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Except this time, she’s not trying to escape her life.
“Bass!” Nico’s voice yanks me back. I turn around as my brother comes jogging through the undergrowth. “Bro, we’d better get back.”
“What’s going on?”
“Marisol got dropped off at the front gate.”
Alone in my office. Mari looks exhausted. Mother insists on making her some tea. I sit behind my desk scowling as my wife sips, her body language hunched and afraid.
“You left me alone in the dark,” I say quietly, and her chin instantly snaps to attention.
“No, that’s not—”
“But you did.” I bite out each word. “And the sick part is, I’m not as angry as I should be.”
“Bass…”
“You left me, Marisol. You knew what it meant to go to that house. You were going to turn yourself in for Cruz, weren’t you?”
“Yes.” No shame in her voice. I’m both heartbroken and proud. “And you would have done the same.”
“No,” I say but know she’s right deep down. If it were Vince or Nico or Lia in that house, I would have thrown myself on the doorstep. I would have happily sacrificed my own life for any one of them. I lean forward, elbows on my desk.
“You’re lying and you know it.” Her face remains calm and composed. “I learned it from you, you know. That’s what I was thinking as I walked up to that door. All my life I’ve been trying to run away, but I should try being like you for a change.”
“No, Marisol, please. You don’t owe anyone your life.”
“Why do you think you do?”
“Because—” I catch myself before I let the anger take me. Rage is too easy. It’s a mask I’ve worn for a long time now. It’s how I’ve kept the real emotions at bay, the regret and the hate, the broken-hearted sadness at my failures, and I won’t give in to it now. I breathe deep. “Because I failed my brother.”
“And I don’t want to fail mine.”
“Marisol.” I come around the desk and kneel beside her. I take her hands in mine, carefully placing her tea aside. I lean my head into her lap. “I can’t lose you.”
“You’re not going to.” She strokes her fingers through my hair. “I’m sorry, Bass. I really am. I knew you’d try to stop me if I told you and I had to do something for Cruz. I wanted to be like you. I want to be strong. I want to protect people instead of running away from them.”
“You are strong, my love.” I sit up and take her face in my hands. “You have survived a lot already, and I will not let you suffer more if I can avoid it.”
She nuzzles into me. “But that’s the thing. That’s why we need to talk, because I think there’s a way out that doesn’t involve me going to Ruben at all.”
That gets my attention. I kiss her. “Tell me.”
She talks about her aunt and their conversation in the garden. I stand and pace until she finishes, my head working in circles.
“She hates him, Bass. I mean, really, really hates him. Ruben’s not her kid and she was forced to raise him and to lie to everyone about it for years. Can you imagine? And then he kills her husband. I think it broke her.”
“But can we trust this woman? You’ve never had anything good to say about her.”
Mari tilts her head uncertainly. “I think she hates Ruben and I think she wants to hurt him.”
“We agree on that at least.”
“Then we should work with her.”
I hesitate, not happy about her aunt’s sudden turn. But it makes sense: if he really isn’t her blood and he murdered her husband, I’d be fucking pissed too and want to get revenge.
And she didn’t turn Mari in to him. That’s the biggest thing I can’t get over. She had the chance to give him exactly what he wants and could have gathered some serious good will—but instead, she went behind his back to keep Mari safe.
