The Love of a Latino (24 page)

This beautiful woman who
stood before her was a victim of domestic violence. Anyone looking at her would
never believe that. How was Raphael her savior?

“Please, continue.” Dahlia
whispered through stiff lips wanting some closure as to how exactly Rafe became
this woman’s angel.

Constance moved slowly across
the room to find sit herself while she redid her blouse once again, concealing
her tortured skin.

“Felipé and I have been
married a little over four years. He is a very rich and powerful man in my
country, so defying him is like signing your own death certificate. In the
beginning, he was so attentive and loving, but it took less than a couple of
months for the abuse to start. At first, it was a slap ever so often. Then, the
accusations came together with the fist. I could not so much as look at another
man for fear of what he may do. My pride is what made me stay. I was too
ashamed of what people would think if they knew the kind of man I married. Then
Genevieve was born. After that I was doomed. He threatened me, told me if I
left, he would kill her. So I stayed.” Her eyes never once wavered as the words
spilled from her mouth, her already swollen eyes, glistening with the promise
of tears.

“I honestly believed I could
bare it for her sake. That was until I woke one night with a strange man above
me. Felipé sat in the next room while that man abused my body. It turned out
that I was a pawn in a bet that he had lost. The next day I did the only thing
I could. I called Raphael. For far too long I was afraid to let him know, but I
could not stay with Felipé any longer.” Once again Constance paused, her hand
fidgeting nervously as she tried to gather herself to continue.

“Rafe came to my rescue,
bringing me to New York. But Genevieve had to stay. Felipé told lies about me.
Said I was not a good mother. He said that I was leaving him for Rafe, so the
government did not want her to leave with me. It is a good thing that there is
one thing Felipé loves more than himself—money! It took a little over three
months but Rafe was finally able to buy my daughter’s freedom.” Getting to her
feet, she once again took a place close to Dahlia.

“I explained this because I
wish for you to fully understand my situation. Rafe is the closest thing I have
to family and while I may love him, it is not in the way you believe. I am afraid
because of what I have suffered at the hands of my husband. It will be a very
long time, if ever, before I can feel that way for any man. Plus, this man
loves you too much.”

Dahlia’s heart swelled with
compassion as this woman bared her soul. To speak of the things she had endured
for the last four years, to a complete stranger would be not be an easy task,
yet here she was. Dahlia truly admired this woman.

“Now that I have said my
part, I think is best I leave you two alone.” Constance disappeared into the
bedroom to return shortly with Genevieve in her arms.

Speaking to Raphael she said,
“We will be in our room. Do not worry about us, I will order us something to
eat.” Sparing Dahlia a glance, a brief smile crossed her lips. “You have a good
man, Dahlia. Please do not allow your anger and hurt to destroy your chance of
being happy.”

Dahlia quietly watched as
Constance exited the room, shutting the door behind, leaving a dreadful silence
behind. Her eyes drifted to her husband, her heart beat quickening as his eyes
arrested hers. Buried in the depths, glowed his undeniable love for her. Raphael
was a man in a million. He may not be perfect but he was the closest one to
perfect God had ever made. To think that she could have lost him because of her
stubbornness was heart wrenching.

His reaction to her supposed
lover was not quite what she had expected. The burning rage that was fueled by
his jealousy was nothing like she had ever experienced before. Even though he
had been angry he had been cautious enough not to physically hurt her. Yanking
her hand away so suddenly was not one of her brightest ideas because now she
would have bruises to show.

Physically her husband would
never hurt her, but her inability to trust him completely was her downfall. She
was letting one bad phase of her life cloud her judgment. Once, she had jump to
conclusions and both she and Raphael had suffered for almost five months. Yet
here she was doing it again. She had not even given him a chance to explain.

Her husband was a kind,
humble, loving man. Constance was a friend that needed help and in spite of all
problems his marriage was facing, he sought to offer her that help, to protect
her and her innocent child. How could she possibly chance losing such a
selfless man?

Visibly tense, he leaned
against the bar, his eyes still holding hers. She didn’t know what to say to
him after misjudging him so badly. She had deliberately toyed with his feelings
and then she had sunk the knife further by letting him believe there was
another man in her life.
Please, don’t let it be too late, s
he prayed.

She believed Constance. The
woman’s earlier reaction proved that she was emotionally scarred, but Dahlia
still needed to know more. Nervously, through dry lips, she questioned her
husband, “Why did she have to stay with you? I mean, you
are
a man, she
is
a woman. Didn’t you think people would jump to conclusions?”

“At the beginning, no, it did
not cross my mind, but when people started assuming we were lovers I welcomed
it.” He answered straight faced.

Absolutely confused, she
asked, “You were glad people thought you were lovers? I don’t understand. Why
would that make you happy?”

With determined steps,
Raphael left where he stood, to bring himself to a halt before her, the
tortured expression on his rugged face—revealing so much of his inner turmoil
to her.  This man loved her, not Constance. He looked as if he was going to
touch her, but rethinking his action he dropped his hand back to his side.

“When you left me, I became a
walking target for every single young woman. They were constantly throwing
themselves at me, each one hoping to be the next Cavos bride. I cannot begin to
explain how frustrating it was. They would be outside my door waiting when I
got home from work, dishes in hand. These women were like vultures. It did not matter
how many times I said I was not interested, they persisted.” He paused, rubbing
the back of his neck as if to dispel some weight. Looking at him closely now,
she could see the signs of strain on his face. He looked so tense.

“I was having a very difficult
time handling your absence together with everything else, but to everyone I
appeared to be doing just fine. I think I may have been the on the verge of a
nervous breakdown.  Constance’s arrival was a blessing in disguise. From the
very first day, everyone believed we were lovers, so they stopped hounding me.
Constance ended up serving a very unlikely purpose and even though her cause
gave me something to occupy my mind, you were never far from my thoughts,
Amor.
I promise.” He pleaded for understanding.

“We were separated, Raphael.
I gave you no reason to believe I was coming back. Why didn’t you take up one
of those offers?” Dahlia could not understand why she asked such a question,
when her heart was already singing at Raphael’s confession.

His forehead knotted as it
always did when he was deep in concentration. It took so much effort for Dahlia
not to reach up and smoothen it out with her touch. Dear God, she loved this
man so much. How could she possibly believe that she could survive without him?

“You ask me why I did not
take another woman to my bed,  
Amor?”
He questioned. His hand tangled
with hers at her side before bringing it up to place a tender kiss in its palm.
Placing the same palm against his heart he asked, “Tell me,
Preciosa,
what do you feel?”

Of course he knew what she
felt but she responded nonetheless. “Your heart.”

“Sí Amor,
my heart. It only beats now because you are here with
me. I swear, the first time I felt it again since you left, was when I saw you
on the beach today.”

Hot tears pricked at her
eyes. This man had the ability to melt her heart with just his words.
“Raphael…”

“It is only the truth. When
you walked away from me, I think you took it with you. That, my sweet one, is
why I could not bed another. Without you, that part of me ceases to exist.”
Such simple words, yet the effect was grand.

“Why didn’t you tell me all
this earlier on? Why did you leave me to believe she was your lover?”

“I was afraid you would not
believe me.  I have not been the best husband to you, Dahlia; I have not given
you many reasons to trust me so I thought it would be better if Constance
explained it.” His explanation though weak, made sense, yet Dahlia pushed.

“Is that why you brought her
here?”

He chuckled lightly, his
handsome face coming alive as he spoke. “One day soon, I hope for you to meet Sean
Patrick. I have spoken of him before. It is he who opened my eyes to the damage
Constance’s present could cause. So I did what I had to do. I got Genevieve to
her mother and then I came to take you back home.”

Thrown off base by his
confession, she stupidly asked, “You came to take me home?”

“Sí!
I brought Constance and Genevieve here for two
reasons. I hope to find them a home here. I think she will feel safe here
because it is one place Felipé will not think to look for them. My other reason
was to have Constance explain why she was staying at my house. I did not think
that it would get so complicated. I had hoped to explain everything before I
took you home.”

“You came to take me home?” She
asked again even though she knew she sounded like a complete air head.

“Sí Amor.
I promised myself that I would let you be. That I
would not force you to take me back, but I am sorry. I cannot allow this. I
love you too much,
Amor.
These past months have been the emptiest of my
life. I sometimes wonder, how I ever existed before you became a part of my
life.”

“Raphael…”

Misunderstanding what her she
was going to say he begged, “Please
Amor,
do not turn me down. If I
cannot have you, then I wish for no one else.”

“Oh, Raphael… ” She cried,
throwing herself into his arms.

“Dios, Amor, te amo.
Do not ever leave me again. I am sure if that ever
happens again…I will die.” Crushing her in his embrace he buried his head in
her hair. “You will return with me?”

“Yes, I will. I will go
anywhere with you. I am so sorry I did not give you a chance to explain. I can
be so stubborn sometimes.” She offered in the way of an apology.

“No,
Amor.
If I had
done right by you when our son died, none of these things would have happened.
I was not a good husband to you and because of that I have caused you so much
hurt, but I promise you
Amor,
it will be different now.” His heartfelt
words pulled at her heart strings. But it was time she accepted some of the
blame.

“It is not all your fault, my
love. I must take some of the blame for our son’s death…”

“No…”

“Yes. I should have trusted
that you would not have betrayed me. I should have been more cautious.  But it
is in the past now. We cannot change it but we can build a future together.” It
felt so good to say it. She felt as if the weight of the world had been thrown
off her shoulder. For the first time in months she breathed easily. Her hand
moved up to the button of his shirt. She picked childishly at the first one,
avoiding his eyes. It popped open, the tip of one finger grazing the flesh
below.

She smiled mischievously when
he sucked in a quick breath. “Dahlia, there is nothing I want more than a
future with you, but there is something I must know.”

“What is it?” She enquired as
her fingers slowly undid the next button.

“Earlier, you implied that
you have been with someone else. Is it true? Has there been another man?”

Looking up at this strong,
Latin man, she was humbled at the pain etched in his features. How could she
have been so thoughtless, making him believe that she was with another man? “Come
with me.” She whispered, taking his hand to pull him behind her; she made her
way to the large door that presented the bedroom.

On the other side, she stood
before him, while slowly discarding of the few pieces of fabric she wore.
Standing naked and proud in front of this man, whose dark eyes had just turned
to coal, she sought to assure him. Taking his large hands she placed it on her
bare waist. Rotating slowly in his grasp she spoke. “All that you see before
you, Raphael, belongs to you,
my husband.
From the moment I gave myself
to you twenty-one months ago, to this day, there has been
no
other man
in my life.”

“Then why would you tell me
something like that, Dahlia? Do you not know what it does to me to think of you
with another man?” His tortured voice troubled her heart.

Moving closer to him, she
cupped his bruised jaw with her small palm. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said
that. I am sorry for the way I behaved earlier today. I shouldn’t have hit
you.” Her finger sought to sooth the slightly discolored skin of his face.