Punished (Calavera Hotels #1)

Chapter Thirty Adrian

I am in a good mood, the thought of Mireya screaming out my name still replaying in my head. The feel of her squirting all over me was the hottest thing I have ever experienced. I need to keep luring the freak inside her to come out and play. I bring my focus back to the empty table in front of me. This is not the time or fucking place to be thinking about my sex life.

I’m waiting for my mother. I’m hoping she is in a place that she may want to actually see me now. When she comes to the visiting area, I stand up to hug her. She squeezes me tightly and looks surprised I actually came to see her.

“Adrian. Mijo, what are you doing here?”

“I came to check in on you. How are you doing?”

“I’m doing good. I’m so happy to see you. I started hypnotherapy, and it has been helping me so much. I don’t feel as many withdrawals.”

“Ya, Patricio told me.” More like he was invading her privacy and watching her sessions, but to-may-to, to-mah-to.

“Are you two getting along now?” Her face lights up, and her smile is so big that I don’t want to disappoint her, so I nod.

“Patricio is a good man. I’m so happy he found you. I had hit the ultimate bottom of the barrel when they convicted you. I-I thought I had lost you forever—” she begins, and I wait to see what she has to say, but then she just stares blankly as she fights the tears.

The same way Mireya does. I know I crushed her when she confessed she loved me. I wanted to say it back, but I’m not sure. I’m not sure I can trust her, or anyone else, ever again. Especially when her mother has a vendetta against me.

Soledad grabs my hand from across the table.

“Where’d you go?” she says.

“Just thinking.”

“I am here. If you want to talk about it. You’ve carried the world on your shoulders for so long, but I am still your mother, and I still love you.”

“You don’t think I’m a monster?”

“I think that neither of us were brought into a fair world. You may have his blood, but you also have mine. I was lost, but when I find myself, Adrian, when I am able to show you a healed version of me, you will see yourself. You will see your strength and determination mirror mine. I may not have been the mother you needed, but I will make up for it.” Her hand strokes my cheek. My chest aches at the words I’ve waited so long to hear. And just like I did with Mireya, I freeze up.

“Now, who is the girl?” she says, and my brows arch.

“A mother knows when her son is in love.”

“It’s Mireya.” The words escape before I can think. I can’t hide her from the world, and even if I can’t admit what I feel for her, it doesn’t take away from the fact that she’s mine.

“Be careful with her mother, Adrian. Mireya has always loved you. I saw it in her eyes when she was a young girl, and I saw it again the night you rescued me. I don’t think she ever stopped. Her mother is no better than your father, but she is not her mother, just as you are not your father. Just be careful.”

“I don’t think I can be the person she needs,” I admit.

“Why not?”

“I’m not the flower-buying type. She has so much potential to be something in life, and I will just suffocate her.”

“?Y eso?” she scoffs. “Flowers die, mijo. Genuine love is giving your heart to the other person.” Her eyes warm.

“Is that how you feel about Patricio?” Her smile brightens at his name. Her love for him has survived through all the heartbreak and pain. Why couldn’t mine with Mireya?

I play loteria with my mom and a few other residents until they are called away to dinner. I promise my mom to return within the next week before I leave. Taking out my phone to call Mireya, I see eight missed calls from Thalia. She doesn’t pick up when I call her back, so I race back to the hotel. When I open the door to my penthouse, she is sitting in the living room.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Oh, gee. My bad. Hi, Brother. Nice to fucking see you, too.” My eyes narrow. “Ya. You’re welcome. Mireya is in the back. Don Mario found her in the elevator. She passed out, and then she vomited everywhere. I brought her back up here, and she went straight to the room.”

I push past her and go straight to the room while Thalia lets herself out. When I go in, I see her in the fetal position on the bed. She’s staring out the floor-to-ceiling window that looks out over my balcony.

“Diosa, are you okay?” I cup her face and bring her into me, sitting down on the mattress next to her. She finally lets out a sob, and I pull her closer to me. We stay like that for a long time, holding each other, until she has calmed down enough to look at me.

“My mom called me today.”

“What did she say?”

“She said you were just using me to get back with Diana.”

“Do you believe her?”

“I don’t know.”

“Is this because of what you said this morning?” She looks back out the window.

“I was thrown off by it, but it had nothing to do with Diana. I have only ever wanted you.” She looks up and searches my eyes. Like she can detect the truth. I lay down beside her and run my hand through the long strands of her hair.

“I wasn’t sure how to say it, or if it would come out right. I’m not romantic, and I sure as hell am not Prince Charming. I want you in a selfish way. It’s toxic and possessive. I don’t want to give into what I am feeling, but I don’t want to lose you either. If we’re going to do this, then I need to know that you are okay with my lifestyle and my choices. I pledged my loyalty to the cartel, and I can’t trade your happiness for a lifestyle you may not want to be a part of.”

“I love every part of you, Adrian. I would go to the gates of Hell themselves and offer my soul to have you. I don’t understand everything you, or any of the Consuelos, do, but that has nothing to do with the way I feel for you.”

I kiss her. Kill or be killed. I will kill every thought going forward that told me she deserves better. She deserves me, and I will make myself enough for her.