The Billionaire's Island Romance (The Romero Brothers, Book 3.5) by Shadonna Richards Page B

entire family’s future was about to
be crushed in one fell swoop.

 
 
CHAPTER TWELVE

 
    A knock sounded from the other side of
Arianna’s office door as she leaned against the windowpane, deep in thought.
    “Who is it?” she uttered, almost under her
breath. She didn’t have the strength to deal with anything right now.
    Christian entered her office. She looked up
and there he was standing in his white shirt and dark gray dress pants. She
remembered he said he had a business meeting to attend this morning on the
island with a client of his that happened to be vacationing in Jamaica.
    “Hey,” he said quietly. He stood at the
door for a moment with his hands shoved in his pants pockets, looking so
handsome despite his unreadable expression.
    “Hey.” She turned to focus outside the
window. She couldn’t bring herself to look into his eyes again. The hurt. The
embarrassment at what he’d seen. It was all too traumatic to relive.
    He quietly stepped towards her, and without
saying another word, he reached over and pulled her to his chest, wrapping his
arms around her in a warm embrace. Arianna wanted to cry; tears moistened her
eyes as she sank deep into him hugging him back.
    That was all she needed. Christian. His
unconditional love again. His understanding. Something she didn’t feel she had
a while ago. Now everything seemed as if it could be okay. Maybe.

 
    After a while and a good cry, her eyes were
dabbed dry with a tissue Christian used to wipe away her tears.
    “Hey,” he said, tilting her head up to his.
“You’re way too pretty to be crying like that. Okay?” He kissed her forehead
gently, a warm smile on his face. His unreadable expression turned to that of
concern.
    “I’m sorry I walked out on you like that,
Arianna.”
    “No. It’s okay. I don’t blame you.”
    “No, it’s not okay. I was in shock but I…”
He drew in a deep breath. “I just don’t know what got into me. I just couldn’t
handle it. What’s going on, Arianna? The truth. I want to help you…and your
family. You mean too much to me. Why didn’t you tell me…your mother didn’t
exist?”
    His mind flashed back to what he’d
witnessed in her parents’ room after the alarm sounded earlier. Mr. Duponte was
fussing over a large white pillow with a photo of Mrs. Duponte adhered to it.
The pillow had been wrapped with a woman’s pink knitted cardigan as if it were
a real person. Her father treated the pillow as his wife. His
stomach clenched at the sad, heart wrenching , yet
tender memory . Nothing would be able to wipe that image out of
Christian’s mind.
    Arianna broke away from him gently, hugging
her arms around her chest and hunching her shoulders slightly.
    She drew in a deep breath. “Remember the
time I told you about my parents’ trip?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Well, as you know, my mother was always
agoraphobic. Dad loved her so much. Anyway, they took the trip to Murumba and…”
    “It’s okay. Take your time,” he said
gently.
    “Don’t you have a meeting to go to? You
said you had a client who was on vacation and wanted to see you, right?”
    “You’re my priority right now, Arianna. My
assistant is here and she can handle things for me. Go on.”
    “Well, Mom never really wanted to go
rafting but Dad thought it would be a good way to…get her out of her shell.”
    “And?”
    Tears welled in Arianna’s eyes again. “She
panicked and stumbled before falling off the raft.”
    “Oh, God! Arianna.”
    “The waves turned harsh and strong at that
time.”
    “But you never mentioned a funeral. So they
never found her body?”
    She shook her head, fighting back tears.
“No. And according to the law in Murumba, a person cannot really be legally
declared dead until seven years has passed in absentia. Until then, unless they
find her remains, there’s nothing we can do. They have strict laws. Dad was a
wreck. That’s when he had his breakdown,” she said in a low tone.
    “And that’s when