Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
Mariana
Age Thirteen
“Little moon?”
I turn at the knock on my door, grinning when I realize Papa is home. He’s been gone for almost two weeks, taking care of business in Colombia. I wanted to go with him, but he said this wasn’t the time to come. Something bad was going down in Colombia, but he wouldn’t tell me what it was.
I’m just glad he’s finally home.
“Come in, Papa!”
MARIANA
I have to go, Aurora!
Papa’s home!
AURORA
Tell him I said hi.
Text me later.
MARIANA
Will do!
“Who are you talking to?” Papa asks, shutting the door behind him and joining me on the bed.
“Aurora, duh.” I roll my eyes playfully. “Who else would I be talking to?”
He shrugs. “What do I know? You’re a teenager and in high school now. Maybe you met a boy or made some new friends.”
“Yeah, right. I’m two years younger than the boys in my grade, and a year younger than the freshmen.
Even they think I’m too young.” I shrug.
It used to bother me how I was treated since I’m so much younger than everyone else.
Now, I have Aurora, and she accepts me just the way I am. She’s all I need.
“That’s their loss. My daughter is a catch, and if they don’t see that, then they’re all blind and stupid.”
I giggle. “You have to say that, Papa.”
He shrugs. “Maybe, but it doesn’t make it any less true. I’m sorry I was gone so long. Someone came after El Jefe, and he needed me at his side.”
“Is he okay?” El Jefe is Papa’s boss, running the Colombian cartel. Papa is in charge of the US branch, but he still answers to El Jefe.
I met him once last year, and I still don’t know his real name. Papa only refers to him as El Jefe and says I must do the same because it’s a sign of respect. I truly don’t mind. He’s a little scary at times, but he was very kind to me.
“He is, and we eliminated the threat. Unfortunately, there were losses on our side.”
“Fabian?” I whisper, unsure how I would feel if my older brother were dead. We’re not close, and while I wasn’t sure how he felt about me when I was younger, there’s no doubt that he hates me. He tolerates my younger brothers, but he makes his disdain for me clear whenever Papa isn’t around.
I just do my best not to be alone with him.
“Your brother is alive, but he’s still in Colombia. He took a bullet for El Jefe, so he’s staying there to recover.” Papa pauses. “But my best friend from childhood and his wife were killed, leaving their son alone in the world.”
“That’s terrible, Papa.”
He nods. “It is. His father was one of El Jefe’s top men, and he was offered a place in the cartel in Colombia, but he wanted to come to America.”
“So he’s here? How old is he?”
“He is. He’s going to be staying with us while he learns the ropes. He’s only seventeen, so he’s going to finish up his last year at your school. His English is good, but not perfect. I want you to show him around and help him when you can.”
I start nodding before he even finishes. “Of course, Papa. I’ll be happy to help him. We might even share some of the same classes.”
I might only be a sophomore, but I’m taking some junior and senior classes. What can I say? I’m an overachiever, and according to my IQ, a genius. I try not to think about that too much. I’m not a fan of labels, even though our society is built on them.
Alpha. Beta. Omega.
I’m so glad I’m so far from designating. That isn’t something I want to begin to deal with.
Designations bring nothing but trouble.
Papa and Fabian are both alphas, and Mama is an omega. I’ve heard her say that’s why Fabian doesn’t like her. He seems to hate omegas. He says they’re more trouble than they’re worth. I think it’s rude as hell, but no one asked me.
“I knew you’d want to help. His name is Christian, and I gave him a room in Fabian’s wing. We thought it might be best to have him there since he’ll be actively involved in the cartel.”
“You mean you don’t want Matías and JC pestering him with questions.” My younger brothers are obsessed with knowing as much as they can about the cartel, but Mama thinks they’re too young.
What she really means is they’re too immature, because by the time I was nine years old, I knew exactly what Papa’s job was.
Mainly because he continued to take me to his meetings.
Plus, Aurora helped fill in some of the blanks.
Her dad runs one of NYC’s mafia families.
The cartel and mafia aren’t exactly the same, but they’re similar enough.
Papa chuckles. “Okay, yes, that’s part of it. The other part is you’re a beautiful young woman, and your mama didn’t want a teenage boy close enough to your room to get any ideas.”
“Yeah, okay. Because a seventeen-year-old would never look at me like that. Mama worries about the weirdest things.” I wave away his words. “Can I meet Christian now?”
“Of course. I told him you’d probably want to meet him.”
Papa leads me down the hallway and into the west wing that I’ve always thought of as Fabian’s. I never come to this part of the house because I go out of my way to avoid my brother.
When Papa knocks on a door, I hear a deep voice call out to enter in Spanish.
“Christian, I brought Mariana to meet you.” He pokes his head into the room before pushing it open and allowing me to enter.
I bite my cheek to keep my jaw from dropping at how hot Christian is. He looks more like a man than a boy. There aren’t any boys at my school who look like him.
He’s taller than Papa, so over six feet tall.
His ebony hair is long and falls over his shoulders as he glances up from the picture he’s holding.
His beautiful jade green eyes are filled with sadness, and I just want to hug him.
His cheekbones are sharp, drawing nearly as much attention as his light-colored eyes.
His shoulders are wide, and with his size, I’m guessing he’ll designate as an alpha when he turns eighteen.
“Hi, Christian,” I say softly.
He stares at me, saying nothing, and I shuffle from foot to foot. His stare is intense, and it makes me feel uncomfortable having all of his attention on me. I flush, ducking my head as I swallow around a suddenly dry throat.
“Excuse me,” he finally says, his Colombian accent thick. “I do not mean to stare.”
Papa chuckles, and my eyes go wide as my blush deepens.
How had I forgotten that he was standing there?
“Now that I’ve introduced you, I’ll leave you to chat.
Mariana will show you around school on Monday, and she’ll help you catch up with anything you need to.
You might as well be comfortable with each other, as I assume you’ll be spending a lot of time together. ”
Then he’s gone, and I’m left staring at Christian. He’s the type of guy who wouldn’t spare me a second look at school. Why would he when he’s four years older and so close to designating?
“Thank you for offering to help me.” Even his smile is sad as his eyes fall back to the picture. “Much has changed quickly, and I am overwhelmed.”
Unable to stop myself, I move to his side, and my eyes fall on the image of a younger Christian with a man and woman, who I’m assuming are his parents.
“I’m sorry for your loss. I can’t imagine what you must be going through, so anything I can do to make this easier for you, please just let me know. ”
“You are a sweet girl, Mariana. Thank you.” His eyes never leave the photo, and I wrap my arm around him in a half-hug.
Christian freezes for a moment before turning and pulling me into his arms. He buries his head in my neck as he hugs me and sobs. His tears wet my neck, but I just hold him tighter. I say nothing, knowing this isn’t the time for words. He just needs someone to be here with him while he falls apart.
I can do that for him. I can be the person who holds him up as he falls apart.
I just hope he doesn’t hate me or himself later for what many men would view as a moment of weakness.
Mariana
Age Sixteen
“Congratulations, little moon!” Papa sweeps me into his arms, swinging me around like he used to when I was a little girl. “A high school graduate at just sixteen! You make your Papa so proud.”
I laugh as he sets me back on my feet, leaning in to kiss his cheek. “Thank you, Papa.”
“I can’t believe my baby girl is a graduate.” Mama’s eyes fill with tears, and I hurry to hug her. She’s nearing her heat, and that always makes her more emotional.
“It’s okay, Mama. It’s not like I’m leaving you. I’ll be home all summer, and I’ll still be living at the house when I start classes in the fall.”
“I’m just glad I won’t have to spend another year of school with you here,” Matías mutters. “I’m so sick of the guys talking about my hot sister.”
I snicker, knocking my shoulder into his. “Whatever, Mat. I know you’ll miss me. Plus, next year, you’re going to have to deal with JC being at the same school as you again.”
“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Matías snorts, ducking when JC takes a swing at him.
“Stop it, pendejo,” I hiss, glaring at my youngest brother. “You could’ve hit me.”
“And then I would’ve had to hit you since no one lays a hand on my girl.”
I squeal, spinning around to throw myself into Christian’s arms. “You made it!”
“As if your Papa would make me miss watching you graduate.” Christian kisses me, pulling back when I’d prefer to deepen the kiss.
“Papa knows we kiss. We’re engaged, Christian.” I roll my eyes, turning to glare at Papa. “This is your fault.”
Christian clears his throat. “I’m being respectful as my parents taught me.”
“Which is the only reason we allowed you to propose when Mariana is still so young,” Mama cuts in, but she’s smiling as she says it.
Both she and Papa love Christian and have been supportive of our relationship. We’ve been together for two years, and Mama was against it at first, but she finally understood that even if I was physically young, mentally I was more mature than most twenty-year-olds.
Some people judge our age difference since I’m so young, but I love my alpha.
Yes, Christian designated as an alpha when he turned eighteen. We still don’t know what I will designate as, but both of my parents seem to think I’ll be an omega. Christian says he doesn’t care what my designation is—that he’ll love me whether I’m an omega, a beta, or an alpha.
“Mariana!”
My head snaps up, eyes widening as they land on the blonde beauty walking toward me.
“Aurora?” I grin, running to meet my friend. “What are you doing here?”
She scoffs. “Like I would miss my friend graduating high school.”
Over the years, Aurora and I have remained close. We might not be the best friends that I imagined when I was a child since we live so far from one another, but she’s the closest I’ve come to it before Christian.
We hug before she greets my family and Christian. “Where’s Fabian?”
Papa clears his throat. “He got caught up with something at work and couldn’t make it.”
“Yeah, right,” Aurora mutters, and we share a knowing look.
Things between me and Fabian have gotten worse over the last few years. He hates that I’m with Christian. I’ve heard him and Papa fighting about how my marriage should be used to garner them favors with another family—because that’s all daughters are good for.
I’m the only thing he and Papa fight about. It’s probably another reason Fabian hates me so much.
“That’s too bad,” I murmur, not meaning it one bit. I didn’t want Fabian here in the first place, even though I pretended I did.
I knew if I told him I didn’t want him there, he’d have shown up out of spite. By pretending I wanted him here, it guaranteed his absence.
They don’t say I’m a genius for no reason.
“Well, I’m starving. I was promised food.” Aurora slips her arm through mine, smiling at Papa, who just laughs.
“We can’t have that. Come. We’ve rented out Mari’s favorite restaurant for her graduation party.”
I lean into Aurora as Christian links his fingers through mine.
Life is perfect, and I’m not sure I’ve ever been happier than I am right now.