Page 9 of Broken Grump

“Pleasure to meet you.”

I discreetly rub whatever is on my hand off onto my pants. “Same to you.”

He’s wearing red and white striped suspenders, and he pulls on them a little as he says, “Salvador told me a lot about you.”

“Did he?” I gesture to a chair across from him, and he nods. So, I take a seat.

“And I can’t say that I’m surprised to see you.”

I feel the wood creak under me as I cross my legs. “All good things, I hope.”

“For the most part,” he murmurs with a cheeky grin.

Okay?I move on from that and explain why we still need the land for our hotel.

“I understand all of that. But—” Errol swings his legs down. “You see, dear boy, my business is failing. I need to sell the land, and I need to sell it soon.”

I could’ve guessed that.Most successful companies don’t have such pitiful office spaces.

“Please,” I beg. “I promise I’ll make it worth your while. Just please give me one week to come up with the money. For Salvador.”

He sighs but eventually agrees.

So, I feel like I’m walking on water as I waltz out of his office.

When I’m back in the car, I place a call to Salvador’s assistant, but another woman answers instead.

I can’t identify her voice, but she sounds cold and irritated as she says, “Hello? Can I help you? I don’t have all day.”

“Right. Sorry about that. I was hoping to speak with Mr. Flores’ assistant.”

After a brief pause, she replies, “Mr. Flores’ assistant? Who–oh.” She seems to answer her own question. “She has been let go.”

I’m surprised. When Salvador was still alive, he treated her like she was his “ride or die”. So I assumed he’d have a safety net in place given his death.

“And you are?” I ask after processing everything.

“Rosa Flores. The new CEO of Flores Holdings.”

“. . . Say what now?” The thought of working with that vindictive woman makes me shudder.

Chapter four

Addie

As if I didn’tget enough family time at the funeral, we all had to gather again at Abuelo’s mansion the next day. Thankfully, I arrived early and was able to get a seat next to Aunt Melissa in my grandfather’s office—the very location where my life changed forever.

We were celebrating Hayden’s graduation from UCLA. Then we realized that we ran out of booze at his parents’ house. And so, it was my idea to sneak over here and get some more out of Abuelo’s secret stash.

“Here it is,” I announce with pride after picking the janky lock and holding up a bottle ofGuifiti.

“What the hell is that?” he asks. “It looks like a decoration my mother would put in our bathroom.”

I laugh. “It’s calledGuifiti, and it’s very popular in Honduras.” To be fair, he wasn’t wrong. It seems like a random, unlabeled bottle with a bunch of orange peels, cinnamon, eucalyptus leaves, and of course, a whole lot of dark rum. You can’t forget that part.

As I pour him a glass, he looks into it and winces.

“Just try it!” I egg him on. “It’s good. I promise.”

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