30. Marisol
Marisol
“ W hat are you doing here?” Marisol scanned the room, trying to catch the person who set her up.
Surely this couldn’t be real. There would be no other reason for Archie to be here if someone wasn’t playing a cruel joke on her.
But no one was paying them any mind. She couldn’t even see Cisco or Lola, and she hated the vulnerability that came from being alone with Archie.
Archie was handsome, if you were into pompous privileged men.
He was an intimidating presence with his freshly pressed suit tailored to his body.
Piercing blue eyes held so much judgment for all they came into contact with.
And perfectly tousled hair, appearing effortless, when Marisol knew it took him a good thirty minutes to achieve the style.
She didn’t know how she ever stomached being around this man, let alone sharing a bed with him.
Annoyingly, Archie raised a perfectly sculpted brow. “Is that any way to greet your husband?”
“Ex-husband,” she supplied automatically .
“Well, not technically. On paper, we are still very much married.” He smirked, his smug voice grating on her last nerves.
He had a way of getting under her skin, making her lose all concepts of rational thought.
Archie didn’t love her. He simply wanted to control her and use her influential name for his own nefarious means.
It wasn’t lost on Marisol that he didn’t answer her question.
“Why are you here, Archie? Who invited you?” It couldn’t be her father because he knew how uncomfortable Marisol was around Archie.
Was it her mother? She was conniving and undermining, but would she really stoop this low?
Yes, yes, she would. Because Luciana wanted just as much control over Marisol as Archie did.
“I’m here to celebrate your father’s opening.” Archie gestured around the room at all the other guests. “I should be here for this. I’m still part of the family.”
“But you’re not!” she snapped.
An elderly couple near them peered over anxiously at the feuding pair. Marisol knew she needed to keep her temper in check, no matter how easy it would be to give in to the anger growing inside her. She needed to not make a scene. A lesson she learned from her mother long ago.
She did her best to push down the bitter taste of her anger and forced herself to speak with a softer tone. “It’s wildly inappropriate for you to be here, Archie. You are not family, whether you sign those papers or not. Honestly, it's pathetic that you don’t know when you aren’t wanted.”
A red flush creeped up the back of Archie’s pale skin, and he tensed his jaw. “Pathetic?” he asked, a menacing cadence to his voice. “You want to know what’s pathetic, Marisol? You?—”
Archie trailed off, his attention moving behind her. Marisol felt the warmth of another person before an arm went around her waist, pulling her back into a sturdy chest. The familiar smell of mint and cedarwood filled her senses, and she instantly relaxed.
Cisco. He was here.
“Do you want to finish that sentence?” His deep voice was meant to be intimidating, and judging by the way Archie tensed and took a step back, it was effective. But to her? It went straight to her clit, igniting her body. This man coming to her defense was definitely a new kink she’d discovered.
Archie cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. “So, you brought your new…friend.”
“Boyfriend,” Cisco corrected. “She brought her new boyfriend.”
Despite his obvious discomfort, Archie pointedly looked over Cisco, forming his own judgments.
“Boyfriend? Marisol couldn’t possibly have a boyfriend because she’s a married woman.
Besides, you’re not the type she usually goes for.
Marisol likes them rich; she likes a man who fits in with present company.
She doesn’t work, after all. Someone has to provide for her lavish lifestyle. ”
For a moment, Marisol was stunned. A silent gasp left her lips at the audacity Archie believed himself entitled to.
Not once did she ever ask Archie to buy her anything.
Not once did she ever use him for his money.
If anything, it was the other way around.
She was fortunate enough to have a rich family, but also learned how to invest and save her money.
She wasn’t a helpless, clueless woman who spent money senselessly.
It was insulting to even insinuate that.
She wasn’t the only one who thought that either.
Cisco’s anger was palpable, radiating off him in waves.
She was nervous and wasn’t even the object of his anger.
“You know nothing about her,” he snarled.
“But doesn’t surprise me when it comes from an entitled idiot who leeches off those he surrounds himself with. ”
Archie’s eyes narrowed, cheeks flushing even redder. He wore his emotions on his sleeve, having no semblance of a poker face. “I would be careful if I were you,” he threatened.
“What is going on over here?” a familiar voice came from behind Archie. All heads swiveled toward Luciana.
Marisol hadn’t seen her mother until now. She was in a midnight-black dress that went to the floor. The bodice cinched her waist, showing off her figure. In her hand was a glass of white wine. Luciana didn’t look shocked to see Archie here, making alarm bells go off within Marisol.
“Mom, did you know Archie would be coming?”
“Of course I did. I invited him,” she said evenly, as if not remembering—or caring—that Marisol was no longer with Archie. It was like the final dagger in her back, reminding her that her mother would never respect her decisions or boundaries.
“Why would you do that?” she asked incredulously.
She shouldn’t have been amazed that her mother would pull a stunt like this, and it definitely shouldn’t hurt as much as it did, but Marisol couldn’t help but feel betrayed.
For so long, she believed her mother did these things because she showed her love differently than others.
But now Marisol was starting to realize that her mother didn’t love her at all. Maybe she never had.
But her mother still did not get it. There was no spark of remorse in her expression. “Archie has been a big help to the winery. It wouldn’t be right to celebrate this immense accomplishment without him here. ”
“I can’t believe this.” Maybe she was the fool. A fool for believing her mother would behave any differently. Well, if this was how her mother conducted herself, she didn’t want to deal with it tonight.
Turning toward Cisco, she met his gaze. “I want to go home.”
“Oh, don’t be like that, Marisol,” her mother said from behind her. She didn’t have to see her to know that Luciana was rolling her eyes. “Honestly, you show up with a man like that and expect all of us to just be okay with it?”
Marisol never considered herself a reactionary person, but you wouldn’t be able to tell at that moment.
She spun around, wanting nothing more than to punch Archie in his stupid, handsome face, mostly because she couldn’t punch her mother.
But she ignored him as she looked at the thinly veiled anger in her mother’s expression.
“What do you mean by that man? You mean the man who cherishes me like I’m the most important thing in his life? The man who has seen me at my lowest and stayed with me just to see me smile again? Do you mean the man I love?”
The words left her mouth so easily. She had never been surer about anything in her life.
She loved Cisco, and she didn’t understand why her mother couldn’t just be happy for her.
The mother who always claimed to love her but would never allow her to make her own decisions.
Well, Cisco was the best thing to have ever happened to her, and she refused to let her mother ruin this.
“You don’t love him—” her mother started, but Marisol was quick to interrupt.
“I do!” she said, causing a scene. Let everyone witness Archie’s and her mother’s true colors. She didn’t care that people were staring. It wouldn’t have been an issue at all if her mother didn’t insist on inviting Archie.
Luciana glanced at the growing crowd, gripping her wine glass anxiously before turning her attention back to Marisol. A moment later, her eyes widened in horror. “Marisol! What is on your leg?”
Marisol looked down to see her tattoo peeking out from under her dress.
Her anger had distracted her, and she hadn’t noticed her dress moving.
Great. Another fucking thing her mother could hate her for.
Except Marisol couldn’t bring herself to care.
“It’s a fucking tattoo, Mom. You may not have noticed, but my boyfriend is a tattoo artist. I’ll proudly wear his work because, once again, I love him. ”
“You cannot love a felon, Marisol!” her mother’s voice rang around them.
All other noise died away as Marisol’s brain slowly processed her words.
Felon? That was laughable. “Just because he has tattoos doesn’t make him a felon. God, Mom, do you even hear yourself?”
“Princesa—” Cisco reached for her arm, but Luciana smacked his hand away.
“Don’t touch my daughter, you convict!” Luciana shrieked, playing the role of the worried mother. She only did this when it suited her.
“You don’t understand what you are saying.” Cisco frowned. His body tensed, and he looked like a statue, unmoving.
Marisol paused, not understanding what was happening. She had never regretted coming to an event more than this.
“It’s pathetic to make up lies simply because you don’t like someone. Let’s go, Cisco.” She grabbed his hand to pull him away.
“It’s true,” Archie said before she had a chance to escape. “Ask your boyfriend about his time in college. The people he hung out with and associated with.”
Marisol was prepared to blow it off. She wanted to blow it off and leave, no longer wanting to listen to any more slander. But when she looked at Cisco’s face, something made her pause. He looked…angry, sure, but there was something else there. Was it panic? Dread? A combination of the two?
“Cisco?” Marisol’s voice was gentle, barely above a whisper, but he heard her all the same. He met her gaze. “What are they talking about?”
She made up her mind that it didn’t matter.
If what they were saying was true, and Cisco had some sort of illegal past he didn’t tell her about, she didn’t care.
She knew the man he was today, and that was all that mattered.
Did she wish he had told her beforehand?
Sure, but it didn’t mean she wanted to learn about it this way.
“I’ll tell you about it when we get home,” he said, pressing his lips into a thin line. She knew he was barely containing his anger, so the best thing to do for both of them would be to get out of there.
Except Archie couldn’t read the damn room.
“Your boyfriend was arrested for selling illegal substances. His involvement was discovered when one of his clients was found unresponsive. Police found copious amounts of cocaine in his car,” Archie said with all the smugness a man who thought they one-upped another could muster.
“How the hell do you even know that?” She wasn’t going to believe Archie simply because he said something. She knew this man was a liar and would say anything if it would advance his own career or status.
“It pays to know people in high places. Especially cops.” Archie laughed.
But it didn’t last long.
The next second, Cisco moved from behind her, cocked back his arm, and slammed his fist into Archie’s nose with a sickening crack.
Then the room exploded into chaos.