Page 106 of Rio

How could he do this to me?

Why would he?

Is it possible that he didn’t know?

No.He’s far too smart to put himself at risk.

It’s my fault, because I should have known better.

I need to hear his take on things.I grab my phone, my fingers wet and slippery, but have trouble hitting the call button.My hands shake so badly I can barely hold it to my ear.It rings once, twice, and then he answers.

“Princesa?”His voice is filled with joy.I imagine him smiling, getting ready to say something flirty, or dirty.Something familiar that would make me melt, only now it makes me want to retch.

“Don’t call me that,” I snap, my voice breaking.I hate that I’m falling apart so easily.

There’s a pause.“What’s wrong?”His tone changes, filling with concern, shock and worry.

I give a brittle laugh.“You gave me falsified data, Knight.You handed me a folder full of fabricated environmental evidence.The court threw out the injunction.”

“What?”The shock is real.He’s a damn good actor.I bet they’re all trained for this.“Raquel, what are you talk—”

“You gave me the data,” I say quietly, cutting his lies short.“The one you said was from a reliable source.You gave it to me saying it might help, but it helped throw the case out of court.You jeopardized me intentionally.I trusted you.”

“No,” he gasps.For a minute it sounds genuine.Then I remind myself of how good he is.How good they are, at coverups.

“I didn’t know it was fake,” he maintains.

“The hell you didn’t.Where did you get it?”I demand.“Where was it from?”

There’s a pause, and right there, his hesitation is the confirmation I need.He can’t answer.

Because he’s been caught.

I feel like the roof caved in on me.Like my life as I knew it, is over, because, in a way, I lived for my career, and that just ended.

“You used me,” I say, voice wavering.“I trusted you.I used that data.I put my name on it and now everything I’ve worked for—everything—is gone.”

“Raquel,” he says again, but it’s too late.

I hang up, but he calls me back straightaway.“Listen, just, please, listen,” he begs.“Don’t hang up.”It’s the desperate tone in his voice, the raw, almost unsteady pitch that cuts straight through my defenses.It makes me stay on the line.

“I had no idea.My old man told me about the data.He didn’t tell me to give it to you.He didn’t even know you were there.It was my idea, and the only reason I decided to give it to you was because … I wanted a reason to see you, and it seemed like the right thing to do.”

I scoff.“I wish I hadn’t met you out there.I wish you hadn’t been sent there.I wish it had been someone else.”

I head a noise, something low, and undecipherable.“Please let me finish.You have every right to hate me, but I wish you would believe me.This is the first I’ve heard that the injunction request was denied.I thought the old man would have told me.”He seems to mutter this to himself.

“They’ve withdrawn the case.My reputation is in tatters.Alma and EcoGuardians feel betrayed and let down.Pierce knows about us, and he’s letting me go.”

“What?”

“You people won.You and Delport, and your family.The eco resort wins.Congratulations.You can continue with construction and still open on time, if you bring in enough workers and pay them a pittance, while turning their water to poison.You should feel proud of yourself, because you got everything you wanted.”

“I didn’t want this.”His words are strained, like he’s fighting for survival.“I understand you not believing me, but I’m going to prove it to you that I had nothing to do with this.I love you, Raquel.Now’s not the right time to say it, but it feels like you never want to see or hear from me again, but I’m not going to let you walk away.I love you.I’m madly in love and I have been, maybe I fell for you that night we played strip poker.It was nothing to do with the card game.It was all to do with you.”

“Just … stop.Right there.”

“This isn’t the end of it, Raquel.”