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“It’s hot as hell out there,” Boone said.
“You can’t handle the heat?” her brother Enzo asked.
“I can handle it, but you know, there are just some people that can’t handle that much heat. Being cooped up all day, locked away, you know what I mean?”
Was he baiting them on purpose?
Then, he blew out a whistle. “Did any of you catch the exposé on that mayor? The dirty deeds he was into? I mean, the footage itself was bad enough. Him screwing an underage girl. I guess he got what was coming to him.”
This was baiting. Was Boone wanting to get killed?
“We do not know anything about that,” her father said.
Now that was a lie. Lucia had gotten good at reading her father. Spending most of her life trying to avoid his anger, she knew what to look out for, and this was it. His anger, his rage. She couldn’t look away as he looked so scary. Boone’s hand at her back reminded her of exactly where she was.
“No, I don’t imagine you do,” Boone said. “But that must be a serious warning to whoever is into that kind of thing. I mean, it is gross and unnatural. I guess someone doesn’t like it.”
And her mother and sister entered the room. She was so pleased to see them. They would stop talking shop at that very moment. Lucia didn’t know how she was going to get through the rest of the meal.
She was handed an alcoholic drink. The scent of it was strong, and Boone placed a hand on top of her glass, letting her know not to drink it. She’d never touched a drop of alcohol in her life. She didn’t know why her mother was suddenly providing her with a drink so strong, the smell of it was making her stomach turn.
Each time Boone took a sip, Lucia noticed his glass was not getting smaller. He wasn’t drinking, just pretending. What the hell was going on?
It wasn’t too long before dinner was called, and Boone took her drink, putting them on the table. He, once again, held her hand and wouldn’t allow her to be sat anywhere but where he wanted her.
The food that came out looked delectable. It wasn’t a meal where they had to take their portions, and Lucia wasn’t surprised when her plate came out with barely anything on it.
Boone put his hand beneath the table and squeezed her thigh. What did that mean? She glanced toward him, and he moved his food around the plate. He wasn’t going to eat anything.
This had to be one of the most awkward dinners she had ever been to, and she had lived in this very house for twenty-two years. She usually ate separately from her father. He couldn’t stand to see the sight of her.
Boone continued to touch her—reaching out, stroking her hair back behind her ear, putting his hand on her shoulder. She loved his little touches. They set her on fire. She didn’t want him to stop. The touches and brief smiles were the only good part about this dinner—the way he touched her thigh, squeezed the flesh. This was worth it. She only wished that when dinner was over and they were back in the privacy of one of his apartments, he would continue to touch her.
Was that normal? Wanting him to touch her? Loving the feel of him?
Should she be wanting her husband in this way?
****
“Thank you,” Lucia said, as Boone handed her the drive-thru burger.
Tonight, he did have every intention of eating the dinner provided by her parents. However, when the plates came through made up the way they were, he had his suspicions. He noticed how her father kept watching the two of them, almost waiting for them to fall asleep or start dying. He had a feeling something had been put in their food, which is why he squeezed her thigh.
Just like he knew their drinks had been tampered with. Lucia’s drink had stunk way too strong of alcohol, and he had no interest in falling for any of the man’s tricks.
“You thought I wasn’t going to feed you?”
“No, I didn’t think that, but ... I was hungry.”
He chuckled. Unwrapping his own burger, he took a large bite. The truth was, the food had looked delicious, and it was tempting, but trusting the man—not happening.
All tonight had done was confirm his suspicions of how deep Valdez was in the shitstorm he’d been creating. He’d watched Leandro, thinking he had gotten away with blowing up his car. There was already a trap set for that little shit. As for the other brothers, and the rest of the family, their time would come. He had a great deal of patience.
“This tastes so good,” Lucia said. “You know, I was never allowed a burger back home.”
“You weren’t?”
“No. First of all, we were not allowed fast food. That is why we had a chef. They cooked everything for us. Second, it was fattening, and in case you didn’t see, my plate was pretty much empty.” She wrinkled her nose. “I was not allowed to eat with my father. He got angry when he saw me eat.” She shrugged. “You know, sometimes he would make me wait until everyone had eaten, so my food was cold before he would let me eat.”