Page 34 of Marriage and Malice

“First of all, no guns were pointed during the ceremony. And second, keep your voice down.” I look to the door before finishing off my last waffle. “I don’t need Zoe to hear this and get upset again. It’s the first time that she’s been in a seemingly good mood.”

“Gee, I wonder why.” Camila’s voice drips with sarcasm.

She slides off the counter. “You should have done better, Christian. Kidnapping a woman to get married is stupid, even for you. Now look at what you have to deal with. If you had just let the deal fall through, you could have waited until you found someone that you would fall in love with.”

I scowl and stand up, crossing my arms. “Falling in love is for people who want their lives to be ruined when they lose the people they care about. Families push each other to do horrible things that only pull them apart in the end. I don’t want that.”

Camila rolls her eyes. “You’re so full of shit, Christian. If you really believed that, you wouldn’t have spent years raising me and making sure that I was going to turn out fine. You wouldn’t still be putting me through medical school.”

“You’re an exception to the rule.”

Camila opens her mouth to reply, but it snaps shut when Zoe walks into the room with a towel wrapped tightly around her body.

Her eyes grow wide as she looks between me and Camila, clutching the towel a little closer.

“Sorry.” She stammers over the word. “I was just going to go out for a swim instead of that shower. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

Camila bounces forward with a bright smile. She throws open her arms and pulls Zoe into a hug. “Welcome to the family. I’m Camila, Christian’s younger and far more brilliant sister. You must be Zoe.”

“Yes.” Zoe pulls out of the hug and looks over Camila’s shoulder at me.

I shrug and sit back down, knowing there is nothing I’m going to do to stop my sister now.

Maybe Camila being herself is exactly what I need to scare Zoe into keeping her distance from me.

I love my little sister more than life itself, but she can be a lot to handle at times.

She doesn’t trust people easily, which means those that she does trust are the only ones she truly spends time around.

She’s always in my business, unless it’s inappropriate in regard to the cartel, and won’t settle for anything other than knowing what she wants to know.

“Why don’t we both go for a swim together? We can crack into one of the nice bottles of wine Christian has and spend some time getting to know each other.”

Camila is already opening my cupboards and rummaging around for wine and glasses while Zoe stands there looking stunned.

Camila isn’t the kind of woman who is going to take no for an answer, and it’s clear Zoe can see that by the way she nods and follows her out the door.

Hopefully, this doesn’t blow up in my face. The last thing I need is for the two of them to become too attached to each other.

Even though I don’t want them to bond too closely in case this marriage ever comes to an end, it will be good for Zoe to have someone in the cartel she can trust.

I was telling her the truth when I told her that I want her to be comfortable here.

Camila grins as she stirs the Sudado de Pollo on the stove, the scent of chicken wafting through the house.

Zoe sits at the kitchen island, folding empanadas with a glass of white wine beside her.

The two of them are laughing and talking with each other about some band I don’t know while I go over quarterly reports for the trainyard.

Soft instrumental music is playing in the background while Camila cooks.

“So,” Zoe says, her voice raising a little louder.

I look up from my paperwork to find her staring at me. “Do you know how to cook amazing food too, or is it just Camila?”

I chuckle and shrug, leaning back in my chair. “I’m better at cooking than she is. She used to burn the chicken all the time.”

Camila sticks her tongue out. “I did not. He just liked to distract me and then the chicken would burn while he was doing something like pulling my hair.”

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