Page 69 of The Final Deal

He grimaces. “Well, as weird as all of it is, I’m glad Adrian’s part of the package deal.”

Voices raise outside, stealing my attention away from my brother to the twins getting into a shouting match.

Robbie and I both frown at each other and head for the door, cracking it open so we can hear better. Zak holds his phone out between himself and Dree; Tia Rosa’s name and contact photo lighting up the screen as she hollers at them mostly in Spanish, and Zak and Adrian scream at the phone more in English than in Spanish.

“Who are you to say shit?” Adrian yells. “You’re a goddamn hypocrite, fuckin’ your brother-in-law when you were still married to Tio and sayin’ this shit.”

“I wasn’t a puta who tried to be with them both, either,” Rosa smarts. “You two better come to your senses or you can say goodbye to the botanica.”

My jaw drops. Zak’s phone goes silent, and the screen blinks off.

“What the hell was all that?” I question. “What does she mean about the botanica?”

“Kris told her about us,” Zak mumbles. “That she saw all three of us wearing rings. And that you told Tia you’re dating us both.”

Oh, no.

If Adrian was right…

He stares at me with hurt in his eyes. “She’s threatening to kick us out of the botanica.”

My jaw drops. “How? How the hell can she do that when y’all literally own half of it?”

“We only own twenty percent each,” Zak says quietly. He blinks rapidly. “Tia and Kris both own thirty.”

“The botanica is an LLC, and they can vote us out by majority.”

“What the fuck is she even doing still owning part of the botanica if she’s not around anymore?” I question angrily. Reaching for a pan on the stove, the handle is raging hot and burns. “Shit!”

Zak takes me by the shoulders, pushes me away from the stove, and stops me in front of the sink. He turns the water on, letting water pour over his fingers first before taking the hand I burned and holding it under the faucet. The water runs cool over the burn. “Don’t cook when you’re angry. You always burn yourself.”

I grunt and watch him head to the stove. It’s a weird feeling, the flutter of butterflies from realizing the man I love knows me so well while being pissed off about his family.

“It’s not part of the agreement that any of us have to work while keeping our part of the business.” He wraps a towel around the cast iron skillet’s handle and scatters onions across the surface shimmering with bacon fat with a loud sizzle. “We do it because we want to.”

Sighing heavily, I tell him, “Still bullshit.”

“Babe, she’s got a kid to support and neither of us do. I don’t mind her owning more than us.”

My sinuses sting. “Don’t you get it? It’s not about how much percentage any one of you own. It’s the fact that your sister still fucking hates my guts and is trying to take you both away from me. She can go fuck up her happy little traditional nuclear family, but God forbid I pick up her slackandlove both of her brothers. Good Lord, what will y’all’s family and the folks at church say?”

The skilletclanks against the stove heavily, and Zak shoots me an exasperated look. “What’d you think was gonna happen when you thought you could be with both of us?”

I slap the faucet off and dry my hand on a towel. “So when can I expect you to abandon us, too, because I’m a little sick of surprises around here and would like to see that one coming.”

I’m so sick of crying, too, but it happens anyway as I spin around for the door.

A hand with a shattered clock tattooed on the back slaps against it and prevents me from leaving. I stare at the shiny gold band on his finger studded with diamonds, refusing to meet his stare.

“I’m not going anywhere. I already told you: you’re stuck with me. For the rest of forever, remember?” He wiggles his ring finger. “This means I’m staying. It means I’ll choose you over the botanica and my family every day for the rest of my life.”

A deluge surges over the brim of my eyes. His stern expression is stoney, determined to prove his case.

“Hon, you can’t give up the botanica,” I whisper. “That’s your mom’s. I can’t let you give up anything of your parents’ for me.”

He spreads his arms wide, gesturing all around. “Babe, we have the house they built and raised their kids in. I have more memories of her doing cleansings and rituals here than at the botanica. Tia’s the one who pushed her to open the botanica and monetize her gifts; Mom just wanted to help people. It’ll suck to lose it, but it’s not the end of the world.”

He cups my cheek and brushes away my tears with the pad of his thumb. “I don’t know what’s goin’ through my sister’s head to make her abandon her husband and daughter, but that’s not where I’m at. Maybe I don’t want you to sleep in my room when I think I might shift, but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna abandon you or my brother.”

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