“Are you absolutely sure?”
My face flushes, and I cannot lie to him. He’s been nothing but good to me. “No.”
“Then we will get married as soon as possible.”
“Why? Why would you want this?”
He cups my cheek. “You can’t possibly want that other man, the one Ruiz told me rides a motorcycle, the one who belongs to that gang of outlaws.”
“Mateo—”
“Tell me you don’t want to throw your life away, Luisa.”
Tears spill down my cheeks.
“So it’s true.” His jaw tightens, and he’s silent for a long moment. Then he takes me in his arms, and I sob against his suit jacket. “Hush. Everything will be fine, Luisa. We’ll tell them we don’t want a big wedding. We’ll plan it as soon as possible. We’ll say we can’t wait to be together and start our life. I’ll be a good husband, and I’ll love this child as my own.”
“You’re too good to be true, Mateo. I don’t understand why you would do this for me.”
“I care about you, Luisa. I always have. Perhaps it isn’t love, but it will be enough. I’ll give you everything you want, and we’ll be happy. Everyone will say what a beautiful couple we make, and soon they’ll say what a beautiful family we make. I’ll speak with your father right now. You must see it’s the only way. Yes?”
I nod against his chest.
“Good. It’s settled then. You have nothing more to worry about. I’ll handle everything. You just worry about buying a beautiful dress.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Luisa—
Carmen leans to change the song on my phone’s playlist. A second later,Ordinarycomes out of my car speakers.
She begins humming along.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see her staring at me.
“It took me an hour to get my dad to calm down the other night. What happened when you went home?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Blue sure was something, wasn’t he? I watched from the window. The way he went after Ruiz and the way he shoved you behind him. That was hot. Made my heart melt a little for him. I want a man who’ll fight for me like that.”
“No, you don’t. You think you do, but my life is a mess.”
“It’s romantic.”
I wheel the car into a spot, and she suddenly realizes where I’ve stopped.
“What are we doing at the drugstore? You need some nail polish or something?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“We’re getting a pregnancy test.”
Carmen’s mouth drops open. “No way.”
I nod, my eyes filling.
