Desert Heat

  He hit speaker on his cell and answered, laying it back down on his desk. “Pierce, whatta ya got?”

  “Well I got some good news, then some bad news, and then maybe some hope for your cousin about this girl.”

  Damian sat back in his seat. “Just give it to me. Is their marriage shaky?”

  “It is,” Pierce said, and Damian let out a relieved breath. “But that’s only because she filed for an annulment last year.”

  Damian sat up. That explained why she’d been living alone for eight months when he met her. But last year? “How long have they been married? And what do you mean only?” Damian’s adrenaline was already pumping, but he was still nervous. “What could be shakier than a marriage on the verge of being annulled?”

  “They’ve been married over a year and had a huge wedding, then a very romantic honeymoon in Maui.”

  “What?” Damian stared at the phone. So much for marrying the guy on a whim.

  “Yeah, and these two looked to be really in love for a minute there. Aside from Maui, in the short time they lived together, they had lots of romantic vacations she documented on her Facebook page. Seems every damn photo she ever posted on her wall is of the two of them doing something romantic.”

  Damian didn’t know which was the harder blow, finding out she was married or this. At least when he had found out she was married to this sleaze, his gut screamed there was something missing. There was no way she would’ve ever seriously married this guy, but who could argue with this?

  “Are you sure this is the same girl?”

  “Yeah, Maximiliano and Bethany Amaya. They share a beautiful home just outside Los Angeles. They go horseback riding on the weekends, do picnics in the park—”

  “All right, I get it. They’re romantic, okay?” Damian rested his elbows on the desk and sank his face in his hands. “What’s this about hope? Hope for what?”

  “Well, she’d been AWOL for a while now. No Facebook updates for months. They stopped around the time I’m assuming they separated. But the reason cited for the annulment is duress, meaning one or both were not of sound mind. They were under the influence of something. But typically that means they have a quickie wedding like the tons that happen here in Vegas every day. These two had a huge wedding, then a honeymoon to boot, followed by all that romantic shit on her Facebook page. How you gonna claim being under duress after all that shit? I mean, seriously, after sifting through photo after photo of their romantic outings, even I was kind of bummed to find out things had gone sour. And get this. Even though they’re getting an annulment, not a divorce, under California law, she’s still entitled to a lot of his loot, and homeboy’s loaded. Yet she’s asking for nothing. Nada. Zero. Zilch. That to me says she may be looking to keep this amicable because ya know maybe she’s changed her mind and maybe she’s hoping to work things out. You gotta see the pictures, Santiago, to know what I’m talking about. That’s some deep love right there.”

  Damian was tired of hearing this shit already. He took a deep, irritated breath but felt no desire to lift his face from his hands. He’d probably stay that way even after he hung up with Pierce. “So that’s it? That’s the hope you were talking about that maybe things aren’t so bad because she’s not taking his ass to the cleaners?”

  “Well there’s that and the fact that she’s back in town now, and they’ve been seen together.”

  Now Damian lifted his face away from his hands, feeling that familiar heat. “They have? Doing romantic stuff again?”

  “Not so much. She hasn’t posted anything on her Facebook page anyway, but there’s this, and usually I’m not supposed to dig this deep, so don’t say anything, okay? But it’s not even digging, they make this shit so easy, it’s a joke.” Damian listened intently as Pierce shuffled more papers. “She went to a gynecologist just after she got here, and I’m thinking bingo. She’s back and maybe things are looking so good she’s getting back on birth control.” Pierce chuckled. “Even better, man. She’s pregnant.”

  Shooting to his feet instantly, Damian grabbed his phone, taking it off speaker and bringing it to his ear. “You sure about that?”

  “Yeah.” This seemed to please Pierce, because he chuckled again. “So even though they’ve been separated, apparently that hasn’t stopped them from getting it on, and nothing will halt an annulment faster than a baby. So tell your cousin—”

  “Text me the address where she’s staying,” Damian said, already rushing out of his office. “She’s not staying with him, right?”

  “No, she’s somewhere else. I believe at an aunt’s. But—”

  “Text it to me,” Damian said, his heart beating harder than it had in a while, and that said a lot, because the past month had been hell. “And thanks, man. I owe you.”

  He hung up and headed to his room to pack a bag. The memory of his first night with her jumped at him again. His gut had never been more sure about anything in his life. That baby Bethany was carrying was not Max’s. And he didn’t give a shit about all the other stuff Pierce had just told him. Romantic marriage or not, something had to give. Damian was still holding on to that sliver of hope in his heart. It’s not at all like what you’re thinking.

  * * *

  “I don’t want you to do this.” Tia Lupe crossed her arms in front of her.

  “Yeah.” Stella shook her head. “I don’t think it’s worth it either.”

  Bethany closed the kitchen door behind her, the frustration mounting. “I’ve already agreed, and he paid up the mortgage,” she said, turning to face her aunt. “I was not about to let you lose this house.”

  “I care more about you than I do this house.”

  “It’s not just the house he’s helping me with,” Bethany reminded her aunt with a knowing look.

  “But you’ll be miserable,” Stella insisted. “You hated having to live with him.”

  “I know,” Bethany agreed, the dread in her belly mounting, not to mention the very thought added to her already nauseated insides. “But he’s agreed to all my stipulations. I’ve promised him nothing, and he accepts that. Six months and I’m out of there.”

  “This is ridiculous,” her aunt huffed. “The man is delusional if he thinks he can make you fall in love with him.”

  “I’ve already told him it’ll never happen,” Bethany said, lowering her voice and motioning with her hand to remind her aunt that Max was on the back patio just a few doors down. “He wanted a year; I said no more than six months, and he said he’s up for the challenge. I still need this money, and six months will fly by before you know it.”

  She’d need the money now more than her aunt and Stella could know, but she couldn’t tell them about that yet. They were already against her agreeing to stop the annulment; if she told them about her pregnancy, they’d be even more against it. But she’d been upfront with Max about it, and he still wanted to do this, even knowing the baby wasn’t his. The man truly was delusional.

  Feeling a wave of nausea come over her again, she walked to the sink, afraid she might be sick. It began to pass as she took in long, slow breaths. “Are you okay?” her aunt asked, coming around and placing her hand on Bethany’s back.

  “I’m fine, I ju—” her jaw dropped midsentence at the sight of Damian getting out of his car in their driveway.

  The nausea was quickly replaced with a mixture of excitement and pain. She’d missed him so much, seeing him now choked her up. Then she remembered Max was out back.

  “Who’s that?” her aunt asked, looking out the window.

  Bethany quickly walked away. “I’ll be back.”

  With her heart beating erratically, she rushed through the house to get to the front door before Damian rang the doorbell. She opened the door just as he made it to the top of the porch stairs. They stared at each other for a moment without saying anything. He was more beautiful than she remembered him. But his wounded eyes reminded her that she’d hurt him badly, and he probably hated her now. “We need to talk,” he sai
d simply.

  “I can’t now.” She glanced back. “Max is here.”

  “I don’t care,” he said, those wounded eyes going hard. “I think I deserve answers. At the very least an explanation.”

  “You do,” she agreed quickly. “But it’s a long story, and I don’t have time—”

  “Then talk fast, because I’m not going anywhere.”

  She could see it in his eyes. He was serious. Without a choice, she decided to give him the quick and dirty version. “I’m not a citizen, Damian. I was born in Mexico. My aunt was diagnosed with cancer last year. The doctors said she might die, and if she did, my brother and sister would be put in foster care because I couldn’t be their legal guardian, since I wasn’t a citizen. I tried applying, but they said it could take years, and I didn’t have years. Max was my director down at the theater I worked at, and he offered to marry me so I could get my papers quicker.” She glanced back again to make sure Max wasn’t coming. “He said it would be strictly business, and we could divorce after the two years I needed to stay married to keep my citizenship, but after only a few months he admitted he was in love with me and that he wanted to try to make the marriage work.” She lowered her voice now. “I’ve never even slept with him, and I was miserable the entire time I had to live with him. My aunt’s cancer went into remission, and when she found out what I’d done, she begged me to leave him—get an annulment. She hated to see me so miserable, so I did, but he said I owed him.”

  “Owed him what?” Damian asked, taking a few steps closer to her.

  “For the wedding. For all the expenses he paid for to make the marriage look real. Like the honeymoon and all the other trips.” She shook her head, feeling disgusted suddenly that she’d be back in that nightmare soon. “Trips he insisted were necessary because the Department of Immigration was watching us closely, and if they got wind that our marriage was a fraud, I’d be deported, and he’d go to jail.”

  “That’s bullshit. You didn’t have to pay him back. He did all that romantic crap for his own reasons.”

  Bethany nodded, agreeing. “But he held on to some things of mine. Things he knew I’d do anything to get back, jewelry that belonged to my mother. Until I could come up with this ridiculous sum of money I owed him.”

  The wounded look in his eyes was back. “Why didn’t you just tell me?”

  “I couldn’t, Damian. I’d committed a federal offense. And there’s other stuff I didn’t want you involved in either.” Taking a deep breath, she willed the emotion away. “I shouldn’t have got involved with you in the first place, and I’m sorry that I hurt you. But everything happened so fast, and before I knew it, I’d fallen so hard for you I couldn’t stay away from you no matter how much my head said I should. At least until the annulment was final.”

  He brought his fingers to her face, and she closed her eyes. She’d yearned to feel his touch again for weeks, and even something this simple felt good. “So you weren’t lying when you said you loved me?”

  With her eyes still closed, she placed her hand over his and tilted her head into it. “God, no. I love you like I’ve never loved anyone in my life.”

  “Then why’d you come back?”

  She opened her eyes slowly and looked into his, so full of questions still. “I had to.”

  A car pulled up in front of the house, and they both turned to look. A woman in a pantsuit holding a briefcase got out and began walking toward the house; Damian looked back at Bethany, but she offered no explanation. Instead she waited for the woman to near.

  “Good afternoon. I’m Jennifer Allen. I’m here to see Max and Bethany Amaya?”

  “Good afternoon.” Bethany smiled, moving aside. “I’m Bethany, and, yes, we’ve been expecting you. Go on in.” Stella walked into the front room. “Will you show her out to the patio, please?” Stella nodded, and Bethany smiled at Jennifer. “I’ll join you in just a few minutes.”

  As soon as Jennifer was gone, she turned to Damian. “I have to go.”

  Damian took a step closer to her. “Why did you have to come back?”

  Bethany fidgeted with her hands, feeling the knot in her stomach tightening. It was just a matter of time before Max came looking for her. “That day you confronted us at the Crown. He called me to tell me that he had my mother’s jewelry for me, and he’d give it to me if I would just listen to a proposition he wanted to make me. He said even if I didn’t agree to it, he’d still give me the jewelry. I knew no matter what, I wouldn’t be agreeing to anything, but I’d worked my ass off to get the money to pay him so I could get my mom’s jewelry back. It’s all I cared about, so I agreed to meet with him. The jewelry was in the safe in his suite, and he said we should go there to talk. That’s when you showed up.”

  She paused momentarily as the horrific images of that night came back to her. The sickened expression on Damian’s face when she had to confirm that Max was her husband.

  “If you remember, that was the day I finally got the exact amount I needed to bring the mortgage current, and we had very little time to do it.”

  Damian’s eyes took on that iciness she’d only seen in them a few times, most memorably on the night of the horrible confrontation. “And what exactly was that proposition?”

  “That he’d help me with my aunt’s mortgage and some . . . other debt I owe if I agreed to cancel the annulment.”

  His eyes opened wide now. “And you did?”

  Because of his raised voice, Bethany turned to check on Max again, but the front room was still clear. “I had no choice, Damian. Especially after that night, I knew there was no way I could expect you to want to still help me nor would I dare take your money knowing how much I’d hurt you. He was my only hope, and I was desperate.”

  “You canceled it?”

  “Not yet. But that’s why she’s here,” she motioned with her hand. “That woman is an attorney and notary public. She’s here to make sure it’s all done correctly and will be notarizing the paperwork.”

  His eyes opened wider now. “Does he know you’re pregnant?”

  Stunned and in a panic, Bethany reached for the wooden front door and closed it, stepping out onto the porch with him. “How did you—”

  “Does he, Bethany?” He moved closer, so close to her face that even at a tense moment like this she thought, even hoped, maybe he’d kiss her. “Does he know you’re still in love with me?”

  “He knows everything, Damian.”

  His brows came together as she’d seen them do so many times with his suspicious glare. “Then why’d you close the door?”

  “Because I haven’t told my aunt or sister, but he knows.”

  That seemed to surprise him, and he took a step back. “And he still wants the annulment canceled?” Then his eyes shot wide again. “He does know that’s not his baby, right?”

  Once again he’d managed to completely stun her. He said that with such certainty, but at the same time it warmed her that he had such faith in her even after everything. Holding back the emotion and the urge to jump into his arms, she nodded. “He knows it’s yours,” she said, lowering her hand to her still-flat belly.

  His eyes followed her hand and stayed there for a moment before looking up at her again. “And when were you planning on telling me? After you canceled the annulment?”

  “It’s only for six more months, and then I’ll file for divorce.”

  “But why? Why the hell would you wanna stay married to this guy for even another day?”

  “He brought my aunt’s mortgage back to current, and it was the agreement. And he got his lawyers to delay this for so long now that in six months it’ll be two years, and I’ll be able to keep my citizenship. It’ll make it worth all the hell and sacrifice I’ve gone through.”

  Damian reached for her hand, and she took it willingly. But the pain in his eyes was worse than she’d ever seen in them, even on the night he’d confronted them. “Really? It’ll be worth losing what we have?”

  What we h
ave? Even after everything she’d just told him. All that she’d put him through, he was telling her they still had something? “You’d forgive me?”

  Pulling her to him, he brought his big arms around her and hugged her tight. Words couldn’t begin to describe the bliss she felt being in his arms again, and she was instantly choked up. With a long, deep breath, he kissed the top of her head. “Sweetheart, this entire time my heart never accepted that there was ever anything real to forgive.”

  The door opened suddenly, and Bethany pulled away from Damian, but he slid his hand in hers and held it firmly.

  “Get your hands off my wife,” Max demanded, stepping out onto the porch.

  Damian tightened his grip on her hand, but took a step forward. “I see your face healed, Max. Ready for round two?”

  “It’s healed now, but I have plenty of photos, and the hotel was gracious enough to supply me with footage of that night’s incident in case I change my mind about pressing charges.”

  “You promised you wouldn’t,” Bethany reminded him anxiously.

  Tilting his head, he glanced down at her and Damian’s still-entwined hands. “Yeah, well, I suppose people change their minds. And if you’re considering changing your mind about our agreement, then—”

  “She is,” Damian said, taking another step in front of her. “So if part of your agreement was not to press charges, go ahead. I’ll pay the fine. It was worth every bruised knuckle. And I’ll pay you whatever she owes you, but you’re out of your mind if you think she’s gonna stay even another day trapped in that hell of a marriage with you.”

  Bethany watched as Damian’s words, which were news to her as well, sank in, and Max’s expression went from angry to suddenly smug. “Really? You gonna pay her pimp off, too?”