Chapter Forty
S an Antonio, Texas
Becca rested her chin on her hand and leaned her elbow on her desk. Coming from the back of the De Monte Wheel Solutions shop, she heard the familiar rumble and clang of forklifts moving crates of hubcaps. She heard the whine of a drill, heard shouting men. In the front offices, the secretaries were accepting phone calls, typing on laptops. The salesmen were taking orders—all familiar sounds of the workday.
On the desk, a full mug of coffee sat untouched. It cooled to room temperature and she ignored it. Before her face, the computer screen glowed, a work order up on the monitor. She tried to force herself to concentrate on the text. Instead, her mind wandered.
She smoothed a hand over her lap. The hot pink sleeveless sundress was a dramatic change from her usual attire. One day when Rio had been gone for a full month, she’d stood in front of her closet trying to decide what to wear. Everything there was a monochromatic black and white. It’s what she’d always worn. It was her.
All at once, the lack of hue and pattern seemed boring and predictable. She didn’t want to be just black and white any more. It was gloomy.
In a fit of energy, she purged at least half of her closet, delivering the clothing to a charity. Then, she’d taken herself to the mall and splurged.
In a way, despite her heartache, Rio had introduced color into her life. He’d brought excitement, wonder, and joy. Her drab clothing no longer felt right. At the mall, she’d chosen dresses in orange, hot lime, and butter yellow. She’d purchased pants in blue floral and stripes of salmon.
The change felt good.
He’d left her, and he’d denigrated the company she loved. She hated that. She was still angry and hurt to her core, but try as she might, she couldn’t hate him . Despite her pain, she knew he’d been good for her. He’d shown her new things, new possibilities. Her world had expanded in different ways.
Yet despite the positive changes, she remained in abject misery. It still bewildered her, how profoundly his abandonment had affected her. It had been a wrecking ball, destroying her, breaking her apart. She was left crumbled.
Before Rio, she’d been fine. She’d enjoyed a reasonable family, good friends, a nice condo. Now, she defined her life as Before Rio and After Rio .
After Rio was dismal.
The short while he’d belonged to her hadn’t been near long enough. He’d roared into her life like a speeding freight train, grabbed her up, and took her aboard for the wildest ride of her life.
On the other side of that ride, all was calm, peaceful. And lonely. He was gone . She was still having trouble adjusting to the agony that was After Rio.
Using the heels of her hands, she dug them into her eye sockets.
Now at her desk, she wondered where Rio was, what he was doing. Did he ever think of her? The usual pain in her chest clamped down, the endless aching, the hopelessness.
Her brother James stuck his head into her office. “Want some lunch? John and I are headed out for burgers. We can bring you back something.”
“Naw.” She hadn’t realized it was already lunchtime. Of late, her appetite was a thing long dead. “Thanks, but I’ve got a salad in the fridge.”
“That salad is a week old, Becca,” James said. “It’s wilted lettuce and soggy tomatoes.”
“Yeah, you barely eat any more.” John appeared over his brother’s shoulder. “C’mon, let us bring you back a juicy cheeseburger and fries.”
“Or better yet, come with us. You’ve been moping around long enough.” James gestured at her.
“I’m not moping—”
“Okay, okay. Just ... smile once in a while, all right? It’s hard on us all, with Dad in jail and probably ending up in a federal penitentiary. But he wants us to live , Becca. To have normal lives.”
In truth, the fact that their father was going to be convicted made her sad, but it wasn’t why she’d been moping around . She tried once again to focus on her work order.
“I’ll buy her lunch.” A deep voice came from behind the boys, and a taller man brushed by them.
Becca glanced up, shocked. Rio.
He wore jeans, tennis shoes, and a black t-shirt.
Her mouth fell open and she gasped. While she’d daydreamed about him constantly, obsessively, more than eight weeks ago he’d said a very definitive goodbye to her. She’d believed that when he said he was leaving, he meant it. Never did she think he’d come strolling into her office. Her heartbeat escalated to double time. It pounded so hard she felt lightheaded.
She had absolutely no idea what to say.
He walked to her and squatted beside her chair. Taking her hand in his, he held her gaze. His blue eyes were every bit as beautiful as she’d remembered. His thick, blond hair was still longish, growing nearly past his shirt collar, with strands rakishly falling over his forehead. He was tanned, lean, fit.
Freaking gorgeous.
Resisting the urge to look around for paparazzi cameras, Becca swallowed hard. Of course there were no cameras. He was not a movie star, and he was alone.
Stroking her fingers gently, he said, “I’ve missed you, Becca.”
Still in the doorway, the boys elbowed each other and grinned.
Frozen to her chair, Becca returned his gaze. Woodenly, she said, “Told you ... you’d miss me.”
“You said I’d miss you something awful . And I have. You were right. It’s been awful.”
“Ha!” she whispered. Withdrawing her hand, the memory of their last scene burst into her mind. The one where he’d walked out on her. The one where he’d disparaged her business. It was a sword plunged into her back, his casual betrayal, his dismissal. With dull eyes, she gazed at him. “Why are you here?”
“I’m here to tell you a few things, explain about some changes I’ve made. And to ask you something.”
In the hallway, the boys glanced at each other. One identical face studied the other. “Looks like this is about to get personal.”
“And private,” the other said.
“Maybe we should go.” In perfect agreement, the boys nodded to each other.
“You don’t have to leave,” Becca said. “You boys stay right there.”
John’s gaze went from Becca to an unsmiling Rio. He gave them both a hard glare. “Uh, yeah, we’ll go.” They disappeared.
Becca scowled at their retreating backs.
“I’m done with the black ops,” Rio told her. “Took a job with a buddy of mine in Austin. A private security business. Remember Ben Paxton? Well, now, I’m an instructor. I go to work each day, come home early in the evenings. No more hazardous night missions. No more flying bullets.”
Stiffly, she said, “I’m sure that’s nice for you.”
“Well, we do use live rounds at the training facility, but our safety protocols are stringent. The danger is minimal, nothing like my old life.”
She took a difficult breath. Never had she imagined he’d want a life like that—a normal one. Like other men. Not that it mattered to her. They were nothing to each other. Nothing.
“Nice dress,” he said. “Pretty color. It suits you.”
She smoothed the bright fabric. “Thanks.”
“Have you missed me?”
She glanced at her computer screen. In her chest, her heart continued to beat like a jungle drum. Collecting a sheaf of papers from her desk, she shuffled through them. “I’ve been busy. Really busy. Lots of work to do, you know. For my damn hubcaps .” Now, why had she emphasized those words?
Rio lowered his eyes. “About that, about your business here.” He hesitated, groped for words. “I’m sorry. Really sorry for those things I said.” He gazed at her, a worried frown creasing his brow. “First, I have to tell you this: you saved us. That day when Harrison tried to force us into his hotel room. Your makeup-tossing trick. It worked. For once, I was the one needing rescue. You did it, Becca. You saved our lives. I didn’t.”
She shrugged awkwardly. “You’re the one who shot him, not me.”
“Maybe we worked as a team, then,” he allowed. “You forced his attention away, and you gave me the Glock. You get the credit for keeping us alive.” He looked around. “And now you have this company.”
“Yes.” She picked up her coffee and took a sip, forgetting it was cold. It tasted terrible and she wished she could spit it out. Instead, she swallowed the bitter brew. “My dad recently transferred ownership to the boys and me. I’m really proud of De Monte Wheel Solutions.” She gave him a frosty glance.
“That’s great.” For the first time since she’d met him months ago, back when he’d tossed her out of the window of that Mexican cantina, he looked uncertain. He dropped his head, rubbed the back of his neck.
The idea of Rio being unsure about anything gave her pause. Imagine that, the arrogant Rio Lang feeling tentative. He put a hand out toward her, then let it drop.
Becca pursed her lips. Well, this had gone on long enough. She shoved to her feet and he rose with her. “If there’s nothing else? I have work waiting.” She walked to the door, stood beside it.
“Two minutes,” he said on a low growl. “Just give me a little more time before you throw me out. I’m working up to something.” He chuckled, but the sound was awkward, self-conscious.
She crossed her arms. “Sorry. I don’t have time today. Send me an email.”
“Becca.” He whispered her name, ran a hand over his forehead. “I know now why I disparaged your hubcap business. I—I was jealous.”
“Huh?” She frowned. What in the world?
“I envied your devotion to your father, to your uncle. The way you mother your brothers, in a good way, of course. How you care for everybody here at the company.”
She waited, still lost.
“Even the kids write you notes.” He gestured at her bulletin board filled with childish drawings. “You have purpose in your life,” he went on. “I didn’t. Traveling around the globe for Uncle Sam, getting shot at, shooting back, what was that worth?”
She kept her arms folded over her chest, but she couldn’t let that go. “But you rescued people. Hostages. You saved their lives.” He’d saved hers, but she didn’t say that aloud.
“I did. But it was just a job. I didn’t care about any of them. I just got them away from captors. I was paid. I didn’t have what you do—a reason to feel good about my life. So, I cut you down, tried to make you feel small. But it didn’t work. I was the small one, not you.”
She pushed off the wall and let her arms drop to her sides. At least the man had some humility. She could appreciate how difficult this apology must be for him.
Still, nothing had changed. He’d left her, trampled her feelings, abandoned her. “Quite a confession. Well, you said you’ve become an instructor now. I suppose that’s gratifying for you.”
“It is. Now I’m providing a service, a valuable one. The guys I train are taking their new skills elsewhere to protect others, or to fight for the homeland, or to rescue hostages, like I did. It’s been good for me. I found a place for myself.”
Becca didn’t answer. Despite her deep anger and disappointment, she was pleased for him. Funny how the human heart worked.
“You—you changed me, Becca,” Rio told her, his expression earnest.
Still, she said nothing. He’d changed her, too. Yet for the life of her she didn’t know how to respond.
After a moment, he asked, “How are the frogs?”
“They’re good.” Moving to the bulletin board, she touched one note. It was a drawing of a frog. Her employees knew she loved them, even their children did, and that knowledge was expressed in many drawings of green amphibians. She kept her gaze carefully away from Rio. Suddenly, it was hard to breathe.
“I’d like to see the little guys.”
She did glance at him then. Was he asking to come over? She narrowed her eyes. He’d hurt her, left her cold, crushed her tender heart.
The notion of inviting more pain into her life was daunting. She didn’t answer him.
He approached her, but didn’t come close. As though recognizing that right then she needed space between them, he stopped five feet away. “As I said when coming in here, if you’re hungry, I’ll buy you lunch. But I have a different idea, if you’re game.” The expression in his eyes was pleading ... hopeful.
Despite her resolve, she found herself searching his features. His face was open, honest, humble. No, she wouldn’t allow herself to be touched by that. She’d play it cool. “Oh? I’m pretty busy.”
“How about we go to your place? I’ll have a visit with the frogs, and you can pack a bag. The boys are capable of handling things here for a while. Everything’s lined up, Becca, for a little trip. And when we get there, I have something important to ask you.”
Her mouth dried up. Her heart stopped. The world tilted. “A little trip?”
“If you want to go.” He waited.
“Where?” she asked, her voice hoarse. But she already knew.