His scowl turns a face I once found handsome ugly. “You’re so fancy now, you can’t even speak your own language?”
“I’ll see you on the twenty-seventh.” I turn away from him to carry Mateo inside. He’s looking forward to swimming in Marlene’s pool before the party begins later this afternoon.
“Don’t take another step,” Nico says to Joaquín.
I continue on as if I didn’t hear that. I trust Nico to make sure Joaquín doesn’t follow us inside. But the minute I’m safely in the house, I rush to the front window to look out to make sure the situation isn’t escalating. Mateo snuggles into my embrace, seeming relieved, as he always is, to be back with me. I cringe to think about what goes on when he’s alone with Joaquín, but the court requires one overnight a week with his father.
The two men are exchanging words, but that’s all it is.
After Joaquín makes an obscene gesture at him, Nico walks away, his fists rolled tightly by his sides. My heart races at the sight of him, angry on my behalf. Why does that mean so much to me? Maybe it’s because for years no one was ever angry on my behalf while Joaquín was bullying me into doing everything his way.
Nico comes to find me in Marlene’s dining room where the huge table is covered with serving dishes and other party items.
“Gracias,” I say to him. “Lo siento.” When I’m upset, I revert to my native language.
“Don’t thank me or apologize to me,” he says in a harsh tone that’s not directed at me.
How do I know that? I couldn’t say other than he has never been anything other than sweet to me, but Joaquín can make the sweetest person angry in a matter of seconds. I never saw that side of him until after we were married.
“I don’t like the way that guy acts as if you still belong to him.”
“He knows I don’t.”
Nico puts his hands on his hips, frustration apparent in his pose and expression. “Does he?”
“If he doesn’t, that’s not my fault. What else can I do besides file for divorce?”
“I hate the idea of you guys not being safe,” he says, softly so as not to alarm Mateo.
“We’re safe,” I say, but the waver in my voice tells the true story. I never feel truly safe except for when I’m at work, surrounded by people like him who care about me. And Nico doesn’t even work at Giordino’s. He’s just there a lot, especially when I’m working.
“I wish…” He stops himself and shakes his head.
“What do you wish?”
“We should talk about that sometime when we’re not surrounded by people during a holiday.”
My heart is beating so fast I wonder if I’m going to pass out, or something equally embarrassing, in front of the man who has become a close friend over the last few months. What does he want to talk about?
“I’m going to contact a friend of mine who’s a cop and ask him to send cars by here later, just in case your ex decides to come back and start trouble.”
I swallow hard at the thought of my ex-husband causing trouble for the family that’s been so good to us. “You really think that’s necessary?”
“I do.”
“Maybe Mateo and I should just go. If we’re not here, then no one will bother your family.”
“You’re safer here than you’d be anywhere else. The people here would kill for you.”
“Would they?”
“They would.”
“All of them, or just you?”
“All of them, but especially me.”
“And why is that?”
“That’s the thing we should maybe talk about when my entire family isn’t about to arrive for Nochebuena.”
The look he gives me when he says those words steals the breath from my lungs. Nico Giordino is the sexiest man on the planet, and I’ll fight anyone who says otherwise. Right in that moment, I don’t care that his own sisters and cousin think he’s toxic toward women.
I just want more of him and the way he makes me feel.
Maria
I feel like I’m going to hyperventilate if we don’t get to Abuela’s soon. The flight from LA that took us to the southernmost part of Texas to avoid the storms in the Plains, seemed endless, even if it was “only” six hours. I can’t wait to see Everly.
Austin and I bonded a year after I donated the bone marrow that saved Everly’s life. With her mother not in the picture, she’s now as much my daughter as she is his, and I’ve been counting down to my first Christmas with both of them.
We’ve finally landed in Miami and are trudging through the terminal with several of Austin’s teammates and their wives or girlfriends, all of whom are as eager to get home as I am. Some of them have kids and were afraid they were going to miss Christmas with them.