The-Spanish-Love-Deception-www.indianpdf

I suddenly felt toward him. He wasn’t wrong. All throughout dinner, he had
been nothing but a ghost. No one had really addressed him—something I
could understand, considering our history—and he hadn’t talked on his own.
Putting myself in his shoes, I didn’t think I would have accepted coming
myself.
“No, coming was the right thing to do if you believed you had to be
here.” I clasped my hands together, keeping them from fumbling. “You did it
for Gonzalo, and that’s very brave of you.”
He laughed with bitterness. “I don’t think anyone at that table would
agree with you. Except maybe Gonzalo, and he wouldn’t use the word
brave.” His hands slipped into the pockets of his slacks.
Again, he wasn’t wrong about that either. My parents had always been
polite even if distant, but just for Gonzalo’s sake. For Isabel’s sake too. They
knew how important Daniel was to him and how, without him, they wouldn’t
have Gonzalo in their lives, and they loved him to pieces. But I still didn’t
have a doubt that they’d never forgive Daniel for breaking my heart all that
time ago. For having a part in what I had gone through.
“Listen,” Daniel said before releasing a breath. “I know it’s probably too
late for this, but I wanted to tell you that I am sorry. I don’t think I ever did.”
No, he had never apologized.
“But I never meant for everything that went down to happen. I never even
imagined it was a possibility.”
Of course he hadn’t, and hadn’t that been part of the problem? He
dragged me along, and when things started looking ugly, he fled the ship.
Leaving me there to sink with it. And that had been exactly what I did; I had
been pulled under the surface, and I’d had to fight my way up. Alone.
His apology was long overdue—perhaps it was even too late—but at least
I was finally getting one. And that counted for something.
“It’s water under the bridge,” I told him, and I meant it. Even though a
little part of me would always remember that he had been a big player in
something that left a scar I’d always carry around. “Don’t worry about what
my dad said, by the way. He’s a little emotional.” I waved my hand in front
of us, stopping myself the moment I realized I didn’t owe Daniel a single
thing. I shouldn’t have been trying to make him feel better. I cleared my
throat. “You know how weddings bring out the best and worst of us.”
I was the living proof of that, my fake boyfriend sitting at a table with my
family, finally facing my newly engaged ex.