As soon as the plane touched down on the runway, Alejandro and Jax turned on their cell phones. Both of their devices pinged to life with message alerts and missed calls. They frowned at each other and before either of them could say another word, Alejandro’s cell phone started ringing in his hand.
‘Hola?’ he said as he lifted it to his ear.
I couldn’t hear the conversation or even tell who was on the phone, but my heart sank in my stomach as I watched his face turn an unusual shade of pale.
‘We’ll be there as soon as we can, Mama,’ he said quietly. ‘Si. Te querio,’ he said before ending the call. He took a deep breath and looked at me. I felt my pulse start to quicken as I waited for whatever terrible news he was about to give me.
‘Papa has been shot. He’s in ICU,’ he said matter of factly.
‘What?’ I gasped, my hand flying to my mouth. ‘Shot?’
‘What the fuck?’ Jax hissed as his own cell started ringing. ‘By who?’
Kelsey looked at me wide eyed from beside Jax, her hand reaching for Hugo’s.
Alejandro shook his head and I took hold of his hand and squeezed. ‘I don’t know. But find out everything you can and then …’ he looked around the small plane, seeming to remember that Kelsey was with us, he stopped himself from saying anything further.
‘I’m on it, amigo,’ Jax replied, not needing any further clarification.
‘Hugo, can you take Kelsey to the house please?’ Alejandro said as he squeezed my hand. ‘You’re coming to the hospital with me?’ he said as he turned to me. As if he even needed to ask.
‘Of course I am.’
‘Good,’ he nodded before turning back to Kelsey. ‘I’m sorry that this has been your introduction to L.A, but Hugo will look after you.’
‘You don’t have to apologize. I hope your father is okay,’ Kelsey replied quietly before drawing in a shaky breath.
I squeezed Alejandro’s hand again and he responded in kind.
As soon as we got outside LAX, there were three cars waiting. One to take Alejandro and I to the hospital, one for Jax who’d had his cell phone glued to his ear since we’d touched down and was heading to the hotel, and one to take Kelsey and Hugo to the house.
Alejandro and I sat in the back seat of Jacob’s car as he drove us to the hospital. Alejandro was quiet and understandably distracted and I wished there was something I could say to make him feel better. All his mom had told him was that his father had been shot in the chest earlier that morning while he’d been on his way to see Alejandro at the hotel, and we were on our way back from New York. He had been rushed into the ER and they were doing all they could to save him.
I held on tightly to Alejandro’s hand, threading my fingers through his. He continued staring out of the window, but he lifted my hand to his mouth and brushed my knuckles across his lips, and despite the awful situation we were heading into, I still felt the spark of electricity from his touch.
We were greeted by Alejandro’s mom, Maria, and his two uncles, Phillipe and Carlos as soon as we reached the ER. Maria looked at us as we walked through the doors and at the sight of her son, her face crumbled.
‘Mama,’ Alejandro said as we reached her, letting go of my hand and pulling her into an embrace.
‘Oh, hijo,’ she sobbed into his arms.
Alejandro kissed her the top of her head. ‘He’ll be okay, Mama. Papa is the strongest man I know.’
She nodded, her face pressed against his chest. Alejandro glanced up at his two uncles, who looked at him gravely, their faces full of fury and anguish. Then the three of them shared a look which had Alejandro untangling his mom from his arms. ‘I’m just going to talk the doctors, Mama. Alana will sit with you,’ he said.
She nodded and stepped back from him. I put my arm around her shoulder and she leaned her head against me. ‘Come on, let’s have a seat,’ I said as I guided her to the nearby seating area.
Then I watched as Alejandro and his uncles walked down the corridor, and I knew that they were doing much more than talking to any doctor. I may have been new to this life, but even I knew that the attempted murder of Mateo Montoya was about to start an all out war and my husband and his generals were already planning their next move.
