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“Why the hell was she with Fernando?”
“Joy wanted to see Hannah, badly,” Leo spoke up, his voice thick with grief. “Unfortunately, Hannah isn’t…handling things well.”
“She’ll get better,” my mother soothed as she leaned over and rubbed Leo’s big shoulder. “Just give her time.”
Shaking his head, Leo rubbed his face then sat up and stared at me with haunted eyes. “We think Fernando told Joy some things, things she shouldn’t know.”
“What did he tell her?” My gut clenched as I considered the millions of different things he could have said that would damn me forever in her eyes.
Fuck, I should have bound her to me when I still had a chance.
The wind rustled through the palm trees as my mother adjusted her silk shawl. “He said enough about Jason to let her know the public car crash story was a lie. And he said some other things that upset her as well. When we wouldn’t let her see Hannah, she broke down and we had to sedate her.” My mother took a quick breath, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them and continuing. “Joy is all right, safe and sleeping in your room, but I am worried about her. Now would be the perfect time to ease her burden.”
It took everything inside of me not to choke the shit out of my mother. “Ease her burden? Are you fucked in the head?”
Wrong thing to say.
She was up like a flash, slapping me hard enough that it stung, but didn’t hurt.
Between her and Joy, I’d never have not sore cheeks again.
“I am trying to save her. You don’t understand. I fear for her, Ramón, and I don’t want her to end up like Hannah.”
Though some may find it strange, my mother was hurt at Hannah’s rejection of her efforts to help her. It was as if my mom didn’t understand why Hannah would be upset when she found out her boyfriend was a criminal. My own worry over Joy’s reaction had my reply coming out sharper than I intended.
“What the fuck did you think would happen? She got beat to fuck because she couldn’t say Leo’s name, couldn’t save herself from harm because of your programming.”
Leo let out a pained sound while a single tear rolled down my mother’s cheek, and I felt like a right bastard.
I shook my head and clasped my hands together. “I mean seriously, Mom. You and Leo played God. Did you think it was going to turn out okay? And now you want to do the same to Joy? Maybe you don’t give a fuck about her, but I do, and I’m not letting you experiment on her.”
Instead of arguing with me, she closed her eyes and nodded. “No, you’re right. We made a mistake with Hannah, despite our best intentions. It was a mistake that won’t happen with Joy.”
For a moment, I considered telling her that Joy was off limits, that I didn’t want her programmed, but I knew my mother would do it anyway. It was her nature to be as ruthless as she deemed necessary in order to protect her family, and I could tell she truly thought she wasn’t harming anyone with her programming. The best I could do to help Joy in this situation was mitigate the damage, and control this clusterfuck as much as I could.
“You’re damn right it won’t, because no one does Joy’s programming but me. Understood?” Her lips tightened, and I inwardly sighed at the sight of her getting ready to say no. “Mom, she is going to be my wife, the mother to my children. I understand your need to protect me, to protect the family, but I’m the only one that will do this. Agree now, or I’ll take off with Joy and you will never see us again without a fight.”
To my surprise, she rolled her eyes. “So dramatic. You must get it from your father.”
“Promise me.” Like all kids, I knew how to play my mother and pulled out all the stops. “Consider it an early wedding present. Please.”
I could see she hated it, but she spat out, “I promise.”
Relaxation filled me and I tipped my head back, taking in the clear night sky above. “Thank you.”
“But please, Ramón, don’t wait too long.”
“I won’t. When she’s ready I’ll do it, but not until then.” Leo watched us with a hard to read expression, but I had a feeling he had my back on this. “Promise me you’ll leave her alone.”
“You know I can’t do that. I care about her as well, Ramón, and if she needs someone to talk to, I’ll be there for her.”
“Fine, but don’t take up all her time, and don’t manipulate her into seeing you. Give her space.”
She clenched her jaw, but nodded. “I won’t rush a relationship, but I will let her know that she is welcome in our family.”
