Chapter 33
33
A week and one day later, Alejandro was standing at the front of a wedding chapel dressed in a dark suit and a dark tie, freshly shaved with a new haircut. In the decades since it opened, this particular chapel had seen a number of celebrities get married inside, including Whoopi Goldberg, Bette Midler, and singer Barry White.
Beside Alejandro was Miguel, having returned from his honeymoon the day before. Though Alejandro had wanted to marry Camila right away, of course she wouldn’t get married without her brother in attendance.
Alejandro straightened his tie and his shoulders. He wasn’t nervous, just anxious to make Camila his wife. After all these years, the day he longed for but never expected had finally arrived.
Miguel leaned toward him. “I’ve been meaning to ask—what took you two so long?”
Alejandro pondered the question. “Life,” he answered simply.
He could have said more, but there was no need. The anger he once felt when thinking about Emilio’s role in keeping them apart no longer surged through him. He and Camila had both lived the lives they were supposed to live, separately. Now was their time to start a new life, together. He saw no point in dwelling on the past. He looked forward to a bright future with the woman he loved.
Patrice sat off to the side. A violinist stood at the ready for Camila’s entrance, and so did a photographer provided by the chapel.
After a few minutes, the officiant entered from a side door, and a hush fell over the group. Balding, with a pair of thick glasses on his face, the older man smiled pleasantly at everyone.
“Are we all here?” he asked.
“Yes,” Alejandro replied.
The double doors opened in the back via remote control and the violinist started playing. Camila appeared in the doorway, and Alejandro’s chest tightened as he caught his breath.
Instead of a formal wedding dress, she wore a silk sheath dress with capped sleeves. Her hair was styled in a lovely array of curls and adorned with a white tiara. She came down the aisle carrying a bouquet of flowers with a special addition—one bright, reddish-orange flower, like the one she had given him so long ago.
When she arrived in front of him, he took her arm. “You are stunning,” he whispered.
She gazed up at him, and he wanted to kiss her, but the moment would come soon enough.
“Thank you,” she said.
The ceremony took approximately ten minutes, and then the official pronounced them husband and wife. Alejandro kissed Camila hard, bending her over his arm to the cheers and laughter of the attendees.
When he straightened, her cheeks were flushed and her eyes bright. He always wanted her to be happy, and he’d do anything and everything to ensure she remained happy.
After hugs and a brief conversation, they said goodbye to Miguel and Patrice. Alejandro had booked the honeymoon suite at the Bellagio Hotel & Casino, and they rode over in a white limousine with Just Married emblazoned on the back window. Camila rested her head on his shoulder, and their fingers were entwined together on his thigh.
Later, in the room, Alejandro was seated on the side of the bed, buttoning his cuffs. They were going to dinner and then dancing at one of the clubs. Camila was in the bathroom.
“What are you doing in there?” he yelled. “I want to see my wife.”
“Hold your horses!” she yelled back.
He had married a feisty woman. The next fifty years were going to be fun.
Finally, the door opened, and she draped one hand on the frame. She had stripped down to white lace panties and a matching bra that pushed her lovely breasts high on her chest. Her left hand rested on her hip in a sexy pose. On her head was his cowboy hat, and in the corner of her mouth an unlit cigar.
“How do I look?” she asked, her voice lowered to a husky tone that made his blood heat up.
“Come here, and I will tell you.”
She came toward him with a hip-swinging walk, hands on her hips, breasts thrust forward as they temptingly bounced. She stopped in front of him. “Was I worth the wait?”
“Oh yes,” he said, his eyes doing a slow tour of the delectable image she made.
“I thought you’d like this.”
Alejandro took a deep breath and inhaled the sweet scent of her skin. His dick stirred from her nearness, and he reached for her, sliding his hands from the curves of her hips right up to her breasts.
“I was thinking,” she said, her voice the same low and husky tone. So damn sexy. She stepped between his thighs, and his hardening erection strained the front of his pants. “We could go out tomorrow for a nice dinner. But tonight, we should stay in, order room service, make love, and then take a bath in that swimming pool size tub in the bathroom. What do you think?”
“I think my wife is a genius.”
He removed the cigar from her mouth, tossed it aside, and pulled her onto the bed. She squealed as he rolled her over onto her back.
The hat rolled off her head as she gazed up at him with love in her eyes. “I can’t believe this is real.”
“It’s real. You were sent from heaven to tame the devil,” he whispered.
“No,” she said, frowning and shaking her head. She cupped his jaw. “ You were heaven sent. To keep me safe and show me what true love and happiness should be. I’m the luckiest woman alive.”
“You have made me the luckiest man alive, and I cannot wait to build a life with you. Our best moments are ahead of us, querida .”
Her smile was broad and lit up her face with raw happiness, making her pretty brown eyes sparkle.
Alejandro dipped his head and kissed her. Her lips clung to his, pillowy soft and delicious, giving way to his tongue as he sank deeper into their kiss. Sliding his hands into her panties, he slipped a finger inside her.
“You’re already so wet,” he groaned.
This woman had so much power over him. He kissed her neck and down the length of her body, all the way to her purple-painted toes.
Her breathless purrs were like music to his ears. “I love when you make that sound,” he whispered.
He entered her with one smooth movement, and their breaths mingled together as one, the same way their bodies joined together as one. And when she finally came, she clawed his back, trembling beneath him as she cried out his name.
Las Vegas during the day was much different than Las Vegas at night. As Camila drove down the strip in her purple car, she noted how much more subdued the city felt without the glitz and energy of the casinos at night.
Tourists still walked around taking photos, but the atmosphere was calmer than the night, when the bright lights transformed the strip into a loud, chaotic place buzzing with excitement.
She would miss it, no doubt—both the calm and the buzz. She’d lived here most of her life, but she was ready to move on and excited about the future with Alejandro and their new life together in Hopevale.
After Javier’s compound had exploded, and she was certain she knew who did it but didn’t ask, the Reyes-Shapiro scandal continued to dominate the news cycle. Kathleen Shapiro was outed as Javier Reyes’s lover, and she was not only aware of her husband’s organ harvesting, she was a willing participant.
She agreed to divulge more information about Javier’s business dealings and illegal activities in exchange for leniency. She informed the police about the other clinics, and in a dramatic twist, she told them that Alvaro Reyes was buried on the grounds of the compound and had not gone off to live a carefree life in retirement, as so many believed. Cadaver dogs found not only his body, but the bodies of three other people who had yet to be identified.
Camila was ready to leave all the negativity behind, but she couldn’t without saying goodbye to her friends at the encampment first. She parked her vehicle at the plaza like she always did and walked toward the back of the building. Her heart hurt when she thought about Doug, but at least they had achieved justice for him, and his sister finally learned the truth about his death. He had been murdered. Dr. Stenner, who was part of Reyes’s organ harvesting enterprise, had lied.
Camila greeted everyone, smiling and waving and calling the ones she knew by name. When she came upon Rhonda, she lowered to her haunches.
“Hey, Rhonda.”
“Hi, missy, how are you?”
“Doing pretty good. I have some news. I got married.” She showed Rhonda her rings and smiled when she gasped.
“Did you marry the man from Hunks R Us?”
Camila laughed. “I sure did.”
“Congratulations.”
“Hot damn! Congrats,” Sam said, who was seated nearby.
Rhonda’s smile slowly died. “You’re leaving us, aren’t you?”
Camila swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. “Yeah,” she said, her voice thick.
Sam and a couple of the others quietly looked on as they listened to the conversation.
“Well, you did a good thing, getting justice for Doug and all those people.”
“I hope Dr. Shapiro, Mr. Reyes, and all them people rot in hell!” Sam exclaimed.
Several others nodded their heads and grumbled their agreement.
“Where are you moving to?” Rhonda asked.
“Georgia. A place called Hopevale, right outside of Atlanta. But you’ll see me again. I’m holding on to my parents’ property here, so who knows… I might be back sooner than you think.”
“That’ll be nice,” Rhonda said, her smile a little sad.
“Well, I better go. I wanted to see you all before I left.”
Before she could stand, Rhonda grabbed her fingers with a trembling hand. “Take care of yourself.”
The words came out in a rush, and then she quickly snatched back her hand and pulled her legs in tight to her body. Her gaze lowered and she froze, the way children do when they believe they had turned themselves invisible.
“I will,” Camila said softly. She didn’t want to make a big deal out of what Rhonda had done, but she was emotional nonetheless. She had reached for her. She had touched her.
Camila stood and waved, saying goodbye to the people she’d come to care deeply about. She only wished she could have done more to help them. As she returned to her car, she blinked back tears.
She would see them again. She would make sure of it.