Chapter 15
Emma
“You’ll be coming with me to Paraíso tonight,” Angel said over eggs and toast. We were seated at the kitchen island, eating the omelets that Lara had prepared for us.
I had offered to help, but she had shooed me to a chair and jokingly said that she wouldn’t allow me to take any more of her responsibilities.
She had heard my pabellón criollo was a hit, and she “refused to be replaced.”
I wasn’t entirely sure if she was joking or not, but I didn’t argue or try to help again.
“What’s Paraíso?” I asked.
“It’s Elíseo’s sister site,” he explained. “It’s much smaller and more exclusive than Elíseo.”
I looked at him, confused. “You want me to come…clubbing with you tonight?”
Angel scoffed into his coffee mug. “It’s Tuesday, mi esposa,” he said. “If I desired to show you off at my clubs, I would do it when the clubs were going to be filled to the brim with patrons.”
Why does he say shit like that? I thought and could feel myself going red. Was he calling me beautiful? That I would make people envious of him? I found that hard to believe, but the heat in his eyes was…intense. I cleared my throat. “So why are we going?”
He backed down, smirking. “I have a meeting that I’d like you to attend with me,” he said, and my heart bruised itself against my ribs. Besides sneaking into the warehouse on the island, he had kept me out of his business affairs to the point of outright ignoring any questions I might have.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be included, per se, but not knowing anything about Angel, besides what he was like in bed, made my skin itch. I didn’t know if I wanted to love him…or if I could love him. All I knew was that my body ached to be touched by him, and for me, that wasn’t enough.
“What time should I be ready?” I asked.
That dark smile that made my knees weak spread across Angel’s face. “Seven o’clock,” he said. “Lili is going to take you out to get a dress.”
“I have dresses.”
Angel shook his head. “I expect you to look your best. Lili will show you.” Because before me, I realized, Lili would have acted as hostess to such a meeting.
I nodded. “Okay.”
Angel stood up and took his now-empty plate to the sink.
After a rinse, he put both it and his mug in the dishwasher.
I watched him and tried not to smile. He had picked up the habit of putting dishes in the dishwasher recently, and I liked to think he got it from me.
I had mentioned that I didn’t like adding to Lara’s workload, and now, he went out of his way to lessen the woman’s burdens.
Even when she yelled at him for doing so.
When he turned back to me, I pretended to be focused on my plate — I didn’t want him to know that I’d been watching him so intently.
I jerked when his lips touched my cheek.
“I’ll see you this evening,” he said and brushed his thumb over where his lips had just touched.
Heat raced through me, and I swallowed hard.
“Tonight,” I agreed and watched him leave with a hunger that only he could ignite gnawing at me.
“You have the worst taste in clothes that I’ve ever seen.” Lili stood, glaring at the dress I’d plucked off a rack and held up for her inspection as if it personally offended her.
I glanced at the soft blue sundress. Sure, it was simple, but I thought it was rather elegant. “What’s wrong with it?”
Lili sneered. “It’s boring,” she said.
Affronted, I held the dress up against myself and looked in the mirror. “It’s dignified.” I glanced back at her. “Aren’t I supposed to look like a matriarch or something?”
Lili stared at me, without blinking, for a moment, and then she burst into deep belly laughs that I tried very hard not to be offended by.
“Matriarch doesn’t mean matronly,” she said through her guffaws.
“You need to match my brother, not look like his mother.” She took the dress out of my hands and hung it back up on the rack, and then took my hand. “Come on,” she said. “Let me help you.”
I allowed her to drag me around to different racks, watching as she pulled things off the shelf that I would have never dared to touch on my own.
I did veto a bright green jumpsuit — it had cut-outs on the side that I could not picture myself being comfortable in — and she put it back with only mild grumbling.
When Lili had a healthy stack of dresses and jumpsuits for me to try on, we made our way to the dressing room. Without waiting for the shop assistant, she shooed me inside and then followed me. “What the hell are you doing?” I asked.
She scoffed. “I’m helping you,” she said. “What does it look like?”
“I can dress myself, thanks.”
Lili raised her eyebrow, and it became absolutely clear that she was Angel’s sister. I had seen that exact expression on him more times than I could count. “If I walk out of here, you won’t show me everything that you try on.”
I wanted to argue with her, but she was right.
If I didn’t like how it looked in the mirror, I would just tell her it didn’t fit…
I used to do the same thing with my mom when she picked out things that I didn’t like.
I resisted the urge to curl in on myself.
“Fine,” I said with a sigh. “Could you at least turn around?”
Lili scoffed. “Have you never gone shopping with a girlfriend before?”
“Of course I have,” I snapped back, irritated, “but I never stood in a dressing room with one.”
She made a soft humming sound through her nose.
“Maybe your girlfriends weren’t as good as mine,” she said simply and began sorting through the pile of clothes.
I could have argued with her — she didn’t know my friends, after all —but she wasn’t wrong.
Once my mom got sick, and I had to spend the majority of my time helping her, my friends dropped away one by one.
They felt sympathy for me, of course, but I wasn’t available to them anymore, so there wasn’t much point in maintaining a relationship.
Lili handed me the first dress, and I bit back a frown. It’s bright pink, and I know it was going to be too short. “Can’t we start with something…longer?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Put it on.” Her tone would brook no arguments.
I sighed and complied, and just like I predicted, the dress was too short and too loud. I stared in the mirror, dismay settling into my very bones. “I look ridiculous.”
Lili stared at me, made me turn around twice so that she could take in the whole picture, and then she reached into the pile of clothes and pulled out an equally short dress, only this one was strapless and red.
“I think it’s the color,” she said, mostly to herself. “It’s not working on your skin tone.”
I looked at the red fabric in her hand. “I’m not sure red is going to work any better.”
Lili held up the dress. “Trust me, okay?”
I didn’t —she and I had vastly different styles —but I put on a smile and switched the pink dress for the red one. It was moderately better, but I still wasn’t thrilled by what I was seeing. “This just doesn’t feel like me,” I said.
I expected my sister-in-law to scoff at me, but she seemed to consider what I was saying.
“While I don’t agree with needing to feel ‘like you,’” she said finally, “it won’t help if you’re not comfortable and feel good about what you’re wearing.
You have to feel like a badass if you’re going to be a badass. ”
There was no way anyone would look at me and think the word “badass,” no matter what I was wearing, but I wasn’t going to say that to Lili. “Let’s keep going, yeah?” I asked and unzipped myself.
She handed me the next outfit: a black jumpsuit with a plunging neckline.
It wasn’t quite right —I was a little too well-endowed, and it was nearly obscene —but I didn’t exactly hate the look.
Lili grinned as I twisted this way and that in the mirror.
“It’s not right for the meeting,” she conceded, “but we’re going to get it.
My brother will swallow his tongue when he gets a look at you. ”
I don’t want him to drool over me, I nearly said, but it wasn’t the truth.
Despite myself, despite all of my fears and objections and confusion, I loved when Angel gazed at me with that undeniable dark heat in his eyes.
“Okay,” I agreed, and when I took it off, I hung it on the hook to be taken to the register later.
She selected a black dress next. It was buttery soft, and when I put it on, it clung to my skin in a way that was sensual but not overly so. Lili’s smile grew wide. “This is it,” she said. “You know that right?”
I stared at my image in the mirror. I looked like myself, like I wasn’t trying overly hard, but I felt amazing. “I didn’t know I could look like this,” I admitted, meeting her eyes in the mirror.
“Now that you know,” Lili said, “you have to look like this as often as possible. Angel will expect it...besides, he’s going to lose his mind when he sees you later.”
Dressing for a man had never been a consideration before; I literally never thought of it.
A part of me blistered at the idea of ever dolling myself up for anyone, but there was that confusing part of me that wanted to see how Angel was going to react.
For him to smile and praise me. Call me mi esposa in that husky tone that ended with me tucked beneath him in our bed.
After returning to my now dour-looking sweater and leggings, Lili and I went up to the register to purchase the jumpsuit and dress.
Plus a few things Lili had picked up for herself that I hadn’t even noticed her grabbing.
“That’ll be $1550.82,” the sales associate said, and I nearly choked on my tongue.
Lili didn’t even blink. She handed the woman a black credit card that looked like it was made of actual metal.
I tried to keep my face neutral, but seriously, what the hell?
I knew the Castillos were wealthy, but black, premium credit card wealthy?
As the woman, who was now tripping over herself to get our purchases boxed up, my sister-in-law glanced at me.
“Remind me to tell Angel that you’ll need a card of your own,” she said. “You’re going to need one.”
Why on earth would I need a card like that? “I’m not sure I’d ever use it,” I said numbly.
She scoffed. “No sean mensa.” I wasn’t entirely sure what the words meant —my Duolingo lessons hadn’t gotten quite that far —but I could tell she was calling me stupid. “When are you going to realize that you’re a Castillo now?”
I felt heat in my face. “I know that.”
The expression on her face was disbelieving. “Do you?”
I pulled my shoulders up so that I was standing to my full height. “I’ll tell Angel I need a card myself,” I said with a shrug. “That make you happy?”
Lili smiled, all dangerous with sharp teeth. “Perfectly, sister-mine.”
We left the shop, and I swallowed a laugh when Lili handed our bags to David — our escort for the day.
Lili had complained about a bodyguard interrupting our “sister bonding time,” but Angel had been adamant.
With the Rojas family attacking him at Elíseo, he wasn’t taking any chances.
So far, David had stayed as far away from us as he possibly could while still doing his job.
“Let’s go get our hair and nails done,” Lili said and slipped her arm around mine. “Angel will appreciate you going the extra mile.”
I snorted at the slight coaxing tone in her voice. “You don’t have to try that hard,” I said. “I wouldn’t turn down a manicure.” I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gotten one…or a haircut for that matter.
Lili eyed the knot that I’d twisted on top of my head. “How much are you willing to cut off?”
“I like my hair —”
“I like it too,” said a voice behind us.
We both startled, and I glanced back: he was a typical Miami dude-bro, probably a college student. Attractive in an average way. “We aren’t interested,” I said as clearly as I could.
The man grinned. “Aww, come on, ladies,” he said. “I’m a man secure in himself; I would happily accompany you to get your nails done. I’ll even help pick out the color. How about it?”
Where the hell was David? “No,” Lili said. Her tone was gruffer than mine had been. “Get lost.”
The man’s smile only widened. It was creepy in all honesty. He reached out and tugged at a lock of hair that had fallen out of my messy bun. Revulsion slithered down my spine, and I flinched away from his grasp. “I’m just being friendly.”
I saw Lili’s hands curled into fists. “Just keep walking,” I muttered to her looking around for David and found him several yards away, obviously flirting with some girl dressed in beachwear. Angel’s going to be pissed, I thought.
But Lili didn’t listen to me. I seriously doubted she listened to anyone besides her Padre.
She whipped around and dragged me with her.
“Look, pendejo, we are not interested. Get. Lost.” Now, the smile was gone from the man’s face.
He grabbed Lili’s arm, and the moment he made contact, she twisted and threw him over her shoulder, sprawling him across the sidewalk in a heap.
“Touch one of us again, and I’ll make sure you never walk again,” she growled in a perfectly terrifying imitation of her brothers.
The man skittered away, muttering apologies interspersed with the words, “bitch” and “whore.”
David came running, and Lili whirled on him. “Where have you been?” she demanded. “What good are you if you’re going to disappear, huh?”
He stumbled over an apology and begged that we not tell Angel, but I barely heard him. I was too enthralled by what Lili had done. “You know self-defense?” I asked as we started walking again, this time with David sticking close to us.
“Of course,” she said. “I know enough hand-to-hand to get out of situations like that, and I can shoot just as well as Angel…though Omar is better than both of us.”
“Could you teach me?” I asked. Fighting, either with my fists or some kind of weapon, had never been something that I ever wanted to do, but I couldn’t deny that it would be a good idea, given my new life.
Lili stared at me for a moment, and then nodded. “You’ll come with me to the range tomorrow.” She slipped her arm through mine again, and we continued on our way, as if nothing had happened.