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He nodded. “My understanding is that Thiago married Jewel while she was still in prison, out of some warped sense of responsibility. As far as I know they’re still married.”
“But Aunt Rosa, your dad’s sister, raised the twins.”
He nodded.
She reached across and touched his hand. “I can see why all of that devastated you at a young age. You wanted to be with your mom during that difficult time, but what about David? You’d spent all those years with your o
lder brother. And you had the twins.”
He grunted in anger and charged to his feet. “The last time I was here David was on the same path as Thiago. The twins didn’t know me, and as far as I was concerned they didn’t need to. I wanted to put this place—this state—behind me.”
“Now you’ve been called back, and you own the ranch. I can’t even imagine how hard it must be for you.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’ll straighten it out.”
“And be gone?”
“Let’s get out of here.”
“You haven’t touched your burger.” She looked at her own food, wondering when it had come and at what point she had eaten half of it. Usually, she loved to take her time with food, savoring the flavors and picking out what seasonings were used. Miguel’s crazy family history had consumed all of her attention. She didn’t even feel right telling him he needed to let go of the past and still try to build something between him and the two siblings he had left.
He said nothing but arranged for To-Go containers for them to take their leftovers. Rather than argue, she rode in silence alongside him back to the ranch. All the way there, she wondered what the others would have to say about the will. Did Thiago already know David’s plans to turn over the ranch to Miguel? Did Aunt Rosa or the twins?
One could only guess at the emotions that would fly about when the truth became known, and she wasn’t looking forward to it.
Chapter 5
Miguel drew up to the house and stopped the truck. As he watched Jasmeka gather her purse and prepare to get out, he couldn’t help noticing her shapely legs with smooth chocolate skin. A desire to touch her came over him as it did from the first moment he saw her at the airport.
When she got him to talking about the past and about his family, his mood had plummeted, but he was tempted to forget all of that. She was willing. He could see it in the way she responded at the tiniest touch. Hesitant, nervous, but definitely interested. All he needed to do was nudge her along a little. He liked the light-hearted kind of woman she seemed to be, not weighted down by society’s dictates.
He grabbed her hand and jerked her toward him for a swift kiss. To his satisfaction, her lips parted, and he pushed his tongue inside. Just as he expected, her mouth tasted like honey. He deepened the kiss, wrapping an arm around her and molding her upper body to his. Desire leaped to life inside him, and he considered forgetting about talking to Hector as he planned and just taking her up to his room.
Her hands came up to his chest, and she gave the tiniest of pushes. He backed off a couple inches, looking down at her. “You want this.”
She bit her lower lip, drawing his attention to it, and looked away across the yard. “Don’t you think it’s a little disrespectful? I mean…”
He leaned back in his seat and faced forward. “My family has never respected anything. Why should I care what they think now?”
“You mean Thiago, but I thought you didn’t want to follow in his footsteps.”
He growled in disgust. “On my lowest day, I’ll never be like him.”
She opened the door and climbed out, but then she leaned in again. “We can meet on the porch tonight if you want.”
The sight of her cleavage made him think tonight wouldn’t be soon enough, but he controlled himself. He wasn’t an animal after all. “Sounds good.”
Her brilliant smile lit up her face, disorienting him for a second. She slammed the door and sashayed to the house. A light jog up the steps, and she disappeared. Miguel took time to pull himself together before driving around to the back part of the property where the stables were. He parked and climbed out of the truck. Sure enough Hector was there, checking the shoes of one of the horses.
“Hector, como estas, mi amigo?” Miguel smiled as he walked toward Hector.
The older man with the leathery skin, bronzed from years under the Texas sun, straightened and took a stance Miguel could only identify as subservient. If he wore a hat at the moment, he’d probably be holding it respectfully between both hands. “Jefe, it’s been a long time since we see you.”
Miguel chuckled. “Yeah, so long you forgot you used to call me Miguel.”
“Si, you all grown up, Senor Miguel. Buen hombre.” He bobbed his head in affirmation of his compliment.
“Gracias. Hector, I want to talk to you about the ranch and its future.”
