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“I didn’t know Angel and Omar had a younger sister.”
Her expression soured. “Typical,” she said, more to herself than me. Lili glanced at the tray again, and I got the hint. I take it and settle on the edge of the bed. I wasn’t sure what it was, but it was a warm shrimp and rice dish, and it smelled heavenly. It was also a portion for a linebacker.
“Do you want to share?” I asked. “I’m never going to be able to eat all of this.”
Lili made a noise in the back of her throat. “You’re going to have to learn how to eat.”
I tucked into my meal. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, each dish they’d brought me was better than the last. The shrimp were cooked to perfection, not rubbery, and the rice was spiced with something that settled warmly in my stomach. “I eat a normal amount of food.”
She made thattsk-ing sound again. “You’re all skin and bones,” she said. “Lara is going to have a field day trying to round you up.”
“Lara?”
“Our housekeeper. She’s been with us since I was little. Apá hired her after my mother —” Lili stopped, and her mouth twisted slightly. But then, in a blink, her expression was schooled to the friendly indifference from before.Could all of the Castillos do that?She flicked her dark hair over her shoulder, and I was starting to feel a little insecure in my oversized t-shirt.
I took a bite of the rich-smelling rice and sighed; it was truly delicious. Five-star restaurant quality. I shoveled more into my mouth and tried not to be self-conscious about how quickly I was eating. I didn’t have to impress her or anyone else here, after all. I didn’t plan on staying. “Lili, you know that Angel and I aren’t…we aren’t getting married because wewantto, right?”
Lili blinked, and then she broke into a laugh that was just a little mean. She slapped her hand over her mouth to stifle the sound, but her body shook with giggles. Finally, she gazed back up at me; her eyes were wet with tears of laughter. “I know,” she said. “The whole compound knows at this point. They all think Angel kidnapped you and brought you back here to be his bride. They keep calling him ‘Stockholm’ behind his back.”
She started laughing again, but it wasn’t funny. “You have to know that’s not true, though.”
The amusement slid off her face. “I know what happened,” she said, and then reached out and touched my arm. Her skin was soft against mine, and I realized just how long it had been since someone touched me kindly. Since before Mom’s death, for sure. That thought seized up in my chest, and I did my best to breathe through it. “I’m sure I’m the only one in this family who will actually say this.Thank youfor saving my brother, Emma,” she said.
“You’re welcome,” I replied earnestly. “It was just instinct.”
Lili smiled. “You’re a good Samaritan. I’ll bet you were a hall monitor in elementary school.”
I could feel the heat in my cheeks, and she giggled again. Despite myself, I found myself smiling for the first time in days. My cheeks wobbled from the movement, like they weren’t sure how to hold the expression anymore. “Not a hall monitor,” I said and puffed out my chest. “Line leader.”
Lili clapped. “That’s even better. Now, finish up, so we can fit your dress. I’ve got just enough time to take it in before tomorrow.”
The air was sucked out of my lungs again. “Lili, I can’t —”
“You can,” she said, “and you will. If you had some kind of escape plan in mind, drop it now. If you even made it out of the door — which I highly doubt — Angel would never let you go. Not after Apá made an example out of him whenhetried to back out of the marriage.”
“How’s his cheek doing?” I asked.
Lili gave me a sly look. “Why? Are you worried about him?”
“Absolutely not,” I said. “I just want to know if I have what it takes to go to medical school.”
“Even if you did, you can’t,” Lili said. “That’s not an option anymore. You’re going to be our matriarch someday. Believe me, it’s a full-time job in and of itself.” There was something to her expression that told me that she had been filling in for that role, and she hated it.
“So, I’m supposed to play the wife and have Angel’s babies,” I mused bitterly. “Progressive.” The slap was fast and sharp. The sound of the flesh of her hand hitting my cheek echoed in the quiet room. Fire licked at the side of my face.
Lili grabbed my hand, and brought my gaze back to her. “Sarcasm isn’t going to work here,” she said urgently, like she was trying to save my life. I realized, with a little start, that she was. “Around me, it’s fine, but not around Angel and certainly not around my father, okay?”
I gripped the hand in mine. “Help me,” I begged. “Figure out a way for me to leave, and none of you will ever see me again, I promise. I am good at running and starting over, trust me.”
She shook her head, and just like her brothers, her expression flattened to something cold. “Only the tough survive in this family,” she said.
I let go of her hand. “I never asked to be in this stupid family,” I said, frustrated. “I never asked foranyof this.”
“Be that as it may,” she said stiffly, “this ‘stupid’ family is the only thing separating you from ending up –”
“As just another no-name body that they find in pieces in the Everglades,” I finished for her. “I’ve heard it before.”
Lili nodded. “Exactly.”
