Page 96 of No One Aboard
Francis studied the screen, then his friend, both with the same calculating scrutiny. “Looks big. Could be devastating.”
Alejandro nodded as if the news were a death sentence. Lila’s heartbeat set a tempo for the wind’s song. It quickened, and her tension took on a rhythm like a metronome. Lyrical even.
How does Francis know? What will he do? Is everything in place? Who is Alejandro more loyal to?
“¿Está hecho?” she asked, unable to stop herself. She had to know.
Alejandro inclined his head. “Medianoche.”
Francis nodded along as if he understood, though she knew he didn’t. He hadn’t figured out that part, at least. Francis reached out to clasp his friend’s shoulder. “How did this happen to us?”
Lila tightened her robe around her waist, her teeth gritted. How did this affair happen to them? Last she checked,shewas the one in the center of it all. She was the person they both wanted.
“Too much love, I guess, hermano,” Alejandro replied flatly.
“Ah.” Francis’s fingers dug into Alejandro’s skin. He didn’t flinch. “What about loyalty,brother? Where does loyalty fit in?”
Lila watched Alejandro closely. She had asked him earlier, and he had been unwavering in his sentiment. But would he say it to Francis’s face? Did he know how dangerous that would be? Not that Alejandro could lie to save his life.
“She was lonely. You left her lonely,” Alejandro said.
“Not her loyalty!” Francis said. Lightning speared the sky, and Lila’s hair flew loose of its ribbon. “Yours, Matamoros! Who areyouloyal to?”
He drove Alejandro backward, just as he had done minutes ago to Lila in the salon. Only this time, that left the helm unhandled.The Old Eileendipped to one side. Lila cried out and grabbed at the wheel. She didn’t know how to work it, not even a little bit, but holding it still seemed to right the ship temporarily.
“Francis, steer your goddamned ship!” she yelled, curls unraveling in silvery-blond swirls around her face.
Alejandro had his back to the ocean. It had started to rain. The whole scene played so familiar to Lila, like last summer, only with a stormy backdrop. With Alejandro instead of Tia. Could she let go of the wheel just for a moment?
“Well, Alejandro?” Francis raised his voice to be heard above the wind. “I just want to know who. Not out of love. Not out of fear. Which of us are you loyal to?”
Don’t answer that, Alejandro, Lila thought furiously.Make up a lie. Dance out of reach.The truth would send her husband flying into a rage that would leave no survivors.
But unlike Francis, Alejandro Matamoros wasn’t a salesman. Unlike Lila, he wasn’t an actor. So he held his best friend’s gaze and gave him the truth.
Lila knew it was the truth because Alejandro had worn the same look of sincerity the night they were alone together in her bed when she told him she wanted the world to burn.
It just wasn’t the truth Lila expected.
“I’m loyal to you,” Alejandro said without so much as a glance her way.
Francis tilted his head. “Huh.” He chuckled, placed his hand on Alejandro’s other shoulder in a masculine kind of embrace. “I believe you,” Francis affirmed with a smile.
Then he looked over his shoulder, straight at Lila. The storm was creeping in around them, and the wind still toyedwith Lila’s robe, but she herself remained motionless in the eye of it all.
Alejandro was loyal to Francis. That was his simple truth after all this time? How many card games and meals and nights had they shared in giddy secrecy over the years? How many times had Alejandro saidI’ll never tell, while Lila heardI love you, Lila. I choose you.How could she have gotten it so wrong?
I’m yours, Alejandro had told her that night. Even then she had wondered if he would still be hers after he left her bed. Her hold over him was ephemeral.
What he should have said was,I’m yours tonight. Yours for now. Yours until Francis says otherwise.
So this wasn’t a love story. Had Alejandro coveted whatever Francis had, and Lila was just another piece of his empire to be enjoyed? The tears that found Lila’s cheeks were hot compared to the chilly drops of rain. How did everything that she held dear belong more to Francis than to her?
Her breath came heavy. She felt ill. She felt filthy. This great, unrivaled romance that had propelled her through the darkest of times was shallower than love, uglier than lust.
Francis held her eye, his gaze clear and relaxed. As if he’d always known. He understood the reality of the affair, despite having learned about it only recently, understood it more than Lila had ever grasped in seven years.
Yousee?he seemed to be saying.Everything you have is fleeting.
