I searched his face for duplicity, but he looked sincere. “You promise?”
“Yes.” He kissed me again. “Anything you want. I need to see Ignacio, but you’re my first priority.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Ryker
We landed in Cancun at ten o’clock last night. Hospital visiting hours had ended, so Hattie and I took a cab to the hotel instead. I didn’t know where Rever went, and I didn’t care. Even though he said he didn’t want to see Ignacio, I assumed I’d see him at the hospital sometime today.
“What are you going to do today?” I asked Hattie.
We hadn’t exchanged more than a few sentences on the plane or last night. It didn’t appear the trend would reverse course this morning either. We dressed. We walked to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. We ordered food. We sipped our coffee and ate, but we had only said a handful of words to each other.
Every unspoken word and missed opportunity to reassure her pressed against my chest, suffocating me. Anxiety leached from her pores. Her hands shook every time she lifted her fork. Her eye twitched. She was nervous about being in Mexico with me again. I understood her concerns. I hated being here again too. The ghosts from the last time we were in Mexico haunted me. I wished I could erase all her pain and sadness with happier memories.
Hattie set her silverware diagonally across her plate and pushed the plate away from her. She hardly touched her food. “I’ll do some research and try to work on my thesis, or maybe I’ll lounge by the pool. Swim some laps. I haven’t thought about it.”
“You can come with me,” I offered. “You don’t have to go in his room or anything. You could wait in the lounge area. We could go out to lunch.”
Her eyes locked on mine for a second, then they flickered away. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“I don’t like the idea of you sitting at the hotel by yourself.”
She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I’ll be fine. I have plenty of things to occupy my time. Don’t worry about me.”
I frowned. “Of course I’m going to worry about you. You’re pregnant and—”
She held up her hand as she chewed the corner of her lower lip. “P-pl-please,” she stuttered, struggling to force the word from her throat. “Not right now. Not when you’re leaving me here alone for the rest of the day. Not when I won’t have anything to distract me from analyzing every word you said. Every word I said.”
“Hattie,” I said, lowering my voice.
“No.” She moved her head from side to side. “Later, okay?”
I wanted to grab her arm, pull her against my body, and kiss her until she understood how much I loved her—how much I wanted to pack our bags and get on the first plane back to the States. I didn’t do any of those things.
“Tonight?”
“Sure.” She ran her fingers along my jaw. “What time do you think you’ll be back?”
“I’m not sure, but I’ll try to make it back here before dinner.” My cell phone rang. It was Emanuel. I didn’t want to take the call in front of Hattie. “I have to go.” I pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth and stood up.
“I’m sorry I’ve been so quiet. I’m just…” She cleared her throat and averted her eyes.
“Nervous about being in Mexico again,” I said, finishing her sentence.
She swallowed. “Yeah, but I don’t want you to think I’m mad at you, because I’m not.”
“I know. I get it. I know this trip is uncomfortable, but it means a lot to me that you came.”
“Thanks for understanding.” She squeezed my hand. “Call me and tell me what’s going on.”
“I will.”
***
I sat in a chair next to my dad’s hospital bed. The smell of medicine and antiseptic filled my lungs. He looked smaller and older than I remembered. His skin was ashen, and his cheeks were sunken. He had a black eye and scratches on the side of his face.
According to Emanuel, the doctors successfully removed the ventilator earlier this morning, but he still had a chest tube to help his lungs function and remove any residual fluids from his chest cavity.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
“About as good as I look,” Ignacio croaked.
“So you feel like shit?”
His lips twitched. “Exactamente.” He closed his bloodshot, filmy eyes. “Where’s Rever?”
“I don’t know. He said he’d be here.”
“Hm,” he muttered without opening his eyes.
I reached out and grasped his hand. “I’m glad you’re going to be okay.”
“That remains to be seen.”
“You’re not out of the woods, but you’re breathing on your own. That’s a good sign.”
He opened his eyes. “I heard you brought Hattie with you. Is she in the waiting room, or did you leave her at the hotel?”
I dropped his hand and rested my elbows on my knees. “She’s at the hotel.”
“I figured as much. I can’t imagine she wants to see me.” He lifted his arm and winced.
“She’s busy writing her thesis,” I said, ignoring his comment. Hattie didn’t want to see him, and I couldn’t blame her.
“How are things with her?”
“It’s a mess. Senator Deveron linked my two identities and not a day goes by without another threat.” After the confrontation in the alley with his goons, Senator Deveron hadn’t backed down. In fact, his threats had escalated. Some of the shit he said about Hattie and my family turned my stomach. I wanted to meet him in a dark alley and beat the shit out of him.
“Are you worried?”
I rubbed my jaw, carefully considering my answer. “I have enough dirt on him to make him think twice about acting on any of his threats, but…”
“But what?” he prompted.
“I’m worried about your arrangement with him.”
“Don’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t worry about me. Do what you need to do. You and Rever are good at that.”
I nodded as I studied his face. “Do you know he made threats against the Vargas Cartel and you? He said he’d back the Alvarez Cartel.”
Ignacio breathed hard through his nose as his ebony eyes collided with mine. “Have you changed your mind about taking your place with the Vargas Cartel?”
“No.”
“Great, then why the fuck do you care?”
“Are you saying I shouldn’t care?”
Ignacio groaned. “Why are you here?”
“I’m here because you’re my father and I care about you. Isn’t that a good enough reason?”
“No. I have nurses to sit at my bedside and change my bedpan. I need help with the family business. I need someone to watch over my interests while I’m in here.”
“I can’t do that. I don’t want any part of that life.”
“Obviously, I can’t count on either of my sons.” He shook his head. “Just go. I don’t want you here right now.”