“Nice meeting you as well.”
“Brody, would you go and ask Margie if she’ll make some tea and bring it to Les’
study?”
“Sure. I’ll let the others know as well.” Brody gave him a quick smile before heading towards the kitchen.
Tony led Angelina to Les’ study. He didn’t want to talk about Luis in front of his friends. He’d just gotten her seated when Juan burst in with Yancey right behind him.
Tony glared at the younger men.
“Sorry Tony. I told him to stay out of it.” Yancey gave him an apologetic smile.
“I won’t go back, Tia Angelina,” Juan declared, his chin set at a defiant angle.
“As amazing as it might sound, mijo, Angelina isn’t here to talk about you.” Tony pointed to the door. “You can go now.”
“Why are you here then?” Juan frowned, resisting Yancey’s attempts to get him out of the room.
“Luis.” Angelina’s eyes filled with tears again.
“Oh.”
Tony was puzzled by the panicked look Juan shot Yancey. He made a mental note to ask what it was about later. At the moment he wanted to calm Angelina down first.
“Get him out of here,” he ordered Yancey.
“Come on, Juan.” Yancey nodded to Angelina and dragged Tony’s nephew out of the study.
Margie delivered the tea, taking only enough time to pour a cup for Angelina. After the housekeeper left, the two siblings stared at each other. Finally, his sister broke the silence.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
The defeated tone of Angelina’s voice hurt Tony. She’d never wavered in her beliefs, even if they might have been wrong and to see her doubt herself now was hard to deal with. Anger flared. He wanted to go, find Luis and beat his ass.
“Would you have believed me?” He met his sister’s gaze.
Angelina started to say something and he stopped her. “Think before you say a word.
You were the first to turn away when I came out. I found out about your wedding from Tia Elena. I wanted to rush home and tell you the truth when I heard it was Luis you were marrying, but I knew you wouldn’t listen.”
“What truth, Antonio? You mean you knew about Luis all those years ago?”
Angelina looked shocked.
“Luis was the reason I told our parents when I was fifteen. He was my first everything. My first kiss, fuck, love, and heartbreak. He was all of those.” Tony stood up and stalked to the window. Bracing his hands on the windowsill, he rested his forehead against the cool glass. “Your husband is the reason I lost my family and home.”
“Ex-husband or soon-to-be,” Angelina murmured. “In all these years, you never thought to inform me about him?”
“When exactly would have been a good time? After the birth of your first child? Or when Papa went in for open heart surgery?” He turned to glare at her. “Please, tell me when would have been the perfect time for me to call you and say, ‘By the way, Angelina, your husband cheats on you with other men. On those business trips he takes.
All those nights he worked late in Austin, he was at some club, screwing around with some twink.’”
The mention of clubs made Tony pause. Juan and Yancey had met in Austin at a club. Oh hell, he hoped Yancey had never met Luis.
“How could I tell you Luis didn’t think of it as cheating because it was just some fag he fucked? Not another woman, so it didn’t count.” He went and knelt down in front of Angelina, gripping her hands. “How could I stand there and tell you when I was one of those fags?”
Her dark eyes, so much like his own, filled with sorrow. “I’m going to divorce him.”
“I’m sorry.” It was the only thing he could think of to say. “What did you tell Mama and Papa?”
“Just that Luis wasn’t the man I thought he was.”
He smiled grimly. “You’re right. He’s queer.”
Shaking her head, Angelina squeezed his hands. “That’s not what I meant. Luis might not think it’s cheating because it’s not a woman, but it is to me. I don’t care if it was another woman, man or a dog, he broke his vows and I won’t stay in a marriage like that.”
“I hit him.” Tony did nothing to hide the pride he felt at that accomplishment. “When he came here, asking me to come down.”
“Luis said you came on to him and when he refused, you hit him.” Angelina studied him. “Somehow, I doubt that’s what happened.”
“You’re right. He kissed me and I pushed him away. I only hit him after he made some rude comments about you.” Tony ducked his head and grinned. “I might have walked away from my family, but I’ll be damned if anyone’s going to talk shit about them.”
Angelina lifted his chin and smiled. “Thank you, Antonio. We turned away as well.
I’m sorry for that. Families should love each other, no matter what.”
He took a chance and kissed her cheek. “I learned that.”
Climbing to his feet, he went to lean on Les’ desk. “You’re welcome to stay here.
Did you rent a car at the airport?”
“No. I drove from Texas.” Angelina picked up her cup, sipping the tea.
“Shit, Angelina! You drove all the way by yourself? What were you thinking?”
Thoughts of what could have happened to her shot through his head.
“I had to see you. After I confronted Luis, I couldn’t get rid of the belief you somehow knew about him and that was why you never showed up for our wedding.”
Angelina challenged him. “Was it?”
“It was one reason.” He shrugged. “The other was I figured no one really wanted me there. Tia Elena has been the only close relative who has made me feel they care. I let go of any ties to you when I ran away.”
Angelina looked sad. He laughed. “Don’t feel sad, Angelina. I wandered for eight years, looking for a place to lay my head. I wanted to find one place where I’d
