Victoria was in love with him. And she wasn’t afraid to admit it publicly.
Could he trust her not to screw him over again?
Open his heart to her in the hopes she wouldn’t break it?
No.She’d already hung him out to dry twice. He’d given her enough chances.
He gave her a weak smile. “I appreciate the honesty. So, if you want me to cater the wedding, I’ll be there. But after that, we’re done.” He broke his gaze from hers, effectively ending the conversation.
She stumbled back, her hand flying to her mouth. “Oh…well…I…thank you. For being a gentleman. And for helping out. I should go. The rehearsal’s at five tonight, and I have a lot to do. I’ll see myself out. And I’ll text you about the schedule for the wedding tomorrow.” She turned and ran, letting the door slam behind her.
As he watched her go, he was struck with a pang of gut-wrenching agony. What had he done?
Araceli walked over to him and punched him in the arm. “Idiot!”
“Ow!” He rubbed his arm. “What was that for?”
“You dumbass! That was a grade A grand gesture, and you totally dropped the ball. How could you let her leave?”
He surveyed his family, all of whom seemed equally pissed at him. “Am I missing something? Victoria’s the one who messed up. She admitted it.”
“She also apologized,” Martin said. “And she got us our job back.”
“Yesenia.” He sought out his cousin’s eye. “Back me up here.”
She shrugged. “I think you fucked up.”
“I don’t understand why you won’t give her another chance,” Martin said. “You almost lost us a huge job, and we didn’t fire your ass.”
Trust Martin to rub his nose in it. “But we’re family.”
“So?” Araceli said. “Maybe she could be, too. She’s inlovewith you. She admitted it in front of everyone. That’s gutsy as hell.”
Rafael let out his breath, trying to come up with a rationale for his decision. “But we don’t belong together. We’re from two different worlds.”
“Two worlds?” Yesenia said, still salty as ever. “What is this—1950? No one cares about that crap anymore. If they do, they’re not worth your time.”
“Yeah,” Araceli chimed in. “If you feel the same way about her, then what are you standing around here for, pendejo?”
If he felt the same way about her.
Was there any doubt? He’d never felt this way aboutanyone. No matter what she’d put him through, he didn’t want to lose her. He was totally and completely in love with her.
And after everything she’d told him, how could he let her go?
He leapt up and ran toward the door. Wrenching it open, he sprinted to the parking lot, only to catch a glimpse of Victoria’s Audi pulling onto the street.
Shit. He yelled and waved his arms, hoping to get her attention, but she sped away. His stomach twisted as he watched her car drive off into the distance.
He was such an idiot. The woman he loved had opened her heart to him,in full view of his family, and he’d let his pride get in the way.
The door opened and Araceli joined him. “Did you catch her?”
“No. I messed up everything.” He pulled out his phone to text her, but Araceli snatched it away.
“Don’t even think about it. She’s probably a sobbing mess right now. If you text her and she looks at her phone, she could get into a wreck. Is that what you want?”
He scowled. “No. But I need to tell her—”
