Page 55 of More than Paper

Early morning Friday,Chase and I arrive in Chicago, and as soon as I turn my phone on, it rings.

“I have to take this, it’s Valeria,” I tell Chase.

“Go ahead.”

“Hey, V. I’m just getting off a plane. Can I call you back?”

“I only have a minute. My father is coming into New York on Saturday, in two weeks. He wants to have dinner with us.”

I sigh. I had forgotten about Alejandro for a brief moment. “Okay. Text me the time and place. Did he say what this is about?”

“No. He won’t give me any hints.”

“All right. I’ll see you then. You want to stay with Chase and me while you are in town?”

“That would be great. Especially with my father in town.”

“Good point. Okay, I’ll see you then.”

“Thanks for doing this, Jamison.”

“No worries. I got your back.”

“You always have. Thank you.”

“Take care. See you in a few weeks.” I hang up, stand, grab my bag from the overhead bin, and walk off the plane.

When we get into the terminal, Chase turns to me. “Valeria doing okay?”

“Yeah. Alejandro is coming to town and demanding dinner. V’s going to stay with us while she’s in New York.”

He nods. “I take it if Alejandro is in town, then Cindy is staying in California?”

“That would be my guess. I think V is still out of the country on her shoot. I know Cindy went back to California for work.”

Chase raises his eyebrow. “What does Alejandro want?”

I shake my head. “I have no idea. He isn’t giving any hints.”

“You need to figure out how to get away from that man.”

“Gee, you think?”

“Sorry. I know we’ve gone round and round trying to come up with solutions.”

“I’m pretty sure unless he dies or loses his memory, I’m never going to be free of him. And if he ever finds out about Valeria...”

Chase and I both sigh. Alejandro Gómez is not a nice or forgiving man. If he ever finds out about Valeria and my fake marriage, or that she is a lesbian, there will be hell to pay. It was bad enough when he learned she didn’t marry another Colombian.

How Valeria carries any of his DNA is a mystery to me.

Alejandro is a cold, callous man. A man involved in deep criminal activity throughout all of Colombia. His reign of terror sweeps silently and secretively across many countries in South America, and one thing you don’t want to do is defy Alejandro.

If I had only known about him before I agreed to help Valeria out, I wouldn’t have married her.

I had been stupid—young, dumb, and trying to be the hero. Valeria was in a horrible position. If she went back to Colombia, he would force her to marry one of his men, and her dreams of becoming an actress would be over.

Her life would be over.

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