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‘Did you warn Bobby off donating to the shelter?’
‘Hang on,’ I heard him sigh, and then he barked some orders in Spanish. A few seconds later, he spoke to me again. ‘What were you saying?’ he asked, with clear exasperation in his tone now.
‘I asked you if you are responsible for Bobby’s company withdrawing their donation to the shelter?’
‘Yes,’ he snapped. ‘I told you I don’t trust him.’
I wasn’t sure what to say next. I hadn’t expected that to be so easy.
‘Is there anything else, princess? I’m kind of busy.’
‘Yes. Did you offer to fund my post instead?’
‘Yes,’ he replied.
‘Oh,’ I said softly. I knew that he had. And I was kind of mad at him for it. But what could I say? He had made his feelings clear about Bobby. He had made sure that the shelter wouldn’t lose out because he had matched the donation and then some. What the hell did I have to argue with him about really? I knew the kind of man he was, and it was one of the many things I loved about him.
‘I’ll let you get back to your work then,’ I said.
‘Good.’
‘Alejandro! Wait. There is one more thing.’
‘And what’s that?’ he asked, the irritation in his voice clearly audible now.
‘Te quiero.’
I heard a soft sigh this time, not one of exasperation, but perhaps of relief. ‘I love you too, princess.’
CHAPTER 35
ALANA
I walked through the house to the kitchen, repeating the phrase I’d heard over and over in my head. I had never so much as seen Hank crack a smile before, so whatever the joke was it must have been incredibly funny. I could ask Alejandro what they had said, but I had hardly seen him this past week. He was doing everything he could to find the person responsible for shooting his father and that meant he was spending most of his time at the hotel. He still came home every night, but sometimes it was after midnight before he finally got back. I missed him, but I couldn’t tell him that because he had more important things to deal with.
I sensed some distance between us and I didn’t know if he was still angry with me because he’d had to follow me to New York or over the Bobby situation, or whether it was simply because we hadn’t spent much time together.
Lucia had made herself a girlfriend who lived nearby. Alejandro knew the family, and they had good security at their house, so she often went there after school, still in the company of one of Alejandro’s guards of course.
I walked into the kitchen to find our housekeeper, Magda, preparing dinner.
‘Evening, Alana,’ she said with a smile.
‘Hi, Magda. Need any help?’ I replied as I walked over to the counter to stand beside her.
‘No thank you, dulce niña. I’m almost done.’
I leaned back against the counter and popped a piece of bell pepper into my mouth. Magda was putting some dishes into the sink by the time I’d finished eating it. ‘Magda, what does la llevamos por las dos puertas mean?’ I asked with a smile.
Magda almost dropped the plate she was carrying onto the floor. She fumbled and managed to prevent it from slipping from her hands but her face turned a bright shade of red and she stared at me with her mouth gaping open.
‘Alana!’ I heard a voice behind me and realized Alejandro had just walked through the door. I smiled at the sight of him. I hadn’t expected him home so early. He was dressed in one of his impeccably tailored suits and, as usual, he looked good enough to lick from head to toe.
Although his reaction did make me wonder what the hell I had just said. ‘What?’ I said with a shrug. ‘I was just asking.’
Magda cleared her throat and carried on clearing the dishes as Alejandro crossed the room to me. ‘You almost gave Magda a heart attack,’ he said half scowling, half grinning. ‘Come with me.’ Placing his hand on the small of my back, he guided me out of the kitchen.
‘What?’ I whispered as soon as we were in the hallway.
