Page 26 of Forbidden Hearts

She nods. “I’ll give you both some time to look over the menu, then I’ll send Aurora to take your order. She’ll be pleased to see you, Alonzo,” she says before taking her leave.

“This place is nice,” I say, looking at the colorful paintings on the wall. It feels cozy and has a lot of character. The wall behind Alonzo has a large painting of two men in white outfits harvesting prickly pear with large machetes.

“I own dozens of restaurants across the state,” Alonzo says. “But this is my favorite one.”

“Wow, so you’re an entrepreneur?”

“Hardly,” he says. “I do very little day-to-day business operations. I simply buy struggling restaurants and hire the existing owners, like Mrs. Agustina. Her younger sister passed away from cancer five years ago. Mrs. Agustina took in her sister’s kids, Emily and Aurora, and is raising them as her own. Unfortunately, that’s not all her sister left behind. There were hefty medical bills, too. I bought the restaurant and hired Mrs. Agustina to run it.”

“So you take advantage of struggling businesses?” I ask instinctively.

He smiles. “Does Mrs. Agustina look unhappy to you?”

I shake my head slowly. She doesn’t.

“I’m surprised you invested in a small restaurant like this one instead of something more fancy,” I say.

I’m probing for information about his businesses because I have a hunch they are money laundering operations. I casually page through the menu, pretending to ask a perfectly innocent question.

“I own several fancy restaurants, too,” he says. “It can’t all be charitable work.”

I’m not sure what to think. It’s possible the money he gave me came from his restaurant businesses, but how did he manageto buy those restaurants? Clearly, it all went back to mafia money. And yet, his money helps people like Mrs. Agustina.

“Wait, you gave that kid, Emilio, a hundred bucks. Why?” I ask. His car is spotless and shines like it was recently waxed by professionals. Surely, Emilio will mess up the shine.

“Emilio reminds me of myself when I was younger. And he’s had it rough these past couple of years, so I figured he needs a break,” Alonzo says. “Now, let’s order some food because I’m starving.”

Looking through the menu items, I can’t help but wonder what a young Alonzo looked like. Unfortunately, all I can see in my mind is a mafia enforcer with a nice suit and tatted arms.

A few minutes later, a teenage girl brings out drinks.

“Alonzo!” she says with a smile. Her smile all but disappears when she sees me. There is definitely something about me that gives people around here pause. I glance at the patrons at the restaurant.

There are other white people here,I think to myself.So it’s definitely not that.

“Aurora, this is my friend, Alex,” Alonzo introduces me.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I say.

Aurora ignores me. With a calmer voice, she asks what we’ll have for dinner.

Alonzo grins and shakes his head. He probably noticed Aurora’s change in tone as well. “Please get me the usual.”

“And you?” Aurora asks coldly.

“The street tacos plate,” I say, still confused about why her mood suddenly changed when she saw me.

“It’ll be right out,” Aurora says before snatching the menu from my hand and departing without saying another word.

“Did I do something wrong?” I ask. “Aurora seems cold.”

“Teenage crush,” Alonzo says. “She’s had a crush on me for some time and is probably jealous of you.”

“Why would she be jealous of me? You introduced me as a friend.”

“She’s a teenager,” Alonzo says as if that explains everything.

“Mrs. Agustina looked at me weird, too. She kept staring at me when she greeted us. Does she have a teenage crush on you, too?” I ask, half teasingly.

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