Page 106 of My Desire (Mi Deseo)

All of us are stuck on the word she screamed, everything else falling on deaf ears, but she’s not done.

“So don’t forgive me, fine, that’s your choice once again, but what I will not accept is hypocrisy. Fix that shit before you decide how unworthy I am of your forgiveness.”

“Did you saytwin?”

I’m not sure if it was me who asked or if it were someone else, but Vicenta sighs and drops down on the sofa

“There’s so much to tell you.”

“We know who your family is,Diabla,” Romero says, sitting beside her and taking her hand in his, “but it seems that you know more.”

I sit on the other side of her, pulling her against my chest and kissing the top of her head.

“I don’t even know where to start, but Victor isn’t our biological father and Mom handed her piece of shit family over to the Delagos when our grandfather killed our real dad in her bed. When she realized she was pregnant with us, she went to Darío’s father. She made a deal and helped him kill her whole family in order to protect us. He got her to America for a fresh start and never spoke to him or anyone else from here ever again. That’s when she met Victor. He knows everything but raised us as his own. But it suddenly makes sense why he could so easily give me up to save himself.”

“Is Victor here too?” I ask her, rubbing circles on her waist when she wipes her eyes.

“No, Mom came on her own while dad stayed at the office late.”

From the corner of my eye, I see Romero stiffen but I pay it no mind whenBruja’sbody shakes with her tears.

“She’s not right in the head. Something’s wrong with her.”

“What do you mean?” Vicente asks.

Brujaspends the next few minutes telling us every detail since arriving here. Every horrible detail of her mother’s childhood and ultimate snap. I’ve heard the tales of the woman calledLa Llorona, not the myth of the killer mom, but the woman who cried at the feet of a Don and had an entire family wiped out, but I always thought it was bullshit. The family name changed throughout the years, people blaming the crying woman’s curse for the rise and fall of many different empires. I never knew it was the truth or that it all started with Alma Vargas, the vengeful daughter and pregnant mother. The corrupted soul who did what she had to do for her children no matter who’s life she took, no matter who’s soul she had to damn. Even her own.

But now, in her warped mind, she has confused Romero and I for the bastards she had to face at Vicenta’s age. I don’t want to kill the woman, I don’t want to hurt her, but likeLa Llorona, I will do whatever it takes to make sure Vicenta lives happily, even if it means I have to kill her.

When the knock comes to the door and the guard tells us it’s time, I look into Romero’s eyes as we each take Vicenta’s hands; I know he will do the same.

THIRTY-SEVEN

VICENTA

“Si Te Vienen a Contar” by Cartel De Santa

With my brother and men around me, we follow the guards to the dining hall, pausing outside the open archway. The guard who retrieved us places a finger to his lips before moving into view of whoever is inside the hall.

I see him dip his chin in a slight, tight nod, waiting for the signal to let us through.

“I have the Guzmán girl.” I hear Marío’s voice, my fingers squeezing Alvaro’s in response. “She's the perfect age and size for breeding—she’ll make a good wife for you, Darío. She’s also very easy on the eyes. If you want her, I will need assurances that the Delagos will be allied with me against the Herreras.”

“You have her now?”

Marío laughs at Darío’s seemingly ignorant question. “Of course I do. I also have her father as insurance for her compliance.”

My head swings to Romero when I hear his whisper,“Fuck.”

Did he know and not tell me?

I catch my brother’s angry eyes as he stares at Romero. When he glances at me, I see a disgusted look deep in his brown eyes—he didn’t know. Romero knew our father was being tortured and he didn’t tell me. Even more betraying, he didn’t lift a finger to stop it.

“You knew?” I whisper to him. He looks at me for a minute before nodding, sending a strike of betrayal right through my heart.

I try to jerk my hand from his but he tightens his grip, his eyes pleading as he whispers.

“I’ll tell you everything when we’re out of here, I swear it.”

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