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“Sorry.” He sounded annoyed, always so angry, just like his big brother. She found it funny that they would probably both deny it. Neither was very honest with themselves or others when it came to their emotions.
“Jas,” Angel began, but Antonio bumped him aside. Antonio would never let his twin get ahead of him. He almost forced Angel to follow no matter what. She dreamed of seeing Angel step out and be the man she knew he could be someday.
“Let me do it,” Antonio demanded. “We’re sorry, okay? There!”
She chuckled under breath. Pretty defensive.
He went on. “You have to admit we kind of saved you, right? I mean he’s a loser. We don’t need him around here. We’re fine without him.”
“He’s your big brother.”
Antonio growled in disgust.
“He abandoned us,” Angel said, and her heart broke.
“He’s not your dad, Angel, and to be fair,
he was just your age when he moved away. He wasn’t a legal adult yet, so he had to go where his mother took him.”
“You’re defending him?” Both of them spoke at the same time.
She sighed. “No, I’m not. But I would love to see you three get along and get to know each other.”
Antonio spat on the ground.
“Antonio!” She hated that habit some of the guys used to express their dislike of something. It was gross.
“Sorry,” he muttered, “but I don’t like him, and I’m never going to. I hope he leaves tomorrow. Good riddance.”
She decided not to mention that their intense dislike had nothing to do with Miguel’s character, which they knew nothing about. It had everything to do with the poison Aunt Rosa had sowed into their hearts. She heard it a few times herself in the past, especially because David often talked about Miguel. He’d missed Miguel, and he saw him in Antonio just like she did. Aunt Rosa would always jump on the opportunity to negate the good memories David shared with sour comments of her own.
“What about you, Angel?” she said. “You feel the same way?”
“Of course he does!” Antonio answered for his brother and pointed a finger at her, straightening to his full height. “You saw how he is, so don’t be nice to him. You’re always good to everybody.”
“Don’t worry.” Angel’s voice was full of embarrassment. He looked everywhere but at her. “We’ll take care of you and Aunt Rosa and Dad. We’re the head of the house now, and we’ll protect you.”
Tears filled her eyes. “Aw, you boys are so sweet.”
“Men,” they both shouted. She laughed.
“My bad. You men are so sweet. Thank you.”
They nodded at her acknowledgement of their status. There was no sense correcting them that, against his and their will, Miguel was the head of the family. Both boys moved toward the door to enter the house. She bit her lip, trying to think of an excuse to question them on what they intended to do.
“Um, there’s no way you’re about to turn in this early.” She couldn’t come up with anything better.
Angel practically bounced up and down, and from the light coming out from house, she saw the excitement on his face. “We have to. We’ve got to be up early. Tomorrow we’re breaking in a horse.”
Antonio talked over him. “We bought Dusty Sun, Jas. Dad signed the papers and everything!”
She frowned. “Are you sure about this, boys? You’ve never broken a horse without David’s help.”
“But he was going to let us this year. Aunt Rosa made him too overprotective. We’re doing it. Dad said we could.”
They both whined, trying to convince her although she didn’t have any say in the matter. The fact that they needed her to be excited about their intentions worried her that they weren’t mentally ready to go it on their own. Thiago probably had no clue what he was signing or the danger involved. Once again, she regretted that Aunt Rosa wasn’t allowing them to be prepared for life or for the real work of the family business. David had never pushed for them to grow stronger either, maybe because he was afraid of losing more family. It made her sad to think about.
“All right. Just be careful. I beg you.”
