Isa pursed her lips as she considered her response and pulled away from me to take her mother's hands in hers as she tried to compel her to understand, and her voice softened. "I only need to know one man, and I know him far better than you ever could. Please do not question my judgement in this. It won't end well for anyone."
"What will he do? Take you away from us again?" Isa's mother asked, as she turned her glare my way. "We've been there—"
"My home is in Spain now," Isa said. "But we're here visiting for the near future. We should make the best of that, not spend it fighting over the choices I have made that aredone,Mom."
"You're going back to Spain," Leonora breathed in shock.
"Of course. Rafael's business is in Spain. Our life is there."
"What about your life here?" her mother asked, ripping her hands out of her daughter's grip. "What about your family and your responsibilities to the center? What about college?!"
"I am Isa's family now," I said, stepping in finally as I reached the end of my patience. The constant questioning was unnecessary, but even more than that it was the tone with which her mother spoke that sent me over the edge. The dismissal of Isa's choices may not have been spoken explicitly, but it was there nonetheless. "I would like for you to have a relationship with her for her sake, but it isn't entirely necessary."
Her mother paled at the threat. "What?" she asked.
"If you truly believe the rumors Chloe told you about me, then you are either incredibly brave or exceedingly foolish to think that your questions will have any sway whatsoever in the choices Isa and I make. Trust me when I say that Isa isminenow. Her priority is no longer to be your daughter, but to be my wife. As her husband, I will do whatever it takes to protect her. Even if that means keeping her from the family who wants to put her in a box and tell her who she is supposed to be. I think it's time we leave for today."
"How is that any different than what you're doing, if you just steal her away at the first sign of trouble? She hasn't expressed any interest in leaving," her father argued.
"Because with me, Isa can be anyone she wants to be as long as she's mine," I argued, holding out a hand for Isa. Her eyes fell to it, darting back to her mother's incredulous face. She didn't miss the shift of power in the room. Isa wouldn't leave the house unless it was her choice, even at my guidance.
She could choose to stay, or she could choose to put her trust in me yet again and place her hand in mine. She ground her teeth, glaring at me sharply but eventually she did exactly what I'd known she would.
She chose me.