"Thank you," I murmured, turning my gaze back to her. She smiled kindly, her lips parting as if to speak as I shifted my gaze to the village behind her. To the people who had abandoned me to suffer whatever fate Rafael deemed appropriate. I hoped to leave the island in one piece, but if I couldn't find a way, I didn't know that I'd ever forgive the people for what they'd done.
For leaving me to die here.
As I watched them move about in the distance, my heart stopped. The familiar and imposing figure stepped out of one of the houses, glancing up to meet my gaze as he froze solid. The recognition in the motion confirmed everything I suspected and couldn't know was true, considering the distance.
I sprung into action, sprinting across the pavers and onto the grass at the other side of the pool area. "Isa!" Regina gasped, stretching out a hand as if to catch me. But I shook her off, determined to cross the distance between us.
Joaquin stepped closer to me, heading me off before I could get to the village, with a nervous glance behind him. His hands wrapped around my upper arms as I flung myself into his arms. I grinned up at him when I found him unharmed, only happy that Rafael hadn't hurt him.
"Mi reina," he whispered, his face pinching as he tried to guide me back toward the house. Regina closed the distance between us, her hand covering her mouth as tears stung her eyes. "Let's get you home."
"What are you talking about?" I asked, spinning to stare at him once more. The house he'd stepped out of loomed in the background, Hugo's smiling face appearing as he and Gabriel emerged from it.
The happiness I'd felt at seeing them unharmed fled, replaced by a sudden emptiness as I tried to understand what stared me in the face.
Victims of abduction didn't smile as they stepped into the sun, unless they were free. They didn't look horrified when their eyes locked on mine.
Hugo mouthed my name as I backed away from Joaquin, the stinging bite of betrayal striking me through my confusion. "Let's go home," Regina said at my back, reaching down to take my hand in hers. Her bottom lip trembled when she met my eyes, and it hit me that out of all of us, I was the only one who was lost. I was the only one who didn't know the truth.
So much for the promise of no more secrets.
Hugo closed the distance between us slowly, swallowing and licking his lips as he and his brothers watched me for a reaction. "What's going on?" I whispered, tears burning my eyes.
I tried to connect the dots. I tried to put the pieces together, but where there should have been connections, there was only blinding betrayal and pain.
"What are you doing here?" I asked when he didn't answer. His silent stare met my words as he swallowed, then clenched his eyes closed so he wouldn’t have to look at me."What are you doing here?!"I screamed, backing away a step as my brain tried desperately to find an excuse that didn't mean it had all been a lie. That I'd been set up from the very beginning.
"Gabriel, go get Rafael. Now," Regina ordered. The middle Cortes brother nodded and gave me one last sad look, sprinting up toward the house above us.
"This is my home," Hugo said, swallowing around the words. He gave me nothing else, didn't take a step toward me or move to comfort me as Regina tried to pull me into her arms. I shrugged her off, filled with the determination to stand on my own two feet as my world crashed down around me. I’d known I would lose Hugo when I came to Ibiza.
I just didn’t know it would be like this.
"Did you—" I paused, wincing when my lip felt wet with tears. "Did you tell Rafael about me? Did you set me up forthis?"I asked. He shook his head, his face pinching as if it pained him to stay silent. "I don't understand," I cried, shaking my head.
"I didn't choose this for you. Please know that," he said, his voice catching on the words.
"You didn't choose this?!"I screamed, stepping into his space. My hand collided with his cheek, the stinging of my wounds bursting to life as the slap echoed through the clearing. The pain grounded me against the tumult of emotions swirling inside me.
Rage like I'd never known felt like it would consume me. Like it would pull me to the depths of hatred and never let me go.
My body trembled as I raised my hand again. He stood there, just waiting for the second blow as if he knew he deserved it.
It only made it worse.
"Settle,mi reina," Joaquin said, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me away from his brother. "That's enough," he murmured softly. The soothing sound of his voice felt like a betrayal against everything I'd thought I knew about the brothers. Like the fact that it had all been a lie would split me in two and I'd never be the same.
"Take your hands off her." Rafael's deep voice barked the order. There was no hesitation as Joaquin obeyed, stepping away from me with his hands raised innocently. Regina stared at Rafael in horror, shaking her head in a silent plea. "I gave you one rule," he said to her. "She was not to leave the house for exactly this reason. Are you happy?!" He spoke in that calm, deadly measured voice of his that was more intimidating than most people yelling, swinging a hand out to me where I stared at Hugo with a tear-stained face.
"Rafael," she pleaded.
"Go," he ordered, turning his back on her as he stepped up to me. He put himself between Hugo and me, demanding my attention in a way that might have felt jealous if it hadn't been illogical.
"I don't understand," I said, staring up at him as he moved closer into my space. His huge hand cupped the side of my neck, his thumb moving gently over the surface as if he could feel me shattering beneath his touch.
"I sent the Cortes brothers to you in Chicago," he said. I froze, blinking up at him blankly and biting my bottom lip as I thought back to how long Hugo had been a staple in my life.
"That's not possible. It's been over a year," I whispered, trying to back away from his touch.