Fresh Temptation: Barboza Brothers, Book One (23 page)

Cara’s earlier notions of
a hot bath and sleep faded away completely as she melted into
Victor.

His lips moved from her
mouth to her ear, kissing as they went. “I want you,” he whispered.
“
Mi corazon
…”

And then Cara jolted, as
if she was coming out of a trance. “Wait, no. Stop!”

“What?” He pulled away
from her immediately.

“Victor.” She rolled to
her back. “I can’t let this happen. You lure me in with your kisses
and those sexy Spanish words.” She stared up at the ceiling and
produced an exasperated sigh. “What are we doing?”

“Well, I don’t know
what
you’re
doing, but I’m doing whatever I can to keep you from getting
away. You’re obviously not impressed with my money or you wouldn’t
have left me so easily. I will find a way to make you mine,
Cara.”

“But, why? You could have
any woman you want.”

“I know a good thing when
I find it. That’s why.”

Cara hesitated before
asking the question she had pondered for days. “But you thought the
same thing about Alexis, didn’t you? You were going to marry her,
and look how that turned out?”

He bristled a little.
“Yes. And I’ve spent a lot of time asking myself the same
questions. But now it’s so clear. You see, even in the short time
I’ve known you, I’ve wanted to be with you. Wanted to keep you near
where I can see you every day and get to know you more.” His head
shook gently. “I was never that way with Alexis. I kept myself too
busy to see her, and she found comfort with another man. Perhaps it
was subconscious, for me. I never really wanted her. I saw her as
an investment, I guess, just like everything else in my life. I
just wanted to make sure I got married before years went by and I
somehow forgot.” He paused, softening his voice. “It’s completely
different with you, Cara. I think of you all the time. I love to
just be in your presence. And when I’m not with you, it’s only
because I’ve already canceled every meeting I can possibly
cancel.”

She gulped. “Really? But
it seems like you’re working all the time.”

“I worked much more before
you came along.” He smiled. “You can ask Gary. He doesn’t think I
hear him grumbling under his breath about all the changes he has to
make to my calendar.”

“Oh…” Cara was at a loss
for words.

“That’s why I simply can’t
let you get away.” Victor leaned down to give her lips a soft kiss.
When he pulled away, he propped himself up on his elbow. “So, you
must tell me. Is there another reason you came here to Chicago? Is
there another man here?”

Cara’s eyes widened.
“No.”

“Really? No competition
for me to eliminate?”

“No. There’s no one. There
hasn’t been for years.”

“What about Isaac’s
father? Does he live here?”

“Crap.” Cara stared up at
the ceiling for a moment, then closed her eyes and hit her forehead
with her palm. “I’ve been dreading this conversation.”

“I can see
that.”

“I didn’t tell you this,
but I got a card from Alexis a few days ago. She—”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Victor’s jaw dropped. “She’s prohibited from contacting you. I
would’ve taken care of it.”

“I was afraid, I guess. I
don’t know.”

“She did make a comment to
me about it. It was strange and vague. Her last ditch effort to
turn me against you, I guess. But I don’t believe anything she
says.”

Cara pulse quickened.
“What’d she tell you?”

“That you never told
Isaac’s father about him.”

“What if it’s true? Would
that turn you against me? After the way you grew up?”

Victor inhaled deeply, a
bit of anxiety coursing through him as he considered the question.
He immediately thought of his brother Ramon’s theories about their
father. “There are questions about my father that may never be
answered. And my mother, God rest her soul, did the best she could.
I believe a child should know his father, if possible. And I think
if you decided not to tell Isaac’s father, then you must have had a
good reason.” He cleared his throat. “And if it’s okay with you,
I’d like to hear that reason.”

Relief washed over Cara.
She almost laughed, feeling silly that this issue had caused her so
much worry. And it was only at this moment she realized just how
much she had let it worry her. A nagging sense of dread had
lingered in the back of her mind ever since the day Victor first
asked about Isaac’s paternity. And now it was gone. Still, she
stiffened a bit as she collected her thoughts, ready to tell Victor
what she had never told anyone before. She took a slow breath and
began. “His father was a guy I dated my senior year of college. His
name was Marcus. He was a grad student. We met at the beginning of
the spring semester that year.”

Victor waited patiently as
she paused, her face taking on a solemn expression.

She took a moment to
collect her thoughts before continuing. “I was a poor student back
then. I didn’t want more student loans than I already had, so I
worked my way through school to pay for living expenses. That
semester, the restaurant where I’d waited tables for two years
suddenly shut down. Like, overnight. No warning.” She sighed. “I
really didn’t wanna ask Mom for money and get her all worried and
worked up. So, I moved in with Marcus after we’d only known each
other about a week.”

Victor nodded.
“Okay.”

“At the time I thought it
was romantic that he wanted me around so much.” She shrugged.
“Marcus was so different from any guy I’d ever dated. Very
attentive. He’d go out of his way to walk me to class. Take me
anywhere I wanted to go, as long as he was with me.” She let out a
short groan. “He had to know where I was, all the time. And he
slowly isolated me from everyone. I couldn’t even go to my old
roommate’s apartment for a girls’ night. At first he was sweet
about it. He’d talk me into staying home, telling me he wanted to
have a romantic evening together. I was the last one to see what
was really going on. I felt so stupid. I think it was the fourth
time I tried to go out alone, he threw a fit. Broke a chair and
told me it was my fault. I made him throw that wooden chair against
the wall because I was being so mean to him, you know?”

“That’s
terrible!”

“Yeah. The guys from
upstairs came down to see what the problem was. Marcus calmed right
down and told them we were having an argument but we were already
making up. I don’t know what I said. I think I just stood there in
shock. I’d never been scared like that before.”

“Did you call the
cops?”

Her eyes welled up.
“No.”

“No? What about your mom?
Your friends?”

Cara sniffled, shaking her
head. In a thin voice she said, “No.”

“You moved out after that,
right?”

Tears fell down her face
and she wiped them away. “I wish I could say yes. But no. I let
another two months go by. What was I supposed to do?” She looked at
Victor. “I didn’t have a job and he was paying all the bills. If I
could just hold on for a little while longer and put up with his
temper till graduation I’d never have to see him again.”

“But you didn’t deserve
that. Not for a second. Certainly not for an entire
semester.”

“I know.” Cara turned away
from him and took a deep breath to calm down. “I was so ashamed of
myself for letting him trick me. I thought he was so nice. I
bragged to all my friends about what a great guy I found and then
he…” Her voice trailed off. She blinked profusely until her tears
were gone, and waited until she could speak without crying. “I
remember one night I was in bed, trying to sleep after he’d
screamed at me for an hour, accusing me of cheating on him. It was
the first time he raised his hand to me. He didn’t hit me. He just
drew his hand back and acted like he might. He wanted me to be
terrified. It reminded me of something my dad told me. He was a
cop. He had to deal with domestic violence every day. It really
affected him. Especially the women who just didn’t wanna leave
those men. Sometimes he’d sit me down and have long talks with me,
telling me to watch out for these sleaze balls. That’s what he’d
call ‘em, to me. When he didn’t know I was listening, he’d call
them something much worse.”

Victor nodded.

Cara continued. “He’d tell
me to always stand up for myself. Never let a man intimidate me. I
told him if a man ever hit me I’d kill him. Nothing to worry about.
But he explained to me that these guys don’t hit their women right
away. They wear them down first.” She breathed in and out, deeply,
trying to keep her tears at bay. “I realized that’s what Marcus was
doing to me. I can’t tell you how stupid I felt. By then, it was
hard to get away because he already had so much control over me.
He’d check my cell phone all the time to see who I called, who
called me. I gave him my email passwords because he blew up at me,
accusing me of emailing other guys. I should’ve just told Mom. She
was the one person I was allowed to speak to once in a while
without him listening. But I didn’t. I wanted her to think
everything was okay with me and my nice boyfriend.”

“How’d you finally get
away?”

“I got sick with a nasty
sinus infection and went to the student health center. Found out I
was pregnant. I left him the very next day.” She shook her head.
“Should’ve left him long before then. But when I found out I was
pregnant I knew I couldn’t put it off any longer.”

“How’d you leave,
exactly?”

She sighed. “It was
tricky. I had to act like everything was okay that morning. But
instead of meeting him after class in our same spot, I went out the
other side of the building. Ran to the police station. That night I
was sleeping on my old roommate’s couch and I had a protective
order against Marcus.”

“Did he try to contact you
again?”

“Yeah. Once. Showed up
drunk outside the apartment. Got him arrested for violating the
order,
and
for
public intoxication.”

“And you didn’t tell him
you were pregnant?”

“No. Didn’t tell my
friends, either. I didn’t want anyone to know it was his baby. I
was afraid he might try to get custody if word ever leaked out. So,
I waited a good bit after graduation before I told anyone. I made
it sound like it was some guy I hooked up with after the break-up.
With the timing, my friends probably suspected it was his baby but
they never questioned me. Mom never knew about the abuse, so she
never questioned it either. Probably figures I had no reason not to
tell Marcus.”

“Aren’t you afraid someone
might tell him?”

“No.” Her head gently
shook. Her eyes became wide. “He’s dead.”

Victor gasped.
“What?”

“Right after we broke up
he started drinking a lot more. Dropped out of school. Wasn’t long
till he got with this girl named Larissa. They were both alcoholics
from what I understand. One night in a drunken rage he shot her
then shot himself. Isaac was two months old when I found out. I can
search for Marcus’s name and probably still find the story
online.”

“Oh my God.” Victor’s
mouth fell open. His eyes wandered around the room as he thought
about it. “It’s hard to believe sweet little Isaac came from
someone with such a gruesome story.”

“I know.” Cara’s eyes were
teary again, thinking of her son. “The best thing that ever
happened to me came from the worst thing that ever happened to me.”
She let out a quiet laugh. “I knew he was special the second I
learned I was pregnant. I can’t describe it. I know it sounds
crazy.” She wiped her tears away with her hand. “My friends all
thought I was insane for wanting to be a single mom right out of
college. Going on maternity leave when I wasn’t even a year into my
first job. But it all worked out, somehow.” She breathed a dramatic
sigh. “And I’m
so
grateful to have him.”

Victor kissed her cheek,
then looked at her, grinning. “I’m very grateful you have him,
too.”

She smirked. “Of course, I
say that as I sit in a hotel room eight hundred miles away from
him.”

He laughed. “It’s okay.
You need time for yourself once in a while. Doesn’t mean you’re a
bad mother. Besides, you left him in good hands.”

“Yeah.” Cara frowned as
she pictured the heartbroken look on her mother’s face that
afternoon when she told her she was moving back to
Chicago.

He kissed her cheek again,
then let his head rest next to hers on the pillow as his arm rested
across her bare stomach. His voice was soft in her ear. “I’m going
apartment hunting with you tomorrow.”

“What?” She rolled over to
face him.

“I’m going with you
tomorrow. We need to make sure you find just the right apartment.
There absolutely
must
be a park nearby where Isaac can play with the neighborhood
kids his own age. A nice family-friendly community.” His lips
pursed, thoughtfully. “You need enough bedrooms for Marcy and Patty
to stay comfortably if they visit.”