Page 11 of Total Abandon

Mason:Watch it, Mrs. Walker.

Mia:Sorry, sir ;)

Chase:Gross.

Zeke:Jesus fucking Christ.

ZEKE

“You summoned?” I ask dryly as I lean one shoulder against the doorframe of my father's study. Logan is already here, leaning back in a wingback chair with his head skyward. He’s pale and a little green, likely from the post-game booze fest he indulged in.

Miguel Guerra is a stern man, almost as tall as I am and mean as a bulldog chewing a wasp when he wants to be. No frillsand all harsh realities—that’s what my childhood was after my mother died.

“Ezekiel, have a seat.” His deep voice is laced with the accent he inherited from Abuelo.

“No me digas que hacer,” I bite, slipping into my native tongue without even realizing it.Don’t tell me what to do.

“English please, my head hurts too much to translate right now.” Logan sighs dramatically, rolling his head back down to level us both with a look. I know he’s just saying that to diffuse the tension. When you grow up bilingual, you don’t have to translate shit, it just reads the same in our heads in either language. But as a first-generation immigrant, our father doesn’t know that, and we only speak the tongue when things are heated.

“I’ll stand, if it’s all the same to you.” I forge ahead, forcing my voice to remain even. He dips his head and stands, walking to the crystal decanter stashed on an oak drink cart in the corner. The slice of crystal against crystal permeates the air as he unstoppers it and pours three glasses of amber liquid. One might think it’s scotch from the set up, but I know better. He crosses the room and presses one glass into my hand, and I lift it to my lips as he hands the other to Logan, allowing the first tang of tequila to slide over my tongue. Something tells me I’m going to need it.

“Mis hijos,” he salutes, before tipping his back in one.My boys.

At thirty-six, I’m hardly a boy. But then again, I can quite imagine myself always seeing Diego this way too, even when he’s as tall and grown as I am. So, I incline my glass in his direction and take another sip. As does Logan, wincing slightly.

“The time has come for me to retire and pass the baton to you,” my father says solemnly, smoothing down his salt and pepper moustache as he sits back in his age-worn oxblood leather Chesterfield. I arch one brow. My father is a wealthy man. Self-made, as I am. I didn’t ask for a single handout to get where I am today, operating only on my own blood, sweat, and tears. Although, I highly doubt a handout was ever on the table even if I had been inclined to ask.

“Padre, just throw the other shoe already,” Logan grumbles. We both know there is a catch. My father won’t hand over the reins to his empire without a stipulation or two. The opportunity to wield it like a chess move won't be passed by. Luckily for me, I don’t want his empire—I’m too busy building my own.

“It’sdropthe other shoe, asshat,” I snipe, knocking the last of my drink back and running my tongue across my teeth.

“Then you don’t know our father at all, Hermano.” Logan throws back quicker than a man that hungover should be able to. I salute him with my empty glass, conceding his point. My steps are muffled on the silk dyed Persian rug underfoot as I walk over to the drinks cart, needing more liquor for whatever is about to come.

“I’ve found a respectable woman for you to marry, Ezekiel. As my oldest son, I expect you to make an honorable man of yourself before I give you the keys to the castle.” My hands freeze, crystal stopper in one, tequila-filled decanter in the other. Amber liquid sloshes up the spout, dripping down onto my hand.

“Ilegar de nuevo?”Come again?I turn slowly and am met with my father's hard onyx stare. The lines at the corner of his eyes crease. Not laughter lines. Scowl lines.

“I have found you a respectable woman to marry.” He repeats every syllable like I’m an invalid who can’t understand English.

There is a quiet knock on the door and my eyes jerk across to see a young girl—Columbian, I would guess by her coloring—standing timidly in the doorway. An older man and woman flank her, the man with one hand on the girl's shoulder. Her father, presumably. I bark out an incredulous laugh, not sparing the girl even half a glance. Rude perhaps, but right now, I couldn’t give less of a fuck.

“You’re not in Columbia anymore, Father, and this isn’t the eighteenth century.” Placing the crystal tumbler roughly on the side of the cart to save myself from hurling it at him, I spin and start to walk toward the door. I freeze when I see the look of fear in the girl's eyes. Jesus, she could be no older than twenty. And there was me thinking Miss Devlin was young.

“Please know that my refusal holds no bearing on your eligibility, simply that I refuse to allow my father to dictate my life,” I assure her quietly, sparing her shocked mother and stern father a brief nod before I push through the door.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Ezekiel.” My father's harsh voice halts me in my tracks. And here it is. The other shoe. I can almost hear the metaphorical drop as he prepares to hurl it at my back.

“And why is that, Miguel?” I turn, meeting his gaze.

He pulls himself upright. “Because if you are not married by the end of this year, I will burn Paraíso to ashes and wash away your mother's grave without a second thought.” He hurls the words with expert precision, and I feel every syllable land like a bullet in my chest.

Logan shoots from his chair so quickly he’s almost a blur. “You wouldn’t.”

And there it is. Laid bare. My Achilles heel. Paraíso is the house in Columbia my mother loved, that she chose as her final resting place after the life my father led tore her to pieces. It’s the only piece of her that I have remaining besides the scarlet-hazed memory of her dead body in my arms.

***

The smash of glass and the sight of amber liquid sliding down the beige wallpaper of my penthouse living space soothes a sliver of the ache in my chest. As I pour myself a fresh glass, I note I’m down to only one. The set of six antique crystal tumblers cost thousands, but fuck if I care right now.