Ring of Lies by Victoria Howard Page A

looks all right now. P robably ate too quickly. ’
     
    ‘ But what about my shirt? ’
     
    He closed his eyes and fought his anger. ‘ Screw the shirt, Rosa . Is that all you can think of? If your clothes are more important tha n our child why did you go ahead with the pregnancy? ’
     
    She started shrieking in Spanish, and slapped him hard across the face .
     
    ‘ Stop it. ’ He placed a hand on her arm. ‘ You know I can’t understand you when you speak so quickly. ’
     
    ‘ I said I only had the baby so that you’d marry me. ’
     
    ‘ And that’s not going to happen—ever . ’
     
    The blunt words made her flinch. She stared at him with something akin to disgust in her chocolate brown eyes .
     
    ‘ You’re a cold b astard , Jack. I hate you! Jorge and Ramon told me about you . ’
     
    Jack looked at Rosa and wondered what he’d ever seen in her. ‘ What do your brothers have to do with this? ’
     
    ‘ Jorge said that if I got pregnant you’d never marry me. He warned me. He was right . ’
     
    ‘ Warned you? Wait a minute— ’ Then he realize d that he’d been played . ‘ Green cards. That was it, wasn’t it? ’
     
    Rosa said nothing, but hatred burned in her eyes.
     
    ‘ That’s what you really wanted, wasn’t it? You wanted me to sponsor the whole damned brood for green cards? Well, I never promised marriage . I said I would take care of you and Emilia. ’
     
    ‘ But— ’
     
    ‘ Look, Rosa. I’ve seen what working in law enforcement can do to a family. My mother watched my father walk out the door each day never knowing if he was coming back. It tore her apart. When I was six she had a breakdown and spent the rest of her life in a mental institution . I promised I’d never risk that happening to someone I care about. ’
     
    Silence stretched.
     
    Rosa gave a broken laugh. ‘ But what will I tell my family ? ’
     
    ‘ I don’t give a shit what you tell them . Marriage was never part of the deal for us . ’
     
    ‘ So what is the deal for us? ’
     
    Jack rubbed the back of his neck. ‘ I don’t know, okay? I just don’t know. Now, I ’m going to get changed, have a beer , and then I’m going to finish painting the nursery. ’
     
    He stormed into the master bedroom. The door closed behind him with a thud. Emilia began shrieking again and he instantly regretted what he’d done. He hadn’t intended to fight with Rosa , but he only had to open his mouth and she found something to complain about. He supposed it had something to do with her hormones and Latin temper, but he sure could do without having an argument every time he walk ed through the door.
     
    He stripped of f his shirt and threw it in the laundry basket along with his jeans. He wasn’t in the mood for painting and had planned to spend the evening doing some research on his laptop, but that was out of the question now. If he went anywhere near the family room Rosa would glare at him and pout her lips like a spoilt child. No, it was better to let her work the angst out of her system on her own.
     
    He pulled on a pair of shorts, and an old T-shirt , and then walked into the kitchen . He du mped the laundry in the machine then turned his attention to the sink full of unwashed dishes. He stacked the dishwasher and mixed sufficient baby formula for the following day. He placed the bottles in the fridge , and took out a Budweiser . He took a long swallow from the bottle , and carried it into the nursery along with the brushes and paint . Across the hall Rosa had the TV on , no doubt watching some mindless reality show as usual.
     
    He opened the tin of gloss , dipped the brush in and started painting the mouldings on the cupboard. If he’d known how things were going to turn out he would never had moved Rosa and Emilia into the condo. Instead he’d have done what many other men did , and simply paid child support.
     
    He would talk to Rosa in the morning. Maybe she woul d be less pissed off