“No, but it is mine.”Lourdes withdrew her hand from his hold.
Her new fiancé blew out a long sigh.“We’ll talk later, princess.Not here.”
“Welcome,” Santiago called out as he strode over, whiskey tumbler in hand.
Startled, Lourdes greeted Enrique’s friend with a slight nod.Charm practically dripped from his smile and jet-black suit, but his gelled fauxhawk and the gold chain glinting from his open-collared shirt added a hint of danger.
“I saw you come in on the cameras.”Santiago dragged a chair from a nearby table and spun it backward before straddling it.“What’s this?One last hurrah before the wedding?And I wasn’t invited?”He clutched his chest with all the flair of an over-the-top actor.
Rubén smirked.“Good timing, mi amigo.Ricky and I texted Domingo, but he couldn’t make it on short notice.And with Zacarías in the States, our party is light.We figured you’d join us, busy or not.”
“If I cannot slack off at my own damn club, where can I?”Santiago raised his glass in a mock toast before he turned to Carlota.“Is Manuel here?”
She grimaced.“He’ll be in for the wedding.My boys won’t, unfortunately.They’re still at boarding school.”
Lourdes squeezed her friend’s hand.Carlota’s twin sons were her world, yet Manuel had shipped them off in an insane scheme to keep her from over-mothering them.
Alita returned, drinks balanced on a chrome tray.Her gaze gravitated toward Enrique as she set the tequila and cocktails on square paper coasters.
Enrique pulled Lourdes close and seized her lips in a fiery kiss.
Oh, my!Fireworks sparked in Lourdes’s mind.His hands traveled down her back in waves of dark possession.The club blurred away.Her head spun, and her heart raced.When he released her, she sucked in air.Her cheeks burned hotter than a summer day in the desert.
Alita dropped her gaze and dashed off.
“Now that’s how you deal with ex-flings who refuse to take a hint.”Drina grinned and clinked her glass with Carlota’s.
Santiago chuckled as he lit a black clove cigarette.“Ah.I was wondering what all that heat was about.”He glanced back toward the bar where the woman stood, facing away.“Don’t worry.I’ll take her off your hands, Ricky.Wipe you right out of her head.”
Enrique rolled his eyes and grumbled something under his breath.
Lourdes sipped her drink and moaned from the sweetness of the apple that cut the bite of the tequila.A year ago—hell, last week—she wouldn’t have mustered a word against her future husband sleeping with other women.But she was chained to Diego then.As the tasty green liquid pooled in her belly, she leaned in closer to Carlota and Drina.
They chatted about their children.
Fresh pain skewered her.Children—one of the many subjects she couldn’t speak on from personal experience.She rubbed her stomach and settled back into the booth.This was a bad idea.Coming here.Trying to act normal.
“You should’ve been here earlier tonight.”Santiago tapped a pillar of ash into the glass ashtray on the table.His furrowed eyebrows dropped low over his eyes.“We had three telenovela stars sitting right in this booth.They drew a crowd so huge that we had to build a wall of bouncers for them to dance.”
Enrique cocked his head.“Sounds like a regular night.What’s with the frown?”
“Mierda.”Rubén laughed and swallowed a long draft of his blue agave tequila.“Let me guess.Nova Badillo was here.”
Drina’s eyes widened.“Are you serious?You guys know her?She’s amazing inLas Sombras del Imperio.That costuming is gorgeous.”
Enrique chuckled.“We knew her briefly before she was a star, ten or so years ago.Santi knew her better than any of us.”He smirked at the man in question.“Didn’t she dump you out of the blue to run off to Mexico City?”
Santiago’s eyes narrowed to slits.“It was a mutual dumping.”
“You drank yourself blind for two weeks.”
“You want another beat-down, Enrique?”
Rubén lifted his hand.“Let the man tell his tragic love story.”
“Not much to tell.Nova left town for her career.That was that.”Santiago swirled the ice in his glass.“She was here with two ugly fuckers and practically screwed them on the dance floor.Phones were everywhere.Lights flashing.It was disgusting.”He rolled his shoulders.“Fuck her.She’s old news.”
“That’s the spirit.”Enrique clapped his arm.
