Page 139 of Trapped With You

“On a scale from one to ten, how mad are you right now?”

Papádidn’t break a stride as he replied, “The scale is currently broken, Ella.”

Well,shit. “Tell me what I can do to make this right.”

He hadn’t looked at me once since we exited the station. “You’re a big girl. A strong, empowered,independentwoman, as you always say.” I didn’t miss the emphasis on theIword. “I’ll let you figure it out.”

Okay, so that wasn’t the answer I was expecting. Which meant he was extremely furious. Normally,papádidn’t hesitate to give me a piece of his mind if he disagreed with something I did. This cool, composed façade wasn’t a side of him I was accustomed to.

It scared me.

When we reached his car, I understood there was only one course of action. Apologizing with all the sincerity I could muster.

Regardless of my up-and-down relationship with myparents, one thing was for sure. Come high or hell water, they were always in my corner. Protecting me, providing for me, supporting me. Considering we were a family that avoided dealing with our emotions while perfecting our outer image, I wasn’t able to always convey my gratitude…But I did needpapáto know how thankful I was. Right this instant.

I grabbed his arm before he could go to the driver’s door. “I’m really sorry,papá. For everything.”

I’m sorry for not being the perfect good girl daughter you want. I’m sorry for making decisions you deem bad. I’m sorry I’m not the best version of myself yet. I’m sorry for a lot of things.

The only thing I would never apologize for, however, was loving Cade.

He was the best decision I ever made.

“I’m not perfect,” I continued whenpapákept watching me with intent, as though hearing the thoughts rattling through my mind. “I do try for you andmamáso you never feel ashamed of me, but sometimes I fall short. Like now. I didn’t mean to worry you both and I acknowledge that what happened tonight was not okay. I’m sorry for being a disappointment—”

“Ella,” he croaked and for the first time, I saw his exterior crack. His blank expression fell and the crinkles by the corners of his eyes grew prominent. “You’re not a disappointment. Far from it.”

I peered up at him nervously. “Really?”

“You’re human,mija. And part of being human is making mistakes and learning as you go. Even when those mistakes land you in jail and you have to call yourpapáin the middle of the night to come rescue you.”

I rushed into his arms. He hugged me back and kissed the top of my head. “Ella, you have no idea what thoughts went through my mind when I got that phone call. I thought you were hurt orworse—”

His shaky voice abruptly halted, overcome by emotions.

I buried my face in his chest, his homey smell comforting after a whirlwind night.

“I’m sorry if I ever made you feel like a disappointment.” He enunciated each syllable with care, making sure I understood his message. “I admit that I’m not the greatest at expressing myself. The truth is you’re my firstborn and my only daughter. I want to protect you from the harms of this wretched world and I want you to receive every blessing this life has to offer, which is why I can be adamant and domineering. But I’m not heartless,mija. I love you very much and the thought of you in any pain kills me. I need you to be more careful and more honest with us moving forward. ¿Lo entiendes,Ella?”

“Sí, papá.” I nodded. “And I love you, too.”

He kissed my head again, his own eyes shining with moisture. “Good. Now let’s go home.”

Saturday afternoon, after sleeping a handful of hours, showering, and eating a quick meal, I was summoned to the study. I dragged myself to meetmamáandpapá, mentally preparing myself to get an earful about last night—er, earlier this morning.

When I stepped over the threshold, my parents stopped their conversation.

I smiled awkwardly and lowered myself to a couch before them. “Hi.”

“How are you feeling,mija?”mamáasked tentatively, taking a sip of her café. There were dark circles under her eyes that hinted that she barely slept—a combination of hosting the fall soirée and my disappearance. Though she still looked put together in her linen attire and her midnight black hair, likemine, combed back into a neat ponytail.

“Tired,” I said truthfully and reached for the plate of Mexican cookies on the coffee table, grabbing two. “And hungry.”

“You must be out of it after the night you had.”

I’d snuck out of our home many times to go raise teenage hell with Cade during our relationship. Successfully too, without my parents or the guards’ knowledge. Who knew the guilt at finally being caught would be so profound?

Often, I saw life divided by a tightrope with two sides: good and bad. Most individuals went above and beyond to stay on the former, while I constantly found myself straying to the latter.