‘Miss Langston, welcome to Havana. We hope you will enjoy your stay with us.’ She waved over a middle-aged man dressed in burgundy and gold monogrammed uniform and handed him the plastic room card. ‘This is Pedro, he’ll be your personal butler for the duration of your stay. If you need anything else, please let us know.’
She didn’t ask how the receptionist knew her by sight. On the few occasions she’d ventured into Luis’s world while he’d been alive, she’d quickly realised that the wealthy and powerful led very different lifestyles. One she got a taster of when, upon arrival in the luxury suite, two additional members of staff unpacked her clothes and a light lunch was set out on a sun-drenched private terrace within minutes.
Suki refused the welcome champagne and mostly picked at her grilled seafood salad. The preoccupation of readying herself for the trip to Cuba had briefly suppressed the jangling nerves that the thought of meeting Ramon again awakened.
They clanged harder now, questions she’d resolutely driven out of her thoughts resurging with brutal force. No matter how many times she tried to tell herself what happened that night had been on equal terms, she still couldn’t understand why he’d left her without a word. Was that the done thing? Had she misstepped somehow?
Was that why he’d fast-tracked Luis into moving to New York?
But one question burned most of all, one question she knew deep in her heart had informed some of the decisions she’d made regarding her pregnancy.
Why had he lied about no longer being engaged?
Finding out that Ramon was still engaged to Svetlana after their night together had filled her with numbing disbelief, then horror when Luis had confirmed it. The shock and resulting bitterness at being made an accomplice to infidelity had stayed with her for a long time, and even risked her friendship with Luis. Only her confession about her pregnancy and the associated problems with it had brought a much-needed perspective and support from her best friend.
But now those questions, and more, crowded her brain.
Although her butler spoke perfect English, Suki was reluctant to ask him anything about his employer. The fact that Ramon was choosing to deal with her through his lawyers also indicated that he wished to maintain a distance.
That was fine by her. It should make the decision to tell him about the child they’d lost much easier.
Abandoning her meal, she retreated into the cool suite. A quick check of her emails showed another message from Ramon’s lawyers, telling her she would be picked up at nine a.m. for the memorial.
Suki spent the rest of the evening laying out her clothes and taking a bath, after which she slid into bed for an early night.
The soft knock on her door came seconds before her phone’s alarm went off at eight the next morning. After trying and failing to swallow more than a bite of the scrambled eggs and toast or stop the ever growing butterflies in her stomach, she took a quick shower and donned her simple black dress and heels. Tying her hair in a knot, she picked up her black clutch just as another knock came on her door.
The butler beat her to it. Which was just as well because the sight of Ramon Acosta filling the doorway wasn’t one she could’ve withstood well up close. Because even across the vast distance of the living room, every single particle in her body clenched tight on seeing him.
He prowled into the room, tall and powerful, his strides measured and predatory. Eyes that had never been soft were now even harsher as they mercilessly raked over her. His mouth, still sensual, still unsmiling, had developed a layer of cruelty and, almost impossibly, his shoulders seemed broader, as if they’d had to expand to accommodate the harrowing circumstances thrown at him.
Even though a part of her heart went out to him for the unthinkable loss he’d suffered, Suki was too busy building the foundation of her own self-preservation as the ground beneath her feet tilted crazily.
Many times before and even after the doctors had informed her of the state of her pregnancy, she’d wondered what their child would look like. She’d eventually discovered she was carrying a girl. Imagining a female version of Ramon had been a little harder than a male version, and perhaps a blessing in disguise in the long run, a way the cosmos chose to help her cope.
Because the man dressed from head to toe in bespoke black standing in front of her was every inch as formidable—goodness, even more so—than her imagination had conjured up.
He stopped before her, eyes of chilled green glass fixed on her. ‘Are you not going to greet me, Suki?’ he asked icily.
Her gut clenched harder at the sound of his voice. Although it was now arctic, she didn’t need much prompting to recall it in a different tone. A huskier, headier timbre. A tone she had no business recollecting right now. She bit her tongue against informing him that he’d entered her domain and therefore etiquette dictated he needed to greet her first. There was no use because men like Ramon played by their own rules. And for her own peace of mind, she wanted the next two days to go as smoothly as possible.
Clearing her throat, she strove for an even tone. ‘Good morning, Ramon. I... I wasn’t expecting to see you.’
‘Were you not?’ he countered, unforgiving eyes still hooked into her. ‘What were you expecting, exactly?’
‘Well...not you...here...’ She stopped, silently cursed the silly stammering she’d thought was far behind her. ‘I mean, I was expecting your driver, not you...to come in person.’
‘Then I guess you’ll just have to suffer the inconvenience of my presence,’ he bit out.
His tone raked across her hackles, making her own chin rise. ‘It’s not an inconvenience, but surely you have better things to do than personally escort me to the memorial?’
‘Indeed, there are many demands on my time. But perhaps everything else paled in comparison to my wish to see you. Perhaps I couldn’t wait to clap eyes on you again, reassure myself that you’re indeed flesh and blood.’
Something about the way he spoke the words stamped cold, hard dread onto her soul. Frantically she searched his gaze, but his face was an inscrutable mask, the only indication of his demeanour the darkening eyes that continued to regard her with unnerving intensity. ‘Flesh and blood? As...as opposed to what?’ she asked, her voice not as steady as she craved it to be.
His firm lips flattened. ‘As opposed to the many other descriptions whose veracity I will test once the memorial is over. And believe me, Suki, there are many.’
Her hackles rose higher, her breath shortening as ice filled her spine. ‘Well, I don’t know what that means, but I assure you, I’m made of the same flesh and blood and bone I possessed when you last saw me.’
Cold eyes grew even more remote, his nostrils pinching white before he took a step back. ‘Should I find it curious that you neglected to mention your heart?’
Her breath strangled. No, her heart wasn’t the same. It’d grown into twice its size when she’d found out she was carrying a child. Then it’d been lacerated beyond repair at the harrowing events and the decisions that had led to the loss of her child. Suki was sure that were she to pluck it out of her chest right this moment, she wouldn’t recognise the battered organ.
‘Since the contents of my heart are none of your business, no, I don’t believe it’s a matter for discussion.’
He exhaled slowly, his chest expanding then settling as he regarded her. ‘For both our sakes, we will set this aside for now. We will go and remember my brother with our best memories. Then after that, we’ll talk.’
She recalled the paragraph in the email that had demanded her attendance at a meeting involving Luis’s will, and her heart lurched. ‘If this is about Luis’s will, please know that if there’s