Page 107 of Hostile Love
She’s right. Nothing would stop me trying to reach Dani, either.
I help André to his feet and throw an arm around his waist, supporting his weight. The gown he wears is twisted and his thighs are on show.
When he clumsily drops into the chair and growls from the sudden, hard fall, his eyes settle on Dani.
“Don’t get your hopes up,señorita,” he deadpans, purposefully trying to wind me up. “My wife is my one and only.”
“André!” Mama shakes her head. “You’re incorrigible.”
I’m used to my brother's flirty ways and sexual persona. It’s who he is and how he deals with things. A big part of him lives within me. However, this time something feral fires up inside and I can’t shake it off.
“She’s into younger guys,” I add, unlocking the brakes. “Guys with more mobility,cabron.”
Dani laughs quietly and smiles over at me.
“Yeah,” she says to him with her eyes on mine. “Matheus ismyone and only.”
André drags a hand through his thick hair and exhales, the exertion too much.
“About fucking time, you two hooked up,” he mutters. “Now, hurry the fuck up, Mat. Push me faster. I have my babies to meet and wife to kiss.”
When we zoom into the corridor, he adds, “I had crazy fucking dreams that Uncle Angelo was your father, Mat, and Mama killed Papá. What meds did they give me?”
31
SINÉAD
It’s weird.
I was never the maternal type.
As a teen, my dreams never stretched to a happily ever after where my childhood sweetheart and I would find each other again, raise our son and daughter together, and live the life of luxury in a foreign country.
Then one day all of it was within reach.
And now, I can’t—I won’t give up the whole package—the full version of my best life.
Exhausted, I sit alone between two cribs. It’s so quiet in here. Too quiet.
I miss my husband’s playful chaos.
There’s no adult chatter or hungry babies crying tonight. Nothing but a peaceful vortex that sucks my inner fears into it.
I’m a mother now.
And a wife.
Yeah, I’m still a wife.
Definitely not a widow. André wouldn’t leave me. Not after everything we’ve been through.
He promised me and I’m not letting him check out on a technicality.
Til death do us part can go fuck off.
Anyway, he’s going to be the best father ever—even if his daredevil ways would likely have us arguing all the time.
I laugh to myself.
