17. The Widow Maker #2
“We haven’t decided yet.” Diego says. “On the one hand, it’d be a nice surprise. On the other, it’d be useful to know what color to paint the nursery.”
“Nursery?” Dahlia quirks a brow. “And have the two of you decided on where that’ll be yet?”
Diego and Karina exchange glances. After a near imperceptible tilt of the head, Diego speaks.
“This is home for Karina. Alejandro and I have never had any particular attachments to a hometown so if she wants to have the baby here, then that’s fine by me.
We’re going to start apartment hunting this week. ”
I clasp my hands together as relief washes over me. “That’s wonderful news.”
Dahlia sends me a sideways look but Lyss interrupts. “Are you staying in the city?”
“For now.” Karina says. “We don’t need a big house and I like the idea of staying close by.”
God must be real because this is the answer to all my prayers. “I’m happy for you both. Of course, you should get married first. The sooner the better.”
Both Karina and Diego nearly fall out of their chairs. “Married?” Their mortified voices overlap in unison.
“Church, courthouse, lo que sea, pero esta criatura no va a nacer fuera del matrimonio y punto.”
Lyss’s face collapses with horror. “Alex, you can’t expect them to do that.”
“Karina isn’t even divorced yet.” Dahlia points out.
I’m very careful with what I say next. “We can take care of that.”
Her brows furrow as she takes me in. I can tell she’s trying to decode my statement and search for the hidden meaning underneath but there is none.
Money can solve a multitude of problems and if I haven’t intervened before, it was only because it seemed Karina and Diego were trying to figure things out.
Now that there seems to be a plan I want to make sure the path forward is clear for them.
Diego’s eyes darken. “What gives you the right?”
My head snaps around. His words strike my temper like a matchbox. “Karina está esperando un hijo tuyo así que tienes la obligación de mantenerlos y cuidarlos. You grew up in a proper home with two married parents. You are not raising this child in a broken one.”
“Actually,” Diego replies sardonically. “I’m the mistress’s child.”
The knife slips from my hand and clatters onto my plate. Lyss lets out a little gasp and Dahlia grips my upper arm as I point a warning finger at my brother from across the table. “Watch yourself.”
“I think we should ask Karina if she’s in the mood to get married again.” Lyss chimes in.
Karina’s lips part. “I—”
“She’s not getting married just because she’s pregnant.” Dahlia looks at me. “This isn’t 1950. What the Hell is wrong with you?”
“I’m sorry but I don’t agree. Forgive me for being a little old-fashioned,” I snap.
“But our father raised us to be better men than that. Being a wife is different. It comes with privileges, protections. Support for Karina and the baby. I don’t believe in getting a woman pregnant without giving her a name and family.
It isn’t respectable and it’s wrong and if the roles were reversed, this wouldn’t even be up for discussion.
You and I would be in front of a priest right now exchanging vows. ”
She glares at me. “Since when did you become so damn machista? You’d have better luck melting ice in the Arctic than dragging me down the aisle against my will. And no one’s making Karina do it either.”
“Guys, please.” She drops her hands from her face. “I promise it isn’t worth all this fuss.”
“Fuss?” Diego glances at her. “A child isn’t fuss.”
“You know what I mean—”
“Basta.”
The room falls deathly silent as all five of us turn our attention to Dona Ana. She so rarely raises her voice that the last time she did, it was to reprimand us as kids. It’s so unlike her.
“La comida se comen en paz.” She holds up a hand. “No fighting. No yelling. We eat and be calm. Okay? No more.”
No one speaks again after that. When the meal is over, I help Lyss and Dona Ana clear the table and Karina pulls Dahlia aside.
“Can you take me home?” she asks. “I have to pick up a few things.”
“You want to go now?”
“I don’t mind the drive. Do you?”
Dahlia must decide she’s as desperate to get out of here as her cousin is because she grabs her purse and jacket and they head out just as the sun begins its slow descent into evening.
Diego sits in silence for a very long time.
He doesn’t say anything as we clean up around him.
Dona Ana brings the serving trays downstairs, Lyss consolidates all the utensils, and I gather the plates and chargers.
Between the three of us, the clean-up doesn’t take very long and Dona Ana retires for the evening.
Lyss puts the food away and I wash all the dishes.
By the time I head back upstairs with wine stoppers for the bottles we opened, there’s no need because Diego’s finished them off by himself.
He hasn’t moved from that seat in over an hour.
When we were younger I always knew what was bothering him but the older he gets the further away he feels from me.
I don’t know how to fix it or if it’s even something that can be remedied.
For a while we only had each other. Lettie was too young to really understand what was going on and we’re the closest in age.
After I ended things with Regina and made the decision to try and take the family in a different direction, I thought we were finding a new equilibrium.
Balance was developing between us and I found myself relying on him more as a partner and less like a little brother.
Now everything’s changed and I don’t know how to get through to him.
I pull out a chair and sit beside him. “What are you doing?”
He swirls wine around in his glass. “Finishing my drink.”
“I mean with Karina.”
“You know, you think that just because our father is dead it means you get to lord over us like some sort of authoritative parental figure.” He looks at me. “I don’t need another dad. I already had one.”
His words sting more than I care to admit. I know I’m not a replacement or a stand in for our father but I’ve always done my best to lead and guide my siblings as the eldest of us three.
“I’m just trying to help.”
“Did it ever occur to you that maybe I don’t need your help?”
I lean forward. “What’s wrong? And don’t tell me it’s nothing because right now you’re behaving like an unimaginable prick toward one of the only people in the world who loves you unconditionally and puts up with all your bullshit. Like impregnating their girlfriend’s married cousin.”
His jaw tightens. “Brent’s an evil bastard.”
“Yes. Agreed. But she’s still married to him. Which means she desperately needs to divorce herself from him otherwise she runs the risk of your child being legally his when it’s born.”
“Maybe we should just make her a widow.”
“Dahlia and I already thought of that. We’re going for a light touch instead, trying not to draw too much attention.”
He glares daggers at me. “This isn’t a joke.”
“And I’m not laughing. You’ve been out of it for weeks. You’re cold to Dahlia, you hardly speak to anyone aside from Karina and even then those interactions are few and far between. What’s wrong?”
“Alejandro, what do you want me to say?” He sets his wine glass down and looks at me. “I didn’t exactly have much of a choice in the matter.”
“With Karina?”
“With all of it. You think you’re disappointed? Trust me. Your disillusionment pales in comparison to mine.”
He gets up and storms out of the room but I refuse to let him off that easy.
“Are you in love with her? Is that it?” I follow him down the hall. “Or maybe it’s the complete opposite. You’re furious that a one-night stand is about to change your entire life.”
“Alejandro, shut up.”
He takes the steps two at a time and I stay close behind.
“You’re more stubborn than our mother, did you know that?”
“Who knows, maybe I absorbed it from my real mother in utero.”
We reach the landing and I catch him by the shoulder. “What the Hell is the matter with you?” He shakes me off and tries to leave but I block his path. “Are you going through some sort of identity crisis no one knows about? She is your real mother.”
“Alex, I think it’s noble you like to pretend—”
“I’m not pretending anything. You are my brother. Same mother, same father. What difference does it make who gave birth to you when the same mother raised us? Nursed us?” I tell him. “And if you’re having second thoughts about Kay and the baby then—”
“I’m not having second thoughts!”
My phone rings and I dig it out of my pocket to forward the call but Dahlia’s name flashes across the screen.
“Dahlia, can I call—”
“Alex?” Karina rasps.
Diego tries to walk past me again but this time I grab his arm and don’t let go. “Kay? Are you all right?”
“I-I-I…” she inhales a shaky breath. “I’m fine. We’re fine.”
“Where’s Dahlia?”
“She’s fine, she’s—” Karina hiccups before letting out a little cry. “Oh my God…there’s so much blood.”
I cover the phone. “Bring the car around, now.”
Diego doesn’t wait for further instruction. He grabs the keys off the side table in the hall and sprints out the front door while I go for our jackets in the coat closet.
“Where are you?” I ask.
“We…we’re at my house…please, you need to come. Right away.” She chokes on a sob. “Brent is dead.”