Page 98 of Sweet Heart

“No need. You can’t help this.”

Cat blinks and turns toward her father.

“Is that true, Dad? Or could this have been prevented?”

“Katherina, I have no control—”

“Are either of you going to tell me what the fuck is going on here?”

Cat’s voice is quiet but sharper than a razor’s edge. It sends an instant shiver down my spine, and I feel myself shrink into the pillows. The moment she sees it, her face changes into one of regret, and she moves toward me, kneeling again, placing her hands on my thighs.

“Maria, por favor,” she asks, much more quietly now. “Dime.” Tell me.

Rosa’s eyebrows lift, but she remains silent. Her hand, still on my knee, squeezes me softly as if she wants to spur me on, and just like that, the words tumble from my lips. I tell them everything, from the moment I answered the door to how he left me shaken and bewildered.

By the time I’m finished, Cat has stepped back from me. Her face white as a sheet. I try to catch her gaze, but she is staring at something far outside of this room. Her fingers are curled inward, and her fists are stiff along the length of her torso. I want to reach for her, touch her, tell her how sorry I am for not saying anything, but Rosa’s hand curls around my wrist when I try to move. It is almost as if she is telling me to sit this one out. At least for now. I do, because, for some reason, I already trust her completely.

Eduardo’s jaw is tense, but he, too, remains silent, pinned down by a fiery glare from his wife. Rosa is the one commanding the room at this moment, and she tells us to yield to her daughter.

Cat’s eyes finally drop onto mine, and something seems to come over her. She steps forward, cradles my cheek with one hand, and takes my pulse with the other. A soft, relieved sigh escapes her.

“Better?” she asks so quietly, it is clearly just for me.

“Better.”

“Good,” she says, straightening again. “Then we are leaving.”

“¡Hija!” Rosa yelps, her eyes suddenly filled with panic.

“No, mamá. We are not sharing dinner with the person who caused this. I will not risk her health for anything or anyone,” she hisses as she glares over her shoulder.

Eduardo moves now. His face is contorted with something that looks akin to rage. He points his finger at me, and grits his teeth.

“She is the one causing all this,” he says, gesturing wildly around him as he grunts out the words. “She is the one making you throw away everything you worked so hard for.”

“She isn’t doing any of that,” Cat snarls in a tone so low and quiet that it seems to halt her father.

“Eres estúpida, Katherina. After Alex—”

I shudder at the sound of that name, and every one of Cat’s muscles tenses.

“She is not Alex,” she snaps and turns toward him so quickly that I startle.

Rosa steadies me with a gentle hand on my shoulder, but the shock is visible on her face. I am not sure if she’s trying to steady me or ground herself. Maybe both.

“Maria is her own woman, papá. She is smart, she is funny, and she makes me happy.”

“You should make yourself happy,” he growls back. “But instead, you are willing to become a concierge just so you can date your patient. Do you not have any self-respect at all?”

“Eduardo,” Rosa hisses, but he raises his hand.

“No, our daughter needs to hear this.”

His gaze drags over me quickly, before he turns back to Cat.

“You have lost yourself over love before, because you did not protect yourself. Or did you forget that moment when you almost dropped out of med school?”

Cat opens her mouth to reply, but he narrows his eyes, and I feel something ugly rear its head in my chest. My fingers curl tightly around the edges of the couch, pressing deeply into the cushions. My pulse starts to pound as he continues.