20
“Tomorrow is the day.”
I gripped the stone balcony, tightening my hands around the cool surface as I tipped my head toward a starless night sky.
Tomorrow was indeed the day Amalia and I would solidify our contract, and I wasn’t sure how to feel about being bound to this woman who’d forced herself into my life. Nothing could have prepared me for the flurry of emotions: doubt, apprehension, anxiety—I was fucking terrified. Three years was a long time to coexist with someone by means of coercion.
But underneath it all, I knew those thoughts were just a survival mechanism—a way of protecting myself from what I knew was slowly unfolding between us—or worse, just me. We’d crossed a line, and there was no crawling back.
Derek’s hand was on my shoulder, the other holding a cigar. He tilted his chin, huffing smoke into the darkness.
“I’m going to be with you every step of the way, Kai. I almost feel responsible for getting you into this mess, especially with a woman like Amalia.”
“What does that mean?” The harshness in my tone had him whipping toward me, and his forehead creased in confusion.
“What does that mean?” he asked, taking another puff, though his eyes didn’t stray away from mine. “I’ve noticed small things between the two of you, but I didn’t know that you—”
“That I what?”
Derek nodded, gaze focused on the vast courtyard below. “I want you to be happy, brother. Whatever that looks like is up to you, and I’ll respect it. If this woman—if she makes you feel things, don’t deny yourself just because of how this started.” He chuckled lightly, gazing at the cigar between his fingers, as if recalling a memory. “If anyone knows what that’s like, it’s me.”
With a scoff, I leaned forward, forearms on the stone. “You trying to give me marital advice?”
We shared a laugh.
“I guess I am.” Derek turned to me. “I’m sorry. Maybe things would have been different if Amalia and I hadn’t met under those circumstances. It’s possible you and her would have—”
“We wouldn’t,” I interrupted. “While we move in similar circles, she and I were always meant to live parallel lives.”
“I would have said the same of Eva, but here we are. She made me a husband and a father, giving me things I never imagined I would have or want. Maybe I don’t deserve them, but you know I’m a greedy bastard,” he said with a grin. “And I’ll never let them go.”
“Those girls wouldn’t let you even if you tried.”
He glanced over his shoulder into his room, where an open sliding glass door revealed a crib and a small figure sleeping on her side against the wooden rails. “Over my cold, lifeless body.”
As if on cue, Vali opened her eyes and outstretched her arms, and without a second of hesitation, Derek put out his cigar, picked up his daughter, and brought her out onto the terrace. Her sleepy eyes widened, and she smiled when she saw me, laying her head on her father’s shoulder.
“Hey, you’re supposed to be asleep,” he said with a soft tone reserved for his baby girl. Kissing the top of her head, he gently rocked her from side to side. “Mami is going to come up here and get mad, thinking your Uncle Kai and I woke you up.”
Valentina stopped suckling on her pacifier and giggled at his words.
Eva had taken a liking to Milly. I couldn’t blame her. The woman was as sweet as they came, making it easy to forget she held all the family’s secrets. They were busy prepping homemade appetizers despite the food being catered. She’d said she wanted to give Amalia that personal touch as she had all her life.
Derek kissed his daughter’s forehead when her eyes fluttered closed and her grip on his shirt slackened.
“I know I say this a lot, but I’m happy you found happiness, brother. It looks good on you, and you do deserve it. We were dealt some shitty-ass cards. And life owes us big, especially you.”
Derek grinned and returned to the room, carefully placing the baby into her crib. I turned my attention back to the courtyard and the seemingly endless horizon of the Montesinos property.
Someone suddenly emerged from a blind spot on the west side.
Amalia.
I didn’t take long to notice the difference in her walk and how she carried herself. Where Amalia was always confident and deliberate in her steps, it almost seemed like walking was a chore, her movements heavy and uncoordinated.
Was she drunk?
Derek was returning when I hurriedly walked past him. “I gotta run,” I said, and in typical Derek fashion, he didn’t ask questions.
Just as I reached the bottom of the main stairway, Isabel came around the corner, eyes lighting up the moment she spotted me.
“Kai! I haven’t seen you all day. I know you’ve been busy with last-minute fittings and errands, but I’m so glad I ran into you.”
Suddenly antsy, I hugged her and intended to keep moving, but she hooked my elbow and tugged me backward, leading me to a downstairs office.
“I was just about to—”
“I know,” she said, closing the door. “I know.” Her bright smile faded the moment we were alone. And she motioned for me to sit. Isabel was about three inches shorter than her daughter, but both women possessed this way of being intimidating with just a look. While neither affected me, it was impossible not to give in to my future mother-in-law.
Fake or not.
I sat my ass down, even though I was itching to check on Amalia.
“Kai, I know about the contract and how this was an agreement between you and my daughter to appease my husband and the lawyers.”
I said nothing. She could have been calling my bluff and trying to trick me into confirming her suspicions.
“It’s okay, mijo. I know she probably threatened your life if you spoke,” she said with a chuckle and poured herself a drink. “Amalia always did have this way with persuasion and getting what she wanted. She reminds me a lot of myself when I was younger.” Tipping her head, she shot me a knowing look and knocked back the glass of scotch. “I just spoke to her, and she told me everything. In fact, she got to this bottle before I did.”
I sprung to my feet once she confirmed what I’d suspected.
“Kai, Amalia isn’t going anywhere. Please sit.”
“I can’t leave her out there like that.”
Isabel’s beaming smile was back. “I knew it. You care about her, don’t you? At least, you’re starting to.”
“Call me a glutton for punishment.”
She laughed outright and leaned against the desk. “That’s my girl. Always taught her to be strong and never take shit from a man.” Her frown made another appearance. “But maybe she learned that lesson too well.”
“Is she all right?”
Isabel downed the last of her drink and sat, observing me with a pensive look. “She will be. Take care of my girl, Kai. She plays tough because she needs to, but deep down, Amalia is just as beautiful as she is on the outside. She just doesn’t know it. Show her.”
“I mean no disrespect, but if you know this is temporary, then you also know that we’ll go our own ways three years from now. I’ll be back in Philly. She’s here. At best, we remain friends.”
She scoffed, her lips parting as if she was about to speak, but decided against it and replied, “Of course.”