you just going to ignore what Laura told you?’

Lifting her face, she looked up at him, confused. ‘I don’t know—’ she began.

But he just carried on talking as though she hadn’t spoken. ‘I suppose the easiest solution is just to pretend it never happened but…’

Her eyes narrowed. ‘Nice try! But I’m not going to see him. I don’t want to.’

‘And I understand that. But I think you should go—no, hear me out,’ he said as she started to shake her head. ‘You told me that nothing can change the past, and you were right. But you also told me that letting the past ruin your future is wrong. So go and see him and free yourself. Otherwise you’ll put your life on hold forever just like I did.’

Her hands squeezed the fabric of his shirt. ‘I don’t think I can face him. Not on my own.’

‘You won’t be on your own.’

‘But I can’t ask my mother—’

Tipping her head back, he kissed her forehead gently. ‘You won’t have to. I’ll be there.’

She stiffened. ‘I can’t ask you to do that.’

He smiled. ‘You’re not asking me. I’m telling you that’s what’s happening.’

‘But why would you do that?’

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