Page 183 of Damián

“Dami was hired to help you lock up your father? Wow,” Fernanda chuckles, shaking her head and taking a chocolate chip cookie. “Who is your father, a sociopathic monster?” She jokes, but when neither of us laughs, she stops. “Wait… he is?”

“Kinda…” I say.

“How much of a sociopathic monster is he?”

“Elijah West,” Oliver says quietly.

“Oh, my God!” Fernanda gasps, her jaw dropping in sheer horror.

“Which means nothing to us.” I glare at her as I reach down and squeeze Oliver’s hand, locking my fingers through his to let him know it is okay.

And I totally get my sister… Of course she is shocked, because of course… It’s freaking shocking to have someone like Elijah as your father.

“Oliver West.” My mother adds, smiling warmly. “That’s a very handsome last name.”

“Ma! Elijah West is a drug-dealing human trafficker…” Fernanda explains, and my mother’s smile fades into a look of surprise.

She turns her head slowly to look at Oliver. “And that’s your father?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Oliver whispers, looking like he’s preparing for the worst.

“The son of a drug dealer dating a man of the law…” My mother stares at him for a beat, and then her hands fly to her cheeks. “¡Star-crossed lovers! ¡Just like in my novel!”

Fernanda rubs her temples, groaning. “How many novels do you read, Ma?”

“Not enough, mija.”

Fernanda takes a sip of her tea, sets her mug down, and nods toward us. “So,” she looks at Mamá, “you are okay with this?”

“Aren’t you?” Mamá asks, picking up a cookie.

“Pretty boy saved my kid,” Fernanda shrugs, taking a bite. “I’m very okay with it.”

“I’m more than okay with this,” Mamá agrees. “And por favor, mija, look at your brother’s smile.”

“Ma! We are still sitting right in front of you. Can you save this talk for when you go to your rooms?”

“Fine!” Fernanda says, leaning forward and crossing her arms. “I’ll accept this relationship if Oliver answers one question right.”

“I thought you just said you already accepted it,” I grumble.

“I do, but I want to know this.”

“Ask away,” says Oliver, and I can tell he is tense.

“No, mi cielo, you don’t need to answer her weird—”

“Why do you like my brother?” Fernanda cuts in, speaking right over me, and I instantly stop talking because fuck yeah, I really want to know the answer to this too.

I turn to Oliver.

His cheeks are a light shade of pink, and he glances down at his hands before looking back up. “It’s a little cheesy…”

“We love cheesy!” My ma encourages him.

“Well…Damián is like the sun to me,” he says, biting his lower lip. “He can be a bit too much, and he’s super annoying when he’s blazing right on top of you… but looking at him takes my breath away. He is bright, warm, and keeps the darkness away. Damián brings so much light and life into my world.”

My chest tightens so hard it hurts.