Enrique rested his forehead against the closed door, wrecked at the sadness and anger he’d seen on Vanessa’s face. Her cheeks were streaked, so he knew she’d been crying, and it killed him to know that he was the cause of her pain.

He could hear them arguing on the other side, and prayed that her friend won.

“Just hear him out, Van,” Ella was saying.

“Why should I, Ella, so he can lie some more?” Vanessa asked harshly, and he felt those words slash through his gut.

“Come on, Van, don’t you want to know the truth? If you don’t ask now, you may never find out why he was really there…”

Enrique held his breath when Vanessa didn’t immediately answer, then took a step back when he heard the door handle turn. When the door finally opened, Vanessa’s back was to him and she was almost to the couch. Ella was still standing by the door and simultaneously gave him a death glare and an encouraging smile.

He had no idea how she pulled it off.

He entered slowly and came to a full stop when he noticed the Beretta PX4 semiautomatic pistol on the table. Vanessa had her gaze averted, so he looked at Ella, who just shrugged and gave him a grin.

Enrique cleared his throat and asked, “May I sit?” Indicating the chair across from the couch.

“If you must,” Vanessa answered, and he practically shivered from the chill in her tone.

Sitting on the edge of the chair, Enrique leaned forward and spoke from the heart.

“I’m so sorry for the way things played out,” he began. “I hated lying to you, but it was in the contract that I had with Derek that no one from the company could know why I was there, except him. I swear that when I met you that first night, I had no idea who you were or that you worked for Fine PR, and when I saw you there my first day, I was torn over what to do. I decided to keep seeing you, knowing that I couldn’t tell you the truth until the case was solved, because I really liked you and didn’t want to lose what we already had, even in that short amount of time. I knew you were special, Mi Cielo, and although I’m sorry that I couldn’t tell you why I was there, I’m not sorry that I got to be with you.”

“What’s your real job?” she asked irritably, and he felt a moment of relief that she was at least speaking to him.

“I own a private investigation firm, and was hired by Derek to find out which employee has been stealing from him.”

Vanessa frowned at that information, but didn’t ask him to reveal what he’d found out. Instead she probed, “Were you really in public relations in the military?”

“No,” he admitted, but hurriedly added, “But I was in the military. Special Investigations. I opened my firm after I separated.”

“Is Carlos your brother?” she asked, the question striking him as odd.

Shit, she really thought he’d lied about everything.

“Yes, Carlos is my brother. Mi Cielo, everything we shared, everything we talked about was true, except any information regarding my position and why I was at the company. My feelings for you are the truth … I promise you, our relationship wasn’t a lie.”

Vanessa brought her eyes to him once he was finished, and the look in them made his heart clench.

“I don’t believe you … I can’t trust you. You’ve been lying to me since the moment we met. How can I possibly know what was real and what was part of your job? Maybe you needed to get close to me to help further your investigation … I don’t know. What I do know is that I need time. Time to let everything settle and see how I feel about you once it does.”

“Mi Cielo, Vanessa, my feelings for you are genuine. Everything we shared was real. I’d crossed you off my list before we even met; you had nothing to do with my investigation. I was going to tell you everything tonight at dinner, you have to believe me,” he pleaded, not caring if he sounded like the desperate man that he was.

She didn’t answer, she just got up and walked out of the room, leaving him bereft and unsure of what he could do to fix the mess that he’d made.

He turned to leave and was startled to see Ella leaning against the door, looking at him with sad eyes; he’d forgotten she was in the room. She pushed off the door and walked toward him, her hand outstretched.

“Give me your phone,” she whispered.

Uncertain of where she was going with this, he pulled his hand out of his pocket and handed it to her.

After a few seconds she said, “I punched in my number and called my phone, so I’ll have yours. I’ll shoot you a text over the next couple days and give you a location to meet Van and I at…”

He took the phone in silence, than shot her a questioning look.

“You can’t give her too much time, she’ll just get things all turned around and get back in her head. I’ll let you know when the time is right; you be ready to swoop in and be there. Be the man I know you can be for her … You guys are good together. But screw this up, and I know how to use that thing,” she said, nodding to the pistol on the table.

Enrique nodded as well and quietly said, “Thanks, Ella. I won’t let either of you down … I love her.”

“I know you do,” Ella said with a small smile. “Otherwise I’d already have kicked your ass.”