Chapter 53

That lawyer was still standing next to her. I knew they had been high school friends, but it didn't mean I enjoyed knowing how much time they spent together, especially when he was in the apartment she was renting. Amelia was surrounded by the three women who had been with her since she came back to California and the person I knew to be Martha. All those people had been investigated, in case any of them had a concerning connection with that fucker.

They had finally lowered his coffin into the ground, and they were covering it with dirt. I had been in my car the whole time, watching her. I wanted to be with her, console her.

Even though Richard's death was good news, I understood that, for better or worse, she was burying the only father she had ever known. She barely cried during the ceremony, but she looked skinnier in her black dress and cardigan, her eyes hidden behind black sunglasses. She finally broke, turning around into the arms of that fucker. That was the last straw. She was in pain, and I needed to be there for her, not him. I got out of the car and told Carl, my driver, to wait for me.

They were all staring at me as I closed the distance between us, the grass crushing under my feet.

Amelia lifted her head and looked in my direction.

God, she was beautiful, her hair arranged in a ponytail, that dress unable to hide those curves that haunted my dreams. By the look I was getting, if I had to bet, those friends had an idea of who I was. I was hoping it was a good sign, but the death stare the brunette gave me said otherwise.

They all stood next to her, as if any of them would be able to stop me from talking to her.

Amelia took a timid step in my direction. My heart lost it, wanting nothing more than to take her with me and never look back. She wrapped both her small hands around my lapels. I wrapped my arms around her shaking shoulders, holding onto her like my life depended on it. The friends backed away, giving us some privacy. I kissed her head, caressed her back.

"It's okay, mi ni?a. Everything is going to be okay. I promise."

"I"m sorry," she said as she lifted her head.

"You have nothing to be sorry about," I said, her words giving me a sliver of hope.

"I am crying in your arms over the death of the man who killed your brother," she explained.

"It"s normal for you to feel pain. He was family—however shitty."

"He was…both things," she said as she straightened up and took a step back.

"Thank you for coming," she said as she lifted her head in my direction.

That wasn't good. She was putting some distance between us again, treating me like any random person who would have come to give her their sympathies. My heart sinked, the pit in my stomach growing wider.

"There is nowhere I would rather be than by your side, Amelia."

She shook her head. "Alejandro."

"Please, Amelia."

"Just, please…don't," she begged when I got closer to her. I gently took her face between my hands.

"I'm not losing you, baby," I promised as my throat closed up.

"I can't."

"You're scared. I get that. Your life got turned upside down in a matter of months. Pero no me voy a dar por vencido. Me entiendes?"

"You know we were doomed from the beginning, Alejandro. This will never work between us."

"Why? Richard is dead. Mathias is gone. There is nothing stopping us."

"I can't do this," she said as a sob escaped from her mouth.

God, I would give my life to remove the pain that haunted her, darkening her aura. My strong girl, my loving girl, my loyal girl… Seeing her in pain was a knife to the stomach. Her tears burned a thousand times more than the bullet. I took a step closer, wrapped my hand around her wrist and pulled her close to me.

"I love you," I said, and before she could say anything, I kissed her.

She gasped, but I didn't care.

I was desperate.

Desperate to feel her, desperate to love her, desperate to hear that she loved me too.

I needed her, body and soul, and I was running out of options. It felt as if she was slipping through my fingers the longer we were away from each other.

"Please, Alejandro," she begged as she pushed slightly against me.

"I need time. I need some time."

My heart shattered into pieces.

But I took her face between my hands again, not giving a fuck about all the eyes staring at us. I kissed her again, tasting her tears. I would have given anything to erase them, to make her feel better.

"Ok, mi mu?eca, if that's what you want, even if I am breaking inside, I will give you space. But understand this, I am not losing you. I am not going away. I belong to you, mi ni?a, and you belong to me."

She put her hands on mine, still framing her face. She nodded her head up and down ever so slightly before she turned around and went to her friend. The brunette I knew to be Chloe took her in her arms as she stared at me, her anger gone. There was only sadness there, a deep need to take her friend's pain away. The blonde I knew as Iris walked up to me.

"Thank you for saving her life. Give her some time…just a little more," she whispered, seemingly making sure others didn"t hear her.

She had no idea how much her words meant to me. It meant Amelia didn't hate me. It meant she confided in her friends. It meant they knew she loved me, even if she wouldn't admit it to me, or to herself. I looked in her direction one more time. She had her sunglasses off and was looking at me, a small smile on her lips. There was hope. There had to be. Because a life without Amelia…that wasn't a life worth living.