Page 56 of Miguel

“What’s up?” I stood in the doorway, casting my gaze around the room.

Chema did most of his work from his office and very rarely showed his face outside of his domain. Sometimes he’d lock himself up in there for days, especially if he was in the middle of a project for the club. He was relentless in his search, funneling information into that big brain of his like the machines he surrounded himself with.

His office was filled with screens in all different sizes. Laptops, tablets, desktops, televisions… Each one had different backgrounds and each system was a blur of running letters, numbers, and codes that I couldn’t even begin to decipher.

The eerie blue glow of the screens reflected off my brother’s thick glasses. His hair was unkempt against his forehead and when he huffed a breath to wave me in, the curls flicked up. His fingers ran across his keyboard distractedly a moment before he turned in his chair to face me.

“I was looking into Zeke’s hearing aids,” he began without preamble. “Turns out there’s an app that you can connect them to and it gives you several functions like bluetooth and GPS.” He turned back to his computer, letting his fingers fly at rapid speed across the keyboard. “I’ve already downloaded the app onto your phone and connected his aids so all the functions should be up and running.”

“You don’t even have my phone. How did you–?”

Chema chuckled as he clicked away. “I don’t need your phone to do all this, hermano. Now, as long as his aids are turned on, the GPS should work. I’ll see about trying to install a second GPS in them and the case, but that will take me a little while longer.” He turned again, handing me the case, which I pocketed. “For now that’s probably it–oh, the DNA results came back.” He swiveled in his chair again, looking across the scattered contents on his desk. When he found the envelope he needed, he grabbed it and handed it to me as well.

I stared down at the unopened envelope in my hand. My entire world was suspended in time, centered around a single slip of paper hidden inside. My future–Zeke’s future–was in this envelope. The truth written on paper that could change everything in a single fucking sentence.

I went to tear it open but something stopped me. My fingers froze, hovering over that little slip. I could feel Chema’s eyes on me, assessing and curious, but I was inside my own head, running possibilities over and over again.

What if the results said he was mine? What if they said he wasn’t?He had to be.It’d only been a short time, and yet Zeke had burrowed himself so deeply into my everyday life that I didn’t think I could imagine a life without him in it. And if it turned out he wasn’t, what would I do then? How would I survive if LorenaandZeke left my life?

My fingers curved into the paper, crumbling it into my palm.

Chema opened his mouth to speak, but I couldn’t hear. There was nothing rushing through my ears but white noise and the looming terror of a possible future that I didn’t want to contemplate. I shoved the paper into my pocket, muttered my thanks, and stormed out of Chema’s office.

I needed to get out of here. I needed to get out of the fucking compound. I needed to clear my fucking head.

I marched downstairs, bumping into Mayan on the way. His angry gaze met mine.

“They’re leaving,” his voice rumbled.

My teeth grinded together at the reminder. “I know.”

He huffed a breath before his body relaxed. He knew as much as I did that we couldn’t force our women to stay here if they didn’t want to. But we could protect them from the shadows, look after them if they didn’t want to see us.

We had a silent conversation with our eyes and at the end, Mayan nodded. “I’ll tell a prospect to take them home. Then I’m heading out.”

“Me too.”

We nodded and said our goodbye’s.

I pushed my way through my jesting brothers, ignoring the banter they threw my way as I reached my son. The paper in my pocket seemed to burn a hole through my body, an uncertain outcome and terrifying possibility seemed to pulse between us. I tried to shove it away. I tried for the thousandth time to see pieces of me in him.

The curve of his nose. His cheeks. The curls. I could see it, and yet that uncertainty remained. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to open the results.

I waved my hand in Zeke’s direction, catching his attention. He reached for me, the move done with a little more confidence than what he’d previously displayed. I smiled down at him, waving goodbye at my hermanos and dodging their questions as I guided Zeke out of the compound.

I couldn’t be here right now.

After strapping Zeke into the truck, I drove out of the compound, the future with my son burning a hole in my pocket and Lorena’s words burning heartbreak into my soul.

Chapter Twenty-one

Lorena

Ittookmeafew moments to ground myself. To settle the rapid beating of my heart. For my breaths to even out. Then it took me a few minutes more to clean myself up and grab my things. When I walked out into the hallway, I found Desi there waiting for me, her bag slung over her shoulder and her gaze darting from left to right. Nervous.

At the sight of me, she let out an audible sound of relief.

“Ready to go?” I asked.

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