“Okay, it’s like this. My parents loved each other and both loved me. We had a great family. A little over a year ago, my dad was killed by a hit-and-run driver when he was leaving the newspaper one night.”
“Newspaper?”
“He was an investigative journalist, a damn good one. Michael Parker. Ever heard of him?”
“Hell, yeah. That was your father? He was a legend.”
She nodded. “He really was. The theory is that it was someone who’d had too much to drink, but I’m not so sure. He was working on something and had seemed troubled the last few weeks before that horrible night. They never caught the person who hit him. The only person around was the night guard, and he didn’t see what happened. He heard something hit the building near the entrance”—she shuddered—“and went outside to investigate. The something turned out to be my dad’s body.”
Alex wrapped his arm around her shoulder and tucked her into his side, hating the quiver in her voice. “Go on.”
“Until that night, my life was perfect. So was my mother’s. She loved my father and she’s lost without him. She grew up in a time when it was her job to keep the men in her life happy, whether that was her father, brother, or husband. That always irritated my dad. Love him? For sure, but he hated how she always put his needs ahead of hers.”
“I think I would have liked your father.” And an investigative journalist killed when he was working on a story that troubled him? Alex didn’t believe in coincidences, and he would pull the police report at the very least.
She smiled, her eyes lighting up. “Oh, you would have. I’m sure of it.”
“What story was he working on?”
“That’s the weird thing. Usually he would talk to mom and me about his stories. He trusted us not to repeat anything he told us, but this time he just kind of closed up. I guess I’ll never know.”
Alex’s antennae twitched. “How does any of this relate to you and me having to hide that we’re seeing each other?”
“My mother’s lost without my father. After he died, she fell into a deep depression. Actually, and I hate even saying this, but she can’t cope without a man in her life. Since my dad’s death, my uncle Jose has stepped in.” She made swirls in the sand with her fingers. “He’s got some kind of control over her.”
“I’m still not understanding.”
“Ramon can be vindictive when someone displeases him. All he has to do is go to his father and complain about me. Uncle Jose will then tell my mother he isn’t pleased with me, and if I don’t toe the line, my uncle will get upset, which my mother can’t handle.” She sighed as she brushed the sand from her fingers. “She’s really fragile right now.”
“And what about you? You’re just going to sacrifice your happiness because your cousin’s a prick?” There was more to it than that. Had to be. What wasn’t she telling him?
“I didn’t say I liked it, and it’s only until she gets stronger.”
He stood, offering his hand. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for. It sounds like she needs help, a professional to talk to.”
“I’ve tried, but my uncle convinced her that she just needs time to get over her grief. He’s a man, so his word carries more weight in my mother’s mind than mine. You’d have to be a Cuban woman, especially one from her era, to understand.”
“I guess I’ll have to take your word for it because I agree with your father. And you’re letting them do the same thing to you.” She cringed, and he regretted that that had come out harsher than he’d meant it to.
“Please don’t be mad, Alex.”
She took his hand, and he pulled her up. “It’s not you I’m angry with.” More than anything, it was the situation he found himself in and the truth he had to hide from her, but her cousin and uncle were on that list, too.
But maybe her unwillingness to stand up to her family partly fueled his fire because he’d stood up to his brothers for her. And maybe that was why he slammed his mouth down on hers as she looked up at him with those big green eyes that begged him to understand. Because he didn’t.
Nothing about the kiss was gentle. It was raw and hungry. He wanted to claim every part of her. When she wrapped her arms around his neck and moaned into his mouth, he pulled her against him, needing her to feel what she did to him. Her lips were soft and warm, and he slid his tongue into her mouth. Sweet, so damn sweet.
How could she deny them this? He trailed a path of kisses down to her neck, finding the soft spot behind her ear. Her hair whipped around them, and he combed his fingers into the long strands as the lemony scent of her shampoo filled his head and lungs.