Page 27 of Till Death Do Us Part

“Mia,” Emiliano said with a nod. “Congratulations. Welcome to the family.”

That would be the greater cartel family. The Roríguezes and Ruizes weren’t actually related—to my knowledge. Unless Dario marrying a Ruiz and my marrying a Roríguez…it was getting complicated.

“Your family knows how to throw a party,” I said with a smile.

“Qué pasawith the couple over there?” Aléjandro asked, getting right to the subject of my question. “Did they miss the part on the invitation that this was to be a celebration? They don’t seem to be having a good time.”

Emiliano sighed. “That’s my Uncle Gerardo and his new wife, Liliana. Our aunt passed away about a year ago.”

Another arranged marriage.

“She isn’t happy,” I said, stating the obvious.

Emiliano didn’t try to sugarcoat it. “She’s not. See the girl next to her?”

I nodded.

“She’s our cousin Sofia. Liliana, our new aunt, and Sofia have been best friends most of their lives.”

The food in my stomach churned. “And Liliana married your uncle? She’s now her best friend’s stepmother? Why would they make her marry someone so much older?”

“Uncle Gerardo is important to the cartel. He needed a wife.”

I turned to Aléjandro. “Did you approve of their marriage?”

He shook his head. “That would bemi padre.”

“She’s a child.”

“She’s eighteen,” Emiliano replied. “Gerardo is a lieutenant who has proven his worth. He got who he asked for.”

Maybe he should have considered Liliana’s or his daughter’s needs in the process.

Emiliano walked away.

Aléjandro reached for my hand. “It’s the way it is in my world.”

“Mine too,” I said, looking up at my husband’s handsome features, his prominent brow, high cheekbones, and full lips. Was I imagining it or did Aléjandro appear as if he actually cared? “It still isn’t right. The woman should have some say.”

“You had your say.”

I scoffed. I had told anyone who would listen that I didn’t want this marriage. “I did, but no one listened to me.”

Aléjandro lifted the hand he was holding to his lips. “I’m not defending the ways of our worlds, but at the same time, I’m happy that those rules brought you to me.”

Watching Liliana affected me deeply. I’d been her but had hidden the reality from others, refusing to let anyone see my private pain. Liliana couldn’t even do that. Was her pain so acute that even at a wedding, she couldn’t bring herself out of its depths? I wanted to help her, to go to her and tell her that I understood. No, I wanted to do more than that. I wanted to drag her away from the man at her side, the one who had essentially secured a young wife for his own pleasure, not for hers. I turned to my new husband. “One day, will it be you who makes the decisions about marriages in the cartel?”

Aléjandro nodded.

“I hope you can see things differently when that time comes.”

As he turned toward Gerardo and Liliana, his smile dimmed. “Up until now, my preparation for takingmi padre’splace has concentrated on business.” He again lifted my hand to his lips. “I never saw the need for a wife.”

His candidness surprised me.

He went on, “But in only a few hours, you’re showing me things that I never took the time to see or consider.” His dark orbs settled on me. “There’s wisdom to the idea that it takes a wife to complete a man.” He reached for his glass of tequila and drank what remained before standing. “More dancing?”

“My feet,” I protested.

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