Blood in the Valencian Soil (Secrets of Spain) (19 page)

17

Madrid, España ~ septiembre de 2009

Cayetano opened the front door of his Madrid apartment and felt the breath sucked from his lungs. There was Luna and her children. She looked hot. Smoking hot. She wore a low cut knee-length dress, which was bright red. Everything was perky and well curved in all right places. Her hair fell gently over her shoulders, the black highlighted by the bright dress, and the very red lipstick she wore. Combined with tall black stilettos on those toned legs, she was killing him without doing a thing. Her two gentleman companions looked tired but happy, two little smiles pleased to see him.

“Hi, lollipop guy!” Giacomo said.

“Good evening, Giacomo. Nice to see you.”

“I’m not Giacomo, I’m Enzo.”

“I’m Giacomo,” Enzo said.

Cayetano looked back and forward between them both, and they started to giggle.

“You’re right, lollipop guy,” Luna said. “They’re messing with you.”

“Come in,” Cayetano gestured and the boys ran inside ahead of their mother. Cayetano took her small case from her and closed the door. “I have some toys in the living room for you, if you like.”

“You’re so cool,” Enzo commented as the two boys kicked off their black leather shoes. They sprinted off into the
living room, and they heard them squeal with delight a moment later.

“Mummy, there are wooden blocks in here. They’re so awesome!” they heard Giacomo exclaim.

“Come see!” Enzo yelled.

“Be right there,” Luna called to them. She t
urned to Cayetano with a smile. “How are you, lollipop guy? Anything in your pockets for me?”

“What
do you want?”

She placed one hand on his chest and pushed him against the wall,
much to his delight. She wound her arms around his waist, and ran her hands ran into the back pockets of his jeans. “I’ll take whatever you have.”

“Keep it clean,
Señora Montgomery. There are children present.”

“Rule number one of parenting, Cayetano,” she whispered and brought her lips to his. “Take every moment you have.”

Cayetano needed no more invitation than that. Her lips begged to be kissed, and her body desperately needed to be held. The woman had more sides to her than a flawlessly cut diamond. It didn’t matter if she was the enthusiastic and caring mother, the easy-going girl in the park, the flawless beauty in a fine restaurant, the wide-eyed tourist in a small town, or the temptress in his apartment - he was happy to take each and every side of her. When she finally released him from her slow and consuming kiss, he realised he hadn’t been this happy in a long time. Luna had rung him earlier that afternoon and said that she wanted to see him, even though she had turned down his offer of a weekend away earlier in the week. Cayetano was so ecstatic he had jumped up and down on the spot like a happy teenage girl.

He watched her poke her head through the doorway to check the boys and then turned back to him. “So, is your offer of going to visit your country place over the weekend still on offer?”

“Absolutely! We will have a great time out there. Plenty for the kids to do.”

“You said that you have a surprise for me out there?”

His father’s chest of secrets. “I do.”

“That can wait for tomorrow then, I’m sure.
The children are tired. They probably won’t last another hour. Perhaps we can have an evening to ourselves?”

“I like that idea. I was going to suggest we take them out for dinner, but we can do that another time.”

Luna glanced at her wrist; still no watch. She hadn’t had her last one fixed, but it didn’t stop her from instinctively looking at her wrist.

“It’s just after nine,” Cayetano said.

“Well past bedtime already. The boys ate on the train; they think that is the coolest thing ever.”

“I went to the supermarket, which meant braving about 100 grandmothers who wanted to tell me how to heal my leg, to buy
things I thought the kids would like. Then I made up the spare room for them. Now they’re here, I find all I needed to do was have a few lollipops in my pocket.”

“I didn’t feel any in your pocket. Can I try again?”

“Yes… later. I want to play with the new blocks I bought. They look fun.”

“You didn’t need to buy them toys, Cayetano,” Luna said and wound her arms around his neck. “But I appreciate it.”

“I bought them for me, you just brought the playmates.” Cayetano wrapped his arms around her little waist and stole another sneaky kiss. “How are you, preciosa?”

“It’s been a rough day.”
Darren’s slap had hurt for hours.

“I can help with that.” He could barely go more than a sentence or two without kissing her.

“Are you getting married?”

The embrace broke at the sound of the little voice, and Luna turned to see her sons behind her.
“What is it with men and marriage today?” she muttered. “Why do you think I’m getting married?” she asked the two innocent faces that looked back at her.

“You’re kissing. I saw it on TV,” Enzo said, a voice full of authority.

“You don’t have to marry every girl you kiss,” Cayetano chuckled.

Luna shook her head with a smile. “
I’m not getting married. Go and play. I’ll put my bag away, and then I’ll join you. Go on.”

Cayetano and Luna stood in the double doorway to the living room and watched the kids resume their position on the rug. “Sorry,” he said under his breath.

“It’s okay.” Her voice was so soft that her lips barely moved. “You are my lover, and if we are serious, then the boys will need to adjust to that… slowly…”

“We are serious, are we?” Cayetano couldn’t hide his smile.

“I brought my children into your home. I consider that serious. Plus, I have always wanted to take a lover.”

“Consider me taken, mistress,” he said, and linked one finger through her hand to hold it in his own. “Can we play now?”

Luna sat on the floor with the kids, and watched Giacomo and Enzo talk and play with Cayetano and the toys that he had got them. Luna was not a person who liked children – of course
she loved her own, they were an extension of her soul. But Cayetano was one of those people who loved all children, and he was great with the boys. He had all the time in the world for them. Of course, that was easy when you only did it for an hour a week. The games put away when they were exhausted, and the boys were asleep in no time in the spare room down the hallway. Luna wandered back into the living room to find Cayetano clearing away the blocks. “You don’t have to do that, I will,” she said. “Sitting on the floor must hurt your leg.”

“Gracias,
Mamá,” he teased. “I don’t mind. If I trip and fall on them, then it might be different. Are they asleep?”

“Yes. The boys will sleep anywhere. It comes in very handy.” She looked around the sp
otless room. “So, what does my Madrileño do on an average Friday night?”

“I usually go out about midnight, and get home just before sunrise.”

“Wow, I’m jealous of that.”

“Don’t be,” Cayetano said and got up off the floor. It was easy to see his leg was still not right when he moved. “At home with you appeals far more. Maybe I’m old, but some nights, just sitting in my armchair and doing nothing is great. But I would like company. I get very lonely here.”

Luna glanced at the ugly brown leather armchair in the corner. The whole apartment was perfect in black and white, but this stood out for all the wrong reasons. “What’s with the old chair?”

“Don’t insult the chair!” he cried. “She’s my baby. My grandfather José bought it when he was young, and then Papá had it when he was a
torero, and now I have it. It’s a tradition.”

“You sit on an old chair that is falling apart as
a tradition?”

“You have no idea how many times María tried to get rid of it. She said it embarrassed her when we had parties.”

“Was that often?”

“Too often. I like
going out, but María liked to show off all the material things she owned. Drove me crazy.”

“Well, you have no problem of that with me. I don’t own much,” Luna said. She crossed the room to look at a few pictures on the wall. “My apartment consists of things I need, not want. We never decorated anything.
We weren’t interested in ‘stuff’. This is your sister, Sofía, right?” she gestured at the photos on the wall.

“Sure is.”

“You seem close. That’s nice. Wow, you look young in this one.” She leaned in to look at the photo of a young Cayetano and Sofía on a walking track in the forest.

“That is Peru. We backpacked through South America when Sofía turned 18. She wanted to go alone, but I suggested I
that go with her. Papá was furious when I took a year off work.”

“Are Sofía and your parents still not talking?”

“Si,” Cayetano sighed, and sat down in his armchair. He pulled the footrest out and leaned back. “It’s nothing new.”

“That’s sad. You never know when you are going to be hit by a car and have everything ruined.”

“Shit, sorry.”

“No, it’s okay.” Luna continued to look at the photos. “I’m just saying that you shouldn’t assume bad things only happen to other people. They can happen to you. Don’t waste time fighting.”

Cayetano watched her glance over at him, and he beckoned her. “You have to sit with me. I can’t bear to look at you in that dress any longer without having you on my lap.”

“I can’t sit on you,” she said, but came over anyway.

“You can, you are light as a feather.”

“Feather? No way.” When he took her hand and pulled her, she climbed on his lap and put her arm around his shoulders. She rested her fe
et on the torn arm of the chair and curled up on him, careful not to put any weight on his leg. She couldn’t deny that she loved the spot. “How long were you in South America?”

“A year. Sofía graduated high school and refused to go to law school as Mamá and Papá had arranged. She wanted to travel and be a nanny. I took a year off my work and went with her. At 2
3, you think you can protect your teenage sister from everything. I did a terrible job.”

“Why?”

“Sofía is a free spirit. I don’t mind, but that is why she clashes with our parents. Our whole family all work for the family business. Sofía was going to be the lawyer of the family, and she rebelled. I went and trained with a fighter just outside Buenos Aires for three months, and Sofía learnt to dance. I have to admit I made my way through too many young women there, and Sofía was no better. She always manages to find the worst man for her and falls in love.”

“We are all guilty of that.”

“True! After that we spent six months tripping around south and central America, and then I did another three months training in Mexico City. Again Sofía was madly in love, and I was bed-hopping. We saw all the sights, walked the famous trails, sampled all the local beers, but we needed to come home just to relax from the holiday! I came home to Madrid and ready to take my place as the torero of the family, but Sofía came home convinced that she couldn’t take her place. She has drifted ever since.”

“You can’t make her something she isn’t.”

“No. She met this guy, Garcia, a few years ago. Nice guy. Mamá and Papá loved him. Since she hasn’t been what they wanted, instead they saw her as a wife and mother with Garcia. But Sofía isn’t into marriage. About a year ago, she got pregnant, but was ectópico… ectopic… and now she can’t have children. It split the relationship.”

“That’s terrible.”

“Mamá and Papá were upset that she split with Garcia, and Sofía just lost it. She won’t speak to them now. She’s still hurting over it all. I sit in the middle.”

“It’s all you can do.”

“Then I split with María, but somehow they supported me more than they supported Sofía, which creates tension.”

“So, when you see a chance to meet a stranger on the street who doesn’t know you, it’s an opportunity have a bit of fun after all this is going on?”

Cayetano smiled a warm, genuine smile. “Yeah, but it’s far more than that now. I thought you said that you weren’t sure about bringing the kids here. Then you turn up, looking so smoking hot that I can barely breathe.”

“Very funny.”

“I’m serious, you might set off my smoke alarm. Although, standing under cold sprinklers might do me some good.”

“
Darren came home from Cordoba. He knows all about us now.”

“Awkward?”

“I just told my best friend of 15 years that I don’t want to be with him, or marry him. I feel like shit.”

Cayetano raised his eyebrows and thought about that. He wasn’t sure what to say.

Luna could see what went through his mind. “No! Cayetano, no. I don’t regret it, so don’t think that. Even if I didn’t know you, I still would have said no. Especially with the way he acted today.”

“What did he do?”

“He acted as if I owed him. He has put in the hours, and now I have to love him. I have to give him what he wants. He slapped me.”