Page 190 of When Lies Unfold

Just when I think it can’t possibly get any better, I’m proven wrong. ’Cause my daughter comes barrelin’ in and flings her arms around us.

“See? I told you she’d come back!” Alma exclaims.

When Lola gathers Alma in her arms and presses kisses to my daughter’s cheeks, my eyes burn. I need to blink a few times to focus clearly on my girls. Identical to Lola’s, the smile on Alma’s face is near blindin’.

And when they reach for me, tuggin’ me in for a family hug, I don’t hesitate. ’Cause this is so much better than joy.

This right here is fuckin’ bliss.

89

LOLA HERNÁNDEZ

A Few Years Later

“Don’t say a fuckin’ word.” My husband’s tone is filled with a lethally intense warning.

“C’mon, now, boss. Pink is totally your color.” Gordo flashes a wide grin. Gesturing to his own purple tiara, he strikes a pose. “Purple’s mine. Just never knew it ’til today.”

With a pink bejeweled tiara on his head, my husband growls at his friend. I cradle Santy’s face in my hands, forcing him to meet my eyes. “You know what makes this even more special for Alma?”

“What’s that?” His gruff tone softens incrementally as it normally does when he talks to me.

“That you’re here and not working, because it’s her birthday. Not only that”—I dust a kiss over his lips—“but everyone who loves her is here, too, and wearing the special tiaras she asked us to wear.” I punctuate this with another light kiss.

His features soften a fraction more. “Yeah?”

I nod. “And you know what else?”

“What’s that?”

I whisper for only his ears. “Seeing you do this for our daughter makes you even sexier.”

Dark brows rise while one corner of his mouth tilts up. “That so?”

“Definitely.”

“Huh.” A glint enters his gaze, and he pulls me even closer. “Think I might need some kinda reward later…”

Gordo makes a sound like he’s in the throes of being violently ill but we ignore him.

“I might be able to arrange that, but right now, you’re due for your shift at the dunking booth.”

“That means I gotta take this off.” He carefully plucks the tiara from his head before removing his shirt and handing both to me.

“Ohhh…” My eyes travel over his naked torso, tracing over the cuts and curves of his tattooed chest and abdominals.

His board shorts hang low on his hips, and I know the other moms here will salivate over my husband. I certainly can’t blame them.

“Gotta stop lookin’ at me like that, or this is gonna turn inappropriate real quick.” His words have me jerking my gaze up to meet his amused one.

Playful expression in place, I wag my finger at him in warning. “There are a few younger moms here, but remember that I?—”

He abruptly yanks me in for a possessively delicious but all-too-brief kiss. Once he releases me, it takes me a moment to blink away the haze of lust.

He backs away, our gazes locked. “You must’ve forgotten that I’m in love with my wife and only got eyes for her.” With a wink, he turns and strides toward the dunking booth to relieve Nando.

I release a happy sigh as I watch our daughter race over to him. He hauls her up in his arms and gives her a quick kiss on her cheek. After twirling her around in a circle, which makes her giggle adorably, he sets her back on her feet, and she runs off to rejoin her friends.

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