Page 49 of Till Death Do Us Part

The muscles pulled tight on the side of his face and the tendons in his neck came to life as he removed his gun from the holster strapped to his back. “Someone broke in. The glass doors to the pool were jimmied open.”

“Someone broke into our home?” I felt my body temperature rise and my temples throb as I stared at the gun in my husband’s grip. Weapons had been an everyday occurrence throughout my life. That didn’t mean that I wasn’t alarmed that the person or persons could still be on the property. “I was here most of the day.”

Aléjandro said something to his soldiers. He turned back to me. “Rei was with you. This happened after you left.” His nostrils flared. “I don’t like this. Diego and Felipe are making sure the house is safe. Then we’ll go in and grab our things.”

“I thought there were other guards.”

Rei came from around the back of the house. “I think whoever was here came by sea. In the dark, I can’t see the beach, but there’s broken grass and sand on the pool deck that wasn’t there before.”

“Fuck,” Aléjandro growled. “That’s how they avoided the guards.” He cursed under his breath. “Word is out I bought this house.”

What does that mean?

Will we need to move?

Diego and Felipe returned to the courtyard.

“No one is inside,” the taller one said. He turned to me. “Señora, your bedroom. It’s in shambles.”

“They went through my things?” I turned to Aléjandro. “Why would they do that?”

“We’ll fucking find out.” After holstering his weapon, he took my hand. “I’m staying with you. Let’s go inside.”

I clung tightly to him as we went inside.

What hours ago had been pleasant surroundings now felt violated. We went up the staircase and straight back to our bedroom. I gasped at the mess within. The drawers to the dressers were opened and the contents strewn over the floor. Stepping into my closet, I saw my clothes pulled from their hangers.

“Is anything missing?” my husband asked.

Tears slid from my eyes. “I don’t know. I just unpacked all these things.”

Aléjandro wrapped his arms around me. “I promise we’ll get to the bottom of this.”

Swallowing back my emotions, I nodded against his shoulder, relishing the strength in his hold. I spoke into his shirt, “I need to throw some things into a suitcase.” I lifted my head and met his gaze. “How long will we be gone?”

“You won’t need more than a few dresses and bathing suits. The staff will help with laundry.”

“Staff?”

“About fourteen usually. AndPadrehas guards. We will be protected.”

“I wasn’t sure about spending time with your parents. I don’t know them, but now” —I looked around— “I’m glad your father offered.”

Aléjandro’s lips quirked. “It was more of a summons, but I agree.”

“What about your things?” I asked.

“Most of my clothes are still back at the Ruiz pool house. I was going to get them after my meeting at Wanderland. Rei is headed over there to get things for both of us. He’ll meet us at the pickup point.”

It didn’t take long for me to fill a small suitcase. I hated leaving our room in such disarray, but Aléjandro kept reminding me to hurry and promised that Viviana would take care of everything once she and Silas arrived.

“If there’s anything that’s sentimental, bring it.”

I stood for a moment thinking of all the things I’d unpacked. When I’d originally packed everything in the townhouse, I’d purged many items from my first marriage that could be considered sentimental.

There was something. I recalled a ring my grandmother, Gia, had given me. I went to the closet, searching for my jewelry box. I pulled the drawers farther open and looked under the piles of clothes on the floor. I distinctly remembered placing my jewelry box in the back of the third drawer. “My jewelry box is missing.”

Aléjandro appeared at the doorway to the closet. “Fuck, Mia. I’ll buy you new jewelry.”

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