Chapter 35

It was nearlysunset when Natalia started from the lobby to the villa. She’d been in a near meditative state while working in a conference room she’d talked herself into.

Unaccustomed to being rattled, Natalia sought refuge in what she understood. Contracts and spreadsheets and scripts. She knew what to do with those.

Blanca’s bomb was still sitting in her gut. Roiling and burning and slicing her from within. Even more disorienting was the fact that she hadn’t packed her bags, booked a car, and gotten the hell out of the Keys.

But she didn’t want to walk away from Samantha. Not without forcing her to address the facts. To explain herself. Not without leaving the victor. To punish Samantha for forcing her to feel while she lied by critical omission.

Natalia strode purposefully along the resort path toward their villa, the clicking of her heels on the pavement echoing in the blustery evening air. Gone was her unease and discomfort from earlier — now her movements were fueled by icy rage.

She had spent the last hour constructing meticulous arguments in her head, preparing to tear Samantha to shreds. The audacity of letting Natalia expose private fears and insecurities while hiding a whole wife was unconscionable.

She reached the villa door, spine straight and head high. Time to show Samantha who she was truly dealing with — not some smitten girl to be placated with half-truths, but Natalia Flores, commanding and untouchable.

Teeth gritted, she swung open the door. If Samantha thought a taste of vulnerability would bind Natalia to her, she was sorely mistaken. This wound would not be salved, and Samantha would discover exactly why Natalia had a reputation for being unmoved by sentiment.

Of all the things she expected to walk in on, Samantha padding out of the kitchen in nothing but shorts, her upper body burnt to a terrifying crisp, was not it.

“What the hell happened to you?” Natalia roared, her anger mixing with concern. “Why on earth haven’t you been wearing sunscreen? Do you have any idea how dangerous sun exposure is? How it damages collagen production and elastin in the skin, leading to premature aging and wrinkling?” She stalked closer, still fuming. “Not to mention the increased risk of skin cancer?—”

“I know, I know.” Samantha crinkled her face, one of the few parts of her skin that wasn’t boiled. “I reapplied.” she looked at her arms and legs.

“But what?” Natalia thundered. “You forgot the other third of your body?” She pointed at her shoulders and the top of her neck.

Samantha turned so Natalia could see that her upper back and neck were even more alarming. “I guess I didn’t realize the places I couldn’t reach on my own.”

“Unacceptable,” Natalia replied, studying Samantha’s ruined skin. It had to be painful. Shit, she could have sun poisoning. Natalia reached for her phone. “Do you have a fever? Chills? Nausea? Vomiting?” She rattled off the list on her screen.

“No?”

Natalia glared. “It’s not a guess, Samantha. Do you or do you not?—”

“No, okay?” Samantha’s tone was too gleeful for a person who’d turned themselves into a hot Cheeto. “I’m just going to take a shower. The cold water will help.”

“The cold water will help?” Natalia repeated like it was a curse. “Where did you get that? You should get seen by a doctor?—”

Samantha moved toward her, but Natalia moved away. Her little adorable scamp schtick wasn’t going to help her now.

“Get in the shower. I’m going to see if there’s medical personnel on staff.”

“Nat—”

“No,” Natalia said resolutely, turning her back on Samantha and starting for the door.

Outside, Natalia barreled back toward the lobby. She only made it ten steps before Samantha’s mother stepped out of a nearby villa and started toward her on the same path.

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

Natalia considered turning around. She didn’t have it in her to fake niceties right now. But it was too late. The woman had already spotted her. Between her ridiculous waving and her broad smile, Natalia was stuck. She’d have to tell the woman to get lost or endure her. Compelled to elect the latter, Natalia slowed as she approached.

“I’m going to see if there’s a nurse or paramedic on the property.” Natalia threw the information out like a shield, hoping to pass her without having to stop.

“Oh, mi ni?a,” she said sweetly, making Natalia recoil. “That is so thoughtful.” She held up an unlabeled jar in her hand. “I always bring a jar of this when we go on vacation. It will get rid of that burn overnight.”

“The burn is severe,” Natalia replied as politely as she could, given the absurdity of treating Samantha’s skin with some bullshit home remedy.

“This is no ordinary aloe, mija. It’s my abuelita’s secret recipe, passed down for generations.” She smiled fondly. “Growing up on a farm, those women had to come up with cures for everything.” She said it like not having modern medicine was as quaint as butter churning or chancing death with unpasteurized dairy. “And my mother always said wisdom was the most valuable tool.” She laughed. “There’s nothing Mother Nature can’t cure.”

Natalia thought of a laundry list of things that couldn’t be cured with some fucking plants. Melanoma was a relevant one.

Pressing the jar into Natalia’s hand, she continued enthusiastically, “Just slather it all over the burnt areas. It has aloe, of course, plus mint, comfrey root, honey... well, I can’t divulge the rest until you’re part of the family.” She winked.

Natalia had barely absorbed the family jab when the woman hit her with a lethal uppercut.

“My Sam would be so embarrassed that I said this, but who doesn’t find their old mom embarrassing?” she said with a chuckle to herself, while every muscle in Natalia’s body braced for impact. “But I haven’t seen Sammy so happy in a long, long time.”

Leaning in, she squeezed Natalia’s forearm before she could retreat to safety. “You’ve been a little dose of magic for her.” She smiled, but her expression was sad. “It’s impossible to watch your child experience pain. Since she lost Sofia, I have wanted to trade places with her a thousand times. To take on all that hurt so she’d never have to feel it again.” She wiped the corner of her eye. “You know how she is — so tough. Always carrying it all with a smile, but a mother knows.”

She ran her thumb so gently over Natalia’s skin. It was the most tender gesture Natalia had ever received. It was the epicenter of an earthquake. Against her will, warm tendrils lashed at her skin. The touch burrowed into her, curling around muscle and bone and marrow and heart.

“You put the light back in her eyes, mi vida.” She looked at Natalia with so much sincerity and affection, it nearly reduced Natalia to rubble. “Thank you,” she said, a fault line crack in her voice. She cleared her throat and removed her soft, warm hand from Natalia’s arm. “Well, that’s enough from a silly old lady. Go take care of our girl.”

With a little wave, she bustled away, leaving a stunned Natalia clutching the jar of family aloe. She stood there even after Samantha’s mother had gone back into her room.

Mind racing, she searched for the lies. Looked for the motivation the woman would have in putting on that sweet act. But her brain wouldn’t kick into gear. She couldn’t feel her body. Couldn’t string a coherent thought together.

Moving the way she imagined a ghost would, Natalia returned to the room to find Samantha sitting on the couch, freshly showered and wearing nothing but sweatpants. Her skin was even redder and angrier than before, a contrast to Natalia’s rather numb state.

Hair wet and slicked back, Samantha looked up at her like she wasn’t in any pain. As soon as she noticed the jar in Natalia’s hand, she smiled.

“I should have known that was on its way,” Samantha said, extending her hand to take the aloe when Natalia crossed into the open living room.

Natalia handed over the legacy salve and turned toward the kitchen. She needed a moment to think. Space to collect herself. Reaching for the glass bottle in the fridge, Natalia drank water directly from the vessel.

The moment wasn’t enough. When she turned back to Samantha, and her pathetic attempt to reach the fried skin below her shoulders, Natalia rolled her eyes.

“Just give it to me,” she demanded, setting the bottle down too hard on the counter. “You’re not a fucking octopus.”

Mercifully, Samantha handed the jar over and turned in her seat to give Natalia access to her back. She wasn’t in the mood to argue. Not about this.

Taking a scoop of the pleasant-smelling gel, Natalia smeared it gently over Samantha’s shoulder blades even if part of her wanted to use her nails and make her feel as uncomfortable as she’d felt all day. She lasted three seconds before she erupted.

“Were you ever going to tell me about Sofia?”