Page 59 of Shadow Dance

She nods, nibbling a radish from her salad. “The grandma in Puerto Rico?”

“The one and only.”

“What’s her name?”

“Concepción, but everybody called her Concha,” I say, thinking of the gregarious woman I loved like my own mother. She was as loving as she was strict, liable to hug the shit out of me as easily as she’d take a wooden spoon to my ass when I misbehaved. “She passed a few years ago.”

“I’m sorry, Jaime,” she says, her eyes soft. “You guys were close, huh?”

“Mm.” I nod. I was already working undercover when Abuelita died, at a crucial point with the Oliveras family, so I couldn’t leave for the funeral. It’s one of my deepest regrets. “She had a good, long life.”

“Now I really want to try mofongo. What exactly is it?”

“Different people make it different ways, but basically it’s mashed green plantains with seasonings and meat. Cheese, sometimes.” I pull up a picture on my phone’s internet and show it to her. “Total comfort food.”

“That looks so good,” she says shyly.

“I’ll make it for you some day.”

“Promise?”

Her phone vibrates on the table between us. She tenses, relaxing when she sees the name on the screen. “It’s just my dad,” she says, smiling as she taps out a response.

It’s obvious there’s a lot of affection there. She’s almost transformed in this moment.

“You miss him,” I muse as she puts the phone down.

“Like crazy,” she says with a sad smile. “I miss my whole family. We’ve always been close.”

“I’m surprised they haven’t come to visit.” Really, I’m just hoping she’ll expound on the family dynamic. It might give me some insight into who she really is and ultimately what she’s willing to do.

“They’ve never been crazy about Callum. They put up with him for years because they saw how serious we were, but things changed when he started pushing for me to come out here.” Maeve stands, collecting our dinner plates. “They didn’t want me to move. And it wasn’t just the distance—they were used to me being on the road for dance. They were upset that I was moving in with him.”

I join her, carrying our dirty napkins and glasses to the kitchen.

“I’ve never fought with my parents like that,” she says, her voicewobbling. “And it was like, a part of me knew it was because they were worried. But I didn’t want to listen. I’d spent so much time fighting for my relationship with Callum that I was desperate to give it a fair shot.”

“Understandable,” I say evenly, rinsing the dishes so she can put them in the dishwasher.

“Yeah, well, they obviously saw something that I didn’t,” she says with a bitter laugh. “And it goes both ways, because Callum doesn’t like them either. Especially my brothers. They all went to boarding school together, but they never really got along.”

“Leave, then.” God knows my job would be a lot easier if she wasn’t here to distract me. “Go back home. You haven’t been happy here for a long time.”

“I will. Soon,” she says. “But Callum’s changed. Before, he would’ve let me go, you know? We didn’t have a perfect relationship, but it wasn’t the train wreck it is now. The last time I told him I wanted to go home, he grabbed me so hard I had bruises all over my arms for a week.”

Rage rockets through my body, burning everything in its path. Struggling to maintain my composure, I put down the glass I’m holding before it shatters. “I’m gonna ask you again, and I need you to be real honest with me, Maeve. Has he done anything else? Has he hit you?”

“No. That was the closest he ever got,” she says. “But it was just as bad.”

“Yeah, it was.”

“What, you got a soft spot for women?” she teases with a weak laugh.

“I’ve done a lot of shit in my life, but I’d never hit a woman,” I tell her. “That’s a whole different level of fucked up.”

“I know, Jaime. I know you’re not like that,” she says. “Callum used to not be like that, either.”

“But he is now.” I suck in a deep breath, trying to get my emotions under control. I don’t know why I’m so worked up. There have been signs that Cal’s a possessive, controlling asshole from the start. I guess I thought Maeve would’ve said something to me sooner. “Look, I took this job to get paid, but I can’t sit around and watch you get manhandled. You deserve better than that.”

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