Sighing, I knew it would be better to jump right into things before the night started.
“Everyone, this is my fiancée Cashlynn and her brother Carson.” I walked back to Cashlynn’s side.
“Fiancée!” Mom gasped before switching to Spanish. “Wait a minute! I didn’t even know you were dating seriously.”
“Dating is a stretch,” Lucas muttered with a smirk on his face. I cut my eyes at him.
“Dad said I needed to get married, so here I am.” I shrugged.
Mom eyed Cashlynn and turned her mouth upside down. “Well act like we raised you right. Finish the introductions, hijo.” My mom was fully Black with golden brown skin but being with my dad had her speaking Spanish just as fluently as the rest of us. They made sure we all were fluent in both languages.
“Right. That’s my mom Nora, father Dominic, and my brothers Ezra and Emmet. You already met Lucas.” I pointed to each brother as I spoke.
“Hi.” Cashlynn gave a faint wave and Carson stayed tucked at her side.
“Well don’t be shy, take a seat,” Mom encouraged. “Ezra, move so they can sit together,” she demanded.
He muttered something but did as she said.
“Macy, let the cook know we’re ready for dinner,” Mom announced as we took our seats. I turned to my dad, noticing he still hadn’t commented. His eyes were still locked on Cashlynn. He always had a great poker face, so I couldn’t decipher what he was thinking.
A few seconds later, platters of food were brought out to the table.
The dinner table was silent, which wasn’t common. Usually one of my brothers would be talking shit, but everyone seemed to be studying Cashlynn.
“What did you say your full name was?” Dad finally asked.
Cashlynn tensed at my side briefly, but quickly straightened up. “Cashlynn Cavana.”
Dad’s eyes hardened. “I knew you looked familiar. I’m usually good with faces. Your parents were Joe and Brandy, correct?”
“They were,” Cashlynn replied stoically.
Dad turned to me with hard eyes and his lips pinched.
“¿Estás loco, carajo?”
CHAPTER 8
CASHLYNN
“What do you mean, Dad?” Nazai questioned his father in Spanish.
“Do you know who her family is? The Cavanas are blackballed disgraces. They're untrustworthy bastards that deserved what they got,” Dominic ranted in Spanish. “I'm sure they raised their daughter to be just like them!”
“I'm confused, Dad. You demanded me to find a wife and I did, yet you're still unhappy?”
“Not to a Cavana.”
My eyes bounced between the two as they continued arguing in Spanish. Irritation rose inside me. I could feel my brother’s tension radiating off him as he shifted closer to me. Although I’d heard of Dominic Tavarez, this was the first time I had laid eyes on him in the flesh. He was said to be a cruel and calculated man. He started a law firm shortly after retiring from being a judge and built it from the ground up to what it was today. He was a smart man to question my motives after learning who my parents were. When most people heard my last name, a negative reaction followed. Turns out Mom and Dad had burned a lot of people before they died. However, I would not allow him to talk about me as if I wasn’t sitting here.
I broke into their exchange, also speaking Spanish. “Excuse me, Dominic, knowing what you and your family are into, I would be the last to judge anyone,” I started. Nazai looked at me surprised and Dominic’s face hardened further. “And for the record, your son came to me and demanded I marry him. I didn't ask for this. Who my parents were has nothing to do with who I am.” I picked up the glass of water in front of me and brought it to my lips.
“Damn,” one of the brothers muttered under a laugh, but my eyes were too focused on Dominic to tell which one.
“You speak Spanish?” Nazai asked, still shocked.
Setting my glass down, I twisted my neck to face him. “I actually speak four different languages. Spanish being one, yes.”
