Page 66 of Storm

She sucks in a broken gasp of air, fighting off her emotions. “Alright. We’ll wait. I need to get going.” Grabbing her bag, she leaves my office without another word.

Jumping up, I leave all my things behind, but grab my coat. “Get out of my office. I have to lock up.”

The three of them exit, and I don’t pay attention to what they’re doing. I need to catch up to Miriam. Outside, I see her already halfway to the corner, so I run to catch up and walk alongside her in silence.

When a snowflake hits my cheek, I look up and notice darkening clouds in the distance. It’s going to snow again, which spurs my memory of a weather notification that has been alarming on my phone. Another storm is supposed to hit, growing in strength by this evening.

“Are you sure you need to get back tonight?” I ask, then point at the sky when she glances at me. “This shit is supposed to take a turn, and I don’t want you to get stranded somewhere between here and your home.”

Brushing the flakes from her face, she doesn’t meet my eye. “I’m not going all the way home. I’m going to my dad’s place to see him and my brothers. That’s where I’ll be staying until the storm passes.”

I debate, but say fuck it and ask anyway. “Would you let me drive you?”

“Sure,” she says, and I’m ready to argue when she declines, so I have to look at her twice. It’s the first time she’s acquiesced.

Placing my hand on her lower back, I guide her around my building to where I’m parked. “This way, then, and thank you.”

“For what? Givingmea ride? I’m thankful. Honestly, the ride here was hell on my back and I was dreading finding another plastic seat to sit on for the next hour or so.”

Smiling to myself, I grab the door and hold it while she slips in, then get us on the road. She gives me quick directions and thankfully it’s easy enough to find our way, even in the decreasing visibility as the snow starts picking up and blowing around.

Hopefully, the roads will stay clear enough for me to make my way back home.

CHAPTER 31

MIRIAM

Even before we pull up to my papá’s house, I know Richard is staying the night. There’s no way I could force him to leave. The roads grew so bad that we had to drop our speed down within the first half of the drive, which turned the drive into over two and a half hours. Sitting next to him as we idle in the driveway, we both stare at the small house I grew up in.

“You should come in,” I murmur, and he jerks his head toward me.

“You don’t need to do that. I’ll be fine getting back.” He and I both know he’s full of shit.

Giving him a look so he knows I don’t buy it, I turn toward him. “Don’t be stubborn. I wasn’t when I accepted the ride. It’d be stupid to go back out into that mess and you’ll end up spending the night in a ditch.” Turning to face the house, I add, “It doesn’t look like much, but it’s better than sleeping in your car waiting to get towed.”

Giving in, he nods and shuts off the engine. “Well, thank you. I’ll do my best to stay out of the way.”

A laugh bursts out of me. “Yeah, that won’t happen. They’re all going to be on you the moment you step inside with lots andlotsof questions.”

His lip curls up in a half smile. “Who’s they, again?”

Holding up my fist, I lift a finger as I name all of my brothers from oldest to youngest. “We’ve got Cristián, Alejandro, César, Lorenzo, and little Damián. Then,” I say with great dramatic effect and lift my other hand with two more fingers up, “there’s my papá and Tito, aka Lucifer, the cat born in the pits of hell. You’ll love him.”

“Good God, woman. It has to smell like a locker room in there!”

Laughing, I get out after cheerfully saying, “It does! Careful on the driveway. They never remember to lay salt.”

With a curse, he jumps out and rushes to my side. “Christ, Miriam. At least wait so I can make sure you don’t fall.” It’s perfectly scripted when he slips the moment he says fall and whips his arm out to catch himself on the hood of his car.

I press my lips together to stifle my laugh, watching the always perfectly put together man stumble. Reaching out, I grab his hand, but he moves at the same time and we bump into each other. This time, webothgo down.

He doesn’t reach for the car again, choosing to wrap an arm around me to tug me over him and buffer my fall. Landing on his chest, my breath comes out in a whoosh and I stare dumbly at his face. Who’d have known Richard could be so caring?

“Are you okay?” he rushes to ask, cupping my cheek and running his gaze over my face. Pushing me up, he glances down my body to check my stomach. “The baby.”

Patting his chest, I pull away and find my feet, brushing off the snow as I find it. “Totally fine. I’ve got lots of padding and my jacket. Turn around, your whole back is covered.”

He obliges and turns. I quickly brush off the freshly fallen snow from his, I assume, fairly expensive coat. “There. Okay, you ready to go in?”

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