Lucia and I were sitting in the den watching TV by the time Alejandro arrived home later that evening. I had thought about telling her about Blake myself, but decided it was better to come from him. I had no idea what had happened to Lucia’s ex-boyfriend other than the fact he was dead, but I knew that she would have questions and they were ones that I couldn’t answer.
Alejandro walked into the den and sat beside me on the sofa, slipping his arm around my shoulder and planting a soft kiss on my forehead.
‘We saved you some dinner,’ I said as I placed my hand on his thigh.
‘I ate at the hotel,’ he replied and then he looked over my shoulder at Lucia, who was laughing at the movie she was watching.
‘Hey, Lucia, can we talk to you about something?’ he said and she turned to look at him. ‘Sure. Is everything okay?’
‘I think we should turn off the TV,’ I said to her and she paused the movie.
‘It’s about Blake,’ Alejandro started to say and Lucia pulled a disgusted face.
‘He’s dead,’ Alejandro finished.
She blinked at him for a few seconds before she spoke. ‘What?’ she said as she reached down between me and her and fumbled for my hand. I found hers first and squeezed gently.
‘Where did you find him?’ she asked.
‘He was in Chicago. He was found this morning.’ Alejandro replied.
‘Did you?’ she started to ask the question but didn’t finish it.
‘No,’ Alejandro shook his head.
She swallowed before nodding her head gently and placing her free hand on her stomach.
‘Are you okay?’ I asked her.
‘Yeah. It’s just kind of a shock to know that he’s gone.’
‘I know. And it’s okay to be sad,’ I reminded her.
She looked up at me. ‘I’m not sad. Not really. Does that make me a horrible person?’
‘No,’ Alejandro and I replied in unison.
‘I mean, I thought he was my friend, but all he ever did was use me,’ she said as the tears formed in her eyes.
I squeezed her hand tighter.
‘He was as bad as my father and brothers,’ she sniffed and I felt Alejandro stiffen beside me and wondered what that was about. ‘Is it bad that I feel kind of relieved that he’ll never come after me or my baby again?’
‘No, that’s not bad at all, sweetheart. In fact, it’s perfectly understandable,’ I assured her.
She nodded and wiped the tears from her cheeks with the sleeve of her sweater. ‘What happened to him?’ she directed her question to Alejandro.
He looked at me first and then he sucked in a breath. ‘He was buried alive in cement.’
I winced at the thought of such a horrible death, but Lucia simply frowned. ‘Wow! Do you know who did it?’
‘Not yet,’ Alejandro replied. ‘Any ideas?’
Lucia shook her head. ‘He was an asshole. But he wasn’t stupid. He didn’t usually piss off the type of people who would be likely to bury him alive in cement.’
Alejandro raised an eyebrow at her and she snorted. ‘I guarantee you that if Blake had realized Alana was your wife, he would never have laid a finger on her. He only goes for easy prey.’
The way she referred to herself as easy prey, and how accepting she was of that fact broke my heart. I squeezed her hand tighter. I couldn’t even comprehend what this young girl had gone through in her life, and how she was still this sweet, lovable kid after all of it.
‘Well, you’re far from easy prey anymore,’ Alejandro said with a wink and she rewarded him with a huge smile.
‘Want to watch the rest of the movie with us?’ Lucia asked. ‘It’s really funny.’
Alejandro looked at the screen, which was paused on a still of kids in a high school hallway. I knew that he hated these kinds of films. In fact, he barely watched TV at all. I was surprised when he sat back against the sofa and put his arm back around me. ‘Why not? I could do with a distraction,’ he said.
I sat back too and leaned against him, placing my hand on his thigh and keeping hold of Lucia’s with the other. A few moments later, the three of us were laughing at the movie. I turned to Alejandro and he winked at me and I thought that I had never loved him quite as much as I did in that moment.
