“What makes you think I’m the one in the wrong?” she asks, slightly vexed.
“Well, I know you can be annoyingly stubborn.”
“You taught me everything, you old bat.”
“As annoyingly stubborn as your granddaughter might be,” I say, “I’m afraid I’m in too deep.”
The old woman nods before looking down at our hands in hers. A frown twists her brows as she notices something. “Have you been wearing my ring?” she asks Andrea.
We both look down, and fuck… The tan lines didn’t look that obvious back in the car when we removed our rings. But with all the hiking, we have quite a tan, and our fake wedding bands left white lines at the base of our ring fingers.
When Maria Carmen notices mine too, her shock grows tenfold. “Did you two get secretly married?!”
Before we can answer, Isabella appears at the door to practically shout, “What?!”
“No, we didn’t,” Andrea quickly says, freeing her hand from her grandmother’s to hide it behind her back.
“You’ve been wearing rings on your wedding fingers. Both of you,” Maria Carmen insists.
“It wasn’t like that. I promise we—”
“You two eloped?” Now it’s Michael, standing by his wife’s side.
“We didn’t!” Andrea promises.
“We need to tell them the truth,” I interject, sensing the situation spiraling out of control. “They need to know, Andrea, for their own safety.”
That shuts everyone up, and Andrea gives herself a few seconds to think about it. But she must have already thought things through, because she’s quick to find my gaze and nod.
“Ask Rafa to come in,” she tells her parents. “And close the door.”
Lex is right. They need to know. I’ve been considering it the entire journey here, but I was too scared to bring it up, to let them know MC was hurt because of me.
Seeing her in this hospital bed, so frail and pale, broke my heart. I could have avoided it. Should have. But I failed her. I refuse to fail the rest of them.
So, once Rafa has joined us, and the door is closed, I join Lex on his side of the room and look at my family. The words seem stuck in my throat, or maybe it’s because I don’t know which ones to start with. I’m about to ask Lex to do it himself when his hand comes to my lower back, resting there supportively.
“Lex and I weren’t vacationing,” I say first, looking out the window. “We were in hiding in a safe house in Canada.”
“What? Why?” Mom asks.
“The day I was shot, it wasn’t… it wasn’t an accident. A woman from the FBI came while I was still in the hospital, and she explained people are trying to kill Nammota.” I hear their gasps, but I don’t let it stop me. “She told us there’s a million-dollar bounty on Nammota’s head, and for lack of a better option, they’re coming after Lex. The man who shot me actually tried to shoot him, but I got in the way.”
“Pollito …”
“I wanted to tell you, but we thought it would be safer if you didn’t know. But I was wrong. The man who shot me had a snake tattooed onhis face. Just like the man who pushed Maria Carmen. He hurt her to get to me, and through me, to Lex.”
Only then do I muster the courage to look at my abuela. “I’m so sorry, MC,” I say, tears welling up in my eyes. “You’re here because of me, of us. He did this so we would come out of hiding.”
I’m forced to stop because I’m sobbing, and Lex wraps his arm around my shoulder, pulling me into his comforting embrace.
“But it’s ridiculous,” Mom says. “Why would they come after Lex when he’s been acquitted? He’s clearly not Nammota. They have the wrong man.”
I close my eyes, doing my best to contain my breathing. If we tell them the whole truth, we’re putting them in even more danger, aren’t we? We need to act dumb and confused.
Before I can do that, though, my father, who seemingly has had doubts for a while, says, “They’re coming after Alexander because heisNammota. And Andrea… she did the hit while he was locked up, to get him out.”
Fuck. The cat’s out of the bag now.
