Chapter 15 #2
“Yes,” Marielle said, realizing how true it was. “You know how I can sometimes do things without thinking them through...well, Inigo just goes with it.”
She stopped walking, as it dawned on her that she’d said no to being in a relationship with him not because she was unsure of him but because she was unsure of herself.
She couldn’t trust that he could really like her.
And she knew a lot of that stemmed from not liking the woman she’d been.
But since New Year’s—since the night they’d first been together—she’d been changing.
Some of it had started before all that, when she’d stopped pretending to have a good life and started sharing more honest posts on her social media channel.
Inigo had seen the real her.
And he liked her.
“Good. That’s what I like to hear. I’m not supposed to tell you this, but he’s called every day since the story broke, and he wants to see you,” her mom said.
“Why aren’t you supposed to tell me?”
“Carlton said it would be better if we had no contact with Jose’s wife’s family,” her mom said.
“Your father agreed, but I wanted to talk to you first. I’m not saying he won’t back you—you know your father would give you the moon—just that he wasn’t sure if this Inigo was worthy of you. And frankly, neither was I.”
Worthy of her?
She couldn’t help the tears that burned her eyes and blinked to keep them from falling.
For the first time in a really long time, maybe ever, she felt her parents’ love.
She wasn’t that consolation baby anymore.
She wasn’t the daughter they didn’t want but had needed to move away from scandal.
And it meant more to her than she’d thought it would.
Her mom hugged her close and then wiped her own eyes. “I’m sorry it’s taken us so long to have this conversation.”
“Me too,” Marielle admitted.
Inigo hadn’t liked going to his brothers for advice, but that’s how it had worked out in the end.
He’d had no choice. He’d flown to Cole’s Hill to be there for the birth of his niece, Aurora, and ended up having a family discussion on how he could win back Marielle.
Derek’s brothers were there as well, so he’d gotten way more advice than he could use.
His brother Mauricio and Nate Caruthers had both agreed he needed to get Marielle naked and in bed as soon as he could.
“Remind her how good you two are together—unless you aren’t? Is that the problem?” Mauricio had asked.
Which had led to some good-natured fighting.
Derek and his brother Alec had both reminded him to be honest and speak from the heart.
Ethan had joked that at least they knew no one was coming back from the dead, which Inigo had to be honest was a complete relief.
Ethan’s wife’s former fiancé had been presumed dead after a plane crash but then it turned out he’d survived.
His return had forced Ethan to admit he loved Crisanne and wanted her for himself not just to console her because of what she’d lost.
Finally it had been Diego on the private plane from Cole’s Hill back to New York who had offered him the best advice.
“Take her back to the beginning. Show her how much you love her and what it means to you that you met her. It’s not easy being vulnerable to a woman, but if she knows she’s your heart. ..it makes everything easier.”
So here he was in the O’Malley mansion with only their house staff, waiting and hoping that Marielle would accept Scarlet’s invitation to an imaginary party. Scarlet had agreed to set Marielle up.
He had asked the staff to direct her to the large ballroom that overlooked the ocean where he’d first seen her.
He waited for what felt like hours before he heard the peal of the doorbell, which he hummed along to, realizing it was the O’Malley Beer jingle.
Then he stood there tensely waiting. He heard the sound of heels on the marble in the entryway.
He hadn’t realized he was holding his breath until she stopped in the doorway of the ballroom and he exhaled in a rush.
Her long, silvery-blond hair hung around her shoulders.
She’d pushed her sunglasses up on top of her head, which held her hair back from her heart-shaped face.
Her lips were full, tempting, reminding him of how long it had been since he kissed her.
Her silvery-gray eyes watched him warily, and he reminded himself getting her here had only been step one.
“Seems like someone lied to me about the party,” Marielle said. She stayed in the doorway watching him.
“I asked her to do this,” Inigo said.
She stood there for a few more moments while he just tried to figure out what to say. How could he make things right? He realized all of the advice that everyone had given him wasn’t helping. He didn’t want to screw this up but was very afraid he would.
“Why am I here, Inigo?” she asked.
“Firstly, it’s my fault that everything came out about you and Jose. I want to apologize for that,” he said.
“You leaked it?”
“No. But I had mentioned it to someone on my team and he spilled it—accidentally but still...”
“Not Keke?”
“No, never. Elena really likes you, and so does Keke. He would never hurt anyone,” Inigo said.
“Good. I liked them too,” Marielle said. “Thanks for clearing that up. You could have left a message with that information.”
“I could have. But Carlton told me to stop calling and texting,” Inigo said. “And I’m not going to. I didn’t invite you here today for that. I just wanted to clear it up before I told you...well, what I want to tell you.”
He felt really hot. Like his entire neck and torso were covered in sweat, and she still just stood there watching him.
“I’m listening.”
Oh, God. Could he do this? Tell her he loved her? But he knew he had to. He couldn’t keep moving through life at Mach 1 and hoping that when he finally slowed down he’d have someone waiting for him.
He had rehearsed some romantic-sounding things but now standing here, drenched in his own sweat, they were gone.
“I love you.”
God. He’d blurted it out, just sort of yelled it across the room.
“What?”
“I’m messing this up,” he said, tugging at the collar of his shirt and crossing the room to her. He stopped when he was a few feet away, because he caught a whiff of her perfume and it made him remember how her entire body felt in his arms.
“I love you, Marielle. I wanted you to come back here because this is where I started falling for you that very first night when you crooked your finger at me.”
“You did?” she asked, arching one eyebrow at him. “Your dad had to shove you toward me.”
“Only because I knew that once I went to you, you would be forever in my heart. It took me a long time to realize that, but it’s the truth. I love you.”
She gave him a sort of sad smile. “But unless I’m wrong Bianca isn’t going to be too thrilled to have me in your life and I don’t blame her.”
“She’s—”
“No, we can’t ignore her feelings on this, Inigo,” she said. “My mom told me she still hates the woman my father had the affair with all those years ago, and Mom never has to see her. How would it be fair to Bianca for me to be in her life?”
“I was afraid you would feel that way,” he admitted. “You have such a good heart. Bianca wanted to come with me today, but she’s just given birth and travel is out of the question,” Inigo said. “But she sent this video message for you.”
Marielle blinked at him, then shook her head. “What?”
“Just watch the message and then we can talk,” he said, handing her his phone.
She looked at him, hesitating a moment, before pressing the screen to start the video.
“Marielle, I’m sorry I couldn’t be there to talk to you in person,” Bianca said in the video.
“While your affair with Jose was a shock to my system and something that was devastating when it happened, I’ve moved on to a rich life surrounded by a family that I love.
If I know anything about Inigo he wouldn’t have continued to see you if there wasn’t something special in you.
I’m not saying you and I are going to be besties starting tomorrow but I would like to get to know you better. I forgive you.”
The message ended and Marielle let her hand holding the phone fall to her side. There were tears in her eyes as she looked back over at him.
“Thank you for this,” she said.
“You’re welcome. I love you, Marielle, and there is nothing I won’t do to get you into my life. That is, if you want me.”
She crooked her finger at him.
He closed the distance between them, stopping when they were only a few inches apart. He was waiting but his heart was full of hope.
“I love you too, Speedy,” Marielle said.
He lifted her into his arms and kissed her. It didn’t matter when they both knew it, just that they had admitted their feelings for each other.
“I know it won’t be easy, but I want... I want us to spend the rest of our lives together. We can figure it out as we go along,” he said.
“I like that idea,” she said.