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I reached into the inner pocket of my jacket and pulled out the tri-folded document. “Omar and Lili were our witnesses,” I said and handed it to him.
My father opened it and read over the license before handing it back to me. He patted my face; it was his own brand of rough affection. He snapped his fingers at Emma. “Two more shots,mija,” he said dismissively and wrapped an arm around my shoulders so that he could steer me toward his desk. “We need to discuss recruitment.”
“Padre —” We shouldn’t talk about business in front of Emma. “Maybe this isn’t the time.”
Emma put two refilled shot glasses in front of us and stepped back. “Is there anything else I can do for you?” she asked, and I could hear the strain in her voice.
My father stared at her with a shark’s gaze, and I realized that this was a test. Though, whether he wanted to push her boundaries or mine, I couldn’t tell. “Can you cook?” he asked.
“I can follow a recipe pretty well,” Emma said.
Padre looked at me, clearly unimpressed. “You let your wife be this glib with me?”
Her eyes went round. “I wasn’t —”
“Emma,” I cut her off. It was a test for both of us, then. “Apologize. Now.”
“But —” I glared at her, and she took a breath and centered herself. “I’m sorry,” she said, looking at my father. “I didn’t mean to be glib. I was trying to be honest. I am not a natural cook, but I can replicate a recipe fairly well.”
It was a good answer: my father valued the truth and couldn’t abide sarcasm. But his interest in her was waning. “At least my son won’t starve,” he said.
As if Emma would be tasked with making meals, I thought. Lara had been handling all of the family’s meals for years. Before her death, my mother had dominated in the kitchen, but it had been her place of refuge from everything. It certainly hadn’t been any sense of duty as the Castillo matriarch. “I’ll take care of your son, Padre,” Emma said gently. She very nearly sounded sincere.What the hell?
My father’s eyes practically glittered at that, and I felt my lip curl. I didn’t like the way he looked at her. “See that you do,mija. See that you do.” His eyes cut to me. “I’m tasking you with replacing the men that you lost. I’m giving you a month.”
It wasn’t enough time to properly vet new people, and he knew it. Omar would have a fit, and I would be blamed when they didn’t meet Padre’s standards. “Of course, Padre,” I said.
“Your cousin Manny might be ready to take on some jobs as well.”
My hands curled into fists. Manny was fourteen: he’d never kissed a girl before, let alone held a gun. “I thought we were waiting until Manny was finished with high school before we gave him a job.”
Padre scoffed. “What does he need high school for?”
“I use my degree to run our clubs, don’t I? Wouldn’t Manny do well in a manager’s role?”
“You sound like his mother,” Padre sneered, which translated into that I sounded like a woman, soft. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and realized that Emma was still standing there.Goddamnit, I thought. This wasn’t the kind of discussion to have in front of her. “You’ll give Manny a job,” he said. “Something he can do after school. To make the women in his life happy.”
I forced myself to take a breath. And then another. He would be dead soon. The thought had become a touchstone. “Of course, Padre,” I repeated. “Can I show Emma the estate now? She’s been staying in one of the east wing rooms, and she’ll need to know the lay of the land.”
My father waved us off. “Fine. I’ll speak with you in the morning about this. You can tell me your recruiting ideas.”
“Thank you, Padre.” I glanced at Emma. “Ready?”
She gave a slight tilt of the head, and we headed out of the room. As the heavy oak door closed behind us, she murmured, “You’re not really going to drag your cousin into this, are you?” The anger that I had been holding back clawed at my insides. I stopped walking, and she ran into my back. “Angel —?”
I turned and walked her into the nearest wall, pinning her with my body against hers. I heard her gasp as I leaned in so that our faces were so close that our breath mingled. “Keep out of my fucking business,” I snarled at her. “No one wants your opinions.”
Emma, with her wide,infuriatingeyes, bit her lip. It took her two tries to choke out, “Shouldn’t the matriarch of a family give her opinion, though? At least to her husband?”
I took a breath to calm myself down, but all I managed to do was pull in the smell of her perfume.Fuck, I thought. I was getting hard, and as much as I told myself it was because I had pressed myself against a soft, female body, and it had been a while since I had gotten my dick wet, but…it had more to do with the way she was looking at me and the phantom touch of her lips still on mine.
I shifted back so that I wasn’t pressed so closely against her and cleared my throat. “Don’t push it,” I said, “or you’ll find yourself over my knee.” She squeaked in surprise, and I smirked. “Come on. I’ll show you to our room,” I said.
Emma blinked. “Ourroom?”
CHAPTER7
Emma
