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“Not tonight.” She shakes her head. “I’m going to watch a movie with Jacob.”
“Oh?” I waggle my eyebrows at her. Jacob works here too. He operates the gate and sometimes drives my father.
“It’s nothing like that,” she admonishes me, but I see the twinkle in her eye. “We simply need a break before you move back home for a week.”
I open my mouth in feigned indignation and she walks away, chuckling to herself.
I walk down the hallway to the kitchen to find my mom. She is drying her hands on a towel when I walk into the room, having just finished prepping dinner.
“Hey, sweetheart,” she says with a huge smile as she crosses the floor and wraps me in a warm hug.
I lean into her and feel the weight of guilt overwhelming me because I am about to break her heart. I wrap my arms around her and hold onto her a little longer than usual. She always smells so beautiful and she gives the best hugs ever. She is without a doubt the best person I know and I should be honored to work by her side in her organization. I know that’s what she wants and what she’s hoping for, particularly as I once needed one of those women’s shelters myself, but that life just doesn’t feel right to me. I am a Montoya through and through.
“Is everything okay, sweetheart?” she asks as I hold her tight.
“Sure. I’m going to miss you is all,” I say.
She pulls back from me and brushes my hair back from my face. “I’m going to miss you too. Are you sure you’ll be okay with the boys?”
“Yes, Mom,” I resist the urge to roll my eyes. “We’re all going to be fine. Besides Magda and Jacob are here too.”
“I know. I’ve just never been away from you all for so long before.”
“You have a whole week with Papi in London ahead of you,” I remind her.
She blushes and I can’t help but smile. My parents still act like love-struck teenagers around each other and it is both embarrassing and wonderful. “Not to mention a fabulous wedding to attend.”
“Yes, there is that,” she replies with a smile. “And I’m looking forward to meeting your father’s cousin, Lauren.”
“There’s my two favorite girls,” my father’s voice booms across the kitchen as he walks into the room with Jax close behind him.
“Where are the boys?” I ask.
“Hugo is teaching them the fine art of wrestling,” he replies.
“Alex!” my mom admonishes him. Hugo is another pseudo family member. He is my mom’s and the twins’ bodyguard and my little brothers adore him. He also teaches my mom and me some Krav Maga and self-defense once a week, and he practically lives in my parents’ pool house.
“What?” My father shrugs as he slips an arm around her waist. “You are never too young to learn how to pin an opponent.”
She shakes her head in exasperation but then she stares up at him adoringly until he kisses her. I look across at Jax who rolls his eyes at me.
“Lucia,” my father says when they finally remember that there are other people in the room. “Did you have something you wanted to discuss?”
I swallow hard. I was at least going to wait until after dinner until everyone was too full of food and maybe a few glasses of wine to argue, but I suppose the sooner I do this, the sooner my mom can come to terms with it.
“Yes, I do.” I sit on one of the stools at the kitchen island.
“What is it, sweetheart?” my mom asks.
My father winks at me and it is all the encouragement I need. “I want to work with Papi.”
“What?” she looks between him and me, blinking in shock.
“I appreciate you offering me a position in the charity and I love you for it, Mom, but I want to work for Montoya Inc.”
She licks her lips and we all wait with bated breath for her to speak. “You mean like managing the hotel or something?”
I look at my father and then at Jax, but neither of them are meeting my eyes.
