The Viper (Untamed Hearts #1)(76)

Marcos just thought it was a tremendous pain in his ass.

He had more than he should be able to carry, but he managed it and kicked his door shut with more force than necessary.

“Make sure no one steals my truck!” he shouted to Luis and Neto across the street. “I got to set this mierda down. I’ll be back out in a second.” They didn’t respond, and Marcos turned to them, seeing that the two of them had stopped playing ball and were just standing there, staring at them. “What?”

“You didn’t tell us you had a chica.” Luis sounded really pissed off about it too. “Is she your chica? ’Cause Sofia said she’s Chuito’s friend, but—”

“I don’t—” One of the bags slipped on his arm, and he cursed. “?Carajo! Hold on! I’ll be back.”

He walked up to the door, and fought with his keys and the bags, cursing the whole time. He kicked the door open with his foot and walked in.

“Tía!” he shouted in Spanish. “Come get the f*cking groceries that are going to spoil before you eat them!”

“Ay, bendito. So rude!” she called from the kitchen. “Bring them in here. I’m busy.”

“?Qué?” he growled, because something sounded off in her voice. “Why are you speaking English?” he asked and then switched back to Spanish just in case. “Is someone here? What happened to Fernán? If I had to buy this shit for a date with a gringo, I’m going to—”

“Oh my God, bring the damn groceries in here,” she called back in Spanish. “There’s no gringo.”

He walked to the kitchen. “My truck’s unlocked.”

“Luis and Neto will watch it.”

“They said—”

Marcos stopped when he stepped into the kitchen. He dropped his arm in shock, and two bags slipped past his right hand and crashed to the floor.

“My eggs!” Aunt Sofia shouted as she turned from the stove.

Marcos just stood there, still holding the rest of the groceries as he stared at Katie, who was sitting at the kitchen table, sorting through a bag of dried black beans like she belonged there all along.

“What are you doing here?” he choked.

“I’m, uh—” Katie gestured to the bag of black beans and the silver pot next to her. “I’m sorting black beans. Apparently they package them with stray rocks in them.” Katie held up her hand as evidence, displaying a little pile of stones. “They’re really rocks. In packaged food. It’s the strangest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Marcos couldn’t speak. He could barely breathe.

Aunt Sofia came over and picked up the bags he’d dropped. Then she flipped back her hair and gave him a smile. “This is Katie.” She turned to Katie. “This is my nephew Marcos.”

“We’ve met,” Katie said as she stared at him.

“He’s usually more charming.” Aunt Sofia put the bags on the island in the center of the kitchen. “But he is handsome. That’s something, right?”

“What is this?” Marcos asked when he finally found his voice.

“No gringo for me. Maybe a gringa for you,” his aunt said in Spanish as she started unpacking her groceries. “It was my idea.”

“You just decide my love life for me?” Marcos asked her in disbelief.

“Sí,” Aunt Sofia announced as she walked to the fridge. “I was tired of listening to you whine about her. You didn’t make your move. I made it for you.”

“You whined about me?” Katie asked softly.

“Yeah, I’ve missed you,” he said as he turned back to Katie before he frowned. “Wait, you understood that?”

“She’s learning Spanish. Que linda.” His aunt turned back to him and went on in Spanish, “She’s pretty. I see why you were whining. Just your type. Nice ass. Big tetas. Luis was eyeing them, chico. You might want to talk to him about that.”

“Co?o, please tell me you didn’t understand any of that,” Marcos said to Katie.

“I understood enough,” Katie looked to Sofia. “What did she say he was eyeing? I don’t think Chuito taught me that. She said that before, but I was distracted. Does that mean—”

“We need to go. We have to talk.” Marcos set the groceries on the counter and then grabbed his keys from his pocket. “Lock the truck, Tía.”

Aunt Sofia pulled back. “What am I?”

“You are in so much trouble right now!” Marcos growled at her as he pushed the keys at her. “Lock the truck!”

“I don’t get in trouble,” Sofia announced.

“You were born in trouble,” Marcos assured her as he walked over to Katie. “Come on. Vámanos. We’ll go out back.”

Katie got up, looking uncertain. Marcos wrapped an arm around her waist, because that wide vulnerable look in her eyes hurt him, but he couldn’t talk to her. Not in front of his aunt. He needed her alone to figure this out.

He opened the back door and walked into the backyard.

“Oh, it’s nice,” Katie whispered as they walked up to the gazebo house in the back. “It’s bigger than I imagined.”

Marcos was still trying to find his voice. Katie wasn’t fighting shock like he was. She’d known she was coming to visit. Why was she coming to visit? She had stopped texting him two months ago when he never responded to her.