Page 45 of Punished

“Don’t tell Enrique I’m doing this good. He’ll make me go back to work.” I roll my eyes.

“You ready to go back home?”

“Like forty-five minutes ago,” she says, and we both laugh.

“Dr. Aguilar said Mireya can leave, too. When she’s done talking to Vicky, I’ll come for you, and we can leave together.”

“That woman was a total badass! ¿No?”

“She’s literally you in twenty-five years.”

“I think that’s the kindest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“What are we going to do about this long-lost brother of ours?”

“Fuck, Adrian. I’m on vacation right now. I don’t wantto talk about work.”

“You’re in a fucking hospital bed because a psycho bitch shot you! This is not a vacation! We have another sibling out there!”

“He killed his biological mother just for attempting to find him. That’s a pretty clear sign there’s no family reunion in the near future.” Her eyes are still on the tv, and I get up to pace the room, frustrated with her. Frustrated with everyone. I can’t put Mireya in another situation where her life will be at risk. Where our baby’s life will be at risk. Thalia looks up to me, pacing, and sighs.

“If he’s not a threat, then we do nothing, Adrian. We deal with the bullshit we already have going on with Los Bandoleros, and we find the source of the creepy baby threats. You focus on Mireya and your baby. That’s it!”

I nod in agreement. I have enough shit on my plate right now. I’m positive Los Bandoleros will become more aggressive the longer we hold their previous position. The gun business will be our ticket to expansion, and I have to be ready for multiple threats coming in. I don’t have time to guess about my future. I know who I need in it, and that is enough. And I never want to see her in a hospital bed again.Kill or be killed.

I walk down to the cafeteria and grab a cup of coffee and some food for Mireya. I see Vicky exiting down the hall,so I walk in and set the food on the tray in front of her. It looks bland, and I notice Mireya’s not interested either when I see the look on her face. I hate the smell of this place. Her wanting to have a career here makes no sense to me.

I need to get her home and into my bed and never let her leave, but I have a feeling tying her up would only excite her. I lean down and kiss her forehead. I want to scan every inch of her, make sure she’s okay.

I walk to the window and look over the city. She stands up from the bed, and I rush to her, grabbing her waist.

“Be careful.”

“I’m fine, Adrian. Are you?” She reaches up to touch my face gently, her fingers lingering. We stay there, our eyes locked, needing to touch one another. I trace the outline of the bruise left on her face.

“Dr. Aguilar told me we can leave whenever you’re ready. Baby and you are okay.”

She nods, but the look in her eyes is distant and sad.

“What’s wrong?” There are a million things standing against us right now. She is trying to process it all, and I will give her all the time she needs. I hate to see her hurting, but I would have killed her mother myself for allowing this to happen to her.

“Mireya, look at me. You can talk to me.”

“I didn’t know how you were going to react to the baby. I barely had enough time to process it myself, but I want to keep it. I hope that’s okay with you. I don’t want you to feel stuck with me because I’m pregnant. We can co-parent—”

“Ya, ya.” I press a finger to her lips to stop her ramblings. I move my hand to cup her face.

“There will be no fucking co-parenting or whatever the fuck you just said. I love you, Mireya. You are mine, and I am going to take care of you.” I know she needs to hear that. She needs to know that I love her more than she can imagine. Since the first time I saw her, I knew she would be mine. I loved her then, and I will love her forever. We are meant to be together.

I would relive every fucked up scenario from my past, the feeling of abandonment, the loneliness that haunted me, and the nights of mental torture–all of it–if she would be waiting for me at the end of it.

She pulled that gun out of my jeans, ready to shoot Julian. She may not be Thalia, or some Queenpin, but she is far from weak. She will keep me grounded in the hard times and lift me up when the world tries to hold me down.

“This is my life, and it will be your life, too. It’s violent, and it’s messy, but I will always protect you. I will always make sure you are taken care of at any cost.”

I grab her hands and rub my thumb over her wrists, over the gold chain bracelet and the red Santa Muerte bracelet that rest on her pulse.

“She saved me,” she whispers, her head resting on my shoulder. “I thought I was going to die in there, and I called out to her to spare me from death, and she heard me.”

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