Page 44 of Naughty and Nice
She stepped forward and hugged me. “I’ve always loved you. I’m sorry about so much.”
I shook my head. “It was out of both of our control. Love you.”
Izzy rubbed my shoulder as Sofia left the bedroom. “She was your best friend and your stepdaughter?”
“Yeah, it was totally messed up.” I took a deep breath. “I’m relatively certain Nick doesn’t have any children. If he does, he hasn’t mentioned them.”
“Not yet,” Izzy said as she made her eyebrows dance.
The next knock was accompanied by a deep voice. “Liliana, it’s time.”
Izzy’s blue eyes widened. “Is that el Patrón?”
“Yep. I asked him to walk me down the aisle.”
She clenched her teeth. “You’re one brave lady.” Izzy reached for her bouquet of green holly, red roses, and ivory cream calla lilies, a smaller version of mine.
“Do you have Nick’s ring?” I asked.
Izzy showed me the platinum band on her thumb as she walked toward the door. “I’ll see you downstairs.” She nodded. “El Patrón.”
The leader of the Roríguez cartel entered the bedroom. Instead of his customary dark denim jeans and a black t-shirt, he was dressed in a custom dark suit with a red shirt and black tie. “It’s your last chance to change your mind.”
I lifted my bouquet. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m not changing my mind.”
He was actually handsome with his gelled hair and striking smile. If this was the side of Aléjandro that Mia saw, I understood why she was so head over heels in love with him.
He crooked his elbow. “Shall we?”
I placed my hand on his arm. Together, we walked to the staircase. Even from the second floor we heard the music resonating from down below. Izzy was first to descend the staircase. We followed to the landing, and I watched as Izzy disappeared from sight through the living room.
El Patrón patted my hand. “You’re marrying one of my best men, but he’s the one getting the best prize.”
I started to say that I wasn’t a prize, and then I remembered Nick’s rule. “I think I’m the one winning.”
“I married a widow, Liliana. There’s no greater joy than when the woman you love learns to love you back despite the darkness in her past.”
“I hope someday people will look at me and see the love I see coming from Mia.”
“I already do.” He nodded. The music changed. “Vamos. That’s our cue.”
When I made a similar walk with my father years earlier, I had the sensation of being a convicted felon walking to her execution. As I walked beside el Patrón, my sights were on a future to be shared with a man I liked, one who didn’t frighten me, and one I believed I loved.
Sofia was right about the number of chairs and people present. I didn’t try to see faces or register who was in attendance or absent. My insides twisted with the beautiful world Mia and Viviana created. Tiny white lights twinkled from around the patio and pool. Beyond the terrace, a sky filled with orange and crimson hues met with the aquamarine of the Pacific Ocean. The faint scent of sea filled my senses as the setting sun neared the horizon, and music came from hidden speakers.
The closer we walked, the less I noticed the decorations. My complete attention was on the handsome man at the altar beneath a trellis. The man in a dark suit, white shirt, and white tie. A red rose was attached to his lapel, and his dark stare was laser focused on me. Emiliano was smiling at Nick’s side, and to the other side of Father Gallo was Izzy, her smile ear to ear.
“Who gives this woman?” Father Gallo asked.
“With honor,” el Patrón said, “it is I.” He placed my hand in Nick’s.
I stared up at the dark brown eyes that only a few days ago were filled with rage. Today, they radiated the opposite. His adoration filled me with an unfamiliar sense of value. Nick Ruiz—a top lieutenant and a man of worth—wanted me to be his wife. El Patrón said he was one of his best.
“You’re gorgeous, tesoro,” Nick whispered, his deep baritone tenor sending shivers down my spine.
With my hand in Nick’s, we turned toward Father Gallo.
“Liliana Cervantes Ruiz and Nicolas Ruiz, have you come here to enter into marriage without coercion, freely, and wholeheartedly?”
