Proof

Raquel had looked up at him. He had smiled into her eyes. She could no longer pretend this was innocent. "Jonathan," she had murmured. "What are you doing?"

His hand had moved up her thigh. His smile had deepened. "You know what I'm doing."

Raquel had moved her thigh away. "I—we can't. Your wife. And I'm Jared's girlfriend. He's practically your brother."

Jonathan had still been amused. "I notice your objections are because of Caroline and Jared. The objection isn't that you find me unattractive."

Which had been true enough. She had found him attractive, mostly because he looked a lot like Jared. The same wavy brown hair and blue eyes. The same height and build. The same timbre in the voice. It was natural that she should find him attractive, but that didn't mean she wanted to sleep with him.

Nor did she understand why he felt the need to make a pass at her. He had a wife who should be enough for him. Caroline had been a model in her twenties. Now in her thirties, she hadn't lost any charm. She had a pretty face, with flaxen-blond hair and a body made Venusian by motherhood.

Yet, instead of being with his wife, here Jonathan was. Touching her.

He'd taken a strand of her black hair between his fingers. "It's easy to see why Jared is so crazy about you. You've made him lose his head, you know that? I can see why. Your face looks so innocent. Your body makes me rock hard."

Raquel had moved further away, her hair slipping out through his fingers. She had stood up, her face heated. "I think it's best if you leave now."

Jonathan had reached for her, easily drawing her close by wrapping his hands around her waist. "If it's Jared you're worried about, don't. He won't know if we don't tell him. We'll be cautious."

Raquel had pushed away again. "He might never know, but I'll always know. Just go, Jonathan."

He had looked her over. His smile had gone. In its place had been a look that had scared her shitless. Not because it was menacing, but because it was empty. Entirely without emotion. Like looking into the eyes of a shark that only knew the call of blood.

"Raquel," he had said. "I want you."

He had said it with apathy rather than passion, which was what had increased her fear. I want you. As though he deserved something purely because he wanted it. Even if it was out of bounds. Even if it would hurt the people he claimed to love the most. His wife. His children. His brother.

"Don't you care about Jared?"

"You and I find each other attractive. There's nothing wrong with that. Jared won't know and you can continue your relationship with him. No harm done to anyone."

Harm? Her eyes had darted to the door. Could she successfully escape if she bolted?

He'd noticed her furtive glance and smiled. "Don't be melodramatic. I won't rape you if that's what you're afraid of. That wasn't the kind of harm I meant. And I only enjoy sex when my partner is willing. Be willing and there'll be no harm done."

"I'll tell Jared."

Jonathan had laughed as heartily as if she'd told an excellent joke. "You'll tell Jared? Is that wise? Considering your history."

Raquel's heart had beat faster. "I don't know what you mean by that."

"I think you do. Remember when you were in college? A friend of yours accused her boyfriend of rape but it turned out to be a false claim. You were on her side. You were a witness for the prosecution."

For an instant, the room had swum around Raquel. "How did you know about that? Nobody knows anymore."

"I always know all the facts and possible outcomes before I set out to do anything. If you tell Jared about this discussion, I'll deny it. It'll be your word against mine. Who do you think he'll believe? His brother, or a girl he's been dating for just 4 months? A girl who has falsely accused a man of rape before."

"I didn't falsely accuse him. If I had known Elena was lying, I never would have supported her through the trial. She lied to me. She came to my dorm one night, crying that he'd forced himself on her. I believed her. All I did was support a friend. When it came out that she was lying, I apologized to him. After the trial, I tracked him down and told him how sorry I was. He accepted my apology."

"Perhaps." Jonathan had shrugged. "But all that is only assertion. You have no proof of it to offer Jared. On the other hand, I have proof that you accused an innocent man of rape. Jared is a logical guy. He'll think to himself: 'If she's accused an innocent guy of rape before, what stops her from doing it again now?' Eventually, he'll come to resent you. He'll apologize to me and dump you. Tell him any of this, and you'll be shooting yourself in the foot."

It was true. There had been no point denying it. "I won't tell him about any of this, but I won't sleep with you either."

Looking back now, she could see that this was the moment where she'd made a mistake. If she had left things there, he too might have done. But she hadn't left things there. Angry at being essentially blackmailed, she'd insulted him. She had spoken words that had sealed her fate. Spat the words at him with contempt.

"I'll never sleep with scum. You disgust me. You've won your sick little game. I won't tell Jared. Now get out of my house before I call the cops on you."

Jonathan had remained calm, but a bloodthirsty look had stolen into his eyes. "You'll regret that you insulted me."

Raquel had done her best not to show her fear. She had folded her arms across her chest, giving him a mocking look. "You're delusional if you think you can frighten me or control my life."

"I might not be able to control your life, but I can control Jared's and that's enough to get at you. Nobody knows him like I do. I know him better than he knows himself. He's logical, but he has a temper and he's possessive of you. I can do a lot with that."

Jonathan had said that to her, then he'd walked out. Raquel had locked the door and sunk into a chair, shaking. Trying to gather her scattered wits. She had been afraid, but who could she talk to about it? Nobody. So she hadn't talked.

The next time she had seen Jonathan, it had been in the company of Jared and others. He had been so sweet and friendly that even she had wondered if she had dreamt their nasty confrontation. An expert pretender.

Weeks passed and he never alluded to it. Slowly, Raquel had grown less afraid. Slowly, she'd begun to hope that his promise of making her pay had been only a bluff. Maybe he intended to leave it all alone.

She had grown less afraid, but deep down she still had never felt completely comfortable around him. And she had never said a word to Jared about it. 6 months later, Jared had asked her to marry him. She'd said yes. They'd pulled the wedding together in a few months. They'd said their vows in a castillo on the Bay of Cádiz, with hundreds of guests watching. Her dress had been handmade. Jonathan had been the Best Man. Her stepfather Ezequiel had given her away. It had been a day of sunshine and calm blue seas. There had seemed to be no hard feelings anywhere. No echoes of the past. Only joy.

A year had passed, and then another, and then another.

When she had been least expecting it, Jonathan had made good on his promise.

Now, Raquel continued walking between the vines as dawn broke over Jerez de la Frontera. Her brow was furrowed. She still didn't understand how Jonathan had managed to fabricate that evidence. How had he gotten his hands on a pair of her underwear? When had he managed it? Whose semen was on it? His own, possibly.

She also didn't understand how the Dragonfly Hotel issue had come about. She'd never been anywhere that hotel. She was still confused about that. All she knew was that Jonathan had cooked up a story and somehow managed to convince Jared of it. He'd convinced Jared that the semen-stained underwear was because she'd been cheating on him at the cabin.

She had never cheated on him at the cabin. She had never cheated on him at that hotel. She had never cheated on him anywhere. She'd never even wanted to. She loved him too much for that.

He had once said that he loved her too much. She also loved him too much.

When he'd returned from London that night and thrown that wretched cum-stained underwear on the table in front of her, she hadn't known what to say. He had asked her to explain, but how could she? How could you argue with proof? How could you say to someone: 'Don't trust your eyes, your ears and your judgment! Trust my assurances which you have no way of verifying!'

There had been no way to deny that the underwear was hers. No way to explain why there was semen on it.

The realization that it was all Jonathan's doing had crashed over her soon enough. She had known then that unless she managed to convince Jared to have blind faith in her, it would be the end and Jonathan would win.

Jonathan had won. Of course.

Jonathan Kendrick might be many things, but stupid wasn't among them. He'd planned everything and chosen his moment to strike.

Raquel could still hear the horror in her own voice as she'd looked up into Jared's uncompromising face. Her heart had been thumping wildly inside her ribcage. "It...it was Jonathan, wasn't it?" she had gasped. "It was Jonathan who gave this to you."

Jared had looked at her with such anger and disgust. He'd spoken so icily. A few times she had been afraid that he might even hit her. Ironically, she had been the one who had ended up hitting him. Because he had insulted her. Threatened her. Bullied her. Forced her to take the pregnancy test in front of him. And while she had wept because it was negative, he had been relieved. That was another one of the things that cut deep. Then he had sent her away from his house, forbidden her to talk to Travis, and divorced her.

It felt like sandpaper on a burn. Raquel hugged her jacket tighter around her body, touching the wedding band on her finger. Jared...Jared...Jared. How could you?

There had been a time when she was furious at him. At the way he had treated her. At his inability to see through Jonathan's lies. At his belief that she could cheat and lie.

All the fury was since died. Now, she feared for him. She was the one who Jonathan had set out to punish, but Jared had been equally hurt in the process. Jonathan hadn't cared about that, though. He cared for nothing except his own desires. Jared had been collateral damage this time, but what if, one day, Jonathan actually set out to destroy him?

Raquel had no doubt that Jonathan could accomplish it. There was nobody Jonathan couldn't hurt, so long as he had the time to plan his attack.

What if Jared one day became Jonathan's target? Who would he use as the weapon to hurt Jared? Would he somehow use Travis? Or would he use Leo? Joshua? Whitney? Dylan? Emily?

Fear squeezed Raquel's heart. She prayed it would never happen. She prayed that Jared would never have to learn the hard way who Jonathan truly was.

As the sky lightened and the first rays of sun appeared, Raquel noticed a figure some 200 yards away, walking east towards the sun. A female figure with silvering hair in a long braid. Esperanza Torrejón de Mosquera Galindo. Her mother.

Raquel smiled a little. She was her mother's daughter. Of course, they both would decide to take a walk at dawn. Every other member of their family was soundly asleep in the cortijo; her stepfather Ezequiel, her brother Florentin, her sister-in-law Yessica, and their children José-Andres and Ana-Belen.

Only Raquel and Esperanza were out here, losing themselves among the slumbering vines.

Raquel started towards her mother, raising her hand to wave. Esperanza waved back and stopped, waiting for Raquel to catch up. There was a smile on her wrinkled face as she waited. A slight smile; sharp and cool.

Raquel caught up to Esperanza. After exchanging a simple good-morning, they strolled together in silence, arm-in-arm.

In a way, her mother was the opposite of Jonathan. Esperanza was not a charming person. She was terse, stubborn, prickly and temperamental. But she was good at the core and wouldn't go out of her way to do harm. Esperanza had been right about a few things—love didn't always mean happiness, a marriage with two good people didn't always work out, and Saint Valentine was fickle.

Esperanza had been wrong about one thing, though—proof. Proof wasn't everything.

All these were lessons Raquel would never forget. Losing Jared had broken her, but she would be okay. She was in her homeland, surrounded by her family. She was healing. She wasn't worried about herself.

She would never see Jared again, but she loved him and wished him well.

Raquel sincerely wished Jared Kendrick good luck. Because he just might need it.

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THE END

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