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"Exactly" He leaned back in his chair

"Why did you do it?"

"You wantedanyone anymore after what Faustino did I suspect he ically Faustino almost killed him"

"You wanted to be certain Faustino wouldn’t create proble That’s the real reason you did this, right? Admit it"

"No You needed to be free of Faustino’s ties, and any threat thattwo birds with one stone"

"So you didn’t clean up a potential proble rid of Faustino and Rahierous if he was offended atsood deal of your infor rid of Rahiation You solved your own issues just as easily as you solved "

He scowled, that disapproving look "I see Well I never thought of it the way you laid it out But I iine it’s possible to view the situation from that perspective, especially when you distrustnegative to grasp onto?"

I shook uess there’s no way to prove my intentions"

There it was again, the butt-hurt look The bastard tried to twist it all around on me He didn’t do it forhe does "If you really truly did it for me, then tell me why?" I needed to hear him say it, hear the lie and watch his face

"Because I care for you, querida I care about your safety I care about the things that are important to you"

"Of course you do Gotta make sure your little spy is happy Keep the lie detector happy so she does a good job! I always do my job I take pride in my work, and I don’t need bribes or manipulations This is my career and I take it very seriously!"

"Querida … why can’t you see what’s right before your eyes?"

"What? What is it I can’t see?"

"That I love you And I’m so very sorry I left you here with Lia I’m truly sorryI want to see you happy, querida I want to see you sain I love you Esperanza de Salvador"

He was up fro on me He took my hands I tried to back away I didn’t want to be seduced by his lies, his proxirip and wouldn’t let go

I cried in anger, frustration, longing, desire, love, hate, an impossible mess of conflicted emotions I had tried so hard to stay away fro?"

"You’ll have to trust me, Hope Look into my eyes and trust me"