Alejandro (17 page)

FEET rooted to the floor, Ale watched Audrey’s retreating back as she raced up the stairs. As soon as the words were out of Mel’s mouth, Ale had raced out of the building and to the bus station. It’d been mere seconds from the time he’d hung up from talking to Trujillo about the bus station to hearing how Audrey had left to retrieve something of Lana’s and would return in a few minutes. Angel was safe in the lounge, snacking and watching television.

Ale didn’t have time to be furious at the woman who continued to take unnecessary risks. If Trujillo had sent those men ahead of him, they’d run right into Audrey. And that’s exactly what had happened. He saw the men enter the station the minute he drove into the parking lot. The sight of them evoked Ale to rocket prayers to Heaven.

His father hated church. When his mother suggested they attend when Ale and his brothers were young, the elder Santiago laughed. After prodding, he’d hurl profanities at her, and on one occasion, he’d launched a vase at her head.

Ale recalled his mother’s tears after that particular incident. Alone in her bedroom, she cried over a book in her hand. Later, she’d shown Ale the book —
The Holy Scriptures
. If his father didn’t want to read that book or go to church, Ale didn’t either. But his mother dragged him, Rafa, and Ric to church anyway. Only after his father left did Ale’s imperious attitude, a facsimile of his father’s, turn resentful. He idolized his father — the man who’d deserted him.

You abandoned your nephew.
Ale groaned, remembering the unfair words he hurled. He was lashing out in part because of his unresolved feelings toward his parents and also because her doubts of him injured his pride.

If I could trust you…

He hadn’t given her many reasons to. The implications about Lana’s duplicity, details of the investigation he assumed Audrey was too sensitive to handle, their kisses…

Ale couldn’t help the grin easing the tense muscles of his jaw. He nearly kissed her a few minutes ago. The fear in her eyes — at his anger — had dissolved into unabashed need. It took everything in him to refuse her inviting full lips, open and ready for his passion. She hadn’t sought a way of escape. Despite their argument, she would’ve yielded to him.

If only she knew how her indigo eyes bewitched him. How the tenderness of her skin beneath his hand ignited a yearning for his lips to follow suit. What if he hadn’t reached her in time? Failing one sister was distressing enough. But two? Losing Audrey? His heart clenched in consuming fear. The misery she would cause him. He wasn’t sure how he’d survive if he lost her.

Not that he’d ever truly have her. Ever since his mother had tossed him out of the house, family held no real meaning for him other than rejection. The prayer he uttered at the bus station was out of desperation for the life of a woman who possessed him heart and soul. If God could answer his prayer…

He did.
And I’m grateful.
His mother believed in prayer. When his father walked out of the house for the last time, she turned to God for comfort. She’d relied on her husband
and now God is my fulfillment
, she’d say. Perhaps the same held true for Audrey. Did she really need to worry about her own life with the God of the universe on her side?

Ale chuckled while jogging up the steps. The burden of her safety resting solely on his shoulders suddenly lifted. He’d never forgive himself if any harm came to her or Angel, but they had help. At a time when he’d often felt he carried this case singlehandedly, he took comfort from the idea that God was on their side — or on Audrey’s at least.

Crossing the office, he entered the lounge. Audrey and Mel were conversing in the kitchen while Angel napped on the couch. As if on cue, Mel excused herself and left the room. “We didn’t finish our conversation.”

Audrey busied herself with a rag, wiping down the counter. “I thought my leaving was a sign I was done talking.”

Ale moved to intercept the rag. She resisted his attempts to drag it out of her hands. Smiling at her resistance, Ale gave the cloth a slight tug, catching Audrey unexpectedly. With a soft cry, she stumbled forward, landing flush against his chest. Instantly she was red. Ale wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her to him. “You may walk away from me, but you won’t get very far. I want you to trust me, Aud.”

“Aud?” Her nose wrinkled in distaste. “Only my friends call me that.” She wiggled against his grip.

“I’d like to think we’re friends.” Her glaring eyes didn’t intimidate him, nor did his conscience suggest he release her.

She ceased struggling. An uneasy feeling stole over him at the sudden gleam in her eyes. “I imagine that goes both ways? Trust, that is.”

Ale swallowed. “I suppose.”

“You mind explaining what you meant earlier when you were talking to Angel?”

Ale’s brows came together as he racked his brain as to what she was referring to.

“When you told him you had to leave home.”

Dropping his arm, Ale walked out of the kitchen and sat in the loveseat, opposite Angel. He bit his lip, his eyes remaining on the boy.

“I trust you, Ale, despite everything,” she ended wryly.

He looked up and watched her tentatively approach. “Everything?”

“You encouraging my sister to go undercover. Your stubbornness. Your unprovoked kisses.”

He laughed softly as his eyes narrowed on her. His heart thudded with pleasure when a soft pink color filled her cheeks. “I’d hardly call them unprovoked. You can be very…” He willed his eyes away from the vision he could spend the rest of his life watching. “Never mind.” Thankfully, she let the matter drop.

“You don’t put your faith in anything, do you?”

And picked up another one. “After my father left and my mother kicked me out of the house? You’re right. Trust is difficult for me,” he ended bitterly. The seat cushion shifted as Audrey took a seat next to him. The heat of her hand warmed his bicep. “To be fair, I was a punk. My mother couldn’t handle three delinquent boys all at once.”

She squeezed his arm. “I’m sorry to hear that — about your father. That explains a lot.”

“Really? Like what?” he asked sarcastically.

Audrey’s voice was soft. “Calling Angel ‘kid,’ as though you’re warding off any attempt at becoming attached. And you’re not married. Right?”

He set teasing eyes on her. “Remember, I’m undercover.” His gaze lingered on her face, taking in the contours of her cheeks, her eyes, her mouth. “Perhaps I haven’t met the right woman,” he said in afterthought. Audrey’s hand, that lately seemed to become fused to his arm, slipped away as she cleared her throat. Leaning back against the couch and crossing his arms over his chest, Ale chuckled. “Now look who’s pulling away. Who said I was talking about you?”

Nose lifted, her indignant huff drew another laugh from Ale. “I didn’t say anything about me. Besides…” her voice trailed, her eyes on Angel, “I have a boy to raise.” She visibly swallowed. Defeat filled her eyes. “I can’t… I can’t fail again.”

Ale reached for her hand and held it between his own. “Then why do you look and sound as if you already have?” Was it his imagination or did her hand clutch his? In the next moment, she attempted to free herself. His fingers entangled hers. When was she going to learn she wasn’t going to get away unless he let her? After a moment of struggling, she ceased her fight with a sigh. “Ready to let me in?”

The suspicious glint in her eyes drew a smile from him. “Depends on how far.”

“How ’bout we talk about what’s bothering you? You think because your sister ended up the mother of a drug dealer’s child, you failed her — and your parents.”

Her bottom lip trembled as moisture filled her eyes. She nodded vigorously.

He continued. “I think Lana — sorry, I keep doing that. I think Penny made her own choices, for which she was sorry for in the end. You didn’t fail her.”

“Easy for you to say.”

“Is it? I’ll admit, I wasn’t exactly the ‘good son.’”

“But you blame your parents for that.” Her pointed look stabbed the words in defense of his parents to the back of his throat. “Why shouldn’t some of the blame be on those who played a major role in your upbringing?” She cocked questioning brows at him. “Why shouldn’t I shoulder some of the guilt — some of the responsibility for how my sister’s life turned out?”

Still shackling her hands, Ale eased closer to her on the sofa. “Because you don’t deserve it?”

Audrey’s lips twisted into a derisive grin. “Are you asking me?”

Ale released her hands to cup her face. Her grin slowly faded as her eyes grew wide with expectancy — and a bit of fear. He wasn’t going to kiss her — not yet. “Listen Audrey… sometimes, no matter how good the intentions of our parents, or our guardians,
we
still have a choice to make on how to live our lives.” Fear ebbing, acceptance filled her gaze. “Penny turned hers around. She must have had a solid foundation — and a sister who was praying for her.”

A ghost of a smile touched her lips, and her eyes warmed with emotion. “Just like you? You have a mother who loves you… prays for you.”

Grunting, Ale released her and settled back into the couch, his eyes on Audrey’s sleeping nephew. “That’s different.”

“How?”

“Too much time has passed.”

Feeling the soft touch of her fingers on his cheek, he instinctively turned his head to her. Audrey brought her other hand up to cradle
his
face. “My sister is dead, Alejandro. I have no more time to reconcile. You and your mother? It’s
not
too late.”

Her pleading blue eyes held fast his gaze. Hope mixed with fear and uncertainty clogged his throat as tears burned the back of his eyes.
Has she been praying for me?
She’d said his mother was — it wasn’t a stretch to believe Audrey had lobbed a few prayers to the big guy herself on his behalf. Might be why his attitude toward family had shifted in the past few days. Giving up the anger he harbored toward his father was a battle he’d reserve for another day and time but…

Ale glanced at Angel, who moaned while shifting his sleeping position on the couch. Even without a father, Penny had managed to raise a bright, well-mannered little man. The task of raising a son, or any child, wasn’t impossible.

Look at how I turned out.
True, he blamed his delinquency and his younger brothers’ on his father’s abandonment, but in the end, his father’s inadequacy had pushed his three boys into men — good men.

“Alejandro?”

Finding her face again, Ale’s gaze lingered a bit on her eyes, so much the color of Texas skies on a bright, cloudless day, before straying ever so boldly to her lips. What could this woman possibly want with him? He worked a dangerous job, lived several states away, and had Mommy and Daddy issues the size of Texas. And yet she pushed. Or did he pull? Her empathy and compassion drew him more quickly than he could draw his gun, and he was fast. The solitary life of the past several years had every part of him yearning to be wanted, accepted, needed by this woman — heart, mind, soul… and body.

He was in before the decision was made to kiss her. She stilled beneath his touch, and with technique he’d acquired from years of practice, he gently — deftly — teased and nudged his way past a strong, but alas, penetrable barrier to treasure that lay enshrined in guarded innocence. Ale cradled the back of her neck, sealing their contact with a kiss so deep, the desire for air capitulated to the overwhelming urge to drown in the sweet nectar of her mouth. “Audrey…” he breathed between kisses, his mouth tracing a path along her jaw, nuzzling in a tender spot beneath her ear, evoking a faint moan he not only heard but felt as it traveled up her slender throat. “I want you.
Need
you. I—”

“Ewwww!”

They tore apart at the howl, their eyes landing on a
very
awake boy with arms crossed and a nose crinkled in disgust.

Angel harrumphed. “I hate kissing.”

Soft snickering followed by an unladylike snort drew Ale’s attention from her nephew to Audrey, who, with a hand covering her mouth, turned so red from laughing, she had tears coursing down her cheeks. Ale laughed at her response — and to cover his own embarrassment. “You all right?”

Audrey nodded, wiping tears from her cheeks. Reaching for Penny’s bag, she dumped the rest of the contents on the table. “I haven’t had a chance to look through the rest of this stuff.” Unfolding a piece of paper that had fluttered to the floor, Audrey gasped.

Ale leaned close, attempting to view the document. “What is it?”

“It’s…” She handed him the document. Lowering her voice for his ears only, she continued, “It’s Angel’s birth certificate. Look at the father’s name.”

Ale’s mouth dried as he read the printed name. Relief flooded him, but the waters soon evaporated. His eyes found Angel, who’d once again clicked the remote and had begun flipping through the channels.

Trujillo wasn’t his father.

Only Trujillo didn’t know the truth. Or did he?
His obsession with Penny…

The space between Audrey’s brows crinkled, giving her a pensive look. “Maybe that’s why she hid the bag at the bus station that night, instead of taking it home with her. Trujillo might have seen…”

He might also have forced the truth from her.
But would he have a reason to?

“Who is Carlos Nuñez?”

Ale cleared the gunk in his throat. “He’s Alba’s right-hand man.” He heard Audrey’s sharp intake of breath. “Apparently, Carlos, Trujillo, and your sister were all acquaintances a little more than five years ago. I’m not sure what happened, but Carlos was shipped to Guadalajara and — you know the relationship Penny had with Trujillo.”

“But then she called it quits, right?”

Ale nodded. “She was pregnant, and not with Trujillo’s child.”

“She must have known,” Audrey breathed. “If Trujillo’s as dangerous as you say and if he’d found out about her and Carlos—”

“She’d have been dead five years ago — and so would Angel,” he said in the lowest voice possible for Angel’s sake.

“Ale, you have to catch this guy.”