Runaway Fiancés | ONC 2023 (Complete)

Five - Catalina

There is no way I've heard him correctly. He is here as I am? Does he mean he is also running from a betrothal he cannot abide? The news of his impending engagement was irrefutable. But...

"Well, not exactly as you are." He seems nervous, talking to fill the space. "I have connections, surely, and wealth of my own." He runs a hand through his tousled hair and his shirt falls away from his shoulder, exposing a deep scar that mars his pristine skin.

He absent-mindedly traces it as he continues. I don't dare breathe lest I break his trance.

"I do not pretend my situation is as dire as your own, Cata—Señora Juárez—"

"You may call me Catalina." The fire in his eyes worries me so I add, "As we are pretending to be married, and I do not want my proper name exposed to my family." Yes, that sounded believable.

"Of course." His Adam's apple bobs as he swallows and then begins to pace the small space of the sleeper car. "Well, I do not pretend my situation is as dire as your own, my dear Catalina, but my father has arranged a betrothal, as I'm sure you are aware. And neither she nor I can follow through with it. Our parents made the match completely disregarding our own desires."

"They wanted to gain something from each other."

"To increase their own power in some way, surely, yes. But Eva has her own love and her own plans. I cannot do that to her."

"And what about you? Why couldn't you abide it?" My teeth catch my bottom lip and my toes tap inside my shoe.

Silence surrounds us and I dig my fingers into my dress, trying to keep myself calm. Finally, he speaks, low and silky. "I could never force her to marry someone she doesn't love."

I wonder if there's an unspoken need to himself feel loved, but that doesn't feel like something I can say to someone I've just met. I search and search for something to say that is appropriate and conveys my emotions.

"You really care about her," is what I come up with.

I cannot believe that slipped out but I do my best to not let my shock show on my face.

"I do not know that I care about her more than anyone else. In truth, I do not know her at all." He stops in the middle of the floor and paces one, two steps toward me. "I know her less than I know you, Catalina. But we knew enough to understand we should not marry only for the sake of our parents. Additionally," he pauses as if to consider my trustworthiness, eyes raking across my face. "I do not wish to marry for my father's gain. I wish only to wed for the benefit of my future wife, if she should ever materialize."

His voice drops to a whisper and his eyes find my soul. "I wish to marry for love."

As do I. His eyes continue to carry me with their intensity but I don't say anything, just letting what he said absorb into my skin.

An idea begins to form in my brain so clearly I cannot ignore it. "But if marriage for love should not be possible... Should you remain single or is there a particular woman you have in mind?"

His pause tells me the next words will be a lie. "There is no such woman," he breathes finally. "Though perhaps I will find her one day."

I must keep my disappointment off my face, scrambling for an answer.

"Perhaps you will find her in Barcelona," I say suddenly, hoping and praying my dejection is not written all over my features as it has just dripped off my tongue.

"Perhaps."

I think he might close the distance and sit near me on the bed, but he does not move. He simply stares at me, jaw tensing and eyes investigating me like he's searching for any sign of a lie.