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It wasn’t intentional on her part, but he still felt guilt at not being around more. “I’ll be back before you know it and you’ll have me all to yourself. You’ll get sick of seeing my ugly face.”
“That would never happen. I love your ugly face.”
He chuckled. “Ma, you’re supposed to tell me I’m not ugly.”
“Why do I have to stroke your ego?” she asked. “Don’t you have lovers for that?”
Toro fake-gasped. “Ma!”
She giggled and the sound warmed his heart. Growing up, he’d watched her struggle, and there’d been a time when he didn’t think he’d ever hear her laugh again. But she did. After all she’d endured, after everything his father put them through and the stress of being alongside Toro as he went through his transition, she remained so full of life. It was because of her and his uncle that he was still standing, that he was able to truly be himself, and he never let her forget it. Even when she brushed the words away, as though her actions were nothing at all, he made sure she heard his gratitude.
“I love you, Ma.”
She sighed. “I know you do. And I love you. I will see you soon?”
“Yes.”
He ended the call with his mother and sat for a few minutes, just taking in the stillness, before he called his uncle Daniel.
“Toro, ¿que pasa?”
It was as if the floodgates swung open with the utterance of that question and he found himself pouring out everything that had happened with him and Seraphina since the last time he spoke to Daniel. He told his uncle all of it, including the incident at the house where she held Reggie’s parents.
When he was finished, a heavy silence settled in his ear.
“Tío?”
“How do you feel about this woman, Toro?”
He pursed his lips at his uncle’s grave tone. “I love her,” he said softly. “Tío, you must know that.” Toro had shared his feelings for Seraphina with Daniel long before coming to this place to give her a month of his time.
“Sí.” It sounded as if Daniel were nodding. “But does she feel the same?”
“It doesn’t matter, not to me.” Toro couldn’t tell if his own words were lies or not. He fervently hoped they weren’t lies.
Daniel scoffed. “Of course it matters. It determines whether or not I kill her, because she will hurt you. Seraphina Cook will break your heart in a million different pieces in a million different ways, and you are prepared to allow that. I am not.”
“She is not to be harmed.” Toro gripped the phone tighter. “Seraphina is off-limits, tío. Please.” His heart thumped in his chest as he waited for Daniel’s response. He liked to think he had some sway over his uncle. Maybe not as much as Daniel’s lover, Stavros, but Toro’s uncle listened to him. “I cannot make her love me.” It was the saddest admission he’d ever had to make and his throat ached as he did so now. “I have no control over how she feels, but all that should matter is how I feel, and I love her. To hurt her—” He couldn’t even imagine it. “To hurt her is to hurt me.”
Daniel made him wait a hundred lifetimes before he finally spoke. “Very well. She is off-limits,” he said grudgingly.
Toro loved him for that. “Gracias. Tell me about her dealings with Van.”
“Stavros knows more than me. I will put him on.”
Stavros came on then and Toro posed the same question to him, listening as Stavros repeated the story Seraphina had shared with Toro. Except in this instance, Stavros had more details.
“There’s someone named Dutch,” Toro said when Stavros finished.
“Yes, from her past.”
“Is he a threat?” Toro asked.
“To Seraphina?” Stavros snorted. “From what I know, everyone is a threat to her unless you’re the son she’s currently hunting.”
Toro didn’t ask how Stavros knew about that.
“But as far as Dutch being a clear and present danger… he isn’t. Not now.”
