Player(23)

I laughed. “I guess you’ll just have to settle for Phantom. Pobre Dante.”

He rolled his eyes. “I’m just saying, you earned the spot on merit alone. You hadn’t met Jason McAdams before subbing for Julien, right?”

“Nope.”

Another shake of his head. “Seriously, that contractor is one of the most nepotistic assholes in the industry, and that’s saying something. It’s no wonder he won’t hire me.”

“Well, maybe if you hadn’t punched him in the face at Delmonico’s—”

“Well, maybe if he hadn’t been fucking my girlfriend—”

Abuelo’s hand flew out faster than a man of his age should have been capable of and whapped Dante upside the head. “Watch your mouth, Dante.”

Dante rubbed the back of his head, cowed. “Sorry, Abuelo. But that guy’s the worst.”

“No,” he countered, “Jessica was the worst. Blame her.”

Dante grumbled something I couldn’t hear but let it go, changing the subject. “So, who’s going to Sway that you know? If it’s that dickhead Jackson, we’re gonna have a problem.”

I huffed and rolled my eyes. “God, you act like I’m not an adult, Dante.”

Again, his arms folded, his biceps fanned out and eyes narrowed.

Max took the cue and mirrored him. “Who is it, Val?”

I brushed invisible lint off my pants. “Sam Haddad,” I said under my breath, not looking up when Dante shot up in his seat.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

Another fwap from Abuelo’s hand. Dad laughed, but his eyes were hard.

“Haddad is just as bad as that douchebag Jackson he hangs out with.”

“God, don’t be dramatic, Dante. We’re just friends.”

“There’s no such thing as just friends with Haddad. He’s slept with half of Manhattan, Valentina.”

The men of my family leaned in and gathered around with flinty eyes, Alex and Franco appearing at Max’s elbows. Abuelo had put down his book. I caught sight of Mama as she leaned back to look between my brothers, offering me a sympathetic glance.

My face was on fire. “I told you, we’re just friends. He doesn’t want anything to do with me, not like that.”

Max’s face twisted in a snarl. “Screw that guy. He should want everything to do with you. He must be an idiot.”

The rest of the wolf pack nodded their agreement.

I scowled at them. “Well, which is it? He should like me, or he should stay away?”

“Both,” they said in unison, then glanced at each other and laughed.

“You’re impossible, you know that?” I asked the room. “He’s my friend. I’m having fun at the club learning to swing. The band is brilliant, and I’m not gonna quit going, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

Dad shook his head. “Nobody wants you to quit going. We just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Well, it’s like riding a bike. If I’m ever gonna find someone, I’m going to probably get hurt. You can’t protect me from everything, or I’ll never learn.”

My brothers all opened their mouths to argue, but Mama interjected. “Go set the table, boys.”

No one moved.

“Now, please.” Two syllables of firm Mom voice that brooked no argument, and their mouths snapped shut.

They pushed away from the table and dispersed, though not without pinning me with looks that told me it wasn’t over. The boys gathered up plates and silverware and glasses, and Dad sidled up behind Mama, wrapping his arms around her waist and burying his face in her neck. Abuelo was the only one who hadn’t moved.

“You know, cari?o, the first time I ever saw your abuela was in a tablao. But before I saw her, I felt her. I felt the music. You don’t feel it in your heart or your mind, you hear it here,” he said, sitting up straight, puffing his chest, pressing his fist to his stomach. “In your guts. It’s the softest part of you, the place where your fears and hopes live. And I knew her right then. She was under the only light in the room, her face still and hard and beautiful. She was mine. She didn’t know it then, but she was.”

I smiled, leaning in, the band on my lungs relaxing with every word of the story I’d heard a thousand times. “What happened, Abuelo?”

“I watched her dance and lost my heart. All of Madrid had lost their heart to her, including her partner. But she didn’t love him. She didn’t know, but she was waiting for me. I had nothing but my guitar and my love. And that was enough. Valentina, alma mía, you are perfect. And one day, you will meet a man who sees you, who knows you. You’ll meet a man who needs you, just like I need Valeria. Just like your papa needs your mama. Don’t ever give your love to a man who won’t give you everything he has to his name in exchange, heart and soul in hand.”

I swallowed to open up my tight throat, nodding.

He smiled, his eyes deep and velvety, his face worn and smiling. He patted my hand, his paper-thin skin soft, the calluses on his fingertips hard as stone. “You deserve happiness, mi cielito. Nothing less.”

Happiness. Such a simple thing to ask for and such an impossible thing to find.

But for the first time, I had hope.