Closing the door behind me, I marched across the study and took a seat on a matching leather loveseat on the other side of the coffee table from him.
We sat in a heady silence for a long span of minutes while he polished and inspected the pistol.
“When exactly did you take my daughter’s maidenhood, niño?” Ernesto finally queried on low breath like an icy blue norther.
Part of me kind of wanted him to just take that gun and shoot me right then, because fuck. This situation was the stuff of nightmares. But at the same time, I would’ve done anything for Isla, up to and including lay down my own life, so if that meant being humiliated and intimidated by her father, so be it. She was also correct that such a confrontation was necessary to stay in his good graces because, archaic as it was, Ernesto was the gatekeeper to the life I had planned to live with Isla for as long as I understood the concept of marriage.
I gulped silently. “Two years, ago, sir.”
Ernesto made a disgusted, gurgling noise in the back of his throat and then pulled back the slide on the pistol, peering inside the chamber. He cut his russet eyes up at me through the narrow slits of his eyelids. “I could have you arrested right now. Do you realize that?”
I resisted the urge to gulp again. “Yes, sir.”
He released the slide with a sharp scrape of metal against metal. “I also believe it would be well within my rights to put a bullet right between your eyes. Do you agree with me, niño?”
A bead of sweat trickled down the center of my back. “Yes, sir.”
“Fortunately for you.” He spread the cloth flat on the coffee table, then laid the pistol on top of it with the barrel pointed right between my thighs, aimed right at my dick. “I value my relationship with your family.” He pointed his sausage-sized index finger at me. “I value my relationship with you, too, Malachi. I’ve known you since you were born. You have always been a good boy. You have always been a respectful young man, and since becoming… involved with Isla, you have behaved with decency and honor. This situation is not decent or honorable, however…” He huffed long and loudly, rubbing his large palm over his mouth. “I know how teenagers can be. I know Isla has loved you since she was a tiny girl. I know you love her, too. Do not mistake me, jovencito. I am not excusing this. I would take a belt to your ass right now if you were my son.”
I gave a single nod. “I understand.”
Ernesto grumbled in his throat again as he sat back against the chair, resting his elbows on its arms and tenting his fingers in front of his chin. “Do you intend to take my daughter as your wife one day?”
I sat up straight and answered without hesitation. “Yes, sir.”
His jowls pulsed as though he clenched and released his teeth. “How certain are you about that, Malachi?”
I leveled my gaze on him. “More certain than I’ve ever been about anything, Señor Reyes. It’s what I’ve always wanted more than anything else in my life.”
He sighed loudly and rubbed his forehead, mumbling. “Ayyy…”
“Señor Reyes,” I added, bracing myself for the potential consequences of speaking out of turn. “I swear on my life that my intention for as long as I’ve known Isla was to ask you for her hand as soon as I come of age. I will give her everything my family has to offer. She’ll be a duchess, but I’ll treat her like a queen. I’ll take care of her for as long as I—”
“Okay, mijo, that’s plenty. You can stop.” Ernesto huffed. “If that is truly your intention, then you need to be aware of what you will marry into.”
Relief caused me to sink backward against the couch. “You have my undivided attention.”
“Good.” He settled deeper into the chair and gripped the arm rests. “There is a part of my extended family that I have dedicated my life to protecting this family from. My grandfather and uncles and many of my cousins are still involved with it. I will spare you many details because you are still a boy, despite your very adult behavior with my teenage daughter.” He gritted his teeth again, and my stomach curdled. “But if your intention truly is to marry her, I need to make you aware of them because your parents may take issue with you tying yourself to her and me.”
I remained silent despite the urge to underscore the fact that absolutely nothing would deter me from wanting to marry Isla.
“They are known as Los Dolorosos,” Ernesto went on. “They are a cartel. Their business is why I have all of this in the first place.” He gestured at the room. “I took my inheritance the moment I came of age, married Fortuna, and left. I moved here because it was the farthest place I could go that would enable me to start the business I knew would multiply that inheritance. By multiplying it by means of a legitimate business, I ensured that no one in my family could ever come near me and my wife and our future children.” He pressed his palm to his barrel chest. “I am a self-made man, Malachi. And I made myself this way because in this world, money is the best protection one can hope for. So, I made a lot of it.” He slowly leaned forward and rested his elbows on his massive knees. “I made so much money that it would make King Solomon blush. And none of my money now is tainted by the money I started with back then. But.”
Ernesto pushed himself out of the chair and began pacing in front of the large, unlit fireplace. “Los Dolorosos don’t agree with that. They believe that, since I started with my inheritance, they have claim to everything I have built with it. They believe that when business gets slow for them, they are entitled to my money to get them out of the red. And with initiatives on the part of the US government to combat drug trafficking over the past ten years, they have been in the red a lot. They have come to this house countless times to demand money from me. They have threatened me, but I explained in no uncertain terms that I have my fortune locked up tighter than Fort Knox, and if they did anything to me, they’d never get their hands on it. So they have switched tactics.” He stopped pacing and turned to me, crossing his arms over his chest. “They have told me they will come after something they know I value far more than money, which is my first-born child.”
All the blood drained from my face before righteous indignation caused it to surge through my veins, and I spoke out of turn again, this time with no fucks to give. “Over my own dead body will anyone come after her.”
Ernesto narrowed his eyes to slits again, staring me down for a second before he gave a low, gruff chuckle. He wagged his finger at me. “That’s a good response, mijo. That makes me want to kill you less right now.”
“Señor Reyes,” I continued, barely acknowledging him, “There is absolutely nothing I wouldn’t do for Isla, and if that means—”
“You’ve made your point, Malachi. Allow me to continue with mine.”
I attempted to relax into a neutral posture despite rage electrifying every last one of my nerves. “My apologies, sir.”
He resumed pacing. “I appreciate your zeal. It gives me confidence in your commitment to her. However, you’re nineteen. Part of your zeal is merely youth and testosterone. So, you need to be aware of this now, so that when you are old enough to request her hand, you will understand this is what I will expect of you.” He crossed the room, stopping next to the loveseat and looming over me. “You will play a significant role in your country’s government when you are a man. Are you prepared to set all of that aside to protect her if necessary? Are you prepared to walk away from your duty to your country if that’s what it takes to shield her from them? Are you prepared for estos matones to come after you when they find out she’s under your care? Because they will.”