"Why?" I asked. In all my watching, I'd never understood Odina's hatred for Isa. Hugo and Joaquin had never been able to find out the truth from either sister, but there was no doubt in my mind that there was something much more sinister working in the hatred between them.
"She blames me for something that happened when we were little. Our mother—" She paused, glancing at me from the side of her eye and pursing her lips. She considered her next words carefully, debating the decision to speak to me about it at all. Finally she bit her lip and released it to look away from me. "Our mother took my side."
"It must have been a pretty big argument to cause a rift for all these years," I observed. I didn't look at her, sensing her need to not have my eyes on her for the remainder of our conversation.
"You could say that, yeah." Leaning her head on my shoulder, she finally turned her green eyes up to me. "My grandmother says that there's something broken in her. I'm not so sure that she's the broken one though."
"Well, I don't know your sister," I said. The lie rolled off my tongue easily, and I clung to the fact that I didn'treallyknow Odina despite having met her once. "But you're far from broken, Princesa." Lying seemed like such a trivial offense for a man like me, but I wanted to be able to say that I'd always been honest with Isa.
I might omit the truth for her safety at times, but I would never lie to her just for the sake of it.
"You barely know me."
My fingers dug into the flesh of her thigh, gripping her harder than I wanted with the visceral reaction those words brought me. I wanted to tell her that I knew everything I possibly could. That I probably knew her better than anyone else in the world except herself.
"I think I know you better than you believe," I murmured teasingly. She scoffed, leaning back to let the sun fall on her face. I'd lathered her sunscreen on her before we left the hotel, but I made a note to reapply it for her as soon as we docked.
"It's nice to think so."
Looking over at how stunning she looked with the sunlight kissing her face, I wondered what she would look like lounging on my yacht when I finally brought her home. Even if my instincts roared for me to take her toEl Infiernothen and there, I rejected them in favor of continuing on as planned.
Isa would love me if she didn't already. I'd find a way.