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Roberto had never married either woman. It was rumored he’d named Falcon his heir to satisfy the family demanding he marry at the time—just for said heir. Though Margot had mentioned that Raeg was named as well, ensuring the two men would share equally in whatever they inherited.
“My hearts,” Roberto said softly to the women at each side of him. “May I introduce the woman our sons are so enamored of? Summer Dawn Calhoun. Ms. Calhoun, Falcon’s mother, Maria Mendoza, and Raeg’s mother, Selena Raegent. Unfortunately, we could not bring their sister, Hailey Anne, this trip. Perhaps next.”
Finishing the chicken, he laid the stripped bone on a paper towel lying on the counter before wiping his fingers on another.
“They’re upstairs,” Summer told them softly, feeling the dried tears on her cheeks as Roberto’s gaze flickered to them with a frown. “I was just leaving…”
Roberto’s lips thinned. “You did not tell them what I advised you to say, did you?”
The disapproval in his pale blue eyes had her frowning back at him, wondering what it was about men that made them think they could control her. It had to be her short stature, there was no other explanation.
“They are highly intelligent men, I’m told,” she informed him mutinously. “And they know it was you who gave me the bracelet when they recognized it. If they haven’t figured out yet that you have no intentions of murdering me, then they’re not going to figure it out.”
“I warned you he was too stubborn for this,” Selena muttered at Roberto’s side as she shot him an irritated look. Roberto frowned in dark displeasure. “Raeg will not accept that you’re not a threat to her.”
“And here I have always claimed he was the smart one,” Maria snorted, propping one hand on a curvy hip and glaring down at her male lover. “This is unacceptable, Roberto. We grow weary of our sons ignoring our requests to see them. And our daughter does not even know her brothers.”
Those were two very unhappy women, Summer thought.
Roberto leaned back in the stool and regarded Summer silently, almost accusingly.
“It’s not my fault your sons are far too stubborn for normal good sense,” she pointed out, frowning back at him. “I suspect they came by it naturally too.”
“I told you how to handle this.” He leaned forward, his gaze narrowing on her. “I was quite clear on it, Summer. You are just as stubborn.”
Her lips pursed at the accusation.
“Excuse me,” she bit out, deeply offended now. “I am not the one who created this situation, Roberto, Steven, whatever your name is tonight. You created it. Let’s not forget that.”
He stared back at her for long moments before speaking.
“Did I not tell you she was a cheeky little creature?” he asked the women watching him as a grin quirked his lips. “Reminds me of the two of you at that age, she does.”
Summer shook her head. Impossible. Now she knew where Raeg and Falcon had gotten the habit of driving her completely crazy.
“This is not solving the problem at hand, Roberto,” Maria reminded him, her voice hardening. “I grow weary of this fight between you and our sons. Because you were too stubborn to listen to reason, they punish us. Now fix it.”
He grimaced at the demand. “What do you think I am attempting to do, my love?” he questioned her, frustration evident in his tone. “They refuse to cooperate with my efforts. This is their fault, it is not mine.”
Summer saw the two women staring at him with the same look of disbelief she knew was on her face.
“God, I know where they get it from now,” she muttered, brushing the curls that escaped from the braid, back from her face. “It’s obvious insanity runs on the paternal side.”
Maria shot her an amused look. “Not insanity, my dear, they simply become spoiled far too easily. It makes them difficult to handle.”
And Roberto looked far too satisfied at the accusation that he was indeed spoiled.
“Well, he’s yours.” She shrugged. “As are Falcon and Raeg. You can deal with them, my part in this is finished.”
“Summer, do not be difficult,” Roberto admonished her, the look on his face similar to the one her father used when he accused her of being too hard-headed. “We will explain things, and they will see they are being stubborn, nothing more. Everything will be good then. I promise you.”
“Explain?” She propped her hands on her hips and glared at him. “You don’t understand, Roberto. When they let me walk down those stairs tonight, they were letting me walk out of their lives. This is over. I will not beg and I so don’t need two men who have to have things explained to them by their parents as though they’re children. If they stay, and if we have children, I want our babies to have fathers strong enough to be adults.”
“Babies?” Selena seemed to latch onto that word, her expression suddenly softening. “You want babies, Summer?”
“How many?” Maria’s voice was somehow softer, almost dreamy.
Roberto was no better. His expression filled with such male hope it was pathetic.
