Rising Stars. Maisey Yates

As more than a goofy, dependable friend.”

      Her heart broke a little in her chest. She tilted back her floppy pink hat. “Brandon—”

      “But first I’m taking you and the baby home. We’ll get you a good divorce lawyer. I don’t care how much money Cruz has, the courts will see that you are in the right.”

      “You don’t understand—”

      “You don’t have to be scared. We’ll be with you every step of the way. Me. Your family—”

      “I’m in love with him, Brandon,” she blurted out. At his intake of breath, she lifted her eyes miserably. “I love him so much I think I might die of it. Every day all I can think is that I would do anything, absolutely anything, to make him love me back.”

      Brandon stared at her, his face pale. His Adam’s apple bobbed then he looked at his feet as he said in a low voice, “I remember that feeling.”

      “I’m so sorry.” Reaching out, she pulled him into her arms as she wept. “Forgive me.”

      For a moment, he accepted the comfort of her arms. They held each other, like kids dodging a storm.

      “How can you love a man like that?” Brandon said in a low voice. “I accept that you can’t love me. All right, fine. But a man who keeps you prisoner? Of all men on earth, you choose Cruz? A cruel, selfish beast of a man?”

      Her heart lifted to her throat. “You don’t know him, Brandon. He’s been hurt in the past. But he’s not selfish and he’s not cruel. If you only knew. He has such a good heart—”

      Her voice ended in a gasp as Brandon was violently wrenched from her arms.

      “Don’t touch my wife!”

      Turning in shock, Callie saw Eduardo’s handsome face distorted with rage. A beam of blood-red light covered his black, civilized business suit, from the sun setting fire to the west.

      “No, Eduardo, no!”

      But he didn’t hear her. Drawing back his fist, he punched Brandon so hard across the jaw that the other man, totally unprepared, dropped like a stone into the dust.

      “No!” Callie shrieked. Around the souk, people stared at them across the busy, crowded market, speaking in a cacophony of languages. Fist raised, Eduardo started for Brandon again.

      Callie ran between them, so fast her hat fell off her head. Holding up both her arms, she cried, “Don’t!”

      Eduardo whirled on her, his black eyes so hot that she should have burned to ash. “You told him to meet you here!”

      “No, of course I didn’t!” Looking at him, all Callie could suddenly think of was how he’d been lying to her face for months. How he’d caused her family pain. Forcing herself to take a deep, calming breath, she knelt down in the dust and checked on Brandon, who was knocked out cold but seemed otherwise fine. Rising to her feet, she glared at Eduardo. “Brandon couldn’t contact me. A fact you know well.”

      Eduardo stared at her, breathing heavily. “What did he want from you?”

      She lifted her chin. “To help me go back to North Dakota and file for divorce.”

      “And what did you say?”

      “What do you think I said?” she cried. “I said no! Because I’m married to you. I have a child with you. I love you! Of course I told him no. Are you out of your mind?”

      Baring his teeth, Eduardo grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the staring eyes of the souk and down the warren of streets to the parked car. Pushing her inside, he started the engine. It was only after they were back on the road that he spoke to her through gritted teeth.

      “I found you in his arms.”

      Callie whirled on him. “I was comforting him!”

      “I trusted you,” he ground out.

      “Trusted me?” She looked at him, tears in her eyes. “That’s a joke! You never trusted me. You kept me a virtual prisoner, locked away from my family. Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”

      Eduardo looked at her, his handsome face pale beneath his tan. Setting his jaw, he didn’t answer.

      “When I think of all the time I spent,” Callie whispered. “Sending them picture after picture, letter after letter.” She looked up at him fiercely. “And the whole time, you were keeping them away, and me, locked away in your own little cage!”

      He turned his eyes grimly back to the road. As he drove from the fortified gates of the medina toward the sprawling palm desert, he was silent, his jaw tight.

      “You’re not even trying to deny it,” she said, tears streaming down her face.

      He changed gears with more force than necessary. “I was going to tell you about it,” he retorted. “It’s why I told Sanchez he could leave you there. I wanted to surprise you at the market, and take you out to dinner just the two of us, so we could talk in private. So I could try to make you understand.”

      “I understand, all right!”

      His hands clenched on the wheel. “I was trying to protect you. To protect all of us.”

      “Brandon said he was followed. Did you have me watched, too? What about my family?”

      Eduardo looked at her then looked away.

      “Keith Johnson had the detail,” he said flatly.

      The hot Moroccan air blew through the car window, whirling over her skin. “Keith Johnson?” she faltered. “But you use him to gain information on your rivals. On your enemies.” She looked at him. “Which one am I?”

      “You’re my wife,” he said tightly. “I was trying to keep you safe.”

      Her emotions were so jumbled she felt numb. “Safe!”

      He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “What was I supposed to do?” he said roughly. “Let another man destroy our marriage?”

      Callie’s throat hurt. She closed her eyes, hearing the purr of the engine and soft whirr of the tires against the road.

      “No,” she whispered. “You destroyed it yourself.”

      She looked at him, and his dark eyes burned through her. Then wordlessly, he looked back at the road as the car turned into the gatehouse and drove up the sweeping entrance to the riad.

      “We left Brandon,” she cried. “Injured in the medina …”

      “I’ll send someone to check on him,” Eduardo said coldly, not looking at her. “I wouldn’t want your best friend in all the world to be left abandoned and alone.”

      Parking the car, he turned off the ignition and got out. Callie didn’t move. She stared at the beautiful tile work of the grand home, at the green gardens and swaying palm trees above the blue-water pool. This place truly was paradise.

      Her hands were shaking. She felt chilled to the bone.

      The car door opened.

      “Come, querida,” Eduardo said quietly, reaching for her hand. She did not resist as he pulled her from the SUV and into the house. Inside the riad, all was quiet. Perhaps her parents and baby were sleeping. Callie heard only the soft burble of the fountain from the courtyard garden.

      She felt her husband’s hand in her own, as strong and protective around hers as it had ever been. But everything had changed. Was it only that morning that she’d been so happy, feeling like all her dreams were coming true? As Eduardo led her through the cloistered walk around the interior courtyard, she felt cold in the fading light of the sun.

      “Why did you do it?” she rasped. “Why?”

      Eduardo