“I never told you because of my father, the man your daughter married.”
In my periphery, Sebastián nods, as though that confirms his suspicions.
“When the news that my daughter and the grandson I’d never known had died in a plane crash, even then, I knew that man had something to do with it.”
“If you thought your grandson was dead, why would you ever think that I was him?”
Sebastián smiles. “My niece, Clara. Sister Clara now. She wasn’t supposed to say anything, but she thought I had a right to know you were at least still alive. Like you, she wanted to protect both of us from the whole truth, just in case that man was watching me. So, I never knew where you ended up. She just said that Daniela had decided to leave that man and had died for her effort.”
“Sister Clara was the one who led me back to you. Once I was old enough to appreciate the necessary caution.”
“She is a good woman. My wife’s side of the family, of course.”
We both laugh.
“She never told me what finally got Daniela to leave him.”
“When I was young, I witnessed him kill a man. My mother wanted to use it as leverage to get him to let us go. At least I assume so. I don’t know for sure what happened. All I know is, she was gone and I suddenly had to change my name and be adopted into a new family. I don’t know how he killed her or even where her body is.”
“Bastard,” Sebastián hisses, his fists tightening. “When I wasn’t invited to the wedding, I knew he wasn’t a good man. She may have been stubborn enough not to reach out to us, but what man would even think of marriage without the blessing of the father, no matter the circumstances?”
“He wasn’t a good man,” I confirm, my own fists tightening. As with my mother, my memories of Richard Coleman are vague. But my memories of her are filled with laughter and song and sweet words. With his, there are just flashes of anger and shouting and bourbon-tinged breath.
“I’ve wanted to kill him a thousand times.”
“He’ll get his justice.” I turn to Sebastián and give him an even look. “Directly from me.”
His eyes are solemn as he assesses me. “Good.”
I nod slightly and we both return to gazing out at the vineyard. By now, the first stirrings are taking place in the main building for the winery, the employees starting their day.
“You and Leira are welcome to stay with me as long as you’d like. I would enjoy the company,” he says, clapping a hand on my shoulder.
I smile and nod. “We do have a little less than a week to fill.”
“Good, good. Now let’s go down and see if that friend of yours would like some coffee.”
I laugh and head down the slope with him back to the big house. This is the first I’ve felt like I was really and truly home in a long time.
When all of this is done, I’d like to come back.
Maybe with Leira.
Chapter Forty-Four Leira
It’s our last night here at the Abaroa winery. Enrique and I have passed the days exploring Logroño and other smaller cities nearby. Each night we dine with Sebastián as usual. After dinner, we make love in new and different ways.
Something a girl could very much get used to.
Tonight we’re taking advantage of the huge tub in the bathroom attached to our room. I’m in between Enrique’s spread legs, leaning forward to hug my knees as he washes my back with a sponge. My hair is piled on top of my head because I absolutely refused to let him do anything with it, which might result in a tangled, frizzy mess. It’s a process, I explained.
“When I first met you back in the lagoon—”
“Met me?” I interrupt with a laugh. “Is that what you’d call it?”
He does something with his fingers that tickles my back, causing me to arch and yelp in protest. I slap my hand in the water to splash him.
“Okay, when I was gentlemanly enough to carry you back to my boat so you had a nice warm spot to dry off and rest—”
I slap the water again, making him laugh.
“You picked English, not Spanish. This entire week you’ve been speaking Spanish fluently, yes with a strange accent, but fluent all the same.”
“English is my first language, and you had an accent when you spoke it, which meant it probably wasn’t yours. I wanted the upper hand,” I say as he squeezes water from the sponge down my back to rinse the soap away.
“Upper hand?”
I spin around so I’m facing him. I come in closer to straddle his legs and bring my arms around his neck.
“Yes, upper hand. You know, kind of how I enjoy being on top?” I say with a grin.
“Well,” he says, grabbing my ass. “That’s a shame because I also like being on top.”
He somehow maneuvers his legs into a kneeling position, still with me on top. Then, holding onto my ass, he lifts us both out of the tub.
“Enrique! You’re going to break both our necks!” I say, clinging to him as he lifts one leg, then the other out of the tub.
“Do you doubt my abilities?”
“No, but I also don’t doubt the laws of physics.”
“Physics, hmm? Allow me to provide you a very detailed lesson, tesoro mío.”
I love that nickname almost as much as Diabla. Though, perhaps the latter is more appropriate to how I feel right now with my legs spread wide enough for his erect penis to rub against my exposed clit. When he lands on the bed, both of us sitting on the edge, I moan with pleasure as the hard ridge makes one more run across it.
“You do the honors,” he says, darting his eyes toward the nightstand where the box of condoms is.
I grin and lean over to pull one out. Just to tease him,
