MasukMax ran to the bed, patted the mattress twice, then climbed up with all the grace of a small potato. He stood in the middle and opened his arms.“This is big enough for a whole country!”Issa, still in Zach’s arms, studied the bed seriously. “A small country.”“A country is still a country.”“I want the side close to Uncle Shiny.”“You’re always close to him.”“Because he’s warm.”“I’m warm too.”“You’re sweaty.”“I’m an athlete.”“You’re four.”“I’m still an athlete!”I walked past them and opened the walk-in closet.The lights came on automatically.Rows of shirts, suits, coats, and casual clothes were organized by color. Everything was dark, neutral, or some combination a man would choose when he wanted to look expensive without admitting he’d spent ten minutes thinking about his outfit.I glanced into the bathroom and found only one toothbrush and one towel hanging neatly. After making sure there was nothing else I should not be noticing, I returned to the bedroom and looked aroun
I closed the tablet. “This doesn’t mean I agree.”“I know.”“This doesn’t mean I trust you.”“I know.”“And if you secretly have a basement room filled with photographs, red string, and strands of my hair in plastic bags, I’m burning down your forest.”This time, his smile appeared a little more fully. Thin. Dark. Extremely unhelpful to national stability. “Your hair is difficult to get.”I stared at him.He added, “You’re always replacing your brush.”I pointed at him. “That is the creepiest thing you’ve ever said, and you once told me Switzerland was too cold for kidnapping.”“I thought you liked observant men.”“I like men who can die quickly when necessary.”“Promising.”Before I could decide whether the heavy security tablet could be used as a blunt weapon, Bianna appeared in the sitting-room doorway with her phone in one hand and the expression of a woman who had just found her purpose in life.“Boss.”“What?”“I have a suite.”“I know.”“Not a room. A suite.”“Congratulations.
I closed the tablet. “This doesn’t mean I agree.”“I know.”“This doesn’t mean I trust you.”“I know.”“And if you secretly have a basement room filled with photographs, red string, and strands of my hair in plastic bags, I’m burning down your forest.”This time, his smile appeared a little more fully. Thin. Dark. Extremely unhelpful to national stability. “Your hair is difficult to get.”I stared at him.He added, “You’re always replacing your brush.”I pointed at him. “That is the creepiest thing you’ve ever said, and you once told me Switzerland was too cold for kidnapping.”“I thought you liked observant men.”“I like men who can die quickly when necessary.”“Promising.”Before I could decide whether the heavy security tablet could be used as a blunt weapon, Bianna appeared in the sitting-room doorway with her phone in one hand and the expression of a woman who had just found her purpose in life.“Boss.”“What?”“I have a suite.”“I know.”“Not a room. A suite.”“Congratulations.
I was still holding Max’s pack of crackers when Zach’s words reached my brain in an extremely rude way.Since Medellín.Not since this morning. Not since Daniel Kessler hit the wet pavement with Theo’s face torn halfway off. Not since his phone coughed up one leftover file after the auto-wipe and called me the primary guardian like I was applying for a job in hell.Since Medellín.I put the crackers back in the drawer with a level of care no children’s snack deserved. If I set them down too hard, I might start throwing things. And Max’s dinosaur lamp was too cute to become collateral damage in the war against an Italian man with a God complex.I turned around slowly.Zach was still standing near the door, tall, half-wet, far too handsome for a situation this morally disgusting. The ends of his black hair had started to dry, falling slightly over his forehead. His white T-shirt clung to his chest in a way that should have been illegal within fifty feet of a kid’s bedroom.“Since Medell
Max hugged the ball to his chest. His blue eyes lit up so brightly that something in my chest tightened. “The bed is low,” he said, inspecting it.“So you don’t fall.”“I don’t fall.”“You fell off the couch in your sleep once.”“That was because the couch moved.”“The couch did not move.”“In my dream, I moved.”“Too much blue.” Issa appeared behind us and looked around her brother’s room.Max glared at her. “My room isn’t for you.”“I don’t want it either.”“You were looking at the ball.”“I looked because the color was yelling.”“Your lavender yells too.”“Lavender whispers.”“Lavender is for grandmas.”Issa immediately lunged at him.I caught her around the waist just in time. “No.”“But he insulted my color family!”“Your color family will survive.”“He has to apologize.”Max grinned. “Lavender grandma.”Issa shrieked.I lifted her before her hands reached Max’s hair. Her weight immediately pulled at my arm.“Dios mío, you’ve been in this house for two minutes.”“I’m the victim,”
The foyer was spacious without feeling like a hotel. Dark gray stone flooring gave way to wide oak planks. A grand staircase curved up to the second floor with a simple black railing. To the left, an open family room overlooked the lake. A fire burned in a stone fireplace that rose almost two stories high.To the right, a wide arched doorway revealed a two-story library. Dark wood shelves reached the ceiling, complete with a rolling ladder, a small balcony on the upper level, leather sofas, reading tables, and low lighting.Farther in, there was an indoor garden beneath a skylight. A small tree, stones, green plants, and water moving slowly down one wall.I hadn’t even finished processing all of it when Max ran three steps into the middle of the foyer, spun around, and threw his arms open.“Is the backyard big enough for an Arsenal stadium?”“Depends on the size of the stadium.” Zach closed the door behind us.“A big one.”“Of course.”“Can the roof open?”“We don’t have a stadium yet
Five days in the Gómez house felt like being tossed into an industrial washing machine: spinning, loud, warm, and there was always someone shoving food at you even after you’d just said you were full.On day one, Mamá had already rearranged my entire schedule like I was back in eleventh grade and n
The second-floor workspace looks like a bored Pinterest board: neat white desk, bookshelves, two monitors. I’m in a fitted black blazer on top… alpaca-print pajama pants on the bottom.Out in the hallway, just beyond the half-closed door, the sound of running shakes the corridor.“SUPER MAX WILL SA
Five years later.Oregon rain tapped softly against the kitchen’s glass wall. Steady, cold, and mildly annoying.The pan on the stove hissed quietly, the smell of almost-done corn arepas mixing with black coffee and the chorizo I was frying in the skillet next to it. A slow Latin playlist floated f
I sat on a slick wooden bench on a Boston sidewalk, my watch telling me it was well past midnight, and the only things keeping me company were a streetlamp and the constant buzz of phone notifications going off like a curse.My boyfriend was being kissed by an influencer on a five-inch screen.I st







