I smile warmly, less at the idea of staying at a palace, and more at the fact that I really do love this woman. She is, after all, the closest thing to a mom that I have left. “Sounds nice. I don’t know for sure yet if I’m going, but I’ve definitely got it at the forefront of my radar.” I let go of one of her hands to gesture with an open palm at Elle. “Fortuna, this is Elle Kissinger. I don’t know if Joaquin mentioned that I was bringing my—”
“Oh!” Fortuna drops my hands to clasp the pile of large saltwater pearls wrapped around her neck. “Tu novia! He did, and I was so excited to hear it.” Fortuna reaches to grip Elle’s upper arms and pulls her close to kiss her cheeks. “And your name is Elle? It’s French,verdad?”
Elle continues to smile brightly and captively like she has since Fortuna graced us with her boisterous presence moments ago. “It is French, but I’m not.”
“What abeautifulname,” Fortuna gushes, still holding Elle’s arms. She cuts a glance at me to wink not at all discreetly before turning back to Elle. “And a beautiful girl, too. Colin hasneverlet us meet one of his lady friends before, so I amthrilledthat you’re joining us this weekend.”
The bright and captive smile remains in place on Elle’s face, almost as if she already loves Fortuna’s potent, motherly warmth as much as I do. “I’m thrilled to be here. Thank you so much for having me.”
Fortuna throws her hands in the air and lets them drop at her sides, causing her matching pearl bracelets to lightly jingle. “Cómo no! Of course!Nuestra casa es su casa.You arealwayswelcome to our home.”
Elle’s lips part as if she’s about to say something else, but Fortuna is too quick to leap to the next topic.
She lets go of Elle and grabs my arm as she scans the room behind us. “Where is Archer?”
My stomach plummets, and I’m not quick enough with my response because Fortuna cuts me off with a concerned gasp.
“Oh,Colin, has he been—”
“Elle,sweetheart,” I say through my clenched teeth while I shove my glass toward Elle’s free hand, which she takes on pure reflex, “will you excuse us for just a quick second?”
Elle’s mouth silently parts as her eyes ping-pong between my face and Fortuna’s before she nods.
“Thanks.” I smash a less-than-suave kiss on her forehead and quickly turn away with Fortuna following close to me.
We step through the glass French doors that lead back inside the main house, and I lead Fortuna to a small hallway just off the great room.
“Elle can’t know about Archer,” I begin discreetly, my back against the wall while Fortuna faces me from the other side, her face still pinched with worry. “She knows he’s got problems, but she can’t know exactly what they are. She hasn’t met him, I don’t want her to, and I really need to keep her separate from all that.”
Her thick, black brows draw together, and she brings one hand to her pearls. “What?Por que?Why do you want to hide him from her?” She throws her hand forward in an emphatic gesture. “He is your brother, Colin. You can’t keep him a secret from her.”
“I have to.” I shove my hands in my pockets, and therealreason I have to keep him a secret would expose my little charade with Elle for what it actually is. “He’s not doing well, and I’m trying to protect her from him.” I pause, glancing toward the great room and back to her face. “If they have any type of interaction, he will think he can manipulate her just like he manipulates me.”
Fortuna clicks her tongue and drops her hands at her sides. “He does notmanipulateyou,cariño.He needs you. You are his brother. You take care of him.”
I shove my index finger into my sternum. “Yeah,Itake care of him. I don’t want her thinking she has to helptake care of him.”
Fortunatsksagain, folding her arms across her chest and offering me a look that’s one-hundred-percent mom-style scolding. “You are afraid of letting her into that part of you.” She reaches to shoo my hand away and then pats my chest. “Tu corazón herido.Pobrecito.”She withdraws her hand to clasp it at her waist. “You protect your heart because you care for her. So you must be very serious about her. You are in love.”
I clench my jaw and cut my eyes away for a second. I hadn’t thought about how much I might hate myself for lying to these people, especially Fortuna. “Yes.” I meet her deep russet eyes again. “I am. I don’t need Archer screwing this up for me.”
Fortuna nods sagely as she inhales and exhales silently. “Entiendo. You know Liliana will be disappointed. We were all hoping you two would eventually figure things out.” She gives a weighted pause. “She has always loved you, Colin.”
“I know,” I say gently. “I love her, too, but it’s…” A frustrated sigh escapes my lips. “It’s not that kind of love, Fortuna. And I can’t make it be.”
“I know.” She folds her arms around herself again and rubs the side of her arm before tilting her head in a sideways nod toward the courtyard. “Are you planning to marry her?”
Lies, lies, lies, and more lies, and I really fucking hate myself right now. “I’d like to. But I have to fix my Archer problem before I do anything like that. If I’m supposed to take care of a wife, I can’t be constantly taking care of Archer, too. In order to take care of Elle, I have to—”
Ohshit.
Please don’t leave me to the wolves.
I’m legitimately scared of being alone in a situation like that.
Please don’t do that to me.
I have literally done exactly what I promised Elle I wouldn’t.
