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‘You have fallen in love with this girl? Idiota!’ he snapped.
‘I never said I’d fallen in love with her,’ I snapped back.
‘No. You don’t have to. I can see it all over your face. I warned you about this, hijo,’ he frowned at me. ‘I thought you were smarter than this!’
‘What? You can’t force me to marry someone, Papa, and then berate me if I start to care about her,’ I argued. I wasn’t prepared to admit to him that I was in love, I wasn’t even prepared to admit that to myself.
‘But you were supposed to be the clever one, Alejandro. You were supposed to be above all of this. Love is messy. Love complicates things. Love makes you weak!’
‘Weak? You really think that your love for mama makes you weak?’
He pushed back his chair and stood quickly, his hands planted on my desk and his face turning purple with rage. ‘We are not talking about me and your mama,’ he snarled.
I glared at him. All of my life he had taught me that me and my mother were his greatest weaknesses. I suspected it was why he kept me at a distance. He claimed that he wanted me to be the legitimate face of the Montoya Corporation, but I knew otherwise. It was because every time he looked at me he was reminded that he was only a man. And men could be hurt. Men could have the things they loved taken away from them.
‘You chose her for me, Papa. Perhaps, you should have chosen better?’ I said with a cock of my eyebrow.
‘You agreed to this one, Alejandro. I gave you a choice, and this was the woman you agreed to marry.’
I sighed and placed my hands behind my head. It was true that Alana was one of three women whom my father had presented me with. But Alana had been by far the most attractive prospect of them — if only because she was the only one who didn’t actually want to marry me, and was also supposed to be the one I would have least in common with.
‘I’m not in love with her,’ I insisted.
He cursed under his breath and then he walked around to my side of the desk and signaled me to stand up.
When I did, he took his face in my hands. ‘You are lying to yourself, mi hijo. And while love will your be your greatest weakness, it will also bring your greatest blessings,’ he said and then he kissed my forehead.
It was a rare show of emotion from him and I wasn’t sure how to respond.
‘You will understand when you have a child of your own, Alejandro,’ he said with a sigh. ‘Now, how about you introduce me to this woman who has stolen my son’s heart?’ he slapped me on the back then as he returned to his usual self.
I nodded. ‘She’s around here somewhere. Come on and we’ll find her.’
We walked out of the room and headed down the hallway.
ALANA
I wiped my eyes as I finished chopping the onions and popped them into the pan.
‘Here she is,’ I heard Alejandro’s voice from behind me.
I spun around to see him walking into the kitchen with his father, Mateo. I’d never met him before but I’d seen pictures of him. He was an imposing figure, dressed smartly in a suit and possibly the shiniest shoes I had ever seen in my life.
Alejandro looked just like him. I wiped my hands on the towel before self-consciously tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. If I’d known Alejandro’s father was stopping by, I’d have worn something a lot smarter than a tank top and a skirt. Not to mention the fact that I was following the no panty rule to the letter these days. I blushed as I realized that fact, and thanked the Lord that my skirt was a maxi.
‘Alana, this is my father,’ Alejandro said as they walked towards me.
‘Mr. Montoya, it’s so lovely to finally meet you,’ I said, extending my hand, my voice barely a whisper.
He ignored my outstretched hand and grabbed me by the shoulders before planting a kiss on each cheek. ‘Please, call me Mateo. You are family. Family don’t call me Mr. Montoya.’
‘Mateo,’ I said with a nod.
‘Papa just stopped by to see us on his way back to Nevada,’ Alejandro said as he walked to the refrigerator and took out a jug of fresh lemonade that Magda had made earlier that morning.
I smiled at him. So he hadn’t been expecting his father either then. ‘Will you be staying for dinner, Mr … I mean, Mateo?’ I asked, suddenly aware that I was making cheeseburgers for dinner. I bet he was used to much finer dining than that.
He turned to Alejandro who nodded subtlety while he poured three glasses of lemonade. ‘Of course. I’d love to. What are we having?’
