Page 74 of Forbidden Fate

“Partly.”

“Interesting.”

“Not that interesting.”

“Oh, I disagree.” Esmeralda moves to the coffee pot.

I need Robin to wake up.

No.

I need Robin to sleep.

No.

I need to leave this kitchen.

Mercedes pulls cash from inside her lacy robe. She counts a stack, peels off bills, and slides them across the table to Señora Valentina.

“Your ten percent,” she says. “Guy was decently attractive, so that was nice. Took off in the middle of the night, though.”

Esmeralda pours coffee into a white mug painted with red roses. “Mine was easy.”

“Easy?” Señora V asks.

“A couple.”

Mercedes perks up. “Fun?”

“Almost. Then they started arguing halfway through.”

“About what?”

Esmeralda smirks. “Whether he was enjoying himself too much.”

Señora Valentina snorts.

Esmeralda sits, tucks one leg under herself, and pulls cash from her robe pocket. “They left early. Paid for the full night. Nice people. I hope they work it out.” She hands her share to Señora V.

“God bless jealousy,” Mercedes says.

“And upfront payment,” Esmeralda adds.

They clink heart mugs.

Mercedes turns her attention back to me. “So, Cruz Moreno, raised in a brothel and still blushing at breakfast.”

“I’m not blushing.”

“You are a little,” Esmeralda says.

“I’m tired.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Señora Valentina points at me. “He was in the pink room.”

Esmeralda’s eyebrows shoot up. “Next to mine?”