AllFreeNovel
Share Us
2 Now!
3 My darling.
42
Diego
The last three weeks have been a life-changing experience for me. I’m not the man who would drink himself to sleep. I don’t have a chance to do that. I’m slowly but surely reaching a compromise with Jorge. After all, he wasn’t fantastic at his job, but he did have some good qualities like I do too.
“If you keep on like this, then everyone will want me out of as the CEO and you in my place!” Lucas laughs as he arrives in the kitchen.
“I’ve been preparing my famousrabo de toro1. They’re going to have a feast tonight.”
He shakes his head, it has been a while since I’ve been in the kitchen and I know I’m a bit rusty, so before coming here I did go home to practice a bit.
“My house is on the market,” I blurt out.
I feel proud about doing it, and I wait for a reaction from him. His eyes widen as if he can’t believe it.
“You’re kidding?”
I shake my head, because I fucking did what I said I would do. I’m going to open up a rehab center with the money from thesale. Not one penny will line my pockets, and it feels so fucking good “I kid you not, big bro. I’m moving in with you.”
“Not sure Leticia will like that.”
I chuckle at the idea of it. “I’m not sure Cristina will like that either.”
His eyes shift, and I have a suspicion that they’re not getting on as well as they did at the festivos, and it starts and ends with him seeing his ex, Daniella. She always had him wrapped around her little finger, nothing about her was good back then and I worry that he could be falling down the same rabbit hole and she’s no good for him now.
“Were you at the hospital all day?”
He shakes his head. Yeah, my guess was right, no doubt he was running around Daniella.
“I hope you weren’t with Daniella. Those blue eyes and blonde hair left you for another, remember? That other is dead. Cristina …”
“Woo, I don’t need a lecture from you about love. She had to fill out paperwork. We need to figure out how to get the body back to Madrid and all that. Maybe we can do that in a couple of days and we’ll fly out there.”
We?
Shit, my brother has already fallen for it, and I need to be the one he comes to when it all goes wrong, because with Daniella it usually does. And I never liked the way she has him running around. How can she cheat on him, and then he found out that the kid she was carrying wasn’t his, and then expect Lucas to help her bury the man that she was having an affair with?
And he’s okay with it.
He sees nothing wrong with what he’s doing, but he must do because he has more bags under his eyes than a bag lady. He has been wearing the same clothes for the last three days and judging by his bad breath, I think he’s smoking again.
“¡Cuidate2!” I say as I pat him on the back and give him a hug. There’s nothing unmanly about expressing your feelings. Abuela taught me that and I’m learning slowly but surely, it’s true. I love my brother and I don’t want to see him get hurt again.
“Are you ready for your mind to be blown away?” He laughs as I put some of the sauce on a spoon for him to taste, and hold it in my hand ready for him to taste.
“Yeah. You haven’t lost your touch.”
“Don’t you fucking know it.”
Others start coming in the kitchen to help serve the dinner rush that comes in. The only thing that makes me feel better is knowing that less people will be coming in tonight. We haven’t solved the homeless situation, but we’ve reduced it. There’s a sense of accomplishment that makes me sleep better at night than making more money. Abuela was right, nothing makes you feel better than knowing that you’ve helped others, no matter how much money you have in the bank.
Ireach over and grab my phone, even though I know it is nearly one in the morning in Madrid. There’s only one missed call from Leticia and nothing more. She has been on radio silence for the last three days, which is weird. We’re not exactly how we were before, but I felt as if we were getting somewhere in our relationship once again.
I start dialing her number in the dark, and then I sit up. My head and everything else is hurting me from the craziness in the rehab facility. One guy tried to attack me, threaten me for money. A kid ran away from their foster parents to see theirmom and that didn’t go down well, as their mom didn’t want them anywhere near them. Sometimes it’s emotionally and physically draining, but it’s all part of the real world. I think getting back to jogging and getting in shape will give me the mental strength I need to deal with it all.
