“Flora, you can have as much time with your mother as you want. There’s no rush.”
I know she wants to believe me, but she’s more than just apprehensive about being back here. She’s terrified. It’s a sign of trust that she came at all since she suggested we just go to New York instead.
We all climb into the SUVs and set off from the airport. We chat in the car about how cold it was in Switzerland, and how Latin Americans just aren’t cut out for that sort of thing. We share how Flora spent a lot of time reading while I played my usual card games. And how we swam, and I still worked out. We name some movies we watched.
Alejandro’s in the third row behind me and next toPapá. He’s discreet, but he flicks my ear enough to sting when we mention swimming. He knows precisely what Flora and I got up to that we would never dare mention.
I ignore him just like I have since we were kids, and I tried to hide something I did wrong from my parents. Even though I’m a few years older than him, we’ve always been super close.Tres J’s have each other. I never liked my brother, and he always preferred to hang out with our neighbor, Laura Doyle, who’snow Laura Kutsenko. Alejandro’s an only child, so we gravitated to each other. We’re a lot alike and have wound up with similar jobs as enforcers.
It means we’ve worked together and received the same training.Tres J’sknows the same things we do. However, since I’m the head enforcer and Alejandro often works alone here in Colombia, our family forced us to practice some things more thanTres J’shas.
It’s not long before we reach Flora’s apartment. Her hand grips my thigh just above my knee.
“Pablo, we’re not exactly inconspicuous. Are they surrounding the building?”
She obviously knows what to look for and realizes we have guards along this street besides the five veritable tanks we arrive in.
“Of course.”
She stares at me and nods before waiting for me to get out first. She slides over to my spot once the driver and front passenger stand beside me. We let her out. The four of us move forward, enough for Alejandro andPapáto get out too. The five of us surround her as we head inside the building. She cranes her neck to see into the mailroom and the steps to the basement.
She spots guards there. There’s one positioned in front of the elevator. We ride up to her floor, and we find another guard outside the elevator. There are three guards next to her door.
“Pablo, tell me these are the only men here. That there are no others.”
I give her an unrepentant stare.
“Oh, God. Pablo, are they in the stairwell and on each floor by the elevator?”
“Of course.”
Papá,TíoEnrique, and my cousins all said this was excessive. I know Flora believes it is too. I told the men that it makes a point.
Stay the fuck away from my woman.
I might not have sworn when I was talking toPapáandTíoEnrique, but I did when I spoke to my four cousins together and separately.
Her shoulders droop, and she sighs with resignation. “Let me guess, they’ve already been inside and swept the place.”
“No. I told you I’d be over-the-top controlling, but I haven’t violated your privacy. Please let Alejandro and Paco go in ahead of us.”
I nod toward one man guarding the door. She pulls her keys from her pocket and hands them to me. I unlock it, but not untilPapágently takes her arm and backs her away from the door. He stands behind her as the other two guards step in front of them. If anything happens, I’ll be the first target, and the other men can protect her.
When nothing happens, Alejandro and Paco go inside. I move to stand beside Flora, slipping my arm around her waist. I don’t have to draw her against me. She leans instead. It’s a few minutes before we get the all-clear to go inside. She’d already spotted the packing supplies outside the door.
We move through the living room and dining room together as she tells the men what she wants to bring with her. She believes we’ll put it all in storage either here or in New York. I haven’t told her I’d like to go through everything and combine our households. I don’t want to overwhelm her entirely with all these major changes.
Chapter Nineteen
Flora
Pablo and I head into my bedroom with packing supplies, and I appreciate the privacy. I don’t want any of those men seeing me pack my panties or vibrator. I twist to look back into the living room as Luis holds a box shut, and Alejandro tapes it.
“Your father and cousin don’t need to do this. This is so far beneath them.”
“Helping you will never be beneath them.”
“Moving—packing boxes. It’s menial labor. They’re in suits.”
