Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 98524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
“Oh, it’s nothing, angel. Nothing. Come on. Let’s wash those hands.” I guided her to the sink, helped her wash up, then left the restroom.
Before I sat at the table with Javier again, I glanced at Paola. She sipped from a coffee cup, this time not appearing as stern as she regarded me. If anything, she seemed a bit remorseful and had more of an I did what I had to do to protect my family sense about her.
However, her eyes screamed one very specific thing.
Please do not break my son.
Thirty-One
Javier
The trip to New York was much needed. I realized that after we had returned home and my family dumped their bags by the door. They all plopped down on the sofas with big sighs and yawns.
Aleesa, although exhausted, had been content with the trip and had hardly cried. She had needed one bedtime story Saturday night to settle down, and after that, it was lights out.
Octavia had seemed to grow closer with Catalina in a matter of hours. They caught a few drinks at the hotel bar Saturday night, after Aleesa fell asleep. They invited me, too, and my mother insisted that I should go and find a woman to flirt with (I rolled my eyes at that) while she kept an eye on Aleesa. Something had told me Octavia needed a moment to herself, so I had stayed in the hotel room.
I was not sure what it was, but Octavia had looked at me differently after visiting the billboard. I noticed admiration and understanding, but there were also questions in her eyes. Those brown irises burned with curiosity.
There was even a moment on the plane ride home when she started to ask me something but clamped her mouth shut and changed her mind. It had made me wonder if my sister had said something to her about my past.
I would not have put it past my sister. She had a bad habit of trying to make people understand me, like she had to take responsibility for my lack of sensitivity in certain situations.
“I can order dinner for everyone,” Octavia said, with her phone already out. “Do sub sandwiches sound okay?”
“That is perfect,” I said.
“You’ve got it.”
Aleesa climbed onto my lap and hugged me around the neck. “I sweepy, Daddy.”
“I know you are, princesa. After dinner, we will get you to bed.”
Catalina went to the wine fridge for two bottles of red, then poured glasses for herself and my mother. She offered one to Octavia, too, but she turned it down, insisting that she wanted to make sure Aleesa was tucked away first before shifting into adult time.
The bell to the gates rang about an hour later.
“That’s probably our food. I’ll get it.” Octavia rose from the sofa and made her way to the front door.
“So, big bro . . .” Catalina said with a sigh as she sat beside me. I noticed her voice was quieter than usual. “The babysitter, huh?”
I frowned at her. “What?”
She cocked her head to the left. “Octavia. She makes you happy?”
“Why are you asking that? She is here for Aleesa, and yes, she makes her happy.”
My sister scoffed. “Please, Javier. Don’t play dumb with me. I talked to her last night. I know what’s going on. She’s smitten, by the way.”
I glanced at my mother, who was sitting on the floor with Aleesa, helping her build a tower with jumbo blocks.
“Do not make a big deal of this, Catalina,” I returned in a low voice. “You or Mamá. Please.”
“I’m not. But for what it’s worth, I like that you’re smiling again. I can’t even remember the last time I got to see all of your teeth.”
I chuckled. “Shut up, Cat.”
“I’m just saying.” She took a long sip of wine. “With her around, though, do you think about Eloise and—”
“Javier?”
I turned to the sound of Octavia’s voice. She stood near the start of the foyer, with confusion twisting her features.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, standing up.
“There’s a man at the door. He said he needs to speak to you . . . and that it’s urgent.”
“Did he say what his name was?”
“No,” she said as I approached, “but he said you’ll know it when you see him.”
“What?” I walked around her and made my way through the foyer. At the end of the hall, the front door was cracked open just a sliver, allowing a slice of light to spill onto the waxed floor. I could see some of the person’s shadow through the crack. Gripping the knob, I pulled the door open wider.
When I saw the familiar man in the suit and tie, with tan skin and nearly black hair, my entire mood deflated.
“Javier.” He removed his aviator sunglasses and tipped his chin, revealing dark-brown eyes. “I think it’s about time we have a chat.”