Page 41 of El Malo

Rosa Daza has been snuffed out for four years.

Does she even exist anymore?

I tilt my chin up, hot tears welling in my eyes. “We need to use protection. I need the morning after pill. We’re being careless.” I’m telling him without telling him we can’t be like my parents. It ends badly. We will end badly.

“Shhh,” he croons, his lips brushing against mine. “You’re mine, Rosa. How many times do I have to tell you this? Mine. Even if you betray me and destroy me in the process, you are mine.”

“But…” I whisper.

“But nothing. This is the Estrada way. When we know, we know.”

I meet his intense stare as tears roll down my cheeks. “For the record, I want you to know, I want this.” The real me, whoever she is now. She wants Javier Estrada and wants to forget anything else.

He doesn’t let me speak anymore. Just kisses me.

The sunset our backdrop.

The sweet music our soundtrack.

Our future the credits that will roll at the end of our eventual unhappy ending.

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