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Panting, I looked over at the driver’s seat. It was empty. Edward was gone.
“Lena!” Alejandro cried. A moment later, my door was wrenched open, and suddenly he was there. He yanked open the seat belt, and caught me in his strong arms as I fell.
Cradling me desperately, my husband sank to the ground, still holding me against his chest. He ran his hands over my body, found no life-ending injury and exhaled, holding me tight against him, rocking me in his lap. “Oh, my love,” he choked out. “You’re safe. You’re safe. For a moment I thought...” He looked at me fiercely. “Don’t ever do that to me again!”
“I’m sorry,” I wept, pressing my head against his chest. “He learned the truth and said if I didn’t come with him, he would ruin your life and Maurine’s and even Miguel’s. I couldn’t risk you going to jail for the rest of your life—”
“I’d rather be sent to jail for a million years,” he said hoarsely, “than lose you.” I felt his body trembling beneath me. Reaching up in amazement, I brushed away a single tear trailing down his tanned, hard-edged cheek.
Pressing my forehead to his, I whispered, “Thank you for not letting me go.”
He cupped my face, looked me straight in the eyes. “Never. We are forever....”
A low growl made us both turn.
“You’ll be sorry.” We turned to see Edward collapsed on the grass, where he’d been flung from the vehicle, across the hill. “Both of you,” he panted, “will be sorry.”
Alejandro’s hands tightened on me. I looked up at him in terror. “Don’t kill him. It’s not worth it. Remember you promised you’d never leave me....”
“Kill him?” He looked at me incredulously. “Why should I? Look at him....”
For the first time, I noticed the odd way Edward’s arms and legs were stretched out in unnatural directions on the grass. But even his body wasn’t as contorted as his face.
“I’ll tell the world,” Edward panted, “how you all committed fraud. I’ll ruin your lives—both of you—the old woman and that baby, too....”
Alejandro glared at Edward, parting his lips to answer. But someone else beat him to it.
“Calm down, dear. You’re acting crazy.”
Maurine stepped calmly between us on the hill. She peered down at Edward benignly, as if about to offer him cookies at a party, and the upside-down SUV behind us, with its crushed steel doors and a wheel still spinning, was just a decoration, like fairy lights or balloons. “Whatever you think is wrong, Alejandro is my grandson.”
Edward gave a hard laugh. “It’s a lie.” He coughed. “I’ll prove it when I get the court order for a blood test....”
“You know, I always wondered.” She smiled, then looked at Alejandro, who was still on the ground, holding me protectively in his lap. She gave a brisk nod. “I was about to tell you, before all the fuss broke out. The hairbrush. You’re my grandson, Alejandro. Really and truly. The grandson of my heart.” She gave us a broad, self-satisfied smile. “Also a grandson of a DNA test.”
I felt Alejandro jump. His face was pale.
“What...?” he breathed.
“The silly secret was just causing such a problem between you two.” She looked between us severely. “And the way you were botching things. It just was ridiculous. Honestly, I’d always wondered why your mother stayed on as housekeeper for all those years, even when my son wasn’t paying her. And then there was that family resemblance.... Anyway. It never mattered to me one way or the other. Until it started to interfere with your happiness.” She grinned. “So I took your hairbrush and had a DNA test. You are my grandson, Alejandro. By heart, as you always were. But also by blood.”
“No!” Edward screamed. Then he was suddenly quiet. I think he had fainted from pain.
Rather vengefully, I hoped he had. Although I didn’t want him to die, of course. I didn’t. Really, I didn’t.
Alejandro’s eyes were wide. “Is this true, Abuela?”
She nodded. “Remain the Duke of Alzacar, and if anyone wants to check if you are my grandson, let them.” She looked at him and said quietly, “There is no one left in the family to inherit, if not you. No one you’re cheating of his rightful due. And let me tell you something more. You’re the finest duke of them all.”
