The Devil's Love For The Heiress novel Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Kate’s Questions (1)

“If I tell you, you’d have to marry me. Can you handle that, Kate?” The idea of marrying Carlos for a simple answer would seem like the most sweeping solution to Kate’s growing desire. She thought about it and hinted, “Then, tell me.” “How did you – Wait. What did you say?” Carlos asked, his grey eyes intensely looking at her. Kate gulped and repeated, “I insist you tell me what is inside that chamber pendant.” Carlos did not look away. A slight grin formed on his face, and he clarified, “Kate if I tell you, you’d have to marry me.”

Kate’s cheeks burned, and the butterflies in her stomach were partying. How she wanted this to be the end of her longing. She opened her mouth, prepared to accept the unusual proposal, regardless of whether he was joking. “I -”

Her stomach growled, and both Carlos and Kate stilled. “It’s – it’s nothing -” Kate’s stomach growled again, this time louder than the last. Carlos wound up laughing. His eyes thinned, all while his grey orbs gleamed. By how he beamed at her, Kate was sent into dreamland. She could not get enough of how gorgeous he looked when he smiled.

“Let’s get some food into your stomach,” he suggested.

‘You are… food enough,’ she silently protested, but who was she to go against the loud rumbling of her stomach? It was at it again, the second when Carlos offered his hand. “You really are hungry,” Carlos remarked. After Kate took his hand, he revealed, “Come on. Get changed, and I’ll take you to my new home.” “Your new home?” Kate asked in bewilderment. “Where?”

***

Standing in the foyer of the old Ronaldo mansion, Kate’s eyes easily welled with tears. It looked exactly the same as it was before the bank seized the house. Kate wandered on her own until she came face to face with a portrait of Carlos’ family. Manuel Ronaldo had that vibrant smile on his face as he held young Carlos in his hand. The same could be said with Agnes Ronaldo’s sparkling eyes. “It isn’t the original, but it’s good enough,” Carlos said, also looking at the picture with a smile.

Wiping the corner of her eyes, she smiled. Her head turned from one direction to another, and then she said, “I – I hate to admit it, Carlos, but maybe… maybe, you leaving was meant to be.” She shifted her attention to him and declared, “I’m happy that you got this house back and that you kept your parent’s memory alive.” Carlos inched closer to Kate and push a strand of her hair behind her ear. He said, “Kate, I’m

really sorry. There is so much that I want to tell you, and I promise you, we’ll get to that soon

“Mister Ronaldo, Sir. Food is ready,” a young man in his early twenties said. Seeing Kate, he smiled at her. “Good afternoon, Miss Wright. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“This is Oliver, my assistant,” Carlos introduced. “Oliver, this is Kate.” While Kate speculated how the man knew her name, she answered politely, “It’s nice to meet you, Oliver.”

“You look so beautiful in person, Miss Wright. No wonder Mister Ronaldo worked so hard,” Oliver remarked, making Kate all focused. “Let’s go, Kate. Let’s eat.” Kate turned to Carlos, but he simply dismissed his assistant’s comment, leading her to where their brunch was set up. With Carlos’ cradling her hand, Kate completely forgot about Oliver. She was yet again on cloud nine. She remembered how Carlos used to hold her hand in high school, but this one felt more exciting. Voltz of electricity ran through her body, and her knees turned weak. Kate sighed, knowing this was exactly how she had imagined and hoped it would feel. As they walked hand in hand, she earnestly did not want her day to end. They ate by the patio of Carlos’ home. The cook prepared some of Kate’s favorite dishes, including spicy pork ribs and her most cherished spicy calamari. She genuinely loved her meal, and at the end of her late brunch, she said, “I loved the food! It was great!” She eagerly drank her fresh juice, and as she did, Carlos remarked, “I wish I was the food.” “What?” Kate asked, missing Carlos’ suggestion. A chuckle escaped Carlos’ lips, and he said, “It’s nothing, Kate. I said I wish I had more of the same food to offer you now.”

“Oh, but I’m so full.” She glared at the half-empty serving of pork and squid, saying, “There is still so much left.”

Finally, when both of them had filled their stomachs, Kate and Carlos talked about his daily routine in Paris before the operation went down. At the end of Carlos’ narration, he revealed, ” For sure, I’ll be needed in Paris again, but I don’t know when. We are being careful when connecting with the French authorities. For now, all information is being relayed to the New York investigators.”

“So, you’ll still leave,” Kate sadly implied.

Carlos nodded. He looked straight into Kate’s eyes, saying, “But it’s different now, Kate. The trickiest part is over, and I can have my life back.”

“And I’m not yet done with my tennis career, so there is still so much traveling I’ll be doing, but this time. This time, Kate, I’ll be in touch. I won’t leave you wondering where I am and what I am doing. The old Carlos is back, I promise,” Carlos swore. Hearing his vow, Kate sucked in a breath. This was finally the time that she would ask her long list of questions. As her eyes looked down at the table, she said, “I get that you were upset with me, Carlos, and I hated how I hurt you, but did you really have to lose contact with us?”

“I’m sorry, Kate. It’s like what I said before.” Carlos massaged the back of his neck and lazily answered, “It was too painful for me to look back.”

“Did you not at least want to see if anything had changed in me? Or miss me at all? I’m sorry, but I just don’t understand how you bore it all without wanting to see me – even if you did not want to see me what about my parents?” Kate sought. “Why didn’t you return? Why did it have to take nine long years for you to come back, Carlos? Why?”

There was a moment of silence before Carlos weakly replied. He said, “I did.”

“What?” Kate sought. “I came back in the middle of my training.”