She hurried over to me and handed me a small, plastic cassette tape.
“Oh, that’s not mine,” I said.
“It isn’t mine either. I definitely didn’t put it in my pocket.”
I took the tape from her, an idea forming in my head. This tape might be the key to everything.
Chapter 14
Islippedintothestadium, having gotten permission from the security team in advance. I wasn’t sure if it was my name that got me in or the fact that I told them I was going to surprise Ernesto, but they’d handed over a temporary key card with no fuss.
Neto was sitting in the stands, playing the guitar. I locked eyes with him and my ribs seemed to constrict, but I walked slowly to the penalty box and sat down on the bench. He played a few more chords and made a note in a small, leather notebook. Then he stood, and my heart sprinted as he slowly walked toward me. He stopped just inside the box, leaning casually against the glass, arms folded across his broad chest. But he couldn’t fool me; I could see his pulse race at the hollow of his throat.
“Hey,” he said, his voice deep and low.
“Hey.” I fought to keep my voice from shaking.
“You seem to be in the penalty box.”
“I am. I’ve earned myself five minutes.”
He smiled at that. My recent hyper-fixation on hockey had taught me that five minutes was the amount of time a player would be in the box for a major penalty.
He sat next to me, his thigh touching mine. “What did you do, hit somebody with your gloves off?”
“Yeah, I think I did. And I’m really sorry about it. But I’m getting ahead of myself. I have two things to show you first.”
I reached into my bag and pulled out a paper with a seal on the front and passed it to him.
His eyes widened as he read the words. “You changed your name?”
I nodded, blinking back tears. “I’m not going to abandon my mother’s name, or run from its legacy, but I am more than just a de Bourgh. I’m also a Santos. And it’s about time I acknowledged it fully.”
He reached out a hand. “Hi, Anne de Bourgh-Santos. I’m Ernesto Garcia.”
I shook his hand firmly. “I’m pleased to meet you, Ernesto.”
“How’s your mother going to react when you show her this?”
“I already did.” My thoughts drifted back to earlier that day. After my walk, I’d stopped by my house to grab the documents I’d need and headed straight to the courthouse. I’d finger-combed my windswept hair, cringing at the sand that had settled there as I waited in line, and filled out all the documents I needed. That was the easy part. The hard part was standing in front of my mother, knees shaking as I showed her the paper. Her face had turned white with shock, a sight I’d never seen before.
“Why did you feel the need to do this?” she asked, her words sharp.
“Because I am more than just a de Bourgh, Mamá. And I have more than one legacy to uphold.”
Her jaw had clenched as she took a moment to compose herself before she said, “Now, be reasonable. I’m proud of you for honoring your father, but that doesn’t change your duty to the crown or to me.” That familiar weight of obligation and duty fell to my shoulders, but as it did, so did a realization. I’d spent a long time considering how to fulfill that duty while being true to myself and what I wanted, and that heavy feeling hadn’t once come over me. I thought back to the last talk I’d had with Mamá and how willing I had been to give up Neto. HowcompliantI’d been.
“You’ve been manipulating my emotions,” I said.
Mamá stiffened. “You were being unreasonable. I simply helped you to calm down.”
“No. You made me feel what you wanted me to feel. So you could control me.”
“I—”
“No.” Never in my life had I dared to cut my mother off, but one look at my expression had her backing down. “Don’t ever use that ability on me again,” I said. “I am not a child and I will make my own choices. I’ve scheduled a meeting with Darcy to go over my duties and how I can best support him. I do not need you to help me manage that anymore.”
I don’t know how I’d expected her to react, but it certainly wasn’t a look of respect coming over her face.
