But did I want to leave?

Cali was all alone here. Sure, she had staff who could take care of her, but she needed a family. And since it appeared that my own had abandoned me, it seemed I needed one as well.

I wasn’t going to abandon her like everyone else had the both of us. I would take care of her and that precious baby struggling to grow inside her. To hell with Ryan and Garret and everyone else. We didn’t need them.

Angrily, I turned off the computer and stood. But even as I stomped out of the library, I couldn’t help looking back longingly, mentally begging Ryan to call me. To show up. To message me. Something. Anything, to let me know he loved me.

He never did.

Day after day, week after week, I went into the library once a day and pulled up the camera feed. Each time, I found Ryan. Either in the office or at home or in the back of the SUV on his way to wherever. No matter what he was doing, his face remained the same. Emotionless, as if he were dead inside.

And it only made me angrier.

Wasn’t he hurting or going crazy without me? I couldn’t tell. All I could see was that blankness, as if he’d turned everything off.

“Asshole,” I muttered and switched the computer off yet again. I didn’t have time to think about Ryan and his mental health. If he would just call any of those numbers he’d blocked from Colombia, he would know that I was still stupidly waiting for him to come get me. I’d even gotten a new phone of my own, but like every other number I’d called him from, Ryan had blocked it as well.

Leaving the library that had turned into my office over the last two months, I walked through the house and up to the second floor. The doctor was already in Cali’s room with Maria and Guzman. The head of security stood by the window, and Maria sat on one side of the bed, holding Cali’s hand while the doctor examined her.

Even in the dimly lit room, Cali looked small in her queen-sized bed, fragile. Since she’d started bleeding and had been put on bed rest, she didn’t get out of bed except to use the bathroom, and even then, either Maria or I were there to assist her. Sometimes, Guzman would carry her for us because she was so scared to move for fear of causing the bleeding to get worse. Since she was unable to run the business or the house, she’d asked me to do it for her. I’d been reluctant at first, still foolishly holding out hope that Ryan and Garret would show up. Then I could go home, and Garret could take over running the Ramirez business.

Then I saw how much added stress working from bed was causing Cali, and I’d given in. The next day, a lawyer had shown up, and Cali signed over half of everything to me, making us equal partners. Now, everyone answered to me, including Guzman and his men.