Page 34 of Falling for the Enemy

“I want sweet. Sweet with just a hint of spice,” he adds, staring at the house, his words causing my thoughts to flit to Arianna, the last place they need to be.

She may look and undoubtedly taste sweet, but on the inside, she’s made it clear she’s nothing but venom and fire, heaven and hell wrapped in one beautifully dangerous package.

One I fully wish to unwrap.

Fuck. Me.

To maintain the loose threads that remain of my sanity, I have to quit thinking about her, something I haven’t stopped doing since our initial meeting, and that has only gotten worse since our last.

I have a war with La Famiglia to win and a sister to keep safe. The intrigue Manzana sparks in my chest each time I glimpse her darkness, further watering the seeds of obsession that have begun to rapidly grow within me, must stop.

If it doesn’t—

The creak of a door opening followed by feminine laughter, the sound of which I’d recognize anywhere, rips me from my tumultuous thoughts.

My head turns, gaze snapping back to the front porch of Carmen’s home. A porch she now stands on, her feet bare and waist-length, tawny hair draped over her shoulders. Looking at her is like looking at Mamá.

Their faces are one and the same.

My throat tightens as she makes her way down the steps, her sparkling eyes, ones that are perfect replicas of mine, filling with tears.

“I came back to you, princesa,” I say, shattering the silence that has descended, filling the humid summer air. The words nearly catch on the boulder that’s taken up residence at the base of my neck, but I manage to speak around it. “Just as I said I would.”

My breath rushes from my lungs as she runs to me, the first of her sobs breaking free. Our bodies collide when she throws herself against me, and I stumble back a step. Her arms circle around me, and mine hold her tight in return as I press my face to her hair and inhale, the beat of her hammering heart bleeding into me.

“You kept your p-promise.” Her voice splinters as she refers to the vow I made on her wedding day. “You actually kept it.”

It’s clear she thought I wouldn’t return.

The realization is cutting but understandable.

“Carmen, look at me.” Dropping an arm from her back, I slip my hand beneath her chin and lift it, forcing her glistening eyes to collide with mine. “When it comes to you, I will always keep my promises. Understand?”

She nods, tears continuing to stream down her cheeks, matching the ones that now stain my black dress shirt. “I do.” Pulling back, she smiles and wipes her face. “Cristo, I’m such a mess.”

I pull a linen handkerchief from my pocket and dry her flushed skin, a genuine smile tugging at my lips, something I’m not accustomed to. “You are.” I chuckle, hearing the Rover’s door shut as Benito climbs back inside, wisely choosing not to intrude on the moment. “But that’s acceptable because you’re—”

“Well helloooo, Mr. Good Lookin’! It’s about doggone time you got here!”

Brow climbing my forehead, I look over my sister’s head, spotting the elderly Southern neighbor she affectionately refers to as Grandmama standing on the porch, the front door hanging open behind her. A phantom pain streaks across my right ass cheek at the mere sight of her, the memory of her pinching it at Carmen’s wedding reception still fresh in my mind.

The quarter-sized bruise lasted a month.

An entire month.

“Hand to God,” she continues, not missing a beat, “I told Beauty that if you didn’t show up here in the next few weeks or so, my sassy self was gonna head on down to South America and find you all by my lonesome!”

I can’t imagine a worse scenario.

“Dios mío, the older she gets, the more loca she becomes.” Carmen takes a step back, a playful glint in her eyes. “Come, Hermanito, let’s head inside. If we don’t, the crazy old biddy’s going to pull out her swatter and chase us back up the sidewalk and into the house.”

Pulling my gaze from the woman grinning like a loon on the porch, her aged green eyes staring at me over the top of sparkly, purple-rimmed glasses, I nod and wipe away the last of my sister’s tears.

“As you wish.”

Her warm hand finds mine, our fingers entwining, and without another word, she moves forward, leading me into the house.

I follow without hesitation.

---