The Truth of Never (The Never Trilogy Book 3) Read online

  “Hi,” I said, and stepped forward to offer my hand. “I’m Lenora, Nathan’s friend.”

  “Well, I’m Atilio, Nathan’s brother.” Somehow he saw that I wasn’t sure which one of his brothers he was so he added, “I’m the eldest.”

  My mouth formed a little o, and it turned his smile into a huge grin.

  “I’m very sorry for your loss,” I told him, but his smile didn’t falter.

  “Thank you,” he said. “Did you know my father?”

  “I met him about two weeks ago in New York. He was amazing. I’m going to miss him.”

  “He really was,” he said as he watched me. “You seem really nice, I like you.”

  “Thank you,” I said, and turned to the woman who was now smiling at me too.

  I accepted her handshake.

  “And this is my beautiful wife, Beatrice.”

  “Nice to meet you,” she said. “You seem a bit familiar but I can’t place where I’ve seen you before.”

  At first, I dismissed her concern but then I took a closer look at the clothes she was wearing. They were all from my Camel brand, even the emerald studded leaf earrings that went perfectly with her red hair and green eyes. Damn she was beautiful, but at that moment I panicked a little. She had probably seen me in some interview or something. I prayed she wouldn’t recognize me so all of this wouldn’t be any more uncomfortable than it already was.

  “I’ll go help the guys,” I said, and left the room. I could feel their eyes on me, and it made me wonder why everyone was staring at me as if I had a tail. It was worse when I got outside and met the rest of the clan on the porch. They quieted down as I came out, so I slightly nodded my head in greeting and hurried towards the road to Nathan.

  I reached Nathan who was standing by the trunk of the car, and slipped my hand around his wrist for some comfort. We were still in clear sight of the entire family.

  He was trying to fit the handles of the plastic bags in his hands, but stopped when I touched him

  “Are you alright?” he asked, and I nodded. Adriano carried some bags inside so I left Nathan’s side and started gathering the ones that were left. By then he had lifted his up and was holding them suspended by his sides.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” he asked, but for a moment I was distracted by the bulge of his arms against his shirt. I swallowed and gave myself a mental smack on the head. He was mourning.

  “I’m helping out,” I replied.

  “Gary said you shouldn’t lift anything heavy.”

  “Nathan, don’t be silly, it’s just a few bags.”

  “Lenora, I don’t want to have to drop these bags to stop you. Please step away from the car.”

  I turned towards him, amused, but saw that he wasn’t joking.

  “Nathan, are you serious?”

  “I am.”

  “I carried my suitcase all the way here. I think I can handle plastic grocery bags.”

  “You shouldn’t have done that, but I wasn’t with you then. I am now. Please walk beside me or go wait for me in the house.”

  I frowned at him and turned to pick up the bags again, but to my surprise, he put down the ones he was holding and came over to stop me.

  “Stop it!” I almost yelled. The entire family was watching.

  “Lenora.”

  “Alright, fine. But can I at least carry one or two? Please, I want to help out.”

  “Okay.” He said, so I picked up two of the bags and headed back into the house. I met Adriano and Beatrice in the kitchen. Adriano was unloading the groceries into the refrigerator, while Beatrice was bringing out some food from the takeout bags that had been placed on the dining table.

  After dropping my bags with Adriano, I hurried over to her. “Can I help you?” I asked.

  “Yes, please. Could you get the plates and cutlery? We’ll be having dinner soon. The table won’t fit everyone so just stack the plates by the side. They can just get their meals and eat anywhere they want.”

  Atilio came out from one of the rooms then, and drew out a chair to sit on.

  Nathan came in and went over to Adriano to drop the rest of the bags, but when he turned and saw that I was carrying a stack of plates towards the table, he called out my name in warning.

  “Lenora!”

  “Nathan, c’mon. Now you’re just being ridiculous.” I said and continued my work. The room became silent for a few seconds, but I didn’t even notice that everyone had stopped and was staring at me until I heard the door close and looked up to see that Nathan had left.

  “So, how did you and Alex meet?” Atilio asked.

  “Atilio!” Beatrice called out in warning.

  “Oh no, it’s fine,” I told her. “We met back in school. Boarding school.”

  “Wow, that’s been quite a while. What is that, fifteen years?”

  “Thirteen.”

  “Wow, so are you guys just friends or …”

  “Atilio!” his wife scolded.

  “It’s okay,” I said.

  “No it’s not,” she said and turned to him. “You’re being rude.”

  “I’m sorry,” he apologized but he looked more amused than sorry. He reminded me so much of Nathan’s dad.

  “Don’t be,” I replied. “And we’re friends.”

  “You know what? Leave,” Beatrice told him. “Go join the others outside.”

  “What did I do?” he complained, but she ignored him.

  “You too, Adriano. Leave what you’re doing. We’ll call you guys when we need you.”

  Adriano happily left what he was doing and went to tap his brother’s shoulder. “Let’s go man,” he said, and Atilio stood up. He gave his wife a dry look and then turned towards me with a smile.

  “We’ll talk later,” he said and walked out with Adriano.

  “I’m sorry for the hassle,” she apologized again. “They’re just really curious about you.”

  “Please, don’t be sorry. Its fine,” I said, “But why are they curious about me?”

  “Because Nathan brought you home. He doesn’t bring anyone home.”

  “Uh, he didn’t bring me. I sort of found my way here.”

  “But he gave you the address didn’t he? Same difference.”

  I swallowed painfully.

  “When any of these Roque men bring you home that’s a big deal. It’s like an unspoken rule and it was started by their father. He was such a romantic that he didn’t want to see his sons just having fun. So, he told them to have fun away from him but when they’re serious, he wanted to see her. My first visit here was after we’d gotten engaged. Imagine. But it’s weird though that you are just friends. Are you just saying that?”

  I smiled at her, nervous out of my mind but I didn’t respond. What was I supposed to say? Uh, we’re really just friends and he didn’t invite me here. I stole the address from a mother that he hasn’t seen since he was eight years old. I sighed heavily.

  “Are you alright?” she asked. “Are you tired?”

  “No, I’m fi –”

  “Lenora, stop working!”

  We both turned to see Nathan at the door.

  “Nathan I’m fine.” I insisted.

  “Alex, what’s going on?” Beatrice asked.

  “She was in the hospital about a week ago, and she’s been travelling for the last two days. She hasn’t even eaten.”

  “If that’s the case then I think you should rest immediately.” Beatrice said.” Alex don’t worry I’ll put something together for her so she doesn’t have to wait for the rest us.”

  “Beatrice you don’t have to. And Nathan, it’s just setting the table. I’m not carrying concrete.”

  “Still, I’ll feel better if you get some rest first.”

  “Okay.” I told him, and accepted the takeout bag Beatrice gave to me.

  “Thank you.” I said, and turned to Nathan.

  “I’ll get you settled in a hotel.” He said to me and my heart sunk. I put on my best smile anyway
and nodded my agreement. A few minutes later, we were out of the house and on our way. I refused his offer to pay for my room when we arrived but between being painfully polite, and unusually quiet, it didn’t take him long to figure out that I was upset with him. Normally, I would have thrown a fit but this was my time to take care of him and ensure that he was okay. So whatever he told me to do, if it made him feel better, was alright with me.

  “You’re upset with me.” He said when we arrived in my room. I sat on the bed and just smiled at him. ‘Nope.” I replied. “I’m perfectly fine.”

  “Thanks for coming. I’m really happy to see you.”

  “I’m happy to be here.”

  “Your politeness is frightening.” He said.

  “It should be.” I replied. “But don’t worry about it.”

  “Okay. I’ll leave you to rest then, but I’ll be back first thing tomorrow morning.”

  “Okay.” I said and tilted my head to the side when he bent down to place a kiss on my cheeks. I watched him leave, and then fell back against the bed.

  Nathan

  “I’ve figured out who your girlfriend is!” Beatrice yelled the moment I got into the house, and everyone turned. They were all seated around the dining table and with all kinds of food laid out on it. It was a crowded room.

  “She’s the author lady that owns Camel- I’m wearing all her stuff. I was just telling them now how awesome she is. She inspired me to start my events company. I listened to an interview she had and she was talking about how she dropped out at twenty-one, and just went on to pursue her dreams. It gave me courage. Wow, I can’t believe you know her! But why did you make her so angry?”

  “Beatrice, calm down,” her husband said. “I’m sure we all have three million questions to ask. First of all, Nathan come sit down, we’ve been fighting Adriano off your food, and we’re tired.”

  I watched their eager faces and wanted to join them, but I just felt too emotionally drained. My entire day had been filled with such sorrow and then I’d come home to Lenora – shocked at how she’d found me. Truthfully, I’d been sort of expecting her to call all day to ask for where I lived because I knew that she was going to come and I couldn’t wait. I needed someone to keep my sanity and in the few minutes that she was here, she did exactly that. We disagreed, and in that time I’d been able to forget that I’d lost my dad, and instead focus on the beautiful girl in front of me.

  I loved her, but I didn’t have the time to analyze why she had been upset. I was exhausted and all I wanted was to just drop into bed. But when I told them this they refused.

  “We’re having family time man. C’mon, just stay a bit.”

  With a sigh, I went over and sat down. Atilio spoke first.

  “Before anybody asks anything, let me just get my questions out of the way. I’m the eldest son of Saint,” he coughed, “Nicholas, so I get the first say.” Everyone laughed at the mention of my father’s nickname. At heart he was a saint but he could literally turn into a devil, especially when he was pissed off at his sons, hence the cough. He was still to this day the strictest man that I knew.

  “So, is she your girlfriend?”

  “She’s not,” I replied, and put a stick of carrot into my mouth. It was obvious that I wasn’t going to say anymore so they turned to Adriano.

  “Do you know her?” Aunt Catalina asked.

  “I do. Dad and I met her about two weeks ago in New York. She wasn’t well so Nathan was in the hospital with her.”

  Atilio was confused. “You were in the hospital with her, she met your family but you don’t love her?”

  “I didn’t say I don’t love her. I just said that she wasn’t my girlfriend.”

  I knew I was frustrating him, but I didn’t have the strength to answer anything other than direct questions tonight. If I started with them, they would spend the entire night talking. I needed to go to bed.

  Beatrice spoke up next, “But you brought her home. I thought you guys didn’t bring girls home until you were serious about them?”

  That reminded me of something. I turned to Adriano. “Did you give her our house address?”

  He shook his head. “No.”

  “Wait, you didn’t give it to her?” Beatrice asked. “Then how did she find it? No wonder she felt unwelcome.”

  “Maybe Alvaro gave it to her,” My uncle said, referring to my second oldest brother, but I shook my head.

  “She hasn’t met Alvaro.”

  “Then your dad?” Aunt Catalina asked.

  I considered it for a second, and realized that it was very likely. I nodded. “I’m sure he was the one. He’s been inviting her to come over. He even bought two dresses for her when we got back from Lisbon on Monday.”

  Atilio looked baffled again. “Wait, dad bought her dresses, but she’s not your girlfriend? I’m confused.”

  I realized then that it was better for me to just explain. “She’s not my girlfriend yet, but we’ve known each other for years. I love her and she loves me, we’ll get married soon.”

  Roars loud enough to give me a headache broke out in the room. Beatrice seemed even more excited than everyone else.

  “So, she’s allowed here then? But wait, if you guys are that serious then why did you send her to a hotel?”

  I looked at Beatrice. “What do you mean?”

  “She knows you’re this serious about her, right?”

  “She does.”

  “Then why did you send her to a hotel? If she wanted to stay at a hotel she would have gone there first before coming here.”

  Alarm bells were starting to go off in my head. I straightened. “There’s not enough space here. I wanted her to be comfortable.”

  “Trust me, if she loves you, she would prefer to sleep on the floor somewhere in this house than at a hotel. Or is she too used to luxury? I know she’s wealthy.”

  “No, she isn’t.”

  My Aunt hit me on the back of my head.

  “Ow.” I complained.

  “That was why she was so angry at you.”

  Immediately I got up, and grabbed my keys. With a sigh, I told them I’d be back and hurried out of the room. They threw small bits of food at me in mockery, and as I sped back to the hotel I couldn’t believe how dense I’d been.

  Of course she’d be upset. Damn. I got to her room and knocked a couple of times, but when she didn’t respond, I opened it with one of the spare keys I’d taken from her just in case of emergencies. I walked into the room to find it the exact same way I’d left it, but with her still fully dressed, and fast asleep.

  I felt so relieved that I took a moment to steady my breathing. All I had to do was quietly carry her back to my house, and have her wake up to realize that she’d been moved.

  It sounded creepy but I had the right. So as gently as I could, I lifted her into my arms, and left the room. I thought about checking out but then I decided to keep the room, just in case we needed to get away from the house at some point. I stopped by the reception though to speak to the receptionist who looked concerned at seeing an unconscious woman in my arms, but I quickly explained that she was asleep. Nora woke up then and briefly looked around her, but when her eyes finally settled on me, she rested her head back on my shoulder and went right back to sleep.

  After swapping her debit card details with mine to pay for the room, I gently put her in the car and drove as slowly as I could so that she wouldn’t wake up again. When I got back home, the whole house was still at the table. I took her to my room and removed her sandals, but I didn’t want to do any more than that just in case she woke up. I covered her with a blanket and then went out to say goodnight to the rest of the family, before walking back to our room.

  Our room. It used to be Annie’s and my room, but for however long Nora was going to be here, it was our room. I was hoping she didn’t wake up the next day and become pissed enough at me again to refuse to stay. I got in bed with her and shifted as close to her as I could get. It would be the fi
rst time we were sleeping in the same bed together, but I wasn’t as excited as I knew I should have been.

  My heart was so heavy, but I was convinced that the moment I wrapped my arms around her and listened to the sound of her steady breathing, that I would feel enough peace to send me to sleep. I did exactly that and closed my eyes to revel in her warmth. Less than ten seconds later, and for the first time in almost two days, I was fast asleep.

  « CHAPTER 5 »

  Lenora

  The first thing I saw when I woke up was a floating bookshelf. I was disoriented at first because I didn’t remember seeing a bookshelf when I’d come into the room the previous night. Then I moved and realized I felt too warm, and it was a sweet kind, as if I was …wrapped in someone’s arms. As soon as that thought registered in my brain I realized that there was indeed an arm around me … someone was sleeping with me!

  Panicked, I scrambled away and almost collapsed with relief when I saw that it was just Nathan. I pressed my hand against my chest and tried to steady my breathing.

  “Good morning,” he said, and I shot him a harsh look.

  “Were you that shocked?” he asked.

  I lowered myself into a sitting position. “I’m in a different country. Of course I was shocked. I thought I’d been kidnapped. What happened?” I asked as I looked around what I assumed was his room, or box. It was really small. The room was probably the size of a double bed, with just a little space at the foot for a wardrobe and at Nathan’s side for a little bit of movement.

  He was about to reply when loud voices from outside the room startled me. We both listened to find out what was going on then suddenly, a knock sounded on the door.

  “Alex, Alvaro’s here,” someone announced. Nathan immediately got up and slipped his feet into some slippers that were by the bed. He was shirtless, and when he turned to face me my eyes refused to move back up to his face.

  “Sorry to cut your ogling short but I have to go. My brother’s here. The second one. I’ll get everyone outside so you can quickly freshen up, or would you rather we go back to the hotel?”

  “Um, no. Did you bring my luggage?”

  “I didn’t, I’m sorry. Just pick one of my t-shirts and uh, I have shorts and other pajama bottoms so take any of those. Call out if you need any help.”