Page 57 of Two For One

My chest felt tight as I thought about what to tell O, how to plead my case and make sure we all ended up together. I knew he felt this pull to her, and maybe her spell had started this feeling, but I knew what I wanted and that was not going to change.

Oliver

Xiomara looked happier than I had seen her look in days. Ezra thought he was being sneaky by cleaning up her apartment, but I had already started ordering shit by the time he reached out to Xiomara’s abuela. I felt guilty for how I had acted and the more time I sat with how she had responded made me realize I might have been wrong. I saw her destroy something, and I instantly knew it had to be the spell she had made for Kaylee. Her abuela threw the contents of the spell out the window and I rushed to catch the paper that looked to be rolled up, only to realize the paper was burnt.

I don’t know what I had expected, but nothing happening wasn’t on my list. My mind thought this burning need would disappear, but I also knew I was full of shit. My feelings for Ezra had only intensified with Xiomara and maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. I was tired of living life in uncertainty. Something had to change, and I think it had to be me and my fucked-up way of thinking.

The cool night approached quickly and I didn’t realize how late it had become when Xiomara’s abuela knocked on my window, scaring the shit out of me. She made the motion to roll down my window, and I took a deep breath expecting to be chewed out with some possible chancla violence. I’ve seen my fair share of women throwing sandals with scary accuracy that I didn’t want to be on the receiving end on.

“You know you have to speak to my nieta in order to solve your problem,” she said with her hands on her hips, before opening the door. “Be a good boy and take me home, por favor.”

I didn’t argue, turning the car on as she told me where to go, even though I knew where she lived. Xiomara paid for the best senior facility in the area.

The silence was unnerving as I drove, wishing she would just yell at me to get over this guilt that was eating me alive.

“Abuela, just spit it out,” I said, through clenched teeth.

“No, you seem to suffer in silence. I think you need to suffer,” she said, grabbing a candy out of her purse.

The wrapper made the loudest sound possible, grating on my nerves. We reached the facility and I braced myself for impact.

“My father was Antonio Caleb Solis,” she said softly.

My eyes grew wide as I thought I had heard wrong.

“I take it by your expression you know who he was?” she asked, keeping her gaze forward. “My uncle, Marco Erik Solis, took over his operations when he died. I was seven when he passed and my life drastically changed. I was no longer the mafia princess who everyone doted on. After his death, it was like I ceased to exist. I used to hate it, but it wasn’t until I tried to leave that my uncle told me he had kept me isolated to keep me safe. He had no children of his own so he took my brother under his wing, but he wanted at least one of us to have a normal life.”

“That’s understandable,” I said, still grasping the fact that she was a cartel princess.

“My brother hated me for it,” she said, turning towards me. “Sent someone to kill me after we came to America. I almost died and if it hadn’t been for Xiomara’s grandfather Rojelio, they would have succeeded. I knew we might not ever leave the danger until one day, I felt his anger lift. He sent me a letter, even though I don’t know how he found me and said he hoped I had a great life for both of us. That was the last time I ever heard anything from him, or anyone associated with that life. I had planned on keeping it that way, until you and Ezra walked into Xiomara’s life.”

“Is this where you tell me to fuck off?” I growled.

“I wish,” she glared at me. “That spell she cast just accelerated what was already going to happen. She didn’t mean to put her name on the piece of paper. Kaylee should have written it down and she didn’t, so when Xiomara went to write her name, for some reason, she wrote hers, not catching it before she completed the spell.”

“Even if it was on accident, how can I⁠—”

“Magic doesn’t work like that. There has to be some sort of attraction or feeling to build on it,” she snapped. “Everything she told me about the spell and what happened that night makes me believe you were supposed to fall for Xiomara and come to terms with your feelings with Ezra.”

“How the hell did you know that?”

“Ezra looks at you like you hang the moon and Xiomara holds the stars,” she said. “Ezra wears his heart on his sleeve while you are guarded, and you have every right to be with how shitty your family was to you.”

I clenched my jaw, anger fueling the rage I was feeling.

“Don’t get your panties in a twist,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I can’t read your mind, but living this long, I've learned a lot. I know you hate feeling exposed, but you need this and if you’re going to be with my nieta, then you need to clean your shit up and be a man for her, not some fuck boy.”

I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped. This eighty-year-old woman threatened me like I was a child.

“Never change, abuela,” I said, as she smirked.

“I don’t plan to,” she grinned. “I told Ezra to stay away, but now I know that’s a mistake and if this is going to work, then you need him. Xiomara and Ezra will heal you in ways you never knew you needed, but I need you to also be what they need.”

Fear kept me silent. This is why I didn’t do relationships; I didn’t want to fail someone and that fear kept me single. How could I be enough for someone when my own family never wanted me?

“You are enough, mijo,” she said, cupping my cheek. “And if you need someone to tell you that, all you do is call me. We can do Bingo on Fridays and I can show you off to all the old ladies, and they can be jealous.”

I chuckled. “I love Bingo.”