Who Wants to Marry A Billionaire?(49)

I’m not sure why, unless she was sent by someone trying to blow my deal with you.”

“Or deliberately trying to break things up between you and Nina.” Arturo’s voice had lost its edge.

“Arturo, I can understand if you never want to see me again, and I can live with that because it’s my own doing. But I can’t live with Nina thinking that I would fool around on her. I want her back.” His voice broke with emotion.

“You swear to me that the incident in the pool was perpetrated upon you?”

“Yes, god yes. I know it sounds ridiculous to say it, but I was the victim…well, and Nina, too.”

“But you have no idea who would do such a thing?” Arturo probed.

Daniel wiped at his nose. His voice was barely a whisper, as he said, “No.”

Arturo tried to process everything as they hiked. He was silent for some minutes. “What are you going to do?”

“You mean with Nina? Beg, explain, hope—whatever I can do to make her believe I would never hurt her or cheat on her or exploit her again.” He tried to get a grip on himself. “Do you think she could ever forgive me?”

“That depends, I suppose, on whether you can forgive yourself.” Arturo pushed aside a low hanging branch, “And in the future you should seek Nina’s counsel and abandon whomever is giving you such terrible advice.”

“How do you abandon someone that’s like your own mother?”

“I don’t know,” Arturo said, “But real love isn’t jealous. Real love encompasses the entire world.”

Suddenly they popped into a clearing, and there was Nina. She was lying on her side, but her eyes were open, and Daniel wondered how much of their conversation she had heard. He froze, wanting to rush to her, but unsure of her response.

“We’ve been so worried Nina, what happened?” Arturo asked as he kneeled down.

Nina ticked off the events on her fingers, “Well I fell, hit my head, broke ankle, lay unconscious, and waited for two hours for someone to rescue me.” She tried to smile. “I’m glad you’re here.”

She sat up and turned to Daniel, “Hi. I suppose I should say thanks for coming.”

“Nina—there’s so much I need to tell you, to explain…”

She shook her head, “Not now Daniel. Now is definitely not the time.”

Daniel choked back his words.

Arturo watched him, and then just directed Daniel to get on the other side of Nina. They each put an arm around her, and she hopped on one foot. The going was slow as it was getting full dark, but Nina didn’t complain, she just hopped along. After about fifty yards of this, Daniel had enough. He pushed his flashlight at Arturo, “For god’s sake, we’ll be out here all night, we need to get Nina to a hospital.” And with that, he picked Nina up his arms and carried her down the rest of the trail.

Her arms circled around his neck, her hurt foot dangling limply over his arm. Her head fell against his shoulder, and she could breathe the smell that was Daniel. It was comforting, his arms around her felt like they belonged there, and somehow in that moment, she knew things would be all right.

Daniel eased her into the backseat of the jeep, putting the seatbelt over her, before tossing the keys to Arturo. “I don’t have any idea where we are going, and I’m going to sit in the back with Nina, to keep her foot from banging around.” He slid in on the other side, and put her feet up in his lap as she leaned back against the door. A flock of parrots fluttered by, getting ready to roost for the night, and Nina smiled. Soon they were whizzing through the fresh mountain air and Nina took in big gulps of it. Daniel carefully held her legs like they were made of glass, but didn’t presume to do anything else.

When they got to the little hospital in town, Daniel picked her up and carried her in. A young nurse watched the scene wistfully; it was romantic, like something from a telenovela. Daniel and Arturo were shooed away from the treatment area, and after a while a doctor came out. He went to Daniel.

“Se?or, your wife has a minor concussion, and I’m afraid her ankle is going to be in a cast for the next six weeks, but she’s doing fine if you want to go see her now.”

His wife. Yes, he did want to go see his wife. Daniel gave Arturo a look that any man would understand before breaking into a run. Nina was propped up on a hospital bed, the cast on her foot still drying. He pulled the curtain around her bed, grabbed her hand and pulled off the emerald ring. Nina stared at him, unsure what the gesture meant. Taking her hand in his, he said, “I know sometimes I’m a stupid jerk, and forcing you to be my fake fiancé was both the worst and best decision of my life. Please forgive me for everything I’ve done that’s hurt you, and please believe that I was not involved with the woman in the pool—someone did that to hurt us.”

Nina looked at him numbly, but she felt her head nodding up and down as she whispered, “I trust you.”

Daniel laughed as a tear ran down his face. He held up the ring, “Nina Alves, I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life becoming a better person with you. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

Nina started laughing and crying all at once, “Yes Daniel, yes—I will marry you.”

Daniel slipped the ring on her finger, and stood to lean over the bed, giving Nina the most memorable kiss of her life.