“It’s okay.”Enrique nuzzled her ear before he guided her to the sofa.
She sat with her back straighter than a steel beam.
As his friend clasped her hands, Enrique growled deep in his throat.
Rubén arched his scarred eyebrow.“In case you’ve forgotten, Enrique, I’m a happily married man.”Still, he released her hands.
Right now, his friend’s marital status didn’t matter.Not with his nerves short-circuiting.Enrique rearranged an armchair to join them and dropped into it.
“Ricky told me about your nightmares, Lourdes.He’s worried about you,” Rubén began, his tone so gentle and unlike himself.
Lourdes winced before she leveled her scowl at Enrique.“So much for the confidence between a husband and wife.”
“It’s not like that,” Enrique entreated, then fell silent as Rubén raised his hand.
“I do not intend to embarrass you, but I believe the direct approach is best,” Rubén continued and waited until she met his gaze.“What Jacobo did to you is something no woman should endure.Neither Enrique nor I could help you then, but we can now.How would you feel about speaking with a professional?”
Enrique squared his shoulders.“She has me.”
“Who?A therapist?”Lourdes ignored Enrique and shifted sideways to better face her former brother-in-law.
“Sí.”Rubén leaned toward her.“What do you know about the Tronco de la Muerte Cartel?”
“Um—they were the monsters who held Drina captive.”She pursed her lips and flicked her gaze between Rubén and Enrique and back again.“You destroyed them.”
“Correct, but Drina wasn’t the only one they had imprisoned.”The jefe blew out a deep breath and rubbed his palms down his slacks.“When my men and I took the cartel down, we rescued the women they had forced to work in their factories and brothels.I’ve opened a rehabilitation clinic for the women.You could talk with a therapist there.Someone you can vent to.Someone who will listen and understand.It’s all confidential.”
Enrique scoffed at Rubén’s offer.“It’s a good idea for her to talk, but I’m her husband.She should turn to me, not some stranger.”
“Sheis right here.”Lourdes glared at him again.“It’s so difficult for me to talk about my nightmares.I don’t want you to know the details and see me as stupid and worthless.That’s how Jacobo made me feel.That’s how my father makes me feel.”She ducked her gaze and twisted her fingers together.“I don’t want to break in front of you again.Like last night.”
Enrique knelt at her feet and grasped her clammy hands.“You have nothing to be ashamed of.If you need to break, I’ll be here to piece you back together.”
She ripped her hands away.“Forget it.I’m not some broken thing for you to fix.I’m not a bird with a bent wing or a butterfly caught in a hurricane.I want to be a tiger.You understood that last night and at the Warehouse.I want to put my past behind me, but if I share everything with you, then you’ll know.How could I move on with my life when every time I look at you, I’ll see that knowledge in your eyes?The shame of it would crush me.”
“Princess...”he trailed off, at a loss for words.Her refusal to confide in him sliced like a blade to his chest.“Youarea tiger.When we argue, sometimes I think you’re going to take my head off.”
“What do you want to do, Lourdes?”Rubén asked, drawing her attention.
She lifted her chin.“I’ve heard a lot about this clinic.Mostly through secondhand sources, but Drina has told me some things as well.Will you make an appointment for me?I’d like to go today if possible.”
“Of course.”
Her stiff shoulders slumped.She turned back to Enrique.“Please, do not fight me on this.”
“All right.”He stood and drew her up with him.The knot in his gut nearly doubled him over, but maybe the best way he could help her was to stand aside.“You’ll get whatever you need, just as I promised.”He kissed her lips and moaned from the taste of oranges on her breath.
“Let’s get back to the meeting.”Rubén heaved himself to his feet and strode to the door.
Once his fellow councilmen filed back in, Lourdes walked away with her head higher than when she’d walked in.
His princess.His wife.He couldn’t be prouder.
