My own throat was too ravaged and sore to manage any more sobs, but tears flowed down my cheeks in rivers of joy and pain. “Papá. I’m here. I’m home.”
After a long while, he pulled back just far enough to drink in the sight of my face, and I studied his familiar features with matching desperation, re-memorizing each deep wrinkle around his shining eyes and grinning lips.
“How?” he breathed, awestruck. “How are you here? I thought…”
He pressed a kiss against each of my cheeks, one after the other. “My Marisol.”
The lump in my throat trapped my response, but eventually, I managed to speak. “Raúl brought me back home.”
I gently extricated myself from my father’s hug, so I could reach for the man I loved. His warm, solid presence enfolded me in the calming bubble that surrounded him, and I leaned into him with a shaky sigh.
His big hand settled on my lower back, silently supporting me.
“Papá, this is Raúl. He saved me. He’s made it possible for me to come home.”
My father blinked away the tears that still obscured his vision. “Saved you?” His mouth tightened with renewed anguish. “Where have you been, mija?”
I held my hand out to him, guiding him to one of the garden chairs. “Let’s sit, and I’ll tell you all about it.”
The abridged version, at least.
We all settled down in our own chairs, even though Raúl looked like he might crush the aging furniture with his massive body. A fond smile curved my lips, and I allowed myself to relish the absolute, impossible perfection of the moment. I had my family back, and I had Raúl; my own personal miracle.
After a few minutes of cautious skepticism, I managed to coax Mario to sit on my lap. The fact that my four-year-old baby brother barely remembered me sent a pang through my heart, but it quickly healed. I would be here for him from now on. For the rest of his life, we’d have constant contact. He would never forget me again.
I hugged him tight while I told my family the carefully curated version of my arduous journey and my relationship with Raúl.
My father’s slight frown indicated that he was well aware that I was softening the jagged edges of my story, but he didn’t press for details. He respected that I didn’t want to share them, and he probably didn’t want to hear them. Neither of us wanted to add another layer of pain to all the agony we’d been through.
When I finished, his eyes turned to Raúl, dark and solemn. “Thank you for bringing my daughter home. Thank you for reuniting our family.”
All Raúl could manage was a nod of acknowledgement, and I noticed his throat working as he swallowed hard. I wasn’t the only one who’d been stalled from speaking by a wash of emotion.
I laid my hand on his corded forearm, calming him with my touch. He blew out a sigh and relaxed immediately, focusing his devoted smile on me.
“I love Raúl.” I spoke to my family, but I didn’t take my eyes from his. “He saved me, and he’ll protect and provide for me for the rest of my life.”
I forced my attention back to my father, begging him to understand and accept my decision. “I’m going to live in with him in his home outside Mexico City. But we are all going to be part of each other’s lives. We’re a family, but Raúl is family now, too.”
I didn’t say Raúl was my family. He was part of our family, and I made sure everyone heard it. We were an inseparable unit, bound by my love. They would grow to love one another, too. After seeing Gabriela’s hero worship, I knew it would happen.
“You’re leaving again?” I hated the renewed pain in my father’s voice.
“I will come back here to see you often, and I’ll call every day,” I swore. “Raúl is going to make sure Gehovany won’t be able to threaten you ever again. That monster won’t be able to keep us apart.”
My father’s eyes narrowed slightly on Raúl, and his jaw worked. There could be no doubt about what I meant. A chill settled over us as the truth of our intentions rang out: Raúl was going to kill Gehovany.
“What kind of business did you say you run in Mexico City?” he asked incisively, his eyes sharp on the man I loved.
Raúl wrapped his brawny arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his protective embrace. “My primary business is in private security.”
My father’s lips thinned, clearly not buying this as the full story. But as his eyes moved from Raúl’s fierce, stony features to my perfectly relaxed posture, his wrinkles eased from the deep, forbidding lines they’d formed.
“I’m glad to hear it,” he said gruffly. “I approve of your relationship with my daughter. You’ve made it possible for her to return to us.” He rapidly blinked the fresh sheen from his eyes. “Of course, I give my blessing.”
I shot to my feet, closing the distance between us and wrapping him in a grateful hug. He stood to meet me, returning my warm embrace.
“I should leave you all to catch up,” Raúl rumbled. “I’m going to handle Gehovany.” The last was a dark promise.
I returned to him, going up on my tiptoes to briefly brush my lips against his. I couldn’t do anything more passionate in front of my father, but I poured all the things I couldn’t say into the kiss.
“I love you,” I swore.
“I love you, corderita.” He gave me one more kiss, unable to help himself. “You’re safe.”
“I know.”
He pressed his forehead to mine with one final hum. Then, he strode away, his huge frame swelling in savage anticipation.
There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that Gehovany would be dead by sunset.
Barely half an hour had passed before my father’s battered, old phone rang, interrupting our joyous reunion. He ignored it, but it immediately rang a second time.
He grumbled and answered with a clipped, “What?”
His craggy face paled, and fear flashed across his dark eyes. “Are you sure?”
A second of silence.
“Thank you.” He choked out his gratitude and ended the call with shaky hands.
His featured twisted with an echo of the soul-wrenching agony that’d drawn a howl from his chest on the day my mother died. “He’s coming. I don’t know how he knows you’re here, Marisol, but Gregorio warned me that he just saw Gehovany drive past his property.”
The ground tilted beneath me, and I braced my hands on the chair before I could fall. “But that means…”
Gregorio only lived a few miles away. There was no way Raúl could get back to me before Gehovany arrived.
My chest caved in as my worst nightmare became reality. Somehow, my frozen fingers found my phone. It took two attempts before I managed to enter Raúl’s contact details correctly.
“Marisol.” He answered on the first ring, my name clipped with worry.
“He’s on his way here,” I whispered through numb lips. “My father’s friend saw Gehovany driving this way. We might have fifteen minutes. Can you get here?” The desperate question was so high and thin that it was barely audible.
“Go inside the house.” His ferocious snarl sounded over the squeal of tires burning against asphalt. “Lock the doors, and do not come out for any reason. Don’t let your father try to defend you. All of you, inside. Now.” The commands became rougher, less intelligible as rage and panic overtook him, but I understood every word.