Read Online Under the Spanish Stars by Alli Sinclair - Free Book Online Page B

leaving your family to pursue flamenco.’
    Raul suddenly appearing had blindsided her and Katarina doubted she possessed enough emotional energy to deal with all this at once. Katarina concentrated on her scuffed, holey shoes then fixed an unflinching gaze upon him. ‘How do you know about that?’
    His eyes didn’t leave hers. ‘Federico makes it his business to know who he is employing.’
    Given the fragile state of her country, it wasn’t uncommon for an employer to dig into one’s past. She prayed his prying didn’t go so far as to political leanings, although she’d always managed to keep that to herself and Salvador. ‘But why do you know my history?’
    â€˜Because I asked.’
    Maybe he really did care, although if that were true, why didn’t he act like it?
    â€˜Yet I know nothing about you.’
    â€˜I’m still playing guitar.’
    â€˜You know that’s not what I meant.’ Had time lied to her? Her memories of Raul were of a gentler, more caring soul. ‘Why are you being so evasive?’
    â€˜I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be.’ He said nothing more and that only cemented that Raul José Sierra Abano had a past he wished to remain hidden. It might be for the moment, but if she had her way, it wouldn’t be for long.
    Quietly, she said, ‘I tried to find you in Seville.’
    â€˜When?’
    â€˜Not long after I started dancing full-time.’
    â€˜You mustn’t have looked hard enough.’ Something flashed in his eyes. What was it? Fear? Regret? Sadness?
    â€˜Everyone I met said you’d disappeared without a trace.’
    â€˜You must have asked the wrong people.’
    His strange behaviour made her wary. Of course war changed everyone but this felt … different … personal.
    Tilting her head to the side, she said, ‘Oh, people knew you, they just didn’t know where you’d gone.’
    His gaze rested on a nearby doorway. ‘Occasionally I played as a guest in other cities.’
    Katarina sensed pushing harder for answers wouldn’t get her anywhere so she changed tack. ‘Raul, please. Can we just …’
    â€˜Just?’
    She threw her arms wide. ‘I don’t know! Can we just stop being so civil and talk? As in really talk?’
    Raul ran a hand behind his neck. He remained quiet for some timebefore letting out a long breath. ‘We could have been something, you know.’
    His last statement catapulted her to more romantic times, when Raul didn’t conceal anything, but she had spent too much energy hiding her love life and flamenco from her family. If only she’d had the courage back then to stand up for what she believed in. She hung her head. ‘Things could have been so different.’
    â€˜Although there is no point revisiting what could have been.’ He sounded as sad as she felt.
    â€˜There’s always the future.’ Hopeful, Katarina looked up then wished she hadn’t. A heavy frown clouded his handsome face.
    â€˜A future of flamenco, nothing more.’
    â€˜But we had so much back then. We could have—’
    â€˜Katarina, please.’
    The second Raul’s warm fingers met hers all the tension and confusion rose, causing a searing pain to shoot across her temples.
    Raul gently stroked her hand with his thumb, his eyes earnest. ‘I wanted nothing more than for you to be by my side. That time in Julieta’s …’ He sighed. ‘That has never left my memory even though it brings nothing but sadness.’
    She hesitated before asking, ‘Why?’
    â€˜Because you put your family first even though they held you back.’
    The truth smarted and she pulled her hand away. ‘You were the one who chose to go to Seville.’
    â€˜After you chose to desert me.’ Raul shoved his hands in his trouser pockets. ‘You smashed my heart, Katarina.’ He stared at her