Her fury mounted, and when Todd finally ran out of steam, she spoke through clenched teeth. “I handled this situation the best way I knew how, and frankly, I did a much better job taking care of it than you ever could have done. If you think you’re going to use what happened to your advantage, you-and your lawyers-have got another think coming.”

He made a scoffing sound. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Emma. You screwed up-again-and the judge will see right through this, just like he did before.”

“I don’t think so.”

“You don’t think so.” He mocked her, speaking in a higher voice. “And just what makes you think that, Emma Lou? Nothing’s changed, you know.”

“You’re wrong,” she said quietly. “I’ve changed. I’m a different person than I was the last time we spoke, and I’m not taking your crap anymore.”

He started to sputter a response, but she didn’t give him a chance to finish it. His entire life he’d gotten what he wanted by using his name and his family and his money, but deep down inside, he had nothing. No courage, no heart, no strength. None of the qualities Raul possessed, she realized. None of what she needed.

Fueled by a sudden determination, she spoke again, her voice grim and gritty. “I made the biggest mistake of my life when I let you take my kids and run me out of town. I don’t know what in hell I thought I was doing, but I can tell you one thing. I never should have let you get away with it. And you won’t again, I can promise you that.”

“You’re full of-”

“I’m coming home, Todd.” She sat up straighter and ignored the pain that ripped through her body. “I’m coming home, and I’m going to fight you for those kids, and I’m going to win, because I’m going to have help this time. I won’t be alone, so don’t think your old tactics are going to work anymore.”

She didn’t let him reply. Her heart pumping, her hands shaking, Emma hit the disconnect button with a decisive click as a righteous courage washed over her. She would defeat Todd. She would!

Just as she had the thought, she heard steps coming up the walk. Still jumpy, she tensed, then when she saw who it was, she tensed even more.

He stopped beside the gate. He had on a white shirt that contrasted with the brown of his skin, and soft black pants with loafers and no socks. The afternoon sun glinted off his black hair. He looked more handsome and sensual than he ever had, and a shot of pure electric desire moved inside her as she met his dark eyes. But immediately Emma realized there was something different about Raul.

The tightness around his eyes was gone, his stance looser, his body language completely unlike what it had been before. At his side, his hands hung open and unfisted; his walk as he’d approached was fluid. The single thing that remained from before was his intensity-that stark ripple of energy that always surrounded him-but even this had a different feel to it.

Then she realized why. She was seeing who Raul had been before. The man he’d been all those years ago, the man he’d been when they each had yet to be shaped by the pain they now felt.

He reached around and unlatched the gate-the hinge was fixed now-closing it behind him before heading to where she sat. He stopped just short of her chair, the space between them more significant to her than it should be. She tried to analyze his expression then gave up.

“¿Cómo estás, Emmita?”

It was the first time she’d ever heard him speak the language, she realized with a start. His accent was soft, and he slurred the words with a Texan-style beat.

In the silence of the hot afternoon, everything waited. The only sound between them was the buzz of the bees as they worked around the bird-of-paradise bushes.

“How are you?” He repeated, this time in English.

“I’m fine.” Taking a deep breath and an even bigger chance, she met his dark gaze. “Now that you’re here.”

He covered the space between them in a heartbeat. Dropping to his knees on the terrace beside her chair, he took her hand in his. “Do you mean that?”

“Absolutely.” She gripped his fingers. She couldn’t hold them as tightly as she wanted to, but he got the message, she was sure. “You saved my life, Raul. I can never, ever repay you.”

Above his stormy stare, his eyebrows knit. “Is that the only reason?”

“It’s enough.”

He shook his head. “Not for me, it isn’t. I need more than that from you.”

“Then how about this?” She leaned toward him and cupped his face in her hands, her fingertips caressing him. He responded automatically, moving toward her. Her eyes locked on his and she proceeded to kiss him. Deeply.

When she finally pulled back, Emma was surer than ever she was doing the right thing. She only prayed Raul felt the same way. Whether he did or not, she had to try, she’d already decided. It was time to start living her life in the present, instead of the past.

“Is that a good enough reason for you?”

His face only inches from hers, he spoke softly and shocked her. “No, I’m sorry. There’s only one answer that will do. As great as your kisses are, I still need more.” Placing his hand on her neck, he rubbed his thumb at the base of her throat. The touch was so gentle she barely felt it, yet it reverberated deep inside her.

“I love you,” he said simply. “And I need to know you love me, too. Can you do that, Emma? After everything that’s happened between us?”

Her heart sung, but she spoke cautiously, unable to accept the possibility before her. “Maybe I should be the one asking you that. I should have told you what Kelman was doing. If I’d done that one little thing, none of this would have happened.”

“I’m not sure I agree.” His eyes turned blacker.

“I’ve had a lot of time these past few days to think about it. The way it ended was inevitable.”

“What do you mean?”

His hand tightened against her neck. Once he’d realized the truth of it, the knowledge of how he’d felt had begun to eat Raul up. For the past two days-the past two tortured days-he’d been killing himself with the knowledge. Emma was too good, too strong, too…perfect to love someone like him. He had to tell her the truth, though. When he was an old man and remembering his past, not telling her this and taking a chance would be the one thing he wouldn’t be able to stand.

“I had thought all along that what I wanted to do was ruin Kelman. To take his money and turn his life to shit like he’d done to me. When I came here that night, I realized I wanted more.” His mouth tightened. “I wanted him dead, Emma. I wanted to kill him, and I knew that when I went up those stairs.”

“You don’t carry that burden by yourself, Raul. I felt the same way.”

There was something about her voice that made him stop and look at her. In her hazel eyes was a depth of emotion he’d never seen before. It chilled him, but he actually understood. That didn’t change things, though.

Raul shook his head. “Maybe so, but not like I did, and you need to understand the truth of it if we’re going any farther. What Kelman did changed me. I spent five years in a federal prison. I turned hard. I’m not the man I was.”

She reached over and put her hand on his arm. One pink nail had been broken off, down to the quick. The knuckle was bruised and cut, too. Lifting her finger to his mouth, he kissed it gently. She spoke as his lips touched her skin and his heart stopped.

“You aren’t who you were.”

Before he could speak again, she continued, “No one could be the same after that. I’m not who I was a week ago, either.” Her voice held regret, even sorrow, then it grew stronger. “But the person you are now is the person I love. And I always will.”

A kind of feeling he’d never expected to have again swelled inside him. His throat burned with the suddenness of it all. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.” Her eyes warmed. “I love you and I think I’ve felt that way ever since that day at the orphanage. Seeing you there, with all the kids, something happened to me then.” She paused. “But the problem I had-with the pills and everything-that doesn’t bother you?”

“You had a problem and you fixed it. What’s there to worry about now?” He wrapped his arms around her in a possessive hug. It was tender, but it said everything else that needed to be said. He pulled back only when she spoke once more.

“There is one more thing, though…”

“We can deal with it. Whatever it is.”

“It’s my children. They’re always going to come first, Raul, and that’s something you’ll have to deal with. First, in this case, means I’m going back to the States to fight for them. Nothing else matters to me until I get that straightened out.” Her fingers tightened on his arm. “Can you wait?”

“I’ll go back with you,” he said instantly. “I may not hold a license anymore, but I am still an attorney. I could help you, if you like…if you’ll let me.”

Emma’s eyes filled with tears. They spilled down her cheeks, and Raul reached over to wipe them away with his thumb. His offer was exactly what she’d hoped for when she’d been talking to Todd, but she couldn’t have asked-he had to volunteer, just as he had.

“You’d do that for me?” she asked.

“I’d do anything for you, Emma. You should know that by now.”

She nodded weakly.

“But you have to do something in return for me.”

She lifted her brimming eyes to his and gripped his hands. “Anything. You name it and it’s yours.”

“Marry me,” he said quietly. “Be my wife. Have my children. Give me a life and love me forever.”

She didn’t speak, but she didn’t need to. She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. The kiss was as soft and as sweet as the first time they’d come together. In its healing warmth, their past faded, then disappeared, the pain nothing more than ashes, the hurt forgiven. The future rose before them.