Shades of Trust

  “And what did you see?” Alistair raised an eyebrow. “Just a name and the fact that I had incoming email. No one has ever broken into my computer.” He fisted his hands, irritated.

  He had been estranged from Tavish ever since Heather had entered his life. After Sophia, they were beginning to get closer again, but at that exact moment Alistair’s patience was wearing thin.

  Don’t go there again, Alistair Connor. He is your brother. Listen to him. Maybe he wants to tell you something important. Alistair grimaced as another thought complemented the first. Like he tried with Heather. Tavish Uilleam has good instincts. “You were telling me about my looks and Baptist.”

  Tavish crossed his long legs and demanded, “I want to reread her letter.”

  Alistair fished Sophia’s letter from his desk and handed it to Tavish, slouching in his armchair again. He sighed and watched Tavish glowering at the letter as he reread it. “Sophia is in Argentina.”

  “I know.” He smirked and dropped the bomb without warning. “I spoke to Sophia this morning.”

  “You—” He halted in the middle of his living room. “Come again?”

  “I spoke to Sophia this morning,” he repeated slowly. “Around eight. She was worried about you.”

  “She called you?” Alistair was open-mouthed, jealousy gripping his heart, and he whispered, “What for?”

  “She was worrying about you, at four o’clock in the morning Rio time. Can you believe it? Worrying. About. You.” Tavish shook his head, as if horrified by the thought.

  Tavish Uilleam, stay out of this. You think you’re the sole detainer of the truth—Stop, Alistair Connor. Just stop. He cursed under his breath. He’s right and you know it. If you’d been more like your old self, Sophia wouldn’t have run away. But she ran away because she’s also keeping secrets from me. “Call her. I want to talk to her.” He closed his eyes and breathed twice before pleading, “Please.”

  “I warned you, Alistair Connor. How many times? She doesn’t want to talk to you. She doesn’t want to see you.”

  Alistair clenched his hands to control his temper. When Tavish rose from his chair and leisurely walked to the windows, standing with his hands on his back, he lost it.

  “Fuck, Tavish Uilleam!” He punched the arm of his seat. “How. Is. She?”

  Tavish slowly turned on his heels, so slowly that Alistair wanted to punch him and break his nose again.

  “Sophia is unhappy. Confused. Lonely. Hurt,” he said. “You know, the typical things one feels when betrayed by someone one loves.”

  “I didn’t betray her,” Alistair was astonished at his brother’s words.

  “There are many forms of betrayal, Brother.” Tavish handed the letter back to Alistair taking a last look at the creamy sheets of paper filled with Sophia’s neat and feminine handwriting. He glared at his brother. “She is brokenhearted and confused. And she thinks she betrayed you. You lied, Alistair Connor.”

  Who would have guessed that Tavish and Sophia could form such a close friendship? Then a thought hit him. He wasn’t so sure it was only friendship. They have too much in common. They have lost too much, in a very similar way.

  He shoved a hand into his hair and studied his brother’s face, trying to understand, to perceive any kind of desire in it. He was a master at discovering other people’s feelings, but it seemed that when it came to Sophia his senses were all jumbled. “She lied too. She equally betrayed me.”

  “I’m sure, given her letter and everything we talked about, that Sophia hadn’t had the smallest inkling of what your preferences were,” said Tavish, without acknowledging his brother’s answer. He opened his wallet and took a folded sheet of paper from it. “You left her in the dark. You lied. You betrayed her. It seems Sophia and I have the same opinion about moral and ethics. And, Alistair Connor, you’re so fucking lucky,” Tavish muttered, and gave his brother the sheet of paper. “This is where Sophia is. The woman who is in love with you. Madly in love with you. If you so much as hurt a hair on her head, if you doona marry this woman and be as happy as you should have been from the beginning…I am going to break your nose so bad, you’ll always remember what you lost when you look in the mirror.”

  Alistair’s lips curled up. “You are right, you know? I lied, but I’m going to make it right.”

  He turned and entered his bedroom to finish packing with Tavish Uilleam at his heels.

  Chapter 6

  Argentina, Tierra del Fuego, Ushuaia

  Los Cauquenes Resort & Spa

  Outside one of the Senior Suites

  Friday, April 9, 2010

  9:01 a.m.

  Alistair knew that all he wanted was waiting for him beyond the locked door. He breathed deep, willing some strength into his tired body. In spite of the sixteen-hour flight and the four-hour time difference, he’d only managed to sleep a few hours on the plane.

  He knocked firmly on the large door and had to wait a long time before it opened and Zareb’s big body blocked the entrance.

  “Good morning, Mr. MacCraig,” the bodyguard politely acknowledged Alistair, waiting for him to state his wishes.

  Alistair mused that appearances could be deceiving. Zareb’s permanent wide smile hid an impressively alert and expeditious man. He drew himself up to his full height, towering over the bodyguard, who smiled, seeing through Alistair’s posing.

  “Good morning, Zareb. I would like to talk with Mrs. Leibowitz.” And I’m not budging from here until I do.

  “I’ll handle this, Zareb,” a mellifluous male voice said from behind the broad bodyguard.

  He instantly recognized Felipe, Sophia’s brother, as he stepped out of the suite and closed the door behind him. He was looking at an older male version of Sophia.

  Alistair cleared his throat, conscious of Felipe’s cautious gaze studying him from head to toe.

  “Alistair Connor MacCraig, I presume,” Felipe stretched out his hand with a small curl on his lips.

  Aye. The bastard that scared your sister away. Alistair sagged inward. “And you are Felipe Espírito Santo,” he replied.

  “Guilty.” Felipe smiled as he shook Alistair’s hand. “How do you do?”

  “How do you do?” Come on, Alistair Connor, charm the guy. “I couldn’t have mistaken you for a second. You are Sophia’s twin.”

  “I like to think that I am.” Felipe’s smile opened. “Sophia is still sleeping. Let’s get some coffee while Maria finishes dressing Gabriela.”

  “I have no idea what Sophia told you,” Alistair said, as he sat across from Felipe in the dining room with an incredible view of the large blue channel.

  “She told me many things, but I’d rather you told me your version of the facts.”

  “So, I’ll start from the beginning.” They have more in common than just their looks. Gazing distractedly into the Martial Mountains and its snowy peaks, Alistair quickly told him how he’d met Sophia, about their relationship, what had happened in the last few days and what his intentions were, omitting Sophia’s discovery in his dressing room.

  “So,” he concluded, “it was more of a misunderstanding.”

  Felipe keenly stared at Alistair, evaluating his words and weighing them against what he knew from Sophia. He knew there was a piece missing in the puzzle, but he couldn’t see what it was. Nonetheless, there was something innately protective and fierce about this huge man that made him give Alistair’s story some credit.

  “Let’s be frank here, Alistair. I don’t know you, but I know my sister. We are very close. But for once, I know she is holding something back. Something very serious must have happened to make her flee like that. She is devastated, which means, to say the least, that she cares for you a lot and is suffering. All she told me was that she remembered the night of the kidnapping and that when you proposed, she got confused. I would have believed it if she had told me this on the phone, not in person, having come all the way down to Rio, right after your proposal. It doesn’t make sense.” His lips curled
in a self-deprecating grimace. “I must look very gullible to you both. Do you want my help? Try telling me what she won’t.”

  Perspicacious, aren’t you? You would use all your power to impede her from seeing me again. Alistair schooled his face as his mind concocted a half-truth. “That was all she told you? That she was confused by my proposal?” On his face, Alistair plastered a surprised look.

  “Yeah.”

  Just checking. Alistair’s relieved smile surfaced briefly, then he sobered. “She said she couldn’t burden me with her secrets and crimes. She left me for her own reasons. She had already said no to my proposal the day before. She thinks rather badly of herself.”

  “Oh, no!” Felipe rolled his eyes heavenward, exactly like Sophia when she was irritated. “She’s not still saying she is a criminal, is she?”

  “She is,” he said. I wish that were the whole truth.

  “This is all my fault,” he muttered under his breath. “I put this idea in her mind. I was angry—” Felipe breathed deeply and took a firm decision.

  To an increasingly incredulous Alistair, Felipe explained the whole story of how the criminals had sent Sophia proof that Gabriel was still alive, about the financial help the Leibowitzes had given to the slum and the drug lord’s decision to disregard Sophia’s order not to kill them.

  Alistair was stunned speechless.

  “I was shocked too. I couldn’t believe my gentle, gentle sister had asked for their fingers to be cut off. Things got out of control. They were all killed, except for one who got away. She feels responsible for their deaths.”

  I wish Heather had felt the same love for me. “It’s neither here nor there.” He looked down at his plate, and then at the scenery outside, feeling relieved by finally knowing Sophia’s secret. “I love her and the rest is absolutely irrelevant to me. It’s not something I could ever have guessed, but it’s not going to stop me from being with her.” If you only knew the dark secrets I keep, Felipe, they’re nothing compared to this. “Can it be traced back to her?”

  “No,” Felipe shook his head. “There’s a pact of secrecy around it.”

  “Good. I’m marrying her even if I have to spend all my life try—”

  Something made him turn toward the door. Sophia.

  He was still attuned to her.

  But Alistair was not ready for his first glimpse of Sophia.

  In the doorway, she had stopped dead in her tracks, white as the small patch of gauze that protected the stitches on her head.

  The sight of her was a caress on his sore heart. He let himself bask in her beauty. But there was also a certain kind of sadness he hadn’t seen before. The light make-up didn’t quite conceal the bruises on her left temple and the shadows under her eyes, and her raven hair flowing loosely around her face accentuated her paleness. Her morning clothes were elegant, but her posture was despondent. Her faded blue jeans were baggy on her hips and thighs. She is not eating. Nor sleeping.

  He noticed that her jeans were paired with a baby blue anorak with navy details, opened to show an orange turtleneck sweater underneath.

  It is so like Sophia to dress colorfully. He smiled. My private ray of sun. My Beauty.

  He stood up and everything happened at the same time.

  Gabriela squealed in delight and ran to him.

  Sophia swiftly gave an order to Maria and whirled around, almost running away from him, her heeled booties echoing in the quiet hotel.

  Felipe turned in time to see Sophia spinning on her heels. “Oh, damn!”

  Gabriela flung herself into Alistair’s waiting open arms and hugged his neck, kissing his check. “Hi, Alistair. Hello!”

  Sophia! All he wanted was to run after her but he hugged the little girl and said, “Hello, Fairy. How are you?”

  “I will talk to her.” Felipe said, as Gabriela chatted away and told him everything she’d been doing during the last few days.

  10:38 a.m.

  Felipe’s expression was one of guileless innocence. Alistair had proven his point to him and he transmitted it to Sophia the best way he could. But she was not budging from her position.

  As a man who had been through what he had, he could relate to what Alistair was feeling. As a brother, all he wanted was Sophia to be happy. She deserved it more than anyone. He knew that if he wanted to convince his sister, he would have to pull the right strings.

  “Sophia, when I told him about what you have done, he didn’t care—”

  Sophia paled so suddenly that Felipe sat her down.

  “Who gave you the right to tell him?” she asked hoarsely, shaking her head. “Felipe…” Tears filled her eyes and she put her face in her hands.

  “Sis. You are making your mistake greater than it is. Making mistakes is part of being human. Learn from it and move on. You’re letting go a precious life lesson. Wisdom can only be learned the hard way.” He took her hands in his and made Sophia look at him. “My dear, you’re not perfect, and you know what? That’s a good thing.”

  “I know,” she sighed forlornly. “I just wish I could undo what I have done.”

  “The past cannot be changed, but the future is yours. Don’t waste it trying to change the unchangeable.”

  “Anyway, it was my secret to tell, not yours. Now, I’m even less ready to face him.” She shook her head in such an unhappy way, which told Felipe that she loved Alistair as much as he loved her.

  “Sis, really, I think you are being too stubborn. He came all this way…to the end of the world!” Felipe mocked, hoping for one of Sophia’s smiles, but when her shoulders just sagged unhappily, he tried another approach. “Did you see Gabriela when she saw him? Did you see his face when he saw you? He is willing to wait for you. I mean, why not give yourselves another chance? Hear him out.”

  Because I won’t be able to resist. That’s why. She sat on one of the reclining chairs on the veranda, watching her brother. I was counting on you to resist Alistair’s charms. Sophia could have sworn Felipe was impervious to all forms of influence. But I should have known better. Alistair Connor is the most charming man on the whole planet. “I need more time, Felipe.”

  “Sophia.” He sat beside her. “I—”

  “Excuse me, Mrs. Leibowitz,” Zareb interrupted Felipe. “Mr. Davidoff is in the adjoining room. He—”

  “Edward is here?” Sophia’s eyes rounded.

  “Sophia!” Edward barreled through the door.

  Yes. Definitely Edward is here. Sophia was aggravated. “How did you find me?”

  “Hello to you too, love!” Edward bent and kissed Sophia’s cheeks and took a seat on the other reclining chair. He tsked twice and shook his blond head. “You look terrible.”

  “What is everyone’s problem?” Sophia complained to the two men. “You keep pointing out my flaws.”

  “Well.” Edward flashed her a naughty smile. “That’s the problem with beautiful perfectionist women. They have to live up to the high standards they set.”

  Sophia smiled then. “How did you find me, you demanding, domineering CEO?”

  “Oh, that? Easy, love.” Edward pointed to Sophia’s iPhone. “Your mobile. You used it to call your grandmother when you arrived yesterday. I had Mendes on the look out for a clue. I took the first flight to Buenos Aires and the first connection here. Heavens, Sophia! Next time you flee, choose somewhere closer.”

  Sophia’s laughter tinkled in the frigid Argentine air. “You’re impossible, Edward. Tell me the real reason you came to the end of the world.”

  “I’m in love with you and I have to snatch you before MacCraig does.” Edward struggled to keep his face serious, but lost it when Sophia laughed again.

  His smile vanished from his face when he remembered his talk with Dr. Kent about Sophia’s ideas toward the criminals’ families. “Seriously, Sophia. We have to talk.”

  Chapter 7

  What the fuck? Alistair was paralyzed by what he saw from the living room of Sophia’s suite.

  On the veranda, E
dward was sitting next to Sophia. He had his arms around her protectively and was talking softly to her. His hand was caressing her hair and her head was resting on his shoulder. They make a stunning pair, even more amazing than Sophia and Ethan.

  Edward’s white-blond hair contrasted with Sophia’s raven-black tresses; his strong features, a full mouth that oozed sensuality and the determination in his blue eyes were the perfect counterpoints to Sophia’s softness and innocence.

  Jealousy kicked in. As if Ashford chasing her wasn’t enough, I have competition from Davidoff too. And God knows who else.

  “Sophia,” he spoke in his deep, low tone.

  They raised their heads to look at him and he was struck by the look on their faces.

  Sophia seemed even more haggard than before, if that were possible. Edward’s face was murderous and something else he couldn’t fathom.

  Alistair felt a weird vulnerability wedge its way into his heart. He looked unsure at Felipe who was standing at his side with Gabriela in his arms.

  Felipe just raised his brows and jutted his chin in Sophia’s direction.

  Fuck, Alistair Connor. This is no time to hesitate.

  “MacCraig.” Edward narrowed his eyes at Alistair.

  Alistair narrowed his back at him. “You didn’t waste time finding her.”

  “You were quicker than I was, I hear,” he retorted, and then checked himself. Edward knew he shouldn’t pick a fight with Alistair. The man was Sophia’s love. Even if she didn’t want to acknowledge it. “I have her best interests at heart.”

  “Ah…indeed.” The tone of sarcasm was not lost on them, but Alistair realized too late he should have stayed silent as Sophia shook her head at his remark.

  She scooted closer to Edward and put her right hand on his knee, squeezing it in such an intimate way that Alistair’s jealousy shot to its peak.

  Edward bent his head and whispered to Sophia, “Forget this talk of being a criminal. You love him. Admit it.”