Page 61 of No Darker Temptation

When he laughs I feel it all over my body.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. Just remember we have dinner plans tonight so be ready by nine. I’ll see you later. I love you.”

“No, wait⁠—”

He hangs up before I can say anything else.

If the sea of dahlias in our bedroom is any indication of what’s waiting for me downstairs, I better go take a look now. Might be a marching band or vending machine that spits out diamonds.

I head to the bathroom first and once I’m done, I slip into a satin dressing gown, making myself as presentable as possible in case there are people here. The living room and parlor room are empty as are the study and ballroom, which I think I’m going to call the Rose Room from now on because ballroom sounds a little pretentious.

A bit confused, I head down to the kitchen in search of Doña Ana who would know better than me where this mysterious birthday gift is hidden. To the left of the kitchen under a set of swooping arches is an informal eating space we call the nook. It’s where we spend the most time and eat all of our meals because the floor to ceiling windows look out into the enclosed courtyard where there’s a small patio space and inground pool.

Sitting at the table with a coffee and basket full of pastries is Diego. I know it’s him because he’s one of the few people I know who still reads physical newspapers.

I make my way around the kitchen island separating us. “Hey. Do you know if⁠—”

“You know, I knew your boyfriend was rich.” The newspaper lowers and I can see who’s really behind it. “But a private jet? Imagine my surprise when I showed up to JFK with my shitty economy ticket and got escorted onto a Boeing 737. It was quite the experience.”

Karina folds her hands under her chin and smiles. “Nice house. Although, I do think the ballroom is a little pretentious.”

I almost trip on my way to her and she laughs, jumping to her feet and meeting me halfway. We collide with enough force to send both of us spinning and I squeeze her so tightly I think she loses her breath.

“Don’t crush me, I’m tiny!”

“Oh my God, what are you doing here! You little liar, you said you weren’t visiting until Christmas!”

She giggles and pulls away. “Hot European lover gave me a call. Said you were absolutely miserable without me.”

“You have no idea how right he is.” I give her another hug and she squeezes back, just as tightly this time. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“Me too, Prima. Me too.”

I blink a few times and my eyelashes are wet. Hastily, I drag the backs of my hands across my cheeks before she can notice. “You know he’s not European, right? He just lives here.”

“Yeah but calling him hot European boyfriend is so much more fun!” Noticing the glisten in my eyes she quickly shakes her head. “No way. If you cry, then I’m going to cry.”

I laugh.

Her eyes are already filled with tears and her voice is cracking. “Stop, you know I’m an ugly crier. It’s going to bring out my goblin face and I just did my makeup!”

It’s no use though. We both descend into a puddle of tears and laughter, too happy to otherwise notice.

I make breakfast and she catches me up on everything back home. Her parents are still a mess but a functional mess, Marcia sends her love, and our cousin Jessica—the snotty one, not the slutty one—is pregnant by some guy at church but no one knows who. All around disaster and a family chisme session like this is exactly what I needed after so many months apart.

I give her a tour of the house and walk her through the rest of my construction plans. Diego and Lettie are getting their own apartments on the west end and even though we’ll still have lots of empty rooms, I’m going to condense the open space and create a shared guest quarters. Contrary to the blueprints, the building isn’t actually as big as it appears on the outside. Once deteriorating walls had been broken down and new support beams were put in place where there needed to be, the building became much smaller. There were so many awkwardly shaped rooms, rooms that were too small, halls that were too narrow, and dozens of nooks and crannies. Before I was afraid the space was too big for us but now I think we’ll all fit comfortably.

Afterward, we play dress up in my closet then go out to lunch. Karina tells me how she and Alejandro have been planning this since May and Diego was the one to help finalize all her travel arrangements. She got in late last night and slept in the apartment above the lounge before Diego brought her over this morning for the surprise.

We’re sitting outside of Lulu and Flynn right by Cuitadella Park with Pedro keeping a close eye on us from across the street. Part of me wanted to slip Alejandro’s round-the-clock security detail but after what happened with Regina, I think it’s better if I don’t. Karina thinks he’s my personal driver and hasn’t questioned his presence otherwise, thank God.

“Other than renovating the house, what have you been doing?” Karina asks.

Most of our communication over the last seven months has been the sporadic FaceTime calls in between time differences and a heavy stream of social media posts we send back and forth to each other. I go through at least fifty a day and her just as many. The last time we had an actual conversation for more than fifteen minutes was when I was in Colombia in April and showing her around the family compound.

It's strange to be this physically close to her yet feel so emotionally far. I hardly know what’s going on with her life other than she and Brent moved into their new house earlier this year and he was promoted at his job in the spring.