Page 18 of In a Perfect World

“Well, they can’t disown us both, right?”he posed.“I mean, who else is there to inherit the business?”

That made me smile.While I still didn’t know what I was going to do about my relationship with my parents, it was nice to know that Tomasco was willing to stand by me on this.After all, there was no way that I was going to marry Romelio, no matter what.

“Thank you,” I replied, meaning it.“And I promise to keep you posted.”

“Please do,” he harumphed.“Fucking Mom and Dad.”

I laughed.“Yeah.”

“Okay, well...I’ll talk to you later,” he said.“I love you, Triana.”

“I love you, too.”

After hanging up with my brother, I went back to my internet stalking, and when I couldn’t find anything significant, I called Sonia.She was a social media addict, and so if there was anything out there to know about Kairo Booker, she’d know.

“What’s up, chica?”she asked as soon as she answered.

“What can you tell me about Alvin Booker and his family?”I asked, purposely refraining from asking about Kairo directly.I loved the girl, but Sonia was like a dog with a bone when she suspected that something was amiss.

“Why?”she asked reasonably.“What does Alvin Booker have to do with you?”

Trying to play it off, I told her about the fight with my parents, then tried to play my question off as a joke.“Do you think Alvin Booker would have me arrested if I crossed the border?”

“Don’t even play about that, Triana,” she replied seriously.“The Constitution is very clear about the punishment for crossing any border without permission, and your parents wanting you to marry a family friend isn’t a sufficient reason for them to break the law.”

“I’m just in my feelings,” I semi-lied.“I’m really upset with my parents, and...and I am absolutely not going to marry Romelio, Sonia.”

“Do you really think that your parents will fire you if you don’t?”

“Honestly, I don’t know,” I answered.“After all, if you had asked me last week if I thought that my parents would ever go behind my back and arrange a marriage for me, I’d have said no.”

“That’s valid,” she muttered.“Still, from what I’ve heard, Alvin Booker is a no-nonsense kind of man, and the rumor is that his family are the perfect example of the new American dream.”

“Oh, lovely,” I sighed, finally feeling the crash of adrenaline from this morning.

“It could be worse,” she said.“Your parents could have already sent out the invitations.”

“How do you know that they haven’t?”I retorted, not completely joking.