The jefe exhaled slowly, then turned to the others.“Wait outside.”
Enrique’s muscles coiled tighter than a rattlesnake as Santiago and Domingo dashed out into the hall.As the door thudded shut, he sucked in a deep breath and held it in his straining lungs.Rubén’s sharp, unforgiving gaze bore into him like a laser set to kill.
Rubén launched to his feet.“What is your fucking problem with me?”
Enrique clenched his jaw and gripped the armrests to stay seated.His nerves burned as though he’d cut off the tips and dipped them in salt.His stomach twisted into a gnarled lump.
“Talk to me, Ricky.What’s on your mind?”Rubén asked more calmly, though he gnashed his teeth.
“Lourdes.”A low, bitter laugh ripped through Enrique’s throat.All the frustration and helplessness clawing at his chest poured out.“I can’t stop thinking about her.Last night, she woke up screaming from a night terror.Because of your asshole brother.”
Rubén’s eyebrows slammed down in a thick V.The scarred white line cutting through the left brow nearly disappeared in his dark hair.
“He beat her, Rubén.Abused her in ways that make me sick.She hasn’t said it, but I think he raped her.I should’ve killed him.I should’ve p-protected her,” he said, his voice cracking.
“She wasn’t yours to protect,” Rubén replied softly.“Not then, anyway.Had you tried, Jacobo or our father would’ve killedyou.”
“I would’ve succeeded.As long as Jacobo was dead and Lourdes was free, I would’ve accepted any fate.Any punishment.”He stood and paced across the office, the veins in his legs twitching from inactivity.Anxiety.“Jacobo was a monster.”
“You’ll get no argument from me.”Rubén sighed and rubbed his temples.“So you’re acting like an ass because you need someone to blame?Jacobo isn’t here, but I am.”
Enrique’s jaw ticked.“You’re his brother.”
“But I’m nothing like him.Iamyour best friend and your fucking boss.”
That hit, stopping him in mid-step.He groaned and pressed the heels of his hands against his eye sockets.“I’m sorry, Rubén.I just need an outlet.Something to punch.”He slammed his fist against his open palm and trembled from the hate sweeping through him.
“I understand.When I think about what happened to Drina, I wish her tormentors were still alive so I could kill them again.”He squeezed Enrique’s shoulder before letting go.“But our women are strong.Lourdes is fine now.”
“She’s not fine.Sometimes, she gets this faraway look in her eyes like she’s not even there.She goes off into her own mind, trapped in memories.”His chest tightened from the boulder of fury pressing on him.None of this was Rubén’s business, but he needed a sounding board.Someone to help him, advise him.For Lourdes’s sake, he would bare his soul.And hers.“She had two miscarriages.”
“What?No, she would’ve said something if that happened.”As Enrique scowled at him, Rubén grumbled a curse.“My God.I didn’t know.Jacobo, was he responsible?”
“Of course.”Might as well tell him everything.He forced out his next words.“She’s terrified of getting pregnant again.We’re talking adoption.I don’t know what to do, Rubén.I don’t know how to help her.”
An overwhelming sense of weakness burned low in his gut.What kind of man was he that he couldn’t help the woman he loved through her trauma?
Enrique let out a slow, frustrated breath.“Let’s get back to the meeting.I’m all right now.Keep this to yourself, mi amigo.”
“That’s a given.”Rubén sighed, shaking his head, and walked toward the door.He cracked it open, then snapped his shoulders back.“Lourdes?”
Enrique hurried over.
She waited with Santiago and Domingo in the hallway.Fine lines bracketed her eyes and mouth.She shifted her feet as though debating whether she should leave.
“Join us, sister.”Rubén waved her inside before closing the door on the councilmen.
“Are you all right, princess?”Enrique pulled her close and rested his hands on her waist.Her damn jeans and beaded blue blouse shielded him from the skin he longed to touch.
Lourdes bit her glossy red lip.“Drina, Sera, and I were leaving the kitchen when I overheard your friends saying you’ve lost your mind, so I came to investigate.”
He half-laughed/half-choked and rested his forehead on hers.The scent of lilacs wafting from her curly locks eased the fevered rush in his veins.
“We need to talk, Lourdes.”Rubén settled on the leather sofa near his desk and patted the cushion beside him.
She turned in Enrique’s embrace and rested her backside against his front.“First, tell me one thing.Were you two about to come to blows?”
A grin spread across Rubén’s cheeks.“Wouldn’t be the first time.”
