Exposing Alix (35 page)

Emilio’s eyes were dark and sorrowful. Though he didn’t
speak, Ryker felt certain he understood everything that had been said.

“Prouuud…” The word slurred and passed through Emilio’s
lips like a sigh.

Ryker swallowed hard, blinking furiously as a thick lump
pushed up in his throat.

Emilio stared at him, his body practically shaking as he
forced his mouth to form the words. “Alwaysh…prouud…”

A tear dripped down Ryker’s nose, then another as the
strong, hard man who had been his only father gazed down at him with that
familiar, unrelenting stare.

“Even now?” Ryker whispered. “Even after I hurt her?”

“
Mi hijo
…” Emilio whispered, beckoning toward him
until Ryker gathered his hands together and held them, warm and steady, against
his heart. “My son.”

They sat together a long time, until Emilio’s eyes drifted
closed, and he fell asleep. Maria came in then, and Rosalia. They stood on
either side of Ryker, Maria’s hand resting on his shoulder.

“The doctor is outside. She’d like to talk to us,” Maria
said.

Ryker nodded but didn’t rise. He looked back and forth
between them, his gaze lingering on Rosalia. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice
thick with unaccustomed tears. “I should have gone with you to the cemetery
that day, Rosa. I should have stayed for dinner last week.” He held out his
hands. “I should have done a lot of things.”

She stood still, her body hard and unyielding. “Like
what?”

He grimaced. “I should have known you’d want more.”

She didn’t smile, but he thought he saw a hint of humor in
her dark eyes, and her chin lowered just a fraction of an inch.

“I should have been there with you when she died. I should
have learned Spanish so I could have read the stone on her grave.” He stood and
held out a hand. “There’s probably a lot more, but that’s a start. Can you
forgive me?”

Rosalia’s chin trembled, and she pressed her lips together
as if that would hold back the tears glistening in her eyes. “I suppose I
haven’t been the easiest person to live with either. But you don’t know what
it’s like. She wanted me to keep us together, and I’ve failed her, all these
years. I tried so hard, but I didn’t know how to do it. I didn’t know how to be
her.”

Ryker felt the wind knocked out of him at Rosalia’s words.
He stared at her, amazed. “You thought you had failed her? She adored you. It
drove me crazy how she favored you. And look at you now—you’re like the
rock in the ocean we all swirl around. You are the center of this family, Rosa.
No one else could do that. No one.”

Rosalia laughed and wiped her nose. “I thought I could
never live up to you. You were so strong, so independent. She was so proud of
you. All she ever wanted was to make you happy.”

Maria snorted. “Funny how no one seems to be comparing
themselves to me.”

Rosalia smiled, and just like that, a heavy weight Ryker
hadn’t even known he was carrying lifted from his heart.

“Sure we did,” Ryker said. “Right, Rosa?”

Rosalia winked. “Right Ricar—I mean, Ryker.”

Ryker paused and then shrugged. “You can call me Ricardo,”
he said. “I suppose that’s my name too.”

They started toward the door, where a patient doctor in lime-green
scrubs stood waiting, clipboard in hand.

Ryker poked Maria in the ribs. “You’ll translate, right? I
don’t do well with doctors.”

Maria nodded. “I talked to her a few minutes ago.
Everything looks really good. She just wants to give us some details about the
CT scan and talk about what we might expect to see over the next few days. You
can probably go home. I know you’re at a busy time in the movie.”

“I’m exactly where I need to be,” Ryker said.

The doctor talked about more tests, physical therapy, and
recovery rates. The only thing Ryker heard was that the stroke had been
relatively mild, and they’d been lucky to get Emilio to the hospital so
quickly. They would have to keep a close eye on him over the next few days, and
there could be some lasting damage to his left side, but they were optimistic
that he would make a full recovery.

When the doctor left, Ryker sank into a chair beside
Rosalia and Maria, relief flooding his body. “You two should go,” he said.
“You’ve got kids at home. I’ll stay with him tonight.”

Maria shook her head. “I can stay. Fifi’s happy with her
cousins.”

“We’re ahead of schedule. There’s nothing for me to rush
back to.”

“But—”

He raised one hand. “Please. Let me stay with him.” He
imagined the cold, dark hallways of his house, the roar of the ocean that had once
been so comforting but lately only reminded him of one thing. One person. “I
don’t want to go back to an empty house right now.”

Maria drew back and shot a look at Rosalia. Ryker laid his
head against the wall and closed his eyes. He felt raw, his emotions so close
to the surface he imagined his sisters could see down into his soul.

Rosalia put her hand on his knee. “Do you hear anything
from Daisy?” she asked softly.

The sound of her name—her real name, the name she
didn’t know quite what to do with—rang like a dark, painful chord. “No.”

Maria studied him, her brows drawn together. “Why don’t
you call her?”

“I tried. She didn’t answer.” He didn’t mention that he
had only called once and then hung up when he got her voice mail. Truth was, he
didn’t really want to talk to her. Just hearing her voice made him shudder.

“You miss her.”

It wasn’t a question, and he didn’t bother to protest. “I
said things to hurt her. I think I wanted to hurt her. She said she loved me,
and I threw it in her face.”

Maria grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “Go after her.
She’ll understand.”

“You weren’t there.” He remembered the disgust in her eyes
and the anguish she tried to hide. “I was a bastard. She’ll never forgive me.”

“She already knew you were a bastard,” Maria said baldly.
“And she fell in love anyway. Besides, what choice do you have? You love her,
don’t you?” She paused. “Don’t you?”

Ryker paused. Of course he loved her.

He’d loved her all along. He’d just been too scared to see
it.

“I do. I love her.” All his words about love being for
fools, about love being a made-up emotion, suddenly sounded so silly. This was
what they talked about. This was the feeling that drove people to do crazy
things, that had led his mother to conceive a child with a man she knew would never
be hers, and eventually led her to happiness in Emilio’s arms.

He loved her.

The truth of it rushed through him, momentarily drowning
out everything other than the beating of his heart and the whoosh of his blood
in his veins.

He loved her.

And that meant he had to find a way to win her back.

Maria and Rosalia looked at each other and smiled.

“I knew it,” Maria said with satisfaction.

“Talk to her,” Rosalia advised. “You said terrible things
to me too, but I forgave you, didn’t I?”

“You’re my sister. You don’t have a choice,” Ryker said.
“We’re family.”

Rosalia smiled and laid her head on his shoulder and then
punched him on the arm. “I’m glad you finally remembered.”

Alix bumped down her long, sandy
driveway, her eyes darting to the letter sitting on the passenger seat, glaring
at her. It was from her agent, and it was thick. Probably the contract for the
book.

The fact that she had a contract already was proof of how
much the publishers had wanted the book. Charlie had submitted it on a
Thursday, and by Friday they’d had five offers. Everyone loved artsy sex
pictures. Who didn’t want an excuse to look at people having sex? Pornography
was hard to justify, but this was
love
, and the editors knew it would
sell like hotcakes.

Even if the artist had changed her mind halfway through
the book about the existence of love.

She sat in the driveway and opened the letter. Alix felt
ill when she looked at the line for her signature. Charlie had actually urged
her not to sign it. He said in a month she’d want to change her mind and redo
the ending. And that was the problem—she
did
want to change the
ending. She hated it. It felt wrong. She’d given up on true love and gone for
pretty pictures of people having sex. It was the opposite of everything she’d
wanted to do.

But that was the old Alix talking. The one who believed in
all that nonsense. The new Alix understood that it was all business.

She folded the contract and jammed it in her pocket and
then pushed open the car door. She’d have to sign it quickly, before she lost
her nerve.

“Rex!” she called. It was odd that he hadn’t come out to
greet her. Usually he met her car halfway down the drive. She heard a growl,
then a bark from the other side of the house.

With an irritated sigh, Alix rounded the side of the
cottage. In the past week, Rex had taken to barking at a pair of eagles that
hunted in the marshy area just beyond the house. She wouldn’t mind so much,
except she worried if Rex got irritating enough, one of the eagles might
actually carry him off.

“Rex, come!”

He barked twice but didn’t appear. The only other time
she’d heard him bark like that had been… Her brain froze, mid-thought, because
at that moment, she saw him.

Ryker Valentine, pressed against her house, Rex sitting a
few feet away.

He raised a hand, and Rex growled.

“Any chance you might be willing to call him off?” Ryker
asked, his voice high and strangled.

“Depends on what you want,” she said, struggling to keep
her voice even while her heart leaped unsteadily in her throat. “I cashed the
check two weeks ago. You can’t have the money back.”

“I’m not here about money. I needed to see you.”

Alix studied him. He didn’t look as dapper as usual. His
hair actually looked as though it hadn’t been washed for a couple of days, and
he wore an old pair of jeans that could have belonged to any of the residents
of Desmond, Oregon.

Which was to say they hardly looked right on Ryker
Valentine.

“You look terrible.”

“Emilio had a stroke a week ago. I haven’t been home much
since. These are Anthony’s clothes.”

“Oh no,” she said, one hand coming to rest on her chest.
“Is he okay?”

“He’s making an incredible recovery. He was lucky. Maria
found him right after it happened.”

“I see.” She snapped her fingers at Rex. “Leave.”

He trotted obediently to her side, looked up at her, and
whined.

“So?” She forced an expression of nonchalance. “Any
particular reason you decided to stop by? Other than to tell me about Emilio?”

“You wouldn’t return my calls,” he said.

“I figured if it was important, you’d leave a message.”
She turned her back on Ryker and started toward the house. As she did, she
pulled the contract from her pocket. She needed a pen.

Now.

Before the mere presence of this man brought her newfound
cynicism tumbling to the ground. Her insides were already turning to warm,
molten honey, and a buzz had begun between her ears that was making it
difficult to think.

He took your heart and stomped on it, she reminded
herself.

“Wait,” he said, grabbing her shoulder. “Please. I’ve been
doing a lot of apologizing lately, and I’m getting pretty good at it, but this
may take a minute.”

“I need to sign this contract.” Resolutely, she shook off
his hand and practically ran to the front door. She gave it a hard slam with
her shoulder and stumbled when the door fell open. Ryker followed a few feet
behind.

Rex’s nails clicked on the wood floor as Alix searched for
a pen. She found pencils, markers, even chalk, but no pen.

“What’s the hurry?” Ryker asked. “Can’t you do that
later?”

She glared at him as she headed for the bedroom. There was
a pen tucked inside her journal. She could use that. “No, I can’t.”

He squeezed in front of her and blocked the hallway with
his annoyingly broad chest. “Alix, slow down. I really need to say this.”

“I’m not sure why I should care what you need.” She wanted
to push him out of the way but didn’t trust herself to come in contact with his
flesh. She raised a hand toward him, and he grabbed her wrist. She tugged on it,
but he didn’t release his hold.

Rex growled in warning.

Ryker glared at him and released her hand. “Look, dog,
this isn’t easy, okay? You scare the crap out of me. But I’m not leaving until
I say my piece. So either rip out my throat now or leave me alone.”

Alix gaped at his words. She’d never suspected Ryker was
scared of dogs. “Lie down,” she said to Rex. She turned back to Ryker. “So what
did you want to say?”

“You were right, okay?” he shot out. “Everything you said
was right. Emilio and my sisters, the way I was pushing away my family. It was
all true. I didn’t figure it out until I got to the hospital and realized that
if I wasn’t careful, Emilio would die just like my mother, and he’d never know
how much he meant to me.”

Alix struggled to maintain a level of calm. “That’s good.
I’m glad to hear that. Now, can you please leave?” She held up the contract. “I
have something I need to do.”

“What’s that for, anyway?” He grabbed the contract from
her hand and flipped through its contents. “You finished the book? Good for
you. That must have felt great. Can I see it?”

“It did feel great, and no, you cannot.”

He reached out and took her hand. “I was wrong about other
things too.”

She trembled and tried to pull away. “Please don’t.”

“You scared the hell out of me.” He refused to release
her, reaching out and putting the other around her waist. “I panicked. I said
horrible things to you. Things that weren’t true.”

She shook her head. “I’m not listening. I just need a pen.
Please, let me get the pen.”