Chapter 22 #2
“He was. There’s no way anyone in Spain would strike out like this. They rely on our exports too much. It was someone else.”
Enrique sounds so certain that I don’t question his explanation. He opens his mouth to say more, but a nurse approaches.
“Mrs. Trevisan, your husband’s asking to see you.”
I cringe internally before looking at Alejandro’s parents. I don’t know which is worse: Alejandro wanting to see me before them or hearing someone claim I’m their son’s wife.
“Does Alejandro know his parents are here?”
“Yes. He asked for you, ma’am.”
“But—”
“Mrs. Trevisan, your husband’s very insistent. He was ready to pull his IV out and find you himself.”
Catalina and Matáis chuckle while the others smirk.
What the ever-loving fuck is with this family?
They never react the way you’d expect.
“Hurry up and see our son before he drops dead trying to find you.” Catalina gives me a little nudge.
“I only said—”
“We get it. You were here, and we weren’t. Go see our son.”
Matáis nudges his chin toward the doors through which the nurse appeared. I follow the woman past several curtained bays before I hear rapid fire Spanish followed by placating Spanglish.
Fuck.
I hurry before an irate jaguar emerges from the closed curtains. That’s what Alejandro reminds me of. Sleek and elegant to look at but an apex predator to his core.
“Jandro?”
I push aside the curtain to find him sitting with his legs over the edge of the bed, glowering at a man who’s probably not even a nurse. They probably walked in to take his vitals, only to wind up in his crosshairs.
“Chiquita?”
“Sí, papí.”
I opt for Spanish since the term papí doesn’t automatically have the same connotation as saying Daddy. It can be romantic or platonic slang.
“Ven aquí, chica.”
“Sí, papí.”
Despite his wounds and clearly medicated state, I don’t miss his commanding tone. I want to submit. Even though he’s the injured one, I breathe easier knowing he’s in control. I could be if I had to, and I would be if I were alone. But I know he needs this as much as I do.
I approach, and he holds out his hand. The moment I lay mine on his, his fingers curl around my palm. I expected to see bandages covering them, but it’s only a large pad and a single layer of gauze on each. I don’t know how he wasn’t more severely burned, but I’ll take the small mercies.
He tugs surprisingly hard, and I stumble into him.
I try to avoid slamming into him, but his arms wrap around me.
He’s definitely on something because both of his hands slide down to cup my ass.
He’d never do that if he were in full control of his faculties.
I might have to lead for a while after all.
He attempts to stand, but I press down on his shoulder. He remains seated, but he tries to pull me onto his lap instead. I compromise and sit beside him. He shoots me a scowl before twisting with a grimace. Our mouths come together, as we cup each other’s faces.
Much like his hands, his face isn’t as bad as I braced myself for.
There’s more of a Band-Aid than bandage on it.
Not even butterfly stitches. All the soot that covered us made it hard to determine the full extent of his injuries, and I feared the absolute worst. His hair still smells smoky like mine, but they cleaned him up.
He’s wearing a hospital gown instead of his filthy clothes.
Neither of us cares about the people moving around us or the machines beeping. We don’t care about the announcements or how awkward the position is. We cling to each other.
“Mierda santa, chiquita.” Holy shit, little girl.
“Lo sé, papí.” I know, Daddy.
We kiss again as Alejandro’s hands roam over me. I’m apprehensive to do the same. I don’t know what injuries he might have that I didn’t see. I don’t want to hurt him.
“Chica, touch me. I crave it. It’ll cure me far better and faster than anything else.”
I lean in to whisper in his ear. “If my touch is so curative, then a blowjob might make you superhuman.”
“Don’t joke about that, chica. Otherwise, I’ll drag you into the closest storage room and push you down on your knees. Fuck. The idea of your lips around my cock—fuck, my family won’t be able to see me for at least an hour. It’ll take that long for this hard-on to go down without your help.”
“If your family weren’t here…”
I arch my eyebrows at him, and he pounces, knocking me backward on the bed.
His IV lines aren’t long enough for him to crawl on top of me.
If he weren’t connected to the machines, I think he’d probably lift me to straddle him.
I giggle as he kisses along my neck. If anyone walks in, they’ll see his sculpted ass hanging out the back of his hospital gown. The man clearly doesn’t care.
“Little one, in all seriousness, are you okay? Did you get checked out?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“Chica.” The warning rumbles in his voice.
“Seriously, I’m okay. I have a headache, but nothing else. Neither my throat nor my chest hurts. The headache’s more from worrying about you than the fire or sedative.”
He brushes the backs of his fingers over my left cheekbone.
“You’re so damn precious to me, Vita. I can’t lose you.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I already knew I wasn’t, but I had more time to mull it over since the attack. I don’t know how it’ll work, but I want it to. I’m a constant liability to you. Anyone from my past could appear like they did today. It’ll suck your family in. They won’t approve.”
“Yes, they will. They already do. We would’ve gone nowhere alone if they didn’t.”
“That was then, this is now. A shit ton’s happened since we left your uncle’s house.”
“Just a day in the life.”
“Stop, Jandro.”
I snap at him more than I mean to. I don’t appreciate his dismissiveness. I know he’s attempting to downplay this, so I won’t worry as much. But it feels like he’s mocking my fears.
“Come closer, little one.”
Short of sitting on his lap, I really can’t get closer. He loops his arm around my shoulders and encourages me to rest my head against his shoulder.
“I’m sorry, chiquita. I didn’t mean to diminish your fears, but you know this life.
Any of us could be the target or the cause.
My family understands that because we’ve gone through it before.
As long as you aren’t actively working against us, then you’re one of us.
If you still want us, then that’s what’s happening. ”
“Of course, I want us. I didn’t just walk through fire for nothing.”
He flashes me a grin before pulling away to resume his kisses along my neck.
I lean my head away from him as his teeth graze the cords of my neck before his tongue soothes the tingles he created.
How the hell can he be the singularly most erotic man I’ve met when he’s connected to an IV and monitors in a hospital gown.
“Lie down with me.”
“What? No. There isn’t enough room.”
“There would be if you laid on top of me.” He waggles his eyebrows and shoots me a boyish grin.
“And press your back into the bed? Not a chance.”
“Then lie on your side and let me curl around you. There’s plenty of room.
Besides, my back only has a few grazes. My clothes got holes in them, and I lost some hair on my arm and leg, but the rest of me was just extra sensitive from the heat.
The smoke did the most damage, and as you can see, I’m breathing and talking just fine. ”
“Your parents deserve to see you. I’ll consider it once they move you into your room.”
“Fine.”
I rise and stick my nose out of the curtained bay, asking a passing nurse if Alejandro’s parents can come back here. He says yes and offers to get them. Alejandro’s arms snake around my waist, and I feel just as happy as he does that we survived.
“Cover yourself up!”
I attempt to turn in his arms, but he merely gives me a squeeze before letting go.
“If you turn around, you’ll only make it worse, little one.”
He climbs back into bed and adjusts the sheets just in time for his parents to step through the curtains. I do my best to stand out of the way, allowing his parents each to have a side. But the warning in his gaze tells me I better not go too far.
“Fear not, Son.”
Matáis gestures for me to trade places with him, moving closer to Alejandro’s feet, allowing me to hold my boyfriend’s hand. I like the sound of that nearly as much as husband. I can get used to either—both. It’s sweet that father and son understand each other so well, even if it’s embarrassing.
I still feel guilty for what happened, and knowing he’d rather have me closer than his father only amplifies it. However, his father takes it in stride. From Catalina’s expression, I get the impression there was a time when Matáis was Alejandro, and Catalina was me.
“They said I need to be here for at least two days. They warned that I’m feeling far better than I will in a few hours. They put something good in through my IV, but it’s tablets from now on. They’ll keep me for monitoring. Papá, did anyone think to grab my laptop?”
Is this man really wondering about work right now?
“Pablo did. You can have it tomorrow. You need to sleep today.”
“I want to look up a few things. Can I see Joaquin next? I want to run something by him.”
“No, frijolito. You can rest. Your cousin will be there when you’re better.”
“Mamá, I’m not asking him to stop by so we can game. I want him to dig into some stuff.”
My stomach knots as my gaze shifts from parents to son.
“What kind of stuff, Jandro?”