She looks at me for a few moments without speaking, so I pull her closer and continue.
“Camila Fuentes resigned after a scandal surfaced involving alleged romantic involvement with several students. Herhusband, I’m certain, was not pleased, and the last I heard she was in the middle of divorce proceedings.”
I’d known about Camila’s habits from the beginning, but I simply didn’t have the evidence. Andreas obtained a few photographs and audio recordings, and the rest is history. I don’t mention to Amalia the bank transfers I arranged from various students’ parents into her account, just to make sure she understood not to get in my way again.
“And Professor Javier?”
I hold her a little tighter because the memory of his fingers in her hair makes me want to go back to Ciudad de México just to make sure he understands his place.
“Not all his fingers are fully functional anymore. And I believe he’s still wearing a cast on one foot.”
“SILAS! If he decides to file a complaint?—”
“He won’t dare. Not as long as I have written statements from multiple female students accusing him of inappropriate touching and conduct unbecoming of a faculty member. He knows that if he opens his mouth, his reputation is finished and no institution will touch him.”
I watch as she bites her lower lip gently and nods, and my eyes stay fixed on her mouth.
“I’ve already spoken with the Dean at Boston University. I’ll be heading the Mathematics Department there, five minutes from your school by car, and most importantly, I’ll be able to see you every evening at our place?—”
“Silas Vaughn, did you just ask me to move in with you?” she says, amused, and I answer her with a kiss.
I could ask her to marry me, to choose the color paint for the walls, to decide what cat we should have in the house, but I know we have time.
“Amalia Sanchez, will you move in with me?”
She bites her lower lip again, and with a slight tremor, answers.
“One hundred percent, yes! Every single day.”
“What if he doesn’t like me?” I ask, my hands moving through my hair, trying to tame it slightly.
“Amalia, he’s going to adore you.”
Silas steps out of the car and opens my door.
Ay, for the love of…I’m not even sure which mathematician can deal with this. How do you win over a ten-year-old?
I don’t get a chance to wait for the divinity’s answer because through the door comes a little boy with dark hair and Silas’s eyes, dressed in denim overalls and, naturally, Converse sneakers.
“Silaaaaaaas,” he calls out, and my boyfriend drops to his level to take him in his arms.
The butterflies in my stomach go completely out of control watching the man I adore holding a miniature copy of himself. Sleeves rolled up. That tattoo he once explained to me as the Chinese symbol for family on full display.
Behind the boy stands a woman with chestnut hair, wearing jeans, a red T-shirt, and ballet flats. She has a natural beauty, the kind that doesn’t need makeup, and yet her skin still glows.
“Sebastian Vaughn, the floor was wet when you decided to sprint like you were at the races,” she calls after him, but the boy just giggles and hides behind Silas.
Her eyes find me, and before I manage to wave or introduce myself, she’s already coming toward me with open arms.
“Encantada,Amalia. Thank you for looking after Silas,” she whispers, and without meaning to, I hold her tighter, because she radiates warmth, and because she absorbs some of the nerves from this moment.
“Encantada,Karina,” I answer with a smile, and when I look at my boyfriend, I see a particular brightness in his eyes.
“This destroyer of floors is Sebastian,” Karina tells me, and I watch as he takes a few steps toward me.
For sixty full seconds, he simply studies me. From the bun to the clips, to the jeans painted with various flowers, all the way down to the lavender boots.
“Do you love Uncle Silas?” he asks. My eyes go wide, and I’m fairly certain my cheeks have caught fire.
