The Saints of the Cross (30 page)

“Good luck with that,” he says as he gets up and walks into his en-suite bath, wearing nothing but boxer shorts. I watch him until he shuts the door behind him, then I jump out of bed and run down the hall to the guest bath, contemplating what I’ll say to Javier. How will I let him know that, indeed, I do not want him anymore? Xander’s right about Javi’s motives, I know that much.

I quickly shower and don my dress from last night. I find a new toothbrush in the sundries drawer and silently thank the gods. I finger-comb and tousle my towel-dried hair and head back to Xander’s room. I find a note scribbled on lined paper taped to the door.

Evie, Have to go to lacrosse practice. I’ll call you tonight. Love, Xander

“Why don’t I believe that?” I mutter to myself. Just as I finish reading the note, the doorbell begins to ring incessantly. When I don’t immediately answer, she starts pounding on the door for good measure.

“Coming!” I yell, knowing that Camilla cannot hear me.
Dear
GOD,
she’s going to wake up the entire neighborhood!
I sprint for the door, and fling it open. There’s Camilla’s impatient but gorgeous face.

“
Jesus
, Camilla!” I hiss as she pushes past me.

“Okay, start explaining, Sweeney. Oh, and here are some clothes I brought you from my house, hooker.” Camilla shoves a black-velour track suit and matching ballet flats into my arms.

“Thanks,” I say sweetly, but I’m a bit breathless and dizzy. Camilla tends to have that effect on people.

“I want that back. It’s my favorite, Juicy Couture. So, where’s Xander?” Camilla eyes me suspiciously and glances around.

“Just calm down. You’re giving me a headache!” I say, ducking into the hall bath off the foyer to change clothes. I leave the door slightly cracked so I can continue the conversation with Camilla. “Xander went to lacrosse practice.”

“That’s bullshit. He just didn’t want to face me. I know him too well. Plus they’ve never had practice on Saturday mornings in January! That
chicken shit
!”

Yeah, my thoughts exactly!

“Camilla, what’s the big deal? It’s not like you and Christian haven’t spent a night together.”

“Yes, but I’m not contemplating going back to my ex-boyfriend. Did you at least tell Xander?”

“First of all, I am
not
considering going back to my ex. Second of all, I did tell Xander everything—that I’m going to meet with Javier today.”

“And what did he say?”

“Well, he doesn’t want me to go, of course. But he trusts me, so he’s okay with it.” I exit the bathroom and find myself face to face with Camilla.

“Barf,” Camilla mock-gags herself. “He’s only okay with it because I’m going.”

“
Whatever.
Come on, let’s get this over with,” I grab her shoulders and turn her toward the door.

CHAPTER 24

“I’m going up to the room with you, Evie. Don’t try to stop me,” Camilla asserts as we open the gilded glass doors and enter the massive, circular lobby of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. We’re instantly overtaken by the aroma of Asian lilies and burning teak wood. The lobby is punctuated with dark-bamboo columns footed by smooth, black-and-white marble.

“No, Camilla, you can wait down here for me.” I wonder if I’m going to have to end this conversation with a shouting match.

“Miss Sweeney?” Startled by the familiar voice, I spin around on my heels. The limo driver from yesterday is staring down at me. “I’m William; we met yesterday.”

“Yes, I remember.” I smile in an attempt to hide what I know has to be a look of terror on my face.

“Sergeant Cruz sent me to meet you and show you up to the suite.”

“Oh let me guess, he’s staying in the
Presidential
Suite,” Camilla quips sarcastically.

“Yes,” William answers, looking puzzled.

“Never mind. Let’s go,” Camilla says and starts toward the elevator bay.

“Excuse me, Miss. . . Sergeant Cruz has asked that Miss Sweeney come to the suite alone.” William motions to the ornate couches a few feet away. “You may relax here in the lobby. The concierge can bring you a beverage.”

“Listen, Bill. That’s my best friend, and she’s not going up to some strange guy’s
Presidential
Suite alone.” Camilla’s face turns a shade of red usually reserved for her interactions with Laurel.

“Those are my orders, Miss, and I follow them.” William shrugs, almost apologetically.

“Camilla, please calm down. Javier is not a stranger to me, remember? I won’t be long.”

“You’ve got half an hour, Sweeney. Any longer and I’m calling the cops. Then I’m going to the spa and charging everything to his suite. Got it?” She jabs a long, dark, manicured finger into William’s chest.

“Relax, Camilla, you’re going to stroke out! I’ll be back,” I holler over my shoulder as I follow William to the elevator bay.

“Wow. She’s a handful.” William sounds exasperated, but the corners of his mouth are tipped up in a slight smile. Camilla is never more charming—or beautiful—than when she’s in full-on, pissed-off mode.

“You have absolutely no idea.” I know my friend is just worried about me and Alexander, but her tactics are a touch over the top.

“Here we are, Miss Sweeney,” William says as we step off the elevator to the Mandarin’s opulent Presidential Suite. “Follow me please.”

I follow William through a foyer and living room, stopping in front of a large door. He knocks twice.

“Pasen.” I recognize Javier’s voice on the other side. William opens the door and closes it behind me, the lock clicking softly. I enter what I realize is the master bedroom of the suite; a king-sized, four-poster, lacquered bed dominates the middle of the room. Javier, dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt, sits perched on the foot of the bed, his smile bigger than ever.

“Guapísima, siéntense aquí.” Javier pats the bed next to him.

“Javier, I don’t have a lot of time to chit-chat. Camilla is waiting down in the lobby. We’re going shopping to buy our dresses for the Inaugural Youth Ball.” I have no idea why I feel so uncomfortable, but I do. I know by looking at his face that the longer I’m in this room with him, the more I’m going to regret it. So I say, “Just get to the point.”

Javier throws his head back in laughter, and my cheeks go hot with anger.

“What’s so damned funny?”

“Oh, mí Corazón, you haven’t changed one bit. You’re still as stubborn as ever.” He saunters over to me, grabs me around the waist, and pulls me closer to him. “My God, how I’ve missed you.”

“Javier, I can’t.” I turn my head away from his attempted kiss and push him away at the chest. I manage to break away from his grip and take a seat on a nearby chair.

“Why? Is there something you want to tell me?” Javier looks at me suspiciously.

I can’t bring myself to say it. But I don’t need to. He already knows.

I say, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what?” he sighs in frustration.

“Like I’m guilty of something,” I say and cross my arms over my chest.

“Aren’t you, though? You spent the night with him. Isn’t that right?”

“How do you know?” I’m a little shocked to hear him say that, but only a little.

“I have my sources.”

“Did you have me followed, Javier?”

There is silence as Javier walks over to the window, pulls back the heavy brocade curtain, and stares out to the blue sky beyond. He says without turning to me, “I followed you last night. All night. From the Kennedy Center to Alexander’s house. You had no idea that I was sitting two rows behind you at the theater.”

“Jesus Christ, Javier!” I rush toward the bedroom door. I’ve got to get out of here. I can’t listen to this. Now he’s turned into a stalker? “This is not healthy behavior!”

“Wait,” he says.“Listen to me. Please.” Javier’s voice is wounded, and I can’t help but stop and turn to him. His face is full of hurt, and suddenly I don’t care about the indiscretion he’s committed against me, because memories of my sweet Javier are flooding my mind, obscuring any common sense I possessed when I walked through the door.

“What are you not telling me, Javier?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Eva.”

“Start with why you have no accent when you’re upset. That would be a good start.” I feel more than ever that Javier has hidden many things from me, the least of which is his accent.

“I was raised in New York City. I learned Spanish from my father. I didn’t even live in Spain until I turned thirteen, when my father inherited his birthright and we moved to the family home in Córdoba. My mother and Alexander’s mother are first cousins, born and raised in Manhattan.”

I should feel shocked, but this admission is anticlimactic, considering everything I’ve learned about this man in the last forty-eight hours. “Then why the charade?”

“Undoing lies is a very tricky endeavor, my love.”

“I’m starting to get that now,” I say. Tears flood my eyes, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to spill them for him. “You know what else I’m starting to understand?”

He stares at me with eyes that want to fix everything, but he can’t. He and I both know that.

“I understand now that I can’t believe anything that comes out of your mouth.”

“Evie—”

“Just stop. You can’t fix this with some sweet talk or all the promises in the world.” He moves closer, and I take a step back toward the door. “You’ve made sure of that.”

“I didn’t expect that I would fall in love with you the first time I met you in that café in Cádiz, you know,” he whispers and inches closer to me in smooth, controlled motions, like a jaguar stalking its prey.

“So you thought I would just be some easy fling you could have for the summer? You know, love ’em and leave ’em?”

“Come on, that’s not fair.”

“That’s what it sounds like to me.”

“I’m sorry. That’s all I can say. I have no excuses for what I did. I wanted to protect you. I wanted you to know me.”

“I don’t know you. That’s the irony. I know absolutely nothing about you.”

“That’s not true. You know the best parts of me. My familial lineage and my social standing are not who I am inside.”

“Lineage and social standing seem like pretty important facts to me; but then again, what do I know? I am just a stupid little naïve girl who fell for a conman.”

“You were not conned. I have loved you from the first time I saw you in that flamenco dress, and you tripped over your own two feet. You were so innocent, so fragile, and you had this sadness about you. You were so solitary; I had to break through that tough exterior because I had to know you. You needed someone to take care of you, to protect you, and I wanted to be that person. I had never met anyone as pure of heart as you. That’s when I knew you were the one for me; that I wanted you to be in my life forever. You gave me the purpose in life that I had been searching for.”

With his words, I feel my resolve begin to weaken.

“Could you please just tell me why you wanted me to come here?” I whisper.

How could he be saying those sorts of things to me, now, after all this time? Why hadn’t he just told me the truth from the beginning? Suddenly, I realize my entire body is trembling, and I hate myself for it.

“As you know, I will be leaving soon for active duty in Pakistan.” He crosses the room and grabs something off the dresser. He returns to me, holding it behind his back.

“Yes, you’ve recently made me aware of that fact.”

“I want you to do something for me before I go.” He presents me with small box, the color of robin’s eggs, tied with a white bow. A few seconds pass before I realize that I’m standing with my mouth wide open. Javier unties the box and removes a smaller black box, tossing the blue one to the bed. He bends down on one knee, opening the black box in one smooth movement.

“Evangeline Grayce Sweeney, will you marry me?” His voice is hopeful, yet unsure. I stare at the emerald-cut diamond, which is easily four carats. My mouth is dry from gaping so long, that I can barely move my tongue to speak.

Once I’m able to clear my head, my wits come back.

“You have
got
to be insane if you think that by asking me to marry you, and giving me a diamond ring the size of your head, that I would simply fall into your arms and forgive you.” I feel lightheaded and hot, but I stand my ground. “You really have a lot of nerve, showing up here when I’ve moved on. You’re trying to turn my life upside-down.”

“That was not my intent at all, Eva.” Javier closes the box, stands, and saunters back to sit on the bed. “I see now how much I have hurt you, and I’m sorry. I know that no amount of apologizing or excuses can make up for it. But please know that I never, ever meant to hurt you.”

“Just tell me something. Were you ever planning to tell me the truth, or were you planning to marry me and keep me in the dark about everything?” With the realization that it is truly over between us, I allow my emotions to surface. Next thing I know, I’m racked with sobs. I bury my face in my hands; I do not want him to see me like this. “Oh my God, I have been such an idiot.”

“Come here.” He pulls me into his arms, smashing my face into his crisp, white, cotton shirt. He whispers into my ear, “Do you know why you are so upset?”

“Because you lied to me?” I murmur.“Isn’t that kind of obvious?”

“Well, that and the fact that you love me. You don’t want to leave me, and you know it.”

“You’re pretty cocky for someone who really has no reason to be, Javier.” I manage to squirm out of his arms, even though he has what feels like a death grip on me.“You know what? I’m finished talking with you today,” I say, heading toward the door.

“I will call you tomorrow night,” he says tentatively.

“Don’t bother. I’m going with Alexander to the Inaugural Youth Ball on Monday night, and I don’t want to talk to you until after that.”

“I’m going to be there,” Javier whispers.

“With who? Annalisa?”

“Not fair. I already explained that situation to you.”

“Right, and I believed it, don’t worry.” I sigh when I realize that he doesn’t recognize the intended sarcasm in my voice. “Just please keep your distance from us—from Xander and me, and my friends.”

“I can’t promise that.”

“Whatever,” I retort, and Javier starts toward me with the ring box in the palm of his hand, extended out to me.

“Yeah right.” I smirk and run out of the bedroom, slamming the door behind me. William, who’s sitting on the couch engrossed in CNN, turns to watch me run out of the suite.

“Goodbye, William. It’s very nice to see you again,” I say, momentarily remembering my manners as I race past him.