Page 150 of Along Came Amor
“Clearly not, since Hector is marrying someone else!”
“And they didn’t even have any kids.” Roman could practically hear the head shake that went along with those words. His skin broke out in goosebumps from the stress of holding his tongue.
“Such a shame.” The second speaker let out a deep sigh. “My sister is so disappointed.”
“Let’s hope Jasmine doesn’t make a mess of her marriage too.”
“She probably will.” There was a pause, followed by a speculative, “How much do you think they spent on this wedding?”
“More than Miguelito spent on Ava’s wedding, that’s for sure.”
“Well, that was a waste of money.”
What. The. Fuck.
Roman had heard enough. Red flashed across his vision as he started toward the chismosas, but Ava hissed and yanked on his arm.
“Don’t!” she said in a desperate whisper. “You’ll make it worse!”
He let her drag him inside, then gave in to the urge to snatch the sunglasses off her face.
Her hazel eyes were wet and devastated. Helplessness slashed at him, warring with the impulse to fight for her.
“Now,” he said, his tone fierce. “We are discussing thisright the fucknow.”
She let out a trembling breath and nodded. “Okay.” Her voice shook, and he wanted to go out there and toss all the lounge chairs into the pool, along with their occupants. Instead, he grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the ballroom where the rehearsal dinner was being held.
And he didn’t give a damn who saw them.
Chapter 46
Hot, angry tears pushed their way up Ava’s throat as the words “selfish” and “sensitive” rang through her pounding head.
Never mind that she’d gone out of her way to squash down all her emotions so as not to inconvenience anyone else with them, or that she gave and gave and gave, until she had nothing left for herself.
It wasn’t good enough. Nothing she did would ever be good enough.
Be good, Ava.
She was going to put it on her tombstone.Here lies Ava.She tried to be good, and eventually, it killed her.
When they reached the ballroom, she let Roman propel her into the backstage area, past the AV team setting up equipment for speeches and karaoke. To the right, there was a large supply closet, its door propped open by a box filled with wires and cords. Roman kicked the box aside on their way in. The second the door shut behind them, Ava began to tremble with rage.
“Do you see now?” She stabbed a finger toward the door, indicating what they’d just overheard. “That right there is why I don’t want anyone in my family to know about you.”
Roman pushed both his hands into his hair and let out a long, slow breath. “Jesus. I’ve never wanted to fight an old lady before. Relatives of yours, I presume?”
“My great-aunt Nereida and her daughter, Marta.” Ava crossed her arms, hugging herself. “That was mild. They can be a lot worse.”
He dropped his hands. “Look, I get it. You’re not exaggerating about your family. But we’re too old to be sneaking around like teenagers, worried about what our parents are going to say.”
She released a strangled laugh. “If only it were just my parents. They’re a lot more reasonable than everyone else.”
“Great, let’s tell them about us. Introduce me to your dad tonight.”
She blanched. “No! He’ll tell Olympia.”
“Your mom then.”
